Ford fuel economy, EPA ends talks, better hybrids, Audi ad: Today’s Car NewsFord fuel economy, EPA ends talks, better hybrids, Audi ad: Today’s Car News

Ford opened an investigation into the way it conducts fuel economy tests. The EPA quit speaking to California in their dispute over emissions rules. Half of Consumer Reports top picks for 2019 include hybrids or plug-in cars. And Audi makes good on advertising the performance benefits of an electric car. All this and more on Green Car Reports.
After employees expressed concern in an internal tip-line, Ford opened an investigation into the way it conducts a key portion of federally mandated fuel-economy tests. If it finds problems, it could lead to revising fuel economy numbers of some of its models—or more.
After months of dispute over its proposal to rollback scheduled increases in emissions and fuel economy standards, the EPA ended its talks with California, which has already sued the agency over the change. “This is not a two-way negotiation,” Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said earlier this month.
Of the 10 cars on Consumer Reports’ list of Top Picks for 2019, three are hybrids, and two come as plug-in or electric models. To have so many “electrified” models on the list shows how far hybrids have come. The large, luxurious Toyota Avalon Hybrid even gets better gas mileage than the tiny original Prius.
After its Super Bowl ad last month, Audi made a new commercial for its upcoming e-tron quattro SUV touting its performance climbing a ski slope. 
Finally, with yet another electric concept scheduled to debut next month, the Geneva auto show is taking shape. The latest concept, from Mitsubishi, is an electric SUV that could be a new iteration of the e-Evolution concept it showed in Los Angeles last fall (and in Tokyo 18 months before), or an updated concept for the Outlander. 
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