EcoReport is your award-winning guide to green travel, green cars, and saving the green in your wallet on both.

EcoReport is written and edited by Evelyn Kanter, a professional journalist with a lifetime of experience a magazine and newspaper writer and photographer, radio and television news producer and reporter, and guidebook author and editor -- all focusing on travel, automotive, lifestyle, the environment, and your rights as a consumer.

Translation

    Translate to:

2011 Best Buy Car: 2011 Chevrolet Malibu Mid-Size Sedan

2011 Chevrolet Malibu wins "best buy" award plus safety awards

The eagerly-awaited extended range hybrid Chevrolet Volt has been getting all the headlines lately, along with many of the top car awards.  But so has the 2011 Chevrolet Malibu, which the Volt  looks like and even feels like behind the wheel, although the [...]

Share

Chevy Volt Buyers Can Get Free Charging Units

Chevrolet Volt buyers eligible for free home charging stations

The long-awaited Chevrolet Volt goes on sale Fall  2010.  A real problem for owners of electric cars and plug-in hybrids is that recharging stations are still limited.  General Motors and its partners will reduce what’s called range anxiety by making 15,000 charging stations available [...]

Share

Top Ten Green 2010 Cars

2010 Honda Civic GX tops green car list

The top-rated green vehicle of 2010 is not the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid, which tops most such lists.  The greenest vehicle title goes the Honda Civic GX, powered by natural gas.  Okay, the Toyota Prius is number two, and Honda Civic Hybrid claims spot three.

The top three green [...]

Share

Most Researched Car Brands of 2009

2009 Honda Accord was most researched car of year

2009 Honda Accord was most researched car of year

The five car companies that interested car-buyers most in 2009 were Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet and Nissan, in that order,  according to the  Kelley Blue Book.  But, the top five specific models researched were all named Honda and Toyota. 

The Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Honda Civic have been the top three researched models on the KBB website in one order or another since 2004.  Rounding out the high five for 2009 were the Honda CR-V and Toyota Corolla.

Ford and Chevrolet models were in the top 20, not the top ten.  Chevrolet’s all-new redesigned Equinox SUV and Camaro muscle car both made the most researched list for the first time.  That’s good news for beleagured General Motors, which started 2009 by declaring banruptcy. 

2009 Ford Fusion

2009 Ford Fusion

Also new to 2009 top 20 are the revamped Lexus RX 350 SUV and the  Ford Fusion, which was Ford’s top-selling model in 2009.   KBB says website interest in Ford grew steadily throughout 2009.  KBB  says its because Ford — unlike GM and Chrysler — stayed out of bankruptcy.  I say its because Ford kept making good news headlines, with the Fusion and Taurus getting top safety ratings, and with new technology breakthroughs such as inflatable seatbelts for rear seat passengers.

The combination of lower gas prices and last summer’s phenomenally successful “Cash for Clunkers” drew buyers away from subcompact cars such as the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and MINI Cooper, which were heavily researched in 2008.   

Here’s the complete list of the top 20 most researched cars of 2009:

Share

Mercedes F-Cell hydrogen fuel cell compact coming to U.S.

Mercedes-Benz F-Cell B-Class hydrogen fuel cell car

The Mercedes-Benz F-Cell hydrogen fuel cell car gets its U. S. debut at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show in December.  It’s a compact four-door hatchback, built on the B-Class platform which is popular in Europe and Asia, but Mercedes has not yet brought it [...]

Share