Over the past six months, Toyota has made some remarkable decisions about its present and future car technologies. After years of staunch opposition to battery-electric vehicles, it committed to launching one by 2020. Now, the company has decided to offer its proprietary hybrid technology in volume to other automakers. DON'T MISS: Toyota battery...
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It may reflect unshakable confidence in the future prospects of electric cars. Or perhaps it's a lack of conviction that the incoming Trump Administration can have enough effect on incentives, emission regulations, and gas-mileage rules to make a difference. Either way, the respondents to our most recent poll don't think the new president will...
VW Group announced yesterday it had reached a preliminary agreement with various regulators to resolve civil suits related to "defeat device" software in vehicles fitted with its 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engines. Those cars—a variety of SUVs and sedans sold by Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen—will either be modified to comply with emission...
First there was AutoLib, a French electric-car sharing service operated by the Bolloré Group. Then came BlueIndy, the first U.S. franchise of the service, which put the same BlueCars onto the streets of Indianapolis. Now Bolloré is expanding its car-sharing operations to a second U.S. city, one that may be much more in the public...
President-elect Donald Trump's energy policies are expected to be a sharp departure from those of his predecessor. During his campaign, Trump pledged to expedite and deregulate exploration and processing of fossil fuels, enact an "all-of-the-above" energy policy, and "bring back coal," among other promises. That has led to concerns among...
Tesla Motors continues to fight for the ability to sell its electric cars directly to customers in Michigan, home of the rest of the U.S. auto industry. The Silicon Vallery automaker has been banned from doing so for about two years, thanks to subtle changes made to the state's franchise laws to prevent direct sales. Having failed to overturn the...
Silicon Valley, with Google and Tesla, is developing the smart cars of tomorrow, but the Detroit Three are working hard on self-driving projects in Michigan.
Today, we compare electric car battery warranties, the first 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell sedans are delivered to customers in California, and a report indicates Mitsubishi may share an electric-car platform with Renault. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Future Mitsubishi electric cars will use a platform shared with Renault and Nissan, a...
It's one of the most frequently asked questions by anyone hearing about a modern electric car: do I have to replace the battery? With 15 years of experience in mobile phones and more than that with laptop computers, most buyers know that lithium-ion batteries lose capacity over time. Replacing phone or laptop batteries, generally for less than...
There's a new hydrogen fuel-cell kid in town. Well after Hyundai and Toyota launched their own fuel-cell cars in California, the first 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell sedans to be leased to retail customers were delivered yesterday in a small ceremony. Like the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell and Toyota Mirai, the Clarity Fuel Cell is available only...
Improving fuel efficiency doesn't always require creating a new vehicle. XL Hybrids markets modifications that allows fleet buyers to "upfit" their vehicles into hybrids. So far, the company's efforts have focused on hybrid powertrains for vans, box trucks, and shuttle buses. DON'T MISS: Ford Transit Van Gets Add-In Hybrid Kit For Better Fuel...
Ambitious emissions-reduction goals are important, because they allow policymakers to coordinate and focus efforts on a defined target. But the problem with setting lofty goals is that, eventually, they must be met. The German government is now finding out how difficult that can be. DON'T MISS: EU starts legal action against Germany, UK for...
Now that it has officially taken control of Mitsubishi Motors, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is integrating the smaller automaker's green-car projects with its own. Renault-Nissan announced plans to acquire a 34-percent stake in Mitsubishi in May, shortly after the company admitted to cheating on fuel-economy tests for many years in its home country...
Today, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak buys another Tesla Model S, General Motors makes the Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car its main autonomous-driving testbed, and the 2018 BMW 530e iPerformance plug-in hybrid debuts for the U.S. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Catch up on recent news with our Week in Reverse feature. The California Public...
![2013 Tesla Model S at Supercharger station on NY-to-FL road trip [photo: David Noland]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2013-tesla-model-s-at-supercharger-station-on-ny-to-fl-road-trip-photo-david-noland_100454645_t.gif)
Last Friday night, I arranged to meet my wife for dinner in Newburgh, New York, at a restaurant that has a Tesla Supercharger. Even though the battery in my Model S 85 was about 60 percent full, I figured I might as well top it off to 90 percent while we ate. When I arrived, there was a white Model X already plugged in. That left five empty...
The latest model in BMW's expanding lineup of plug-in hybrids sold in the U.S. is a version of its new 5-Series sedan, with a plug. Called the 530e iPerformance, it joins plug-in hybrid versions of the 3-Series and 7-Series sedans and the X5 SUV, as well as the sleek i8 coupe. Like all BMW plug-in hybrids based on existing models, the 530e wears...
![Steve and Janet Wozniak with new 2016 Tesla Model S, December 2016 [source: Steve Wozniak Facebook]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/steve-and-janet-wozniak-with-new-2016-tesla-model-s-december-2016-source-steve-wozniak-facebook_100585658_t.gif)
In September, Chevy scored quite a publicity coup for its Bolt EV long-range electric car. The car's chief engineer, Josh Tavel, took a pre-production 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV to show Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple Computers—universally known as "Woz." He's a big electric car fan, and had driven a Tesla Model S since he picked one up his...
With its EPA-rated 238-mile range and a base price of $37,495, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is a serious foray by General Motors into mass-market, long-range electric cars. It turns out the Bolt EV will play another important role for the company, too: it will be a testbed for its autonomous-driving technologies. Earlier this year, autonomous Bolt...
While diesel vehicles have received a black eye in the form of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, they often still deliver better fuel economy than comparable gasoline models. But does a lower volume of fuel consumed necessarily translate into lower ownership costs? Various cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks sold in the U.S. are offered with...
![2014 Tesla Model S P85D, road test, Dec 2014 [photo: David Noland]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2014-tesla-model-s-p85d-road-test-dec-2014-photo-david-noland_100494834_t.gif)
Norway is widely acknowledged as one of the world's friendliest places for electric cars. A combination of aggressive incentives, public interest, and short average commuting distances have led to relatively high electric-car sales. That makes it one of the only places in the world where, in certain months, the Tesla Model S has achieved the...
