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Our favorites from the New York auto show; BMW, Google, and the U.S. make electric car moves this week; Chevy recalls the Cruze after one very high-profile screwup; and we take a spin the electric Smart car.

• CNET's New York auto show roundup

• Download BMW Evolve app to see if an electric car is right for you

• U.S./Google map of places to fuel your alternative energy car

• PSCars.com graphical all-car configurator

• 2011 Chevy Cruze loses steering wheel, let's hold our horses.… Read more

As a herald of an electric-car future, jurors for the World Car Awards named the Nissan Leaf as the 2011 World Car. The New York auto show is the yearly venue for the announcement, which also includes awards for performance, design, and environmentalism.

That latter category, the World Green Car, went to the Chevy Volt this year. The Nissan Leaf was a runner-up for the Green award.

The top three competitors for the World Car Award were the Nissan Leaf, Audi A8, and BMW 5-series. The jurors commented that "The Leaf is the gateway to a brave new electric … Read more

At the tail end of the international auto show season, automakers still have a few tricks up their sleeves, new models and concepts to unveil at the 2011 New York auto show. Many small cars got significant updates during the first day of the show, and more efficient engines entered the mix.

Check out our first day's coverage of the 2011 New York auto show.

2013 Ford Taurus gets two efficient engine options

Ford unwraps the 2013 Taurus SHO

2012 Volkswagen Beetle (photos)

2012 Nissan Versa (photos)

2012 Honda Civic Hybrid gets 44 mpg (photos)

2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 (photos)… Read more

BMW unveiled its production version of the ActiveE electric vehicle at the 2011 New York International Auto show. The carmaker plans to ship 700 EVs to the U.S. for long-term customer testing this fall. Priced at $499 per month with a $2,250 down payment for a 24-month lease, the BMW ActiveE is one of the more affordable BMWs on the market. The trade-off, of course, is its limited range.

The BMW ActiveE is being billed by the company as a no-compromise electric vehicle. A zero tailpipe emissions vehicle theoretically means zero guilt, and yet you still get the … Read more

BMW launched an app that gives conventional car drivers a hypothetical taste of electric-car living, but without the real-world hassle of range anxiety. The free BMW Evolve app is available for iPhone and Android phones and you don't need an electric vehicle to try it out. In fact, that's the point--the app is a little like a Tamagotchi for electric cars.

Using the app, each day you start out with a 100-mile range for your pretend EV. The app tracks your driving distance using the phone's GPS, and lets you "get charged" at destinations that … Read more

Over the last five years, BMW pushed technology in its cars, launching such features as adaptive cruise control, head-up displays, navigation systems with topographic maps, and night vision. Recently, the company has even added data feeds to its cars for stock and fuel prices, along with e-mails read from BlackBerry devices. But among all this tech goodness, one car was left behind. The poor X3 remained stuck with technology from its 2004 launch.

Finally BMW paid attention to the redheaded stepchild of its lineup, lavishing almost every technological feature in the hope chest on it, and even coming up with … Read more

We take an inside look at the New York auto show. Is your car one of the most stolen? Also, a TV chef makes a serious car downgrade, and we drive one of the most-awaited new BMWs.

• CNET Review of the 2011 BMW X3 xDrive35i

• Nissan Leaf starting problems

• New York auto show: Chevy MyLink

• New York auto show: Lexus LF- Gh concept

• New York auto show: New Mercedes A-class concept

• CNET's LOL cars gallery!

The X3 is all-new, more like an X5 in size, and now with the goodness of Google baked right in! Brian Cooley takes you for a drive to check the tech.

(You can also read CNET's full review of the 2011 BMW X3)

The German automakers' battle to dominate China's luxury market is about to spread to a new product segment: small cars and crossovers.

Mercedes-Benz and Audi have chosen the Shanghai auto show for the world debut of two models: a small hatchback dubbed the Mercedes Concept A-Class and the Audi Q3 crossover.

The four-seat Concept A-Class, which is positioned as a sporty rival to the BMW 1-series and Audi A3, is powered by a turbocharged, direct-injection 2-liter gasoline engine that generates 210 horsepower.

The front-wheel-drive car's four-cylinder engine is mated to a dual-clutch transmission.

Other features include a radar-based … Read more