Every weekday, our guide to the Web takes care of business, tackling tech topics that really matter to everybody. From topic definitions to topical rants, Dan Gray’s pieces inform as much as they entertain.
After spending a week reviewing a 2010 Toyota Prius, I’m still shaking my head. The gasoline engine in the 2010 model is larger than the previous year’s model (1.8 liters vs 1.5 liters), yet it’s more fuel efficient. One might think that a larger displacement would lead to more fuel consumption, rather than less … [...]
After spending a week test-driving the 2010 Honda Insight, I’ve come to a conclusion. If saving money is as (or more) important than saving gasoline, the Honda Insight shines when it comes to overall cost of ownership. While there’s no question that the Toyota Prius gets better mileage, the impact of a five mile per [...]
Are you ready for an LCD dashboard display in your car? Last month, I had the opportunity to spend an extra-long weekend with a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. This space-age, yet low-key sedan offers a host of compelling features - including the best gas mileage ratings in its class (along with Microsoft Sync). But the [...]
Over the course of the last year, I’ve had the opportunity to spend a total of three weeks with two Toyota Yaris and one Prius. After spending seven days with a 2009 Yaris five-door last month, I’ve come to the conclusion that when it comes down to pure dollars and cents, Y > P.
I’ve been [...]
When you need to transport half a dozen people over hundred miles of highway, you’re faced with a question that might seem like it’s straight out of a junior high school math class. Is it more cost-effective to pack all six folks into a minivan or should you split the load between two smaller and [...]
In a remarkable start to the week, Ford set a monumental milestone as a team of drivers flew past the 1,000 mile mark on one tank of gas in a 2010 Fusion Hybrid (on their way to an astounding 1445.7 miles). The 1,000 mile marker was broken while General Motors CEO Fritz Hendersen was in [...]
Have you ever been in the right place at the wrong time? I began producing car reviews roughly one year ago, on a wing and a prayer. While I could have never predicted the events of the past twelve months, I’ve kept my resolve and held true to my goals. When I started out, I [...]
When it comes to new cars these days, there’s plenty of supply, but little demand. Congress aims to change that with a provision that was added to the economic stimulus bill that’s just passed the Senate. No question about it … Congress wants you to buy a car this year.
The provision will allow you to [...]
If you’ve never attended a big car show, you’ve probably never experienced the joy and wonder of seeing a concept car for the first time with your own eyes. A blurry little JPEG on a website doesn’t do justice to the designers’ work. There’s nothing quite like watching a one-of-a-kind marvel of modern design rotating [...]
With the credit market still frosty and gasoline prices nearly a third of what they were at their peak this past summer, sales of 2008 hybrid models have plunged precipitously. Green Car Congress reports that hybrid sales are off by 50% for the month of November. It’s a far cry from six months ago, when [...]
I was in Washington DC last week while the media was awash in the Detroit Bailout story. The Big 3 CEOs rode down from the Motor City in a small armada of their companies hybrid vehicles to state their case before Congressional committees. I jumped on the Northeast Corridor line and rode Amtrak to attend [...]
Of all the trucks shown at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers) Show in Las Vegas last week, just one emerged with the geek crown. Painted in an aprapros green and tucked to the side of Ford’s booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s central hall, PML Flightlink’s HI-PA Drive electric Ford F-150 conversion wowed the [...]
It’s safe to say that the iconic Toyota Prius isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. While legions of fans love Toyota’s least expensive and most fuel-efficient hybrid, many folks simply can’t stand the styling. While the shape of the car is based upon aerodynamics rather than the stylistic whims of the designers, that’s beyond the scope [...]
New car sales have fallen off a cliff. It’s not just that buyers are staying away from the showrooms in droves, its that the new cars they most desire are in remarkably short supply. There’s little-to-no room to haggle on the hottest-selling fuel-efficient cars, while the gas guzzling belles of last year’s ball sit collecting [...]
It’s easy to get sidetracked by the marketing blitz. There are plenty of fuel efficient cars that are neither hybrids nor new. Looking to the conventional used car market for your next vehicle purchase might be a prudent financial move. With the lack of depreciation in many hybrid models, the attractiveness of an older Honda [...]
When you look at the historical chart of hybrid gas mileage, you just have to wonder … when are the auto manufacturers going to take things to the next level? The Honda Insight, the earliest hybrid, was rated at 70 miles per gallon on the highway. Granted it was a wee little two seater with [...]
Ready or not, the dawn of the electric car era is in sight.
Electric car fanatics gathered at the Plug-in Electric Vehicles 2008 conference last week in Washington DC. The event, hosted by the Brookings Institute and Google.org, packed the main ballroom of the Washington Hyatt on Capitol Hill.
A standing room only crowd heard words of encouragement [...]
Would you drive a hybrid car?
Just a few years back, I never thought I would.
But here it is, Spring 2008 and I’ve just spent a month with four different hybrids — two sedans and two SUVs. I have two more on the way. I’ve made a pledge to deliver hybrid reviews of nearly all of [...]
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard (or read) folks say that they “wouldn’t buy a hybrid until it gets 100 miles per gallon (MPG).”
A good bit has changed since I wrote about the CalCars.com mod back in the summer of 2005.
That good bit is the price.
Think 100 MPG is so tough to achieve?
Behold [...]
It’s all about the green. We’re all getting squeezed these days. Even if you’re not worried about the environment, you’ve got to be concerned about the green that’s flowing at an ever-increasing rate from your wallet.
Kids can be forgiven for their cluelessness when it comes to wasting energy. Parents are often the ones running around [...]
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