Autoblog Green

Romain Dumas' first sight of the Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak was, like the rest of the world, via the weekend livestreamed press conference. Between stints at Monza, viewing it on his phone, he watched the covers come off the very car he'll be racing in just 62 days. His initial reaction? "Wow, that's a proper one!"

A federal court in New York on Monday blocked the Trump administration's decision to delay a rule that would raise penalties for automakers who do not meet federal fuel efficiency requirements.

It looks like the Mitsubishi Lancer is about to undertake a daring transformation from a ten-year-old saloon to a crossover. The Eclipse has already shed its coupe roots and become the Eclipse Cross, and now it's the Lancer's turn to become a high-rider.

This year's Detroit Auto Show was a bit light on forward-looking concepts, so the Infiniti Q Inspiration was a highlight, what with it's gorgeous curves and elegant interior. And lucky for us, Infiniti has decided to bring the lovely sedan to production. It will have a substantial difference to the concept, though ...

We need to add another high-tech 18-wheeler entry to the growing list of players at the table: Shell collaborated with AirFlow Truck Company the truck you see above, dubbed Starship. The tractor-trailer combo isn't the wildest rival in the bunch, but it features the best of current technology aided by a host of major and minor tweaks from stem to stern. Shell considers the the Class 8 Truck equivalent of the Project M T25 city car it worked on with legendary English designer Gordon Murray.

Volvo Trucks plans to share battery technology across its brands to tame development and production costs for the crucial but expensive component, as the world's second-largest truck maker ramps up electric offerings, the company told Reuters on Monday.

Ford and General Motors signed an agreement five years ago to jointly develop nine- and 10-speed automatic transmissions as a way to lower costs and achieve higher fuel economy amid tightening federal rules. But now, Ford is saying no thanks to the nine-speed box developed by its crosstown rival.

Last week, Volkswagen announced its Electrify America would build EV charging stations at over 100 Walmart locations around the country, adding to our needed recharging infrastructure. Today, Target followed suit, saying it will do its own buildout, raising the number of chargers at its properties from 18 to more than 600 parking spaces over the next two years. They'll be located at more than 100 sites in 20 states.

BMW recently announced its intention to skip next year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, issuing a statement about re-evaluating its trade-show strategy that amounted to the age-old "It's not you, it's me." Only this time it appears to be true: Bimmer is now planning to significantly pare back its presence at the 2019 show in Frankfurt, in its own backyard.

If the 2019 Toyota Avalon isn't fit enough to survive, then the entire full-size sedan species is doomed to extinction. It's really simple as that, because as the new-and-improved replacement for a car that was already well-entrenched as the segment benchmark, it stands the best chance of coaxing customers away from an onslaught of SUVs and similarly priced smaller sedans with fancier badges. Perhaps it could even snag a few people not yet old enough to collect Social Security.

It seems that Volkswagen is rolling out a new I.D. concept every few months, all previewing a production car arriving next year. In just the past few months, we've seen the I.D. Buzz, I.D. Crozz and I.D. Vizzion. Today, there's a new high-performance version, the Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak. As the name implies, this is made to tackle the world's most infamous hill climb.

Just last month, we learned that the new all-electric BMW iX3 crossover would debut soon at the 2018 Beijing Motor Show. On Friday, BMW finally revealed a short teaser video on Twitter, showing off a new take on the company's iconic grille design. Though next week's car may simply be a concept, it's the first we've seen of the German automaker's answer to the Jaguar i-Pace and upcoming Audi E-Tron.

German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze has told a newspaper she does not think software updates for diesel vehicles in Germany will be enough to solve air quality problems and that hardware retrofits are the only way to avoid driving bans.

If you're looking at maximizing fuel economy or getting a car with green cred, you're probably already thinking about a battery-electric vehicle (also referred to as an EV), a gasoline-electric hybrid, or a plug-in hybrid. And we do, too. That's why there's a special category in our Car Finder tool just for environmentally-friendly cars, trucks, and crossovers. You'll can further sort by specific green powertrain, so if you're only looking for plug-in hybrids you can filter out the rest. Filter

Tesla's troubles with media reports on working conditions and union organizing took a hard right turn on Monday. In response to Reveal's report on Tesla's workplace safety, the auto manufacturer accused the Pulitzer-finalist of being "an extremist organization working directly with union supporters to create a calculated disinformation campaign against Tesla."

Lithium battery technology company Alternet Systems announced Tuesday the formation of a new company that will build an electric motorcycle based on the classic 1938 BMW R71 motorcycle with sidecar used by German troops during World War II and by Steve McQueen to outrun them in the 1963 film "The Great Escape."

Just days ago, we posted the interior teaser image Mercedes-Maybach released of its Ultimate Luxury concept due to be presented at the Beijing Motor Show. Now photos of the entire vehicle, inside and out, have leaked online courtesy of the manufacturer.

Porsche's head of powertrain development has been arrested by German police in the sweeping investigation of diesel emissions violations by parent company Volkswagen Group, sources told German media outlets.

TreeRover is a robot experiment that autonomously plants trees in areas that suffer from having none. The robot took 4 months to create and is the invention of two students from UVic Electrical and Computer Engineering. TreeRover is still being modified and enhanced to navigate further. Learn more at iotatechnologies.ca. Transcript: This robot plants trees to save the environment. TreeRover is a robotic experiment designed to plant trees in areas that suffer from having none. Created by two UVi

We love driving the Ford Mustang. We've got one — a GT — in the Autoblog stable at the moment, and the keys to that V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive beast are highly coveted in the office. Some of us (well, maybe just this particular author) feel a tinge of guilt, though, when we fire it up and lustfully rev the engine. We can't help but think of the fuel it gulps on our spirited commutes home. For those of us with a heavy conscience, it looks like we'll be getting a greener offering in