Green Driving

Fisker Automotive, the maker of the sleek and sexy Karma plug-in hybrid, is expected to announce its bankruptcy any day now.  As a result, eBay has become a hotbed of activity for Karma sales, currently with 24 Karmas up for bid.  The sales price for a new Karma was more than $100,000, but the models on eBay are priced to sell—mostly in the $60,000 to $70,000 range. The voluptuous plug-in hybrid provides an all-electric range of about 30 miles and a tot...

California is widely considered the epicenter of the electric vehicle movement.   Nearly one in three new EV sales in the United States is made in the Golden State.  EV popularity there is being driven by California’s Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate that require a growing percentage of vehicles to emit no pollution from the tailpipe. However, the DIY wing of the electric vehicle movement is based in the heartland of the country: Colorado, Montana, Ut...

Wind rushing through your hair.  The warmth of sunshine on your skin.  There are fewer more liberating automotive experiences than a beautiful spring day with the top down on a convertible.  An open-air drive is further enhanced when your ride is not fouling the air or guzzling down gas. Here are the five convertible cars that deliver the most miles (and smiles) per gallon. Volkswagen Beetle DieselStarts at $23,495The clean diesel version of the Vo...

By all accounts, Volkswagen is late to the hybrid and electric car party.  The company released its first full-production gas-electric car, the 45-mpg Jetta Hybrid, in late 2012—about a dozen years after the first hybrids hit U.S. streets. The VW e-Golf, which will provide about 95 miles of range on a single charge, will go on sale in the United States in 2014.  But fans of VW’s classic iconic design are not sitting idly by, waiting for the German automaker...

2013 Chevrolet Spark EV (Photo: General Motors)The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week issued a fuel economy rating of 119 MPGe to the Chevrolet Spark EV, making it the efficient car in the United States.  The all-electric subcompact goes on sale this summer in California and Oregon.  The news begs this question: What is that little "e" doing at the end of MPGe?  First, the context.  For the better part of a century, consumers have use...

Vast numbers of car buyers are interested in an electric car, according to numerous consumer surveys.  But only if an entire set of Ifs can be addressed.  Fortunately, the EV market has a new car that transforms those Ifs into a real option: the all-electric Fiat 500e could be a hit.  Last week, I spent a day driving the cute two-seater 500e in and around Los Angeles. The stylish electric subcompact was a blast to drive.  It handled well, and c...

When you buy an electric car, it makes a ton of sense to install the capability to charge your EV from home using 240-volts.  With that piece of equipment, you can charge a typical electric car—one that provides about 80 miles on a charge—in about four hours.  The device needed for home charging is called an EVSE, electric vehicle service equipment.  It’s a cumbersome name (and not even grammatically correct.)  That’s why nearly everybody calls ...

This photo of a Honda Civic with its engine removed comes from ChargeCar, a program at Carnegie Mellon University aimed at making electric cars affordable and practical.The number of plug-in electric vehicles on U.S. roads is quickly approaching 100,000 units.  That’s a remarkable number, especially considering that EVs are relatively expensive and choice is limited.  DIY tuners and modders have more choices—if you are willing to take the time to convert a d...

David Herron, a software engineer turned automotive journalist, owns just one car: a gorgeous red 1971 soft-top Volkswagen Karmann Ghia—converted to run purely on electricity.  But he doesn’t advocate that every EV shopper embark upon a conversion project. “These days, you can go down to a Nissan dealership, and buy an electric car on the spot,” he said.  “To do a conversion today, you have to really want an electric version of a...

Direct injection used in the 2013 Hyundai Accent’s 1.6-liter engine means the car can deliver a respectable 138 horsepower, and 37 mpg on the highway.When it comes to fuel efficiency, you can have your cake and eat it too.  That’s the message from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which last week released its annual report summarizing key vehicle trends for vehicles sold in the United States between 1975 and 2012.   It turns out that our vehicles ...