Volvo is paying plug-in hybrid drivers for all the electricity they use

2018 Volvo XC60 T8 R-Design with Polestar optimizationAs Volvo sees it, plug-in hybrids are the path toward achieving one of its high-aiming carbon-reduction goals—making fully electric cars half of its sales by 2025. To do so, the automaker plans to nudge its portion of PHEVs in the U.S. over the next 16 months, to 20 percent, up from about 4 percent today. But it also knows that plug-in...

2021 Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid confirmed for LA auto show debut

2021 Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid  -  teaser photoToyota has made official a possibility that has been recently suggested by execs as a next step, and all but been confirmed by spy shots: that it will make a plug-in hybrid version of the RAV4 hybrid, and soon sell that in the U.S. While Toyota didn’t specify nomenclature—and thus whether it would be called RAV4 Prime, just RAV4...

Report: Toyota using Tesla-style Panasonic cells in Chinese PHEVs

2017 Toyota Prius PrimeToyota has reportedly started using Panasonic cylindrical lithium-ion cells in two of its new plug-in hybrid models for the China market. The swap was originally reported by Nikkei Asian Review, with detail that Toyota was pushing Panasonic’s regional plant capacity with its order for cylindrical cells to be used by the Corolla plug-in...

2020 Volvo XC40 PHEV arrives in the UK, still no concrete US plans

2020 Volvo XC40 PHEVVolvo's plug-in hybrid variant of its XC40 compact crossover is hitting showrooms in the UK, offering a glimpse of what we can likely expect within the next model year. The XC40 PHEV is based on its T5 trim, which is the range-topper for the small Volvo crossover. Unlike the regular T5, which gets power from a turbocharged 4-cylinder, the PHEV...

Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid caught testing and towing by spy photographers

2019 Toyota RAV4 HybridToyota may be planning to soon add a plug-in hybrid version of the new RAV4. Spy photographers for our sister site, MotorAuthority, recently caught a plug-in hybrid version of the RAV4 out testing on public roads overseas. The company has long been a laggard in the movement to sell plug-in vehicles. The only plug-in model it currently sells in the...

Best deals on plug-in, hybrid, and electric cars for August 2019

First 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car    [photo: Patrick Reid]Auto-loan interest rates have started to fall slightly in August—but that hasn't yet made it any easier to find great deals on plug-in, hybrid, and electric cars. And yet, the deals are out there. Our partners at CarsDirect.com found deals as low as $179 a month in August. The good news is that Labor Day bargains are right around the corner...