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BMW i3 wins 2015 Green Car of the Year award

The popular little BMW i3 (popular in the US, at least) was named the 2015 Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show today. The award doesn't just take into account a car's green credentials but also its "availability to the mass market." While the i3 is a bit expensive, starting at $41,350, it is becoming available at BMW dealers across the country, which cannot be said about a lot of other new plug-in vehicles released these past few years. The other finalists this year were the CNG-powered Chevy Impala Bi-Fuel, the Audi A3 TDI, the Honda Fit and the VW Golf. The BMW i3 with range extender gets a fuel economy rating of 117 MPGe and 39 miles per gallon (in gas mode) with a 72-mile EV range. The EV-only version gets 124 MPGe combined (137 in the city and 111 on the highway) and has an EV range of 81 miles. Green Car Journal has handed out the award every year for ten years now, naming the Honda Accord Hybrid/Plug-In Hybrid the winner last year, the Ford Fusion models (plug-in hybrid and hybrid) in 2013, the Honda Civic Natural Gas in 2012 and the Chevrolet Volt in 2011. BMW i3 NAMED GREEN CAR JOURNAL'S 2015 GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR" Milestone Carbon Fiber Electric Car Wins the Auto Industry's Most Important Environmental Award at Los Angeles Auto Show LOS ANGELES, CA (November 20, 2014) – BMW's i3, an innovative electric car built with a lightweight carbon fiber passenger cell and an aluminum drive module, has been named Green Car Journal's 2015 Green Car of the Year®, which was announced at the LA Auto Show. Green Car of the Year® finalists also included the Audi A3 TDI, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel, Honda Fit, and VW Golf. The Green Car of the Year® award is an honor widely recognized as the auto industry's most important environmental accolade. Green Car Journal, the leading voice in the intersection of automobiles, energy, and the environment since the publication's launch in 1992, celebrates the high-profile award's 10th anniversary at the L.A. Auto Show this year. "BMW's i3 is a milestone vehicle in many respects and illustrates the automaker's expansive vision of future motoring," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and CarsOfChange.com.

Take a look at the shocking Rolls-Royce Next 100 concept

Rolls-Royce showed off its Vision Next 100 concept today in London, giving a look at what its vehicles might look like a century years from now. Each BMW brand will show its own concept this year; BMW's Vision Next 100 concept was an interesting mix of textile-like patterns with stretchy fenders and a very 2010s four-door coupe shape, but this Rolls-Royce concept looks more like a luxury version of a World Solar Challenge racer. The car's official title is 103EX, following the convention of recent Roller concepts. Whereas its BMW counterpart was perhaps a safe, predictable vision of the future, the Rolls is a striking vehicle and a big departure for the brand. Whether it works as a whole for you or not, it represents the kind of stylistic provocation that made ex-BMW stylist Chris Bangle a household name. While the early Bangle cars were extremely controversial, this Rolls concept is clearly the heir of his penchant for sharply creased character lines. Call the rocker panel crease flame surfacing if you want. The floating headlamps and blade-edged verticality of the fenders are classic Rolls: imposing and visually heavy, without necessarily being classically beautiful. The square, flat grille is, to my eyes, much less successfully integrated. It seems like Rolls had the perfect opportunity to evolve the trademark grille into something more contemporary. In 100 years, the brand will still need to lean on this sort of anachronism? That seems short-sighted. We'll have more on this concept from our man on the ground in London later today. Featured Gallery Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 Concept View 27 Photos Design/Style BMW Rolls-Royce Coupe Autonomous Vehicles Concept Cars Future Vehicles Luxury

2013 Nissan GT-R and 2013 Alpina B6 mix it up on track and street

Here we have Autocar making an unforeseen comparison: the Nissan GT-R against the Alpina B6 at Brands Hatch and on public roads. Steve Sutcliffe clobbers the circuit in the 3,828-pound, all-wheel-drive sports car, then sees how well the 4,114-pound, rear-wheel drive grand tourer does against it.
Sutcliffe says there are quite a few similarities between the two cars, but that's really only on the spec sheet. The Nissan's got two turbos attached to its 3.8-liter V6, 542 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. The Alpina's got two turbos attached to its 4.4-liter V8, 532 hp and 528 lb-ft. But one's brief is to be a monster on the track, the other on the boulevard, and if there's anything the video demonstrates, it's each car's focus.