Tesla upgrades, Chevy Bolt EV sales, Kia green cars: Today’s Car News

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016Today, Tesla upgrades sensors and hardware in an effort to equip its electric cars for autonomous driving, LG Chem makes a claim about Chevrolet Bolt EV sales, and a Kia executive says the automaker will launch its first hydrogen fuel-cell car around 2020. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Tesla claims upgrades to sensors and hardware in its...

Scotland shows path toward boosting renewable energy in a big way

Nissan Leaf in ScotlandScotland isn't known for having the most pleasant weather. But its persistent winds make the country a great place for renewable energy. Over the past few years, officials have overseen the construction of numerous wind turbines, in hopes of turning Scotland's weather into a useful resource. CHECK OUT: What Country Powered Itself Entirely On...

LG Chem: GM to sell ‘more than 30,000’ Chevy Bolt EVs next year

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016A very brief article on a single sentence uttered on Tuesday by an executive at Korean battery maker LG Chem has reverberated around electric-car circles for most of this week. The executive was vice president Kang Chang-beom, and he spoke on a conference call for financial analysts on the topic of LG Chem's third-quarter earnings. His comment has...

Kia to boost hybrid, electric offerings, add fuel cell in 2020

DC fast charging 2015 Kia Soul EVKia is continuing with plans to significantly increase the number of green cars in its future lineup. The Korean automaker and its parent, Hyundai, together hope to become the second-biggest seller of green cars worldwide, after Toyota. That means more hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery-electric cars, and even some hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles...

Green Car Reports’ 2017 Best Car To Buy nominee: Tesla Model X

2016 Tesla Model XPretty much any Tesla electric car is bound to start a conversation. The low, tiny 2008 Roadster, the sleek and Jaguar-esque 2012 Model S sedan, or the company's latest car, the 2016 Model X crossover utility vehicle. But as we experienced first-hand, the Model X has the most attention-getting device of any Tesla ever sold. DON'T MISS: 2016 Tesla...

Disqus now allows user blocking for individual commenters

Angry Driver with Road RageComments are a major part of Green Car Reports, and we think they're one of the reasons we've attained a surprisingly large and diverse audience of readers. But to stay useful, all comments have to be moderated—which is something our tiny staff spends a great deal of time on. We respond to all comments flagged as inappropriate, and inspect...

Mercedes-Benz S550e wireless charging comes into focus

Mercedes-Benz wireless inductive charging systemThe Mercedes-Benz S550e plug-in hybrid luxury sedan will likely be the first production car to offer wireless charging as a factory option. The availability of wireless charging was announced earlier this year by Mercedes as part of a significant update of the current-generation car. We now know that the S550e will use a version of the Qualcomm...

Oil company pays $26 million for half-billion-dollar ethanol plant

Big square baler harvesting wheat straw for production of cellulosic ethanolThe failure of cellulosic ethanol may prove beneficial to oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. Cellulosic ethanol was seen as an important component of mass ethanol adoption because it is made from non-edible plants. But despite the hopes of ethanol advocates and policymakers, cellulosic sources never materialized in significant quantities. DON'T MISS...

Future VW electric-car concepts revealed in patent drawings

Patent drawing for Volkswagen electric car concept - Image via Motor1As it tries to recover from the "Dieselgate" scandal, Volkswagen has gotten more serious about electric cars. At the recent 2016 Paris Motor Show, it unveiled the I.D. compact electric-car concept, and promised a future production model based on it. Now, it appears the ID could be the first of several electric-car concepts from VW. DON'T MISS: VW...

Why do electric cars exist? Buyer demand? Legislation? Or VW?

2016 Nissan LeafOwners love them, but modern electric cars have not made a large dent in sales of internal-combustion cars since becoming widely available five years ago. In fact, but for a few exceptions, electric cars essentially wouldn't exist without legislation aimed at lowering transportation-related carbon emissions. Tesla's success in raising the profile...

Why do electric cars exist? Buyer demand? Legislation? Or VW?

2016 Nissan LeafOwners love them, but modern electric cars have not made a large dent in sales of internal-combustion cars since becoming widely available five years ago. In fact, but for a few exceptions, electric cars essentially wouldn't exist without legislation aimed at lowering transportation-related carbon emissions. Tesla's success in raising the profile...

BMW 530e next-generation plug-in hybrid sedan: photos, details

2017 BMW 530e iPerformanceThe BMW 5-Series has always slotted between the Bavarian maker's high-volume 3-Series and full-size 7-Series in size and price. But while BMW currently offers plug-in hybrid versions of those two sedans, it doesn't yet do so with the 5-Series (although it did show one several years ago as part of a Chinese joint venture). Now BMW is rolling out a...

Which plug-in electric car will sell best next year? Poll results

2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid - production modelSales of plug-in electric cars were essentially flat in the U.S. last year compared to 2014, and this year isn't necessarily going to be much better. Part of that is due to product cadence: the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S, two of the top-selling cars in previous years, are now relatively old vehicles. The Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid is only in its...

New orders for Tesla Model 3 won’t be filled until mid-2018

Tesla Model 3If you haven't placed your order for a Tesla Model 3, the electric car builder now says that your request won't be fulfilled until the middle of 2018. That's at least a few month delay over the "late 2017" figure for new orders that the automaker had been quoting on its website until just a couple of days ago. DON'T MISS: Readers speculate on...

Fuel from emissions? Catalyst converts carbon dioxide to ethanol

2011 Buick Regal flex-fuel badgeAt least in North America, ethanol is a contentious fuel. A decade ago, it was seen as a homegrown and carbon-neutral way to use less gasoline—and federal legislation mandated that increasing volumes be blended into U.S. fuel supplies. Much debate followed over using "food for fuel," its supposed carbon neutrality and the footprint of the...