detroitautoshow2016
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Inhabitat's Week in Green: The Detroit Auto Show, SOTU and more!
The North American International Auto Show kicked off this week in Detroit, and we hit the floor to bring you seven of the best green cars, including a hot hydrogen sedan and the world's first electric minivan. The Obama administration heralded the age of autonomous vehicles with a new plan to invest $4 billion in self-driving car technology. As usual, Tesla is ahead of the curve: This week Elon Musk announced that the automaker's first fully autonomous cars will hit streets by the year 2018. And Tesla also took honors as the Model S was declared the world's top-selling electric car of 2015.
VW's latest plug-in hybrid is built for off-roading
Most plug-in hybrid vehicles are better-suited to the streets than mud and rocks, but Volkswagen thinks it can make an exception. Its just-unveiled Tiguan GTE Active Concept mates a 148HP gas engine with two electric motors to provide an environmentally responsible off-roader. It can drive 20 miles solely on electric power, even in rough conditions, but has that conventional engine to provide extra grunt and range (580 miles total) for long expeditions.
