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U.S. feds spends $300 million on green vehicles, will save $40 million in fuel costs

Every few months, the federal government puts out a little note announcing which and how many green vehicles they we bought recently. Back in June, for example, we learned over 17,000 new and more efficient vehicles, mostly Fords, were added to the national fleet. Most recently, the General Services Administration says it has bought another collection of clean rides, including 35 hybrid-electric buses. All told, the GSA has spent $300 million on 17,246 vehicles from six manufacturers. The most recent phase of the purchase included the ... Read more →

Review: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid - What a difference 60 degrees makes Sam Abuelsamid

Recently, we had our third opportunity to drive the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Actually, the last go around was with a Mercury Milan Hybrid, but aside from a different nose and fanny, it is the same ...

Review: 2009 Smart ForTwo - Undone by a Dud of a Tranny Sebastian Blanco

The Smart ForTwo isn't for shy people. Even though Smart USA has sold about 30,000 of these tiny two-seaters in the U.S., the little rollerskate attracts a lot of attention. On the road or in a ...

Review: 2010 Toyota Prius a miser with new moves Sam Abuelsamid

When car buyers think of hybrids, the name that most often springs to mind is the Toyota Prius since it was the first really practical hybrid to come to market and has sold more than any other ...

Review: 2010 Audi A3 TDI, diesel with a healthy dash of sport Sam Abuelsamid

Audi started its big push for clean diesel here in the U.S. market this spring when its big Q7 TDI finally went on sale. While the Q7 TDI is one of the most fuel efficient seven-passenger SUVs ...

First Ride: 2009 Zero X electric motorcycle 7 months ago on Autoblog Green

Is the world ready to swap its gas-burning cars and trucks for electric vehicles? It's an interesting question, to be sure, and the answer may not be as straightforward as we'd like. As much as many of us would love to ditch petroleum all together, there are a number of things to consider ...

Review: 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

At the LA Auto Show in November, Ford unveiled the updated 2010 Fusion and its hybrid stablemate to considerable fanfare. When we got the chance to drive the Fusion a month later we came away impressed, although some of you found the new, larger three-bar grille even more obnoxious than the ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

Automotive desirability is a strange thing. If you ask any statistically significant number of people to choose any car they desired, surely a large number of them would name Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins or some other exotic breed. And yet these cars sell in only the low tens of ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2009 Lexus GS450h 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

Since debuting the Prius just over a decade ago, Toyota has been gradually spreading its hybrid drive technology through its product lineup including the Lexus brand. Later this year, Lexus will be getting its first hybrid-only model in the form of the HS250h but it's first hybrid sedan was ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

The car as we know it is being redefined. Hybrids have reintroduced electrons to the driving experience, and the rumble, shake and shimmy of internal combustion engines is being muffled and, in some cases, even silenced by cars like the Toyota Prius, 2011 Chevy Volt and Tesla Roadster. For us ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2009 Chevy Aveo 5 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

Until the new Chevy Spark here in 2011, the entry point for getting into the General Motors product line-up remains the Chevy Aveo. The Korean-built Aveo is available in two forms, a four-door sedan and five-door hatch. The hatchback is dubbed the Aveo 5, an example of which spent some time in ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2009 Mercedes Benz E320 BlueTec 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

Mercedes-Benz is quite literally the first name in diesel. The 1936 Mercedes 260D was the first production passenger car powered by a diesel engine. Daimler has been building diesel cars and trucks pretty much continuously ever since. Along with Volkswagen, Daimler has also been the primary ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2009 Mercedes-Benz GL320 BlueTec 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

Like the big Two-Mode hybrid SUVs from General Motors, the Mercedes GL320 BlueTec is designed to be a more efficient kind of brute. It's designed for those who still feel that they need to tow a boat or trailer and have room inside for seven passengers and get significantly better fuel ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Honda Civic i-CDTi 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

It's time for another in our ongoing series of reviews of high mileage cars that Americans can't buy at any price. This time around we have Honda Civic i-CDTi from our friends at Honeywell. You may recall from some previous reviews that Honeywell is a major manufacturer of turbochargers and ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2009 Honda Fit Sport 5AT 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

One of the big success stories in Honda's lineup recently has been its smallest car (in the U.S. market at least) the Fit. Since its U.S. debut two years ago, Honda has been moving Fits out the door as fast they can build them. That pace really accelerated in 2008 as gas prices topped $4 per ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: Audi A5 3.0 TDI 6MT 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

In spite of some recent hiccups with plans by other manufacturers to introduce new diesel models in the U.S. market (see here), Audi is one company that at least publicly remains fully committed to oil burners. During the recently completed Audi Mileage Marathon, the company brought over ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ and Hybrid 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Malibu for a high res gallery There was a time not so many years ago when the best-selling cars in the U.S. market were mid-sized models from General Motors. Cars like the Oldsmobile Cutlass and Chevrolet Malibu outsold everything else by very healthy margin. In the middle of the 1980s, ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid Limited FWD 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the 2009 Escape Hybrid for a high-res gallery The very first production hybrid from a Detroit automaker has been with us since 2004 and going into the 2009 model year it has finally completed its second generation transformation. In 2007, Ford redesigned the all the visible elements of the ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Civic hybrid for a high-res gallery Toyota may have been the first automaker to bring a mass produced gas-electric hybrid to market overall, but Honda was the first to hit the road in the US with the Insight in late 1999. The insight wasn't a huge commercial success for many of the same ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 BMW 123d 3-door hatchback 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click above for high-res gallery of the BMW 123d We've reviewed a number of high-mileage and alternative fuel cars that can't be purchased here in the USA. Why bother wasting time on such unobtainable machines you might ask? It's because the number of high mileage cars available in this market is ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 MINI Cooper D [w/VIDEO] 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the MINI Cooper D for a high res gallery For reasons such as imported oil dependency and environmental concerns, there are some people who think personal cars are evil and must be eliminated from our roads immediately. This sentiment is patently unrealistic, and there's no shortage of people, ...

