One small step for EV-kind This is a second view of the 2016 Nissan Leaf SL—Clean Fleet Report’s previous review with additional technical detail appears here. Let’s face it—the 2016 Nissan Leaf is not a moon shot, but it is a great step forward for the best-selling affordable pure electric vehicle on ... Read More...
54.5 MPG Club
It Really Is the Game Changer GM Proclaimed Now there’s an all-new 2017 Chevrolet Volt. It is better in nearly every way than the first one—more electric driving range, more hybrid fuel efficiency, more comfortable, more attractive and even more affordable. Will Chevrolet make a genuine effort to sell the Volt this ... Read More...
Longer Range, Improved Battery A short six years ago Nissan launched the Leaf during a time when electric vehicles (EVs) were a curiosity and under no stretch of the imagination guaranteed to still be around in 2016. Fast forward to today where one auto manufacturer (Tesla) offers only EVs, another dozen ... Read More...
A Look Back at Potential Road Trips During the Past Decade. It's a cliche to say gas prices are volatile, but this fine series of maps from our friends at Howmuch.net gives graphic display to what we're all experienced in the past decade. Our ability to travel has varied greatly as ... Read More...
The Wagon Owns This Niche--Add AWD & Great Fuel Economy & Go By Michael Coates and John Addison Superstorm Sandy, “Snowmegeddon,” El Nino. You need a safe car or crossover SUV when that 100-year storm hits. These new all-wheel drive (AWD) wagons have the best mileage in the United States in 2016. They range from ... Read More...
BMW Takes the Guilt-Free SUV to New Levels The American automotive market in mid-2016 is a study in schizophrenia. Plug-in vehicle sales are up 62 percent, outpacing a market that is up by less than 2 percent compared to last year. But that overall market is shifting as well; light trucks, which ... Read More...
2016 Is Half Over: Here Are the Top 10 Companies in the Fray We update this list regularly because the market is changing so quickly. The new models we've driven have caused us to rethink the Top 10. Picking the Top 10 electric car makers now involves making some choices as the ... Read More...
An Eclectic Group of Overachievers Our definitions first: In this blog we're talking about all-wheel drive cars or car-based sport utility vehicles (SUVs) also known as crossover utility vehicles (CUVs). Some might call them the modern station wagon. They're designed for hauling people and stuff to destinations that either require the ... Read More...
Volvo Steps Up with its Flagship Wagon Volvo has been on the edges of the mainstream for some time, an intermediate-size manufacturer with a dated image and uncertain future. The 2016 Volvo XC90 T8 marks a new direction and stakes out new ground for where Volvo says it wants to go. ... Read More...
A little Italian time machine taking you into the future It took only one or two miles in the 2016 Fiat 500e for it all to come back. This is what EVs are all about; zippy little electric cars that can be tossed around corners and deliver more fun than you expect from ... Read More...
Electric Vehicle Day brings out 15 different models for test drives If one of the 20,000 employees of the giant Northern California utility, PG&E, was interested in taking advantage of the federal, state and company incentives to buy a plug-in vehicle, a recent program gave them a chance to have some ... Read More...
A plug-in hybrid that puts you in control Let’s face it—if you’re looking at a plug-in hybrid, you are interesting in control. A plug-in hybrid gives back some of the control of your driving life that you give up with a battery-only electric car. Ubiquitous gas stations take care of the ... Read More...
Looking at the choice between current and coming electric cars We have owned electric cars since 2011. My wife and I loved our 2011 Nissan Leaf and now love our 2016 Chevrolet Volt. We were our dealer’s first delivery of a LEAF and our dealer’s first delivery of the 2016 Volt. ... Read More...
Another “Big Green Statement” from Kia It wouldn’t be the Chicago Auto Show without Kia kicking things off with a rock n’ roll band. This year, as teens from the School of Rock Oak Park belted out Rolling Stones tunes, Kia launched its compact 2017 Kia Niro Hybrid to an ... Read More...
GM Ups Its EV Game The wraps came off the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV production car at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) the first week in January. To keep the buzz going, Chevy waited for the Detroit Auto Show to dish out the technical details on what could become the electric ... Read More...
Get Social