2019 Ford Fusion Energi gets longer electric range

2019 Ford Fusion EnergiFord is boosting the battery size and electric range of its Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid sedan for 2019. The new battery will store 9 kwh, up from 7 kwh, to give the 2019 Fusion Energi a range of 25 electric miles, up from 21 miles. The bigger battery should make the Fusion Energi more competitive with alternatives such as the Toyota Prius Prime...

2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV gas mileage review: practical and efficient

2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEVThe Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid is something of a missing link in the market for plug-in cars. There are finally plenty of choices for those who want to dispense with gas entirely and buy a small hatchback. Several electric SUVs are coming, but the only one that really lives up to the automotive ideal of driving anywhere you want at a...

How many miles are enough for a plug-in hybrid? Readers respond

2017 Toyota Prius Prime and 2017 Chevrolet Volt with Green Car Reports editor John VoelckerGreen Car Reports readers and Twitter followers are clearly fired up when it comes to plug-in hybrids. When we asked in last week's Twitter poll how many miles are enough for a plug-in hybrid, we got two to three times our usual responses. We asked the question because plug-in hybrids come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and capabilities. The main...

Follow-up: In the end, I bought a Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid

In the end, we chose a Prius PrimeIn an article last fall, I reached out the GCR readers for a suggestion for what plug-in vehicle I should buy to complement my 84-mile range 2015 Nissan LEAF. The new vehicle, my wife’s car, had to handle a 16 mile daily commute, occasional 300 mile trips to Vermont (a place of few DC fast chargers), and be less than $40,000. Readers...

2019 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid first drive

2019 Porsche Cayenne E-HybridElectrified cars are all too often about numbers: electric-only range, charging time, kilowatt-hours, and, of course, value. When it comes to an electrified luxury crossover like the 2019 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid, the default knee-jerk reaction is to throw out that last one. Except… don’t. READ THIS: 2019 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid: the...

New Subaru Crosstrek plug-in hybrid coming for 2019

2018 Subaru Crosstrek first driveSubaru announced Friday that its long-awaited Crosstrek plug-in hybrid will go on sale as a 2019 model. Last month, Car and Driver reported that Subaru filed the trademark name Evoltis with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, leading to speculation that the name could be applied to the expected plug-in hybrid version of the Crosstrek. Subaru...

Tesla Model S Electric Car: Software Changes Since 2012 (UPDATED)

2015 Tesla Model S 70D in new Ocean Blue colorEven though the Tesla Model S has retained its same basic shape since it went on sale in 2012, what's going on under the hood has been anything but stagnant. The automaker's over-the-air updates for the electric car have put the old guard on notice: People expect their cars to act like the computers and phones sitting on their desks and in their...

Outlanders Inbound: Plug-in Electric Car Sales In Canada, March 2018

2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Catalina Island, CA, Sep 2017The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV set a new single-month Canadian sales record for plug-in electric vehicles in April, selling 589 units -- more than double the 237 it managed in the United States. Positioned enviably in the Venn diagram overlap of consumer preference for trucks and SUVs, Canadians’ greater openness to plug-in hybrids, and...

2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid: weekend drive review

2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, Hudson Valley, NY, Apr 2018For several years, the Chevrolet Volt was the sole plug-in hybrid with electric range notably above 20 miles—though it became clear Chevy never figured out how to market its virtues to the public at large. Now it has a strong competitor in the form of the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, a mid-size sedan with five seats and a rated 48...

Electric-car buyers want same things as all car buyers, research shows

2016 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car, Newport Beach, CA, Nov 2014It should come as no surprise to readers of this site that people who buy electric cars are normal people. A new study by Simon Frasier University in British Columbia adds to the body of evidence demonstrating that, though it comes to some unusual conclusions. The 2017 study examined 2,123 Canadians who planned to buy a new vehicle in the next...

When will Tesla Model 3 all-wheel-drive, lower-range models be available?

Tesla Model 3 Driving on a Public RoadAs Tesla ramps up production of the Model 3 and continues to deliver cars to its long list of reservation holders, many buyers are wondering when they will be able to configure Model 3s with "D" all-wheel drive or with the smaller base battery pack. We can't yet address the smaller battery packs, but CEO Elon Musk left a clue for buyers waiting...