EPA to ease emission limits, reports say, setting up clash with California

Chrome exhaust pipeThe omens have been accumulating for months, as bits of information dribble out of the regulatory rumor mill in Washington, D.C. Now we have the most concrete reports yet that the U.S. EPA plans to modify exhaust emission limits for vehicles in model years 2022 through 2025. The EPA delivered its draft Final Determination document to the Office of...

2019 Honda Insight: good-looking 50-mpg competitor for Prius hybrid

2019 Honda InsightTeased in January as a "concept" without an interior, the production version of the 2019 Honda Insight hybrid sedan has been revealed just before week's New York auto show. EPA ratings aren't yet final, but Honda says the new Insight is projected to achieve "up to 55 mpg" on the city cycle, and a combined fuel-economy number of "50 mpg or better."...

UPS adds battery energy storage for 118 electric vans in UK

Prototype plug-in electric delivery van with fuel-cell range extender to be tested by UPS in 2017Electric vehicles are not only zero-emission and quieter and more pleasant to drive, they also clearly lower emissions of the carbon dioxide linked to climate change under most circumstances. For fleet operators who recharge large fleets of electric vehicles overnight, however, the load on electric grids and consequent demand charges pose a...

2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback returns at NY Auto Show

2019 Toyota Corolla HatchbackThe Toyota Corolla is the world's highest-selling nameplate, having surpassed the Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle years ago. It exists in a variety of models and varieties all over the world, but the U.S. hasn't always been offered the hatchback version. In fact, the Corolla lineup only regained its five-door model when Toyota shut down its...

BMW: we won’t mass-produce electric cars until 2020, with cheaper cells

2018 BMW i3sBMW sold more than 100,000 cars with plugs last year, adding together its battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models. That's roughly on a par with Tesla, and ahead of both General Motors and Nissan, two other pioneers in modern electric cars. The company has put far more plug-in cars on the road to date than its German counterparts, both Daimler...

Five electric cars tested in cold Norwegian winter: how did they do?

Winter testing of electric cars in Norway by the Norwegian EV Association (Norsk Elbilforening)Drivers in the parts of North America that get winter weather are deeply familiar with snow-clogged wheel wells, iced-in wipers, and weak batteries, to list just a few. Our counterparts in Norway have exactly the same challenges in winter—but they’re far further along in adopting plug-in electric cars, to slash the carbon footprint of the…