From Our President: The Pesticides in Our Produce

For decades, consumer advocates have worked to improve the safety of our food, from making sure products list all ingredients on their labels to helping ban the use of toxic chemicals in agriculture. But potentially dangerous pesticides are still being found in our produce, which shows that our food safety system can—and should—get tougher. A…

Read More

These Electric School Buses Are on Their Way to Save the Grid

The school bus is in many ways ideal for V2G. “There’s no uncertainty in terms of the use of the bus,” says Patricia Hidalgo-Gonzalez, director of the Renewable Energy and Advanced Mathematics Lab at UC San Diego, who studies the grid but wasn’t involved in the project. “Having that clarity on what the transportation needs…

Read More

Most and Least Reliable Coffee Makers

Based on these survey results, we used a statistical model to give each brand a predicted reliability rating—an estimate of your chances of experiencing problems by the end of the fourth year of ownership. We also give brands an owner satisfaction rating, which is based on the proportion of members who are extremely likely to…

Read More

Best Indoor Air Quality Monitors of 2024

To evaluate air quality monitors, we focus on four distinct tests. Our engineers judge how easy monitors are to use, the number of important air quality metrics they analyze, whether they display some kind of overall air quality score, and how useful their screens are for viewing air quality readings.  Our ease-of-use tests judge how…

Read More

What You Should Know Before You Buy a Used Electric Vehicle

EVs have fewer moving parts to inspect than gas-powered vehicles, but you’ll want to check the tires. Because of their increased weight and instant torque, EVs tend to wear out tires more quickly than conventional vehicles. Bring a quarter to the dealership: If the top of George Washington’s head is just visible when placed head…

Read More