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The 2012 Ford Focus Electric, 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas, 2012 Mitsubishi i, 2012 Toyota Prius v, and 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI are all finalists for 2012 Green Car of the Year, Green Car Journal announced today in a press release.

The winner will be announced during a press conference at a Los Angeles Auto Show press day on November 17. This marks the seventh consecutive year the award has been given out.

Green Car Journal editors considered dozens of models that were designed to reduce their environmental impact and be more energy-efficient. According to the press release, the cars … Read more

The approval of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act last year essentially mandated that electric vehicles or hybrids running only on electric power--devoid of the actual engine noise that makes pedestrians (particularly the visually impaired) aware that a vehicle is approaching--must now generate some sort of artificial proximity notification noise. However, although the Act mandated that EVs must make a sound, it didn't specify exactly what sound they should make. This means that every EV and hybrid manufacturer is free to make its cars sound like anything.

Toyota has released a video that explains the vehicle proximity notification sound designed … Read more

Toyota detailed pricing for two new members of its hybrid Prius family, including a plug-in Prius which will cost less than $30,000 after a federal tax credit.

The base price of the 2012 Prius Plug-in Hybrid is $32,000 and a higher-end Advanced trim will cost $39,525. The plug-in will be eligible for a $2,500 federal tax credit, which is calculated by the size of the battery.

Toyota also announced the Prius V, a larger crossover version of the Prius, will cost between $26,400 and $29,990 depending on the model. Mileage for the Prius V … Read more

Ford EV's will run on solar...sort of. Harman Kardon blends home tech and car tech. Andy Rooney could live without all of it. And we drive the Mini Cooper Clubman and its connected app.

• CNET checks the tech in the Mini Cooper Clubman JCW

• Ford offers solar panels to go with its EVs

• Google self-driving car crashes--it wasn't driving.

• BMWs will now read Facebook and Twitter updates to you

• CNET's LOLCars gallery!

Google isn't alone on the road to commercialize driverless cars. Researchers at the National University of Defense Technology in China recently debuted an autonomous vehicle of their own that could give the technology giant a run for its money.

In a partnership with China's First Auto Works, university researchers equipped a Hongqi HQ3 sedan with cameras, sensors, and a computer that enables it to start, navigate traffic, and stop without help from a driver. The autonomous vehicle made a 154-mile journey on a busy freeway from the Hunan province's capital of Changsha to Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, in 3 hours and 20 minutes.

The driverless Hongqui HQ3 doesn't use GPS technology to figure out where it is or how to get where it's going. Rather, it relies solely on its cameras and sensors to watch for traffic, obey speed limits, and make lane changes. Its computer is capable of making driving decisions in 40 milliseconds compared with the 500 milliseconds a human driver takes, and because the HQ3 can respond more quickly to traffic scenarios, it's theoretically safer. … Read more

Looking through the EPA listings for 2011 model year cars, we picked out the most fuel efficient and compared them by a few different data points. Topping the EPA list is the 2011 Nissan Leaf, with its massive 99 mpg equivalent fuel economy. This number represents the combined city and highway mileage.

The 2011 Chevy Volt is more difficult to place, as the EPA lists two fuel economy figures, 93 mpg equivalent for electric operation and 37 mpg for gasoline operation. A simple average shows 65 mpg, which isn't particularly accurate but will do for this comparison.

That hybrid … Read more

Why is the Leaf outselling the Volt? Those pesky flying cars just won't go away. Infiniti and Scion think small is the next big thing. And we take you for a drive in the no longer small 2011 Audi A4.

• We love the 2011 Audi A4 2.0T

• New Contour+ HD camera is a CNET Editors' Choice

• 5 carpool apps that make getting around easier

• CNET picks 10 modern classic cars you should snap up today

• Prius Sport package has us puzzled… Read more

Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best solution. Today, we try to convince one listener to upgrade his car stereo and to convince another listener NOT to upgrade his Prius.

What if I told you that the Blade Runner-esque vehicle in the photo above was the next Prius? Would you be excited? Well, the bad news is that the concept above is likely not the next Prius, it's a design study by industrial designer Eric Leong. The good news is that Leong completed this study as part of last year's Toyota Design internship at the automaker's Advanced Design Studio in Tokyo, Japan, so at the very least there is a Toyota connection.

Leong's concept features a windswept design that channels airflow around the vehicle to reduce … Read more