Jim Motavalli

MY MOST RECENT CONTENT

A confirmed SUV hater warms to a crossover

Mon, Aug 20 2012 at 1:46 PM

I've loathed boxy four-wheel-drives since the 1980s. I never, ever saw the point. But now they've evolved into car-based crossovers with 30 mpg, and I'm warming up. A little.

Despite the red-meat rhetoric, Texas benefits mightily from clean energy projects

Fri, Aug 17 2012 at 11:21 AM

Austin's 'Chevy Volt Village' makes a handy political target, but in fact clean energy — and especially wind power — has been very, very good for the economy of Texas.

GM's electric Spark: It's all about the batteries

Wed, Aug 15 2012 at 1:23 PM

General Motors is preparing to unveil its first all-electric car since the EV1. And speculation is growing about the breakthrough battery company that GM has invested in. Are 300-mile, $20,000 EVs in our near future?

More clean cars equals more jobs

Sun, Aug 12 2012 at 11:03 PM

Everybody's worried about the high unemployment rate, and they should be. But fuel-efficient cars, hybrids and electrics are putting Americans to work big time.

Secrets of the congestion lobby

Thu, Aug 09 2012 at 10:07 AM

The highway lobby tells Congress what to do, but that doesn't stop critics from accusing environmentalists, urban planners and rail advocates of ruining the country and hating the all-American automobile.

6 dumb car thieves

Fri, Aug 03 2012 at 1:30 PM

Stealing a car isn't rocket science, but it may as well be for these aspiring master criminals, all of whom got caught.

Why you should keep your clunker

Wed, Aug 01 2012 at 3:50 PM

Americans are holding on to their old cars, both because of financial pressures and because 150,000 miles is a reasonable expectation. Want another factor? Automakers aren't changing styling every year.

Can the E-Bugster fix Volkswagen's green credibility gap?

Fri, Jul 27 2012 at 2:38 PM

Volkswagen has been slow to develop green cars (other than the diesels popular in Europe). But the cute and sexy E-Bugster roadster is a big step in the right direction.

5 dumb things drivers do

Wed, Jul 25 2012 at 1:45 PM

There you are, yakking on your cellphone while I sit fuming at a green light one car behind. And that's just one of many things that you, the American driver, has done to me.

3 cool tech innovations for cars

Fri, Jul 20 2012 at 2:28 PM

Hybrids without batteries, remote Honda EV apps and personal car-sharing hitches a ride with GM's OnStar.

Commenting (6)

The article is about the

Mon, Aug 29 2011 at 10:30 AM

The article is about the "most likely to succeed," not about my personal favorites. But I do like the Volt--precisely for the reason I like other plug-in hybrids. It is electricity without the range anxiety. I do hope they make a cheaper version, such as a production version of the MPV5 crossover (based on the Volt) and shown in China.

I re-read my article and

Mon, Aug 29 2011 at 10:27 AM

I re-read my article and didn't see any typos, so maybe you're on a higher plane.

I re-read my article and

Mon, Aug 29 2011 at 10:27 AM

I re-read my article and didn't see any typos, so maybe you're on a higher plane.

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Green Tech Blogger

Member since August 2008

Jim is a freelance journalist, speaker, book author, radio personality and expert on all things environmental.

Jim blogs weekly for The New York Times, is a regular contributor to The New York Times’ "Automobiles" section, and has a weekly syndicated "Wheels" column. He also contributes to The Daily Green. He writes “Green Living” for the Environmental Defense newsletter and has contributed to Men's Journal, AMC Outdoors, Popular Mechanics, The Nation, The Boston Globe, Philadelphia Review, Salon, Grist, The Guardian, Tomorrow Magazine, Greenwich Magazine, Sierra and many other newspapers, magazines, and websites. He is a two-time winner of the Global Media Award from the Population Institute, and has shared his environmental expertise in radio interviews across the country.

His books include Naked in the Woods: Joseph Knowles and the Legacy of Frontier Fakery,Forward Drive: The Race to Build "Clean" Cars for the Future and Feeling the Heat: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Climate Change.

An , Jim is as comfortable lecturing at environmental conferences or academic gatherings as he is addressing the general public. His speeches are provocative and relevant.

Jim spent 14 years as editor of , a national bi-monthly where he now contributes as a senior writer. He has also served as executive editor for New Mass Media and edited an alternative news weekly. He is a member of the Society for Environmental Journalists (SEJ) and has taught journalism at Fairfield University and University of Connecticut. He hosts a bi-weekly public affairs and music radio show on listener-sponsored WPKN-FM.

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Jim Motavalli

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