2016 Los Angeles Auto Show green-car preview

2016 Los Angeles auto showThe 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show gets underway this week, and a few notable green cars are expected to debut there. The current popularity of crossover utility vehicles is evident in the numerous new or redesigned crossover models lined for the L.A. show. A smattering of other models will debut as well, but crossovers could very well represent the...

NJ dedicates all gas tax revenue to transportation infrastructure

BMW ActiveE electric car in front of old gas pumps, Belvidere, NJ   [photo: Tom Moloughney]Critics of electric cars often use the argument that, because electric-car drivers don't pay gas taxes, they don't contribute their fair share of road-maintenance costs. But state gas-tax revenue don't necessarily go toward funding infrastructure, or at least not all of it. In last Tuesday's election, voters in one state ensured that their...

Chevrolet Bolt EV: Green Car Reports’ Best Car To Buy 2017

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016Each year, Green Car Reports chooses a new car, or a family of cars, as the best green car introduced in that model year. In 2011, our very first award, we picked the first-ever modern electric car to be sold in high volumes. Six years later, we've picked the spiritual successor to that car, one that provides radically higher range at an...

Batteries from junkyard scrap metal and household chemicals?

Scrap metal (Photo by Daniel Bubois/Vanderbilt University)The increasing importance of batteries for electric cars, renewable energy, and consumer electronics has researchers looking for alternatives to the currently-dominant lithium-ion chemistry. But could one of those alternatives be a combination of junkyard scarp metal and household chemicals? That's what a group of researchers are proposing, in the...

Trump names proud climate-science denier to head EPA transition team

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]It didn't take long for the country to get its first indication of what a Donald Trump Administration could mean for U.S. climate policy. Trump has repeatedly denied the science of climate change, calling it a "hoax" at times. Prior to his Tuesday election victory, he also named a top climate-science denier to head his Environmental Protection...

Desperate coal company CEO slammed Tesla electric cars as ‘fraud’

Coal, by Flicker user oatsy40 (Used Under CC License)The debate over U.S. energy policy took a dramatic turn last month when Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk squared off against the CEO top privately-owned U.S. coal producer Murray Energy. In an interview for the CNBC show "Squawk Box," Robert Murray called Tesla and its electric cars a "fraud." He criticized the automaker for failing to turn a profit...

Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for November 2016

2016 Kia Optima HybridIt's once again time to look at the best deals on green cars. As we get further into the 2017 model year, manufacturers are becoming more eager to eliminate leftover inventory of 2016 models, creating some good opportunities for bargain-hunting car shoppers. As always, our list spans hybrids, plug-in hybrids, electric cars, and fuel-efficient...

Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, October 2016: Volt’s seven-peat

2017 Chevrolet VoltThe Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years; the Chevy Volt won the Canadian electric-car sales trophy for the seventh time in seven months. Though Chevy Volt sales in Canada fell from stratospheric to mere tropospheric levels in October, the vehicle remains Canada's monthly sales leader for the seventh consecutive month...