If plug-in hybrid drivers don't charge their vehicles often, they're effectively driving gasoline cars with added battery weight that doesn't necessarily help reduce emissions. Now the EPA is adjusting for that. As explained in an International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) blog post, a proposed EPA regulation released April 12 would...
The base Tesla Model 3 now qualifies for the full $7,500 federal EV tax credit, joining other Model 3 variants. On Friday, Tesla fans noted that, when building a base Model 3, Tesla then indicated that it was eligible for a $7,500 credit. At that time, the EPA FuelEconomy.gov list of qualified vehicles indicated that model and some of the lineup...
Small-car lovers who lament the lack of affordable electric compact cars may get a jolt of energy from Volvo’s reveal on Wednesday of its EX30. The fully electric small SUV is a key piece of its lineup as it transitions to all-EV—one that will start at $34,950, likely not including destination, with available dual-motor all-wheel...
GM questions the profitability of sub-$40,000 EVs. Lexus introduces a smaller hybrid for Europe in another self-charging fog. And Toyota has a whole suite of vehicles that meet the mark for AWD, 40-mpg, and $30,000. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. GM CEO Mary Barra said last week that EV battery costs are still too high to build...
Spoiler alert: They’re all Toyotas. Let’s say you live in a northern climate and need all-weather traction for a snowy winter commute. And while your parking situation doesn’t leave you a place to plug in, you want to keep it as green and efficient as possible. All-wheel-drive hybrids are an underrepresented vehicle type for some...
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said in a conference Friday that EVs selling for less than $40,000 can't be profitable just yet. It's an unexpected statement from the head of an automaker that's been fairly optimistic about affordable EVs. As reported by Reuters, Barra told conference attendees that EV battery costs are still too high to build...
Lexus on Monday revealed a hybrid subcompact crossover for the European and Japanese markets—one that's being marketed with the same controversial "self-charging" language that the Toyota luxury brand has used for hybrids in the past. The 2024 Lexus LBX is the brand's smallest model yet. At 165 inches long, it's a foot shorter than the Lexus...
Corn ethanol and soy biodiesel accelerate food inflation and global hunger, but they’re also a disaster for the climate and the environment.
Why is the electric VW Bus taking so long to arrive in America? Alfa Romeo’s new plug-in hybrid points toward EVs but doesn’t wow on mpg. GM and Stellantis pay fuel economy fines. And Colorado ramps up its state EV credits and looks to affordability. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. Colorado is incentivizing smaller, cheaper...
Why is the electric VW Bus taking so long to arrive in America? Alfa Romeo’s new plug-in hybrid points toward EVs but doesn’t wow on mpg. GM and Stellantis pay fuel economy fines. And Colorado ramps up its state EV credits and looks to affordability. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. Colorado is incentivizing smaller, cheaper...
Colorado has revamped its EV tax credit, with a new approach that incentivizes cheaper EVs. HB 1272, which was passed by the Colorado legislature and signed by governor Jared Polis in May, re-ups a tax credit for light-duty electric vehicles that was originally $5,000. As originally enacted, it dropped to $4,000 in 2020, $3,500 in 2021, and $2,000...
The 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale plug-in hybrid achieves an EPA-rated 33 miles of electric range with an efficiency rating of 77 MPGe combined, as well as 29 mpg combined fuel economy, the automaker announced Wednesday. While Alfa Romeo is traditionally a performance brand, it claims the Tonale plug-in hybrid is "the most efficient plug-in hybrid C-SUV...
General Motors and Stellantis paid a combined $363 million in penalties for failing to meet U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements for recent model years, Reuters reported Friday. The record amount includes $235.5 million paid by Stellantis for 2018 and 2019 model-year fuel economy shortfalls and $128.2 million for GM covering...
Remember the line from "Titanic" when Rose is an old woman and she asks, "It's been 84 years?" With the debut of the U.S-spec Volkswagen ID.Buzz that moment feels oddly familiar. Why did it take so long for the VW Bus to return despite concepts teasing us since 2001? Why did production of the two-row ID.Buzz start in Europe a year ago, and the...
Which automaker started offering weekly EV leases for Uber drivers? Which upcoming EV will get a single-screen interface much like that of the Tesla Model 3/Y? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending June 2, 2023. The electric Volkswagen Bus has been a long time coming, and VW at...
The automakers paid the federal government for falling short of efficiency standards for cars and trucks in recent years.
The Fisker Ocean EV hits a 360-mile range. Ford is leasing its Mach-E by the week for Uber use. And the electric VW Bus bows in American form. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. Volkswagen’s electric Bus has been a long time coming, and it’s at last provided a look at the 2025 VW ID.Buzz Americans will be able to buy, in its...
Fisker on Thursday confirmed a 360-mile EPA-rated range for its Ocean electric SUV, and said it plans to start U.S. deliveries the week of June 19. The range figure is better than the 350 miles that Fisker estimated at the introduction of the Ocean, in November 2021. It applies to the Ocean Extreme model, which uses a 113-kwh battery pack, with...
Volkswagen has provided a first look at the long-awaited U.S.-bound ID.Buzz electric van—finally, in the form Americans will be able to buy. What have we been waiting for? U.S. versions of the 2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz, VW says, will be made in the same Hanover, Germany, factory but they’ll have a third row of seats. They’ll be...
Ford on Thursday announced the start of a pilot program allowing Uber drivers in some markets to lease EVs by the week for use on the ride-hailing network. With a pilot program called Ford Drive, the automaker says that it will offer Mustang Mach-E models in San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, with the Los Angeles program starting Thursday...
