Europe/EU

General Motors' Opel division is adding metaphorical fire to the real dispute over a new air-conditioning refrigerant's potential flammability. Opel recently ran crash tests with an SUV using a refrigerant, called HFO-1234yf, that is being pushed by the European Union as a way to cut greenhouse ...

As the ancient idiom says, "Waste not, want not." Researchers at Lund University in Sweden are making it happen by turning ash from burned garbage into hydrogen. "The ash can be used as a resource through recovery of hydrogen gas instead of being allowed to be released into the air as at ...

The Audi A1 e-tron extended-range plug-in, which has already been extensively tested by the automaker, will be further put under the microscope, as it were, by Germany's National Platform of Electrification (NPE). The test is part of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research's ...

We're not expecting the next whaling-ship ramming Greenpeace boat to have a VW logo on it, but it's nice that the two entities are finally getting together in the name of lower emissions. Volkswagen and Greenpeace leaders recently agreed that Europe's largest automaker would pledge to cut its ...

File this under the "if it's not one thing, it's another" department. France, whose largest automaker Renault is already addressing concerns over what may be less-than-expected demand for electric vehicles, has a power grid that may be insufficient should consumers adopt plug-in vehicles in ...

Stick your head too close to an old car's exhaust, and we're willing to be dollars to donuts that you'll start coughing. It turns out that vehicle exhaust isn't just bad for you until the air clears. All that nastiness has a serious long-term effect, and can even cause asthma in children. That's ...

Quick. If we say, "electric scooter," what springs to mind? A retro-styled off-brand offering from China? A plush maxi-sized conveyance for mature riders? Anything except, we imagine, the E-Speed concept from KTM that was just revealed at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show. This sexy little beastie could ...

Another German automaker has rejected the air conditioning refrigerant that's scheduled to be adopted by global automakers in 2017. Earlier this month, Volkswagen lined up with Daimler and BMW to support Daimler's findings from last year that the new refrigerant, called HFO-1234yf, can become ...

San Francisco Bay Area readers, or anyone who has ridden (or driven behind) Muni buses, are more than familiar with the concept of electric-powered commercial vehicles getting energy through a roof-mounted apparatus connected to wires. Now, Sweden-based Scania and German company Siemens are ...

General Motors Vice Chairman Steve Girsky has had it up to his eyeballs with Europe. It's one thing to attempt to bail out GM's Opel subsidiary in the beleaguered European auto market. It's another to market the Opel Ampera plug-in hybrid to such tepid response. "All the governments in Europe ...

Automakers don't necessarily sell the same vehicles in both North America and Europe, but a new report from the Continent's Transport And Environment makes it sound like the fuel-economy rating... questions we've seen here in the US might also be happening across The Pond. Well, except over there ...

Toyota is showing off its European-market minicar iQ with a splash on the streets of Portugal. An ultra-limited edition Toyota iQ, called the iQ Urban Art was created by award-winning artist Joana Vasconcelos. There are only five editions going on sale, each one featuring a color scheme inspired ...

The Geneva Motor Show and upcoming Nürburgring 24 Hours will be a showcase for Aston Martin to honor its history and to show off the possibilities of what sports cars can do today – including racing in a hydrogen hybrid. Aston Martin head Ulrich Bez announced during the Geneva Motor ...

If you're worried that the Nissan Leaf is a bit pricey (even with incentives), keep in mind that it all depends on your lifestyle. For example, if you're the president of Georgia and you're used to being whisked around in an armored limousine, driving your Leaf to the airport might make you look ...

With more than a half-million words in the English language and 10 digits to choose from, Ford had ample opportunity to not name its new European carsharing service pretty much the same as a competing service operated by Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler. Alas, opportunity squandered. Sometime before ...

A new electric supercar is born. Sort of. Mostly. Applus Idiada recently lifted the sheet from the very slick all-electric Volar-E at the Circuit de Catalunya to reveal a vehicle that has the fingerprints of Rimac Automobili all over it. Indeed, it appears to be the exact same unit that the ...

To paraphrase the old Sally Field line from the Oscars: they liked 'em. They really liked 'em. With BMW set to unveil its first two plug-ins under its "i" badge within the next 12 months or so (the i3 is due in late 2013, the i8 in the first half of 2014), journalists from Car Magazine and UK's ...

France's environment minister says diesel fuel, which powers about 80 percent of the country's light-duty vehicles, should be taxed at higher levels for the sake of public health, Bloomberg News reports. Delphine Batho, in a radio interview, said the idea of increasing diesel taxes is a "public ...

Nissan has got your "range extender" right here. The Japanese automaker says its UK-produced all-electric 2013 Leaf will have a single-charge range of 124 miles, or about 14 percent more than the Japan-produced 2012 Leafs that had a 109-mile single-charge range. Better still, Nissan's again ...

In the "You Gotta Start Somewhere" Department, Turkish government officials are vowing to fund the development of Turkish-made electric vehicles in order to increase regional competitiveness within the alt-fuel world, Hurriyet Daily News says. Turkey's Science Ministry will buy 200 electric cars ...