GM's Car of the Future Sparks Doubt in the Present

(NEWSER) - GM held a triumphant press conference this morning, announcing that, using newly devised EPA methodology, its 2011 Chevy Volt will get a whopping 230 miles per gallon in city driving, by far the highest fuel efficiency rating ever. No car has ever so much as sniffed 100mpg before; the Prius gets 51. But there’s ample cause for skepticism, Cars.com blogger David Thomas explains. More»

Plug-in electric car finally unveiled today; production model too ordinary for some fans

(NEWSER) - GM offered its first official look today at the plug-in Chevrolet Volt, CNNMoney reports, the electric car slated to go on sale in 2010. Its tame appearance drew the ire of gearheads hoping it would look more like the futuristic concept version. "A lot of people are saying they're very disappointed and 'take me off the [waiting] list,' " said one blogger. More»

Automakers blame environmental concerns for falling sales

(NEWSER) - Auto industry bigwigs at the Reuters Auto Summit in Detroit this week seem finally to have gotten the message on cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles; one after another they cited going green (or at least greener) as the path to more competitive cars and trucks. GM honcho Robert Lutz admitted that the Prius helped Toyota get a jump on GM while his company was busy building guzzlers like the Hummer. More»

Prius owners stay a little bit truer

(NEWSER) - America's love affair with hybrids has turned out to be more of a fling for many owners: A new study finds that when they go to trade in, about 65% of hybrid owners pass on getting another hybrid. The numbers, based on 2011 data, do fluctuate based on the model: Prius owners were slightly more likely to stick with a gas-electric ride, with 41% selecting another hybrid; for Honda hybrid owners, that number sunk to less than 20%, reports MSNBC . More»

Except for a few models, hybrids and electric cars take years to pay off

(NEWSER) - Thinking of buying a hybrid or electric vehicle to ease the pain at the pump? You may want to think again: A TrueCar.com study commissioned by the New York Times shows that, except in three cases, fuel-efficient technology is so expensive that these types of cars take years to pay off at today's gas prices—and that remains true even if gas were to hit $5 per gallon. In some cases, the average driver would take more than a decade to see savings over comparable conventional vehicles, which is a problem since the average person owns a car just six years. Most fuel-efficient cars will be more expensive to purchase and to drive for five years, at minimum. More»