This week’s top stories picked by our editors feature a goodbye to the Volkswagen Beetle, technology to replace side mirrors, and a new way to own a Porsche. Continue reading >>>
This Week in the World of Cars: Sept 8 – 13
Green Updates
The Rise of the Electric Car: From GM’s EV1 to Now
Twenty two years ago, General Motors unveiled its all-electric car, the EV1, at the Los Angeles Auto Show on January 4, 1996. What better time to look back at how far the technology has come — and consider whether we are finally on the brink of acceptance on a worldwide scale.
Luxury Without Leather: Will Vegan Cars Gain Popularity?
Do a Google search for “vegan car” and the first result is likely to involve Tesla. The company is the first luxury automaker to offer a 100 percent animal-free vehicle. That, of course, means no leather seats, no leather steering wheel, no leather gear shifter, and no animal products in the glue that holds everything together.
Luxury cars have become synonymous with leather, but for people who are compassionate about the treatment of animals, the idea of leather can be repulsive. It’s a growing community of folks but the world’s most prominent automakers have yet to conform to their wishes and build cars that are truly animal-free.
One writer spent at least four months trying to sort out which cars use animal products and which don’t. His results are surprising because so few vehicles are completely free of animal skins or byproducts.
How likely is that to change?
Hybrid Cars: Not a Good Investment
CarGurus finds hybrid vehicles cost more to own than comparable gas-powered vehicles.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., September 10, 2010 — CarGurus® (http://www.cargurus.com/), a leading online automotive community, has determined that the majority of hybrid vehicles cost more to own and drive than comparable gas-powered vehicles. Based on the analysis of 45 hybrid cars which have similar non-hybrid, gas powered models, on average the Hybrid models cost 25% or over $2,200 more to own and operate than their non-hybrid counterparts.
Buying a new Hybrid carries with it a substantial cost premium over comparable gas-powered vehicles. Often time this cost premium can be quite substantial. In the 45 models studied, the average MSRP of hybrids was almost $6,400 more than that of their gas-powered counterparts. But the popular idea that hybrids actually cost less to own and drive via higher resale values and reduced gas expenses proved false in 76% of the cases examined. In the large majority of cases, the gas savings from hybrids did not overcome the substantial price premium paid at the time of purchase.