In the AutoblogGreen garage: paper Mitsubishi i MiEV 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

While we've featured many alternatively-powered cars on AutoblogGreen, this may be the first one that is fueled by the imagination. If you've been perusing the iMiEV microsite we told you about the other day you may have noticed a paper craft section. It's a special place that fans of the ...

Man in the Box: Driving the 2008 Nissan Cube 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Japan-spec 2008 Nissan Cube The Nissan Cube is coming to the U.S. next Spring, and we'll get our first look at the U.S.-spec car when it makes its debut at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show. I recently had the opportunity to drive a Japanese-market edition ...

First Ride: Piaggio MP3 400 and 500 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click above for high-res gallery of the Piaggio MP3 400 and 500 digg_url = 'http://digg.com/design/Piaggio_s_unique_MP3_scooter_2'; Piaggio's unique MP3 scooter, with its two wheels in front and one in back, has been turning heads since its introduction as a 250cc model a few years ago. After ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Saturn Vue Hybrid for a high res gallery Back in mid-2006, GM rolled out its first mainstream production hybrid, the Saturn Vue Green Line, fairly late in its product life cycle. That one featured the first iteration of the mild GM Hybrid system. It was in production for less than a year ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: Audi Q7 4.2 TDI 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Q7 4.2 TDI for a high-res gallery At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, Audi made a big show of the Q7 TDI that they were planning to introduce to the U.S. market. That particular model is coming late this year or early next and will be powered by a 3.0L V-6 diesel. At the same show the Germans ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Chevy Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Tahoe hybrid for a high-res gallery General Motors has had a checkered relationship with hybrids in the last few years. Through the 1990s they did a lot of development work in the area, particularly through the federally funded Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV). ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Lexus LS600h L - Yep, it's a hybrid! (w/ VIDEO) 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Lexus LS600h for a high res gallery Since Toyota introduced the world to the practical, mainstream hybrid vehicle a decade ago, it has sold over a million of them. Six different hybrid models are now offered, with three each under the Toyota and Lexus banners. While the Prius continues to ...

In the Autoblog Garage: 2007 Toyota Prius Touring 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click image for the Autoblog review of the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring The Toyota Prius is the poster child for an entire subculture of the green movement. Its fuel-stingy nature and negligible emissions have made it an icon. The media is on board with the hero worship, and the public has guzzled the ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Toyota Highlander hybrid 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Highlander for a high-res gallery Toyota unveiled the second generation of their Highlander crossover last February at the Chicago Auto Show and it followed the all too familiar pattern of bigger, wider, heavier. Fortunately it didn't grow a whole size class the way some vehicles have. ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2007 BMW 535d. Yes, it's a diesel! 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the diesel Bimmer for a high-res gallery digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/BMW_goes_green_with_the_new_Diesel_535d'; At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, BMW was prominently displaying their diesel engine technology, particularly the latest 3.0L twin turbocharged in-line six cylinder. At the ...

AutoblogGreen Short Take: 2008 Scion xB - packing on the pounds 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Click the xB for a high-res gallery Toyota has been taking plenty of hits from environmental groups of late for playing up a green image while working behind the scenes to neuter new fuel economy standards. The big Tundra pickup has gotten most of the attention as a gas hog, but another more ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Jeep for a high-res gallery Let's get something out the way first. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is not green. Now that we can agree on that, why is it being reviewed here on ABG? Because it's the first chance we've had to to spend an extended period with one of the new wave of diesel-powered ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Nissan Versa SL 6-speed 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Versa for a high res gallery Recently Nissan dropped off a brand new 2008 Versa SL hatchback at the AutoblogGreen garage for a week's worth of commuting and grocery fetching. The Versa was introduced to the US market in mid-2006 as a 2007 model to fill the slot that opened up below the ...

AutoblogGreen's convert your car to a plug-in project 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Warning: Don't try this. We don't know what may happen. We have not tried this ourselves yet. It may be unsafe for reasons we cannot predict. Imagine if you could convert your regular gas car into a plug-in car with off-the-shelf components? Maybe you can! That orange thing in the picture is a ...

In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Dodge Avenger SXT Flex-Fuel 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Click on the Avenger for a high-res gallery of our flex-fuel tester Here at ABG we've written pretty extensively about flex-fuel vehicles over the past year but we've never actually tried one out for a first hand evaluation. Thanks to Chrysler, that has now changed. They loaned us a 2008 Dodge ...

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Featured Galleries

  • 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom
  • Smart ED production
  • Tesla Roadster audio recording for video games
  • Production i-MiEVs in the UK
  • Hyundai 2.4L direct injected Theta II
  • Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid bus
  • Chevy Volt hits the streets in Royal Oak
  • 2010 Nissan LEAF
  • 2010 Mercedes-Benz ML450 hybrid
  • Renault Fluence ZE concept
  • Governor Schwarzenegger with the Zero S
  • Peugeot Concept HYbrid3 Evolution

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