Struggling Faraday Future and its founding investor Jia Yueting are facing financial and legal woes that threaten the company's existence. Jia specifically has been placed on an official list of debt defaulters on a website run by the Chinese government after the LeEco founder failed to follow a court order stipulating he pay a debt of more than...
Just one year into the Trump administration, numerous high-level government officials have denied, downplayed, and eliminated government mentions of climate change and its effects. The man running the Environmental Protection Agency—who is charged with protecting the nation's air, water, and land from pollution—sued it more than a...
Emotions play a big role in purchases of passenger vehicles, but fleet decisions are generally driven by numbers, spreadsheets, and the almighty dollar. And it's in the equation of overall cost where early adopters of electric and other alternative-fuel semis could make a financial killing. Haulers first out of the gate with electric trucks could...
Today, we've got speculation on future Fords, details on upcoming electric Volvos, a battle between diesel power and renewable energy, and poll results on 2017's most important green-car news story. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We've learned some details about Volvo's plans for electric cars, battery options, and more. Sad but true...
Year-end roundups are an unavoidable necessity of the media business. They let editors and writers opine, and they fill space when there may be little real news. They also serve the more valuable function of forcing a longer-term perspective on the hundreds of news items a month that flow through any given writer's feeds. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model...
As we start to look toward the 2019 model year, it's worth noting that Ford hasn't introduced a single new hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or electric vehicle since 2013. In fact, the company is now clearing the decks and killing off old models. The C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid tall hatchback went out of production a few months ago, and its Hybrid sibling...
Call it the Ikea mindset. On populated islands, space is at a premium, just like those stereotypical Swedish kitchens you see when you stroll through your local assemble-it-yourself retailer. That space restriction is a major reason fossil fuels remain a better power-generation option than renewables on populated islands that have just experienced...
Volvo has confirmed its second electric car for the brand will be a version of the V40 compact hatchback it plans to unveil within the year. Much like the all-electric Volkswagen e-Golf version of the standard Golf, Volvo will roll out a conventional version of its V40 hatchback on the new compact platform, then follow it up with an all-electric...
Yesterday and today, we've got thoughts on electric-car charging during road trips, more impact from renewable micro-grids, some Tesla updates, and a poll on what we should spend less time covering. All this and more on Green Car Reports. On Tuesday, we wrote about why charging stations on the road need to be much, much better than they are today...
No single definition exists for the idea of "green car," and very few shoppers set out to go buy a green car. Instead, car buyers look for vehicles that meet their needs—with fuel economy or energy efficiency somewhere in that list of needs, whether higher or lower. Certainly the definition of "green car" has evolved since this site began...
Every automaker has its niche. Mazda builds a brilliant (and efficient) sports car in the MX-5 Miata. Toyota pioneered the mass production of hybrid-electric vehicles 20 years ago with its Prius. The Tesla Model S made battery-electric vehicles exciting and desirable. And Volkswagen has diesel. DON'T MISS: Volkswagen ID electric car production...
Five years ago, an electric-utility think tank issued a dire warning to its members: Your century-old business model is ending. The continually falling costs of renewable energy generation, especially solar panels, would begin to erode utilities' business from its most profitable customers, the study said. Now, in Germany—hardly known for...
Tesla now offers roughly the same percentage of its model lineup with standard all-wheel-drive configuration as famed AWD proponent Subaru. The Silicon Valley electric-car maker has completely ditched rear-wheel drive in its Model S hatchback sedans and Model X crossover utility vehicles. Only its Model 3 smaller sedan remains available (at some...
A professor adds to the list.
A couple of weeks ago, we charged a 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid 15 times within two days. It was part of a contest during a two-day press drive for the car—though we were beaten by the team that charged their Niro a stunning 31 times in little more than 30 hours. But our experience reinforced what many electric car drivers either knew going...
I try very hard to go into each review with an open mind, but in the case of the 2018 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabriolet, I was prepared to dislike it. I expected an anemic driving experience in a vehicle that was somehow both small and cumbersome. I thought the Smart would be an automotive nerd, a vehicle too compromised to work on American...
A publicity stunt by Renault in the United Kingdom had Santa Claus delivering chocolate all over the country earlier this month in a highly energy-efficient way. The social media campaign featured Santa testing a Renault Zoe EV, as a possible replacement for his reindeer-drawn sleigh. In all, Santa delivered 1,000 boxes of Montezuma’s...
Which two new green cars have readers driven and reported on for us? Why weren't 15 separate charging stops enough during our first drive of the plug-in hybrid version of the 2018 Kia Niro? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, December 22, 2017. Friday, we wrote...
Today, we've got pricing for the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid and some thoughts on next year's Jaguar I-Pace prices too; an aggressive climate-change plan; an update on the Lexus UX concept; and a comprehensive look at the electric commercial-truck world. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The results from our Twitter poll on which plug-in...
This time, Elon Musk is not alone. In mid-December, Daimler delivered its first 14 Fuso eCanter electric delivery trucks to customers in Germany, a reminder that while Tesla caught car companies flat-footed in 2012, incumbent truck makers are already preparing their countermeasures. In Daimler’s case, these weren’t even the...
