green living, smart spending
The 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is the 60th anniversary of what has become the most famous and most prestigious vintage and antique car show in the United States, perhaps even the world. The Pebble Beach Concours is this weekend, August 13-15, attracting thousands of classic car fans to Monterey and Carmel, California, to see
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What’s your dream car for a summer road trip? Mine would be a fast, sexy roadster, preferably a convertible, preferably a two-seater, probably in red, with enough trunk space for a weekend bag for each of us. The 2011 Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 V10 tops the list, according to the August issue of the Robb Report.
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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 to Chevy Volt buyers. These are heavy-duty 240-volt charging stations, which
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Car sales are a great indicator of the state of the economy. when car sales are down, so is the economy. In April 2010, car sales were up 20% over April 2009. That’s a good sign that the economy is turning around. Of course, some brands did better than others. Nissan had the largest increase
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Who says Germans don’t have a sense of humor? Audi ads on the XLIV Super Bowl are a funny serious look at saving fuel and saving our natural resources. Green police go after the bag guys — the ones who use styrofoam cups and paper plates, and the ones who do not drive fuel efficient
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Talk about sustainable energy — recharge your electric car with solar power. There are a handful of solar-powered charging stations around the world where drivers can juice up their EV vehicles, and one of them has just opened in New York City. Solar power to recharge EV cars could be a game-changer, and especially this concept design,
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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 cars list from the American Council for an Energy Efficient
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The Audi brand is in the fast-lane, for sure. Audi models have been sweeping awards at recent auto shows. Let’s start with the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, now underway. The all-new 2011 Audi A8 luxury performance sedan took top honors in the prestigious EyesOn Design awards, which recognizes — you guessed it — design. The A8 is a
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The new VW hybrid compact sports coupe unveiled this week at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show has received a best in show award from AutoWeek. The car is much better than its name, which is Volkswagen New Compact Coupe, or NCC. Every year, editors from AutoWeek search the halls of the world’s biggest auto shows,
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Time magazine is justifiably famous for its annual “Person of the Year” awards. But that’s not the only award it bestows each year. I was delighted to find an electric car, the plug-in Nissan LEAF on the list of Time’s top inventions of 2009. It is the only vehicle on the 2009 list. What makes the Nissan
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