Electric Cars

Last month, I drove the Lexus HS 250h for one week, and this week, I'm test driving the third-gen Toyota Prius. When I sat inside, my first thought was: boy, I wish they had given me the Prius first, then the Lexus. Not that the Prius isn't a great little car. It's just not a luxury car. I had...

Toyota's new Auris HSD (Hybrid Synergy Drive) concept car, to be unveiled next week at the Frankfurt motor show,  will preview the production model of the vehicle set to begin rolling off British assembly lines in the second half of 2010.   Based on the existing Auris five door hatch-back, the...

Ready to make its debut next week at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the new Plug-In Prius from Toyota is sure to draw a lot of eager show goers its way. Toyota has officially released several vital statistics pertaining to this Prius PHEV including a first look into the expected emissions and ability...

With the debut of the Mercedes Vision S 500 Plug-in Hybrid just days away, the company is confident that this vehicle represents the future of hybrid systems. Soon to be on display at the 63rd annual Frankfurt Motor Show, the S500 PHEV will pave the path for Mercedes towards their goal of zero...

If you like premium compact hatchbacks, Lexus has something for you - provided you live in Europe. As we've previously reported, Toyota's luxury brand will unveil their LF-Ch hybrid concept in a few days at the Frankfurt Motor Show and their most recent press release called our attention to some of...

The following is a guest post by Richard Bornemann who runs the dedicated website http://fusionhybridhypermiler.blogspot.com/. I’ve always been a car guy. Mostly a high performance car guy, truth be told. Still am. But when Ford came out with the Fusion Hybrid I was intrigued. From early reports...

Lotus recently announced that they will unveil their all new range extending generator designed for series hybrid vehicles at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show next week. The generator, a tiny 1.2 liters in size and boasting only 3 cylinders, is designed to be attached to the electric motor via the...

A little known company based in Pennsylvania called East Penn Mfg. Co. Inc. was awarded $32.5 million in federal grants to increase their development and commercialization of a breakthrough Australian UltraBattery technology for use in micro and mild hybrid vehicles. The grant awarded came from the...

Imagine how many vehicles drive through a fast food restaurant parking lot in New Jersey on Labor Day weekend. What if all of the extra kinetic energy wasted by those vehicles during deceleration could be turned into electricity? A Maryland based renewable energy company is hoping to answer that...

  Two years ago GM launched its fuel cell Equinox fleet test program known as Project Driveway. To date, 70 families and thousands of media people throughout the nation have logged over 1 million miles in these hydrogen-powered SUVs. They are smooth, quiet electrically-driven vehicles that are...

The small Indian company known as Reva specializes in electric cars of the diminutive variety.  Aside from their current offering, the G-Wiz, the company will introduce two new electric models at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week.  In addition to the vehicles, the company will also display what...

According to Fisker, the Karma plug-in, scheduled to make its German debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week, will be one of the cleanest, most fuel efficient cars in the world.The Karma will emit just 83 g CO2 per km and using the SAE method for calculating efficiency, will use only 3.5 liter...

San Francisco based Oorja Protonics, which currently sells its fuel cells to Nissan Motor Co. for use in robotic forklifts,  is developing a product intended to be used as a range-extender in pure electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.  In an interview on Friday, chief executive Sanjiv Malhotra...

This is the face of the Lexus LF-Ch hybrid concept and it will probably come in colors other than baby poop metallic. This premium compact designed to compete with the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series will have its public debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. The concept is a dramatic departure from...

After selling a paltry 31 units of the F3DM plug-in hybrid nationwide in its first seven months on the market, BYD has decided to turn to the Chinese government for assistance. BYD, backed by billionaire Warren Buffet, is hopeful that the government will provide subsidies and incentives to buyers...

Recently, Mazda announced plans to introduce several possible hybrids in the next few years.  The company intended to make hybrid vehicles with the assistance of Toyota and may still plan to do so, but according to Robert Davis, senior vice president of research and development for Mazda, the...

Starting a car was always a simple task.  You slid the key into the slot, turned the key, and the engine roared to life.  It may be a little more complex than that, several start-up events took place, but the basic procedure listed above was always how you got the chain of events going. Now as...

New EMC Flash to be based on The Ford F-150

Michigan Congressman Sander Levin is calling on the House of Representatives to pass a bill he sponsored that will double tax credits for those purchasing heavy-duty vehicles with hybrid powertrains. According to Levin, the bill which is in the Houses Ways and Means Committee, must be voted on and...

With sales of Toyota hybrids booming in its home country and elsewhere across the globe, Toyota leads the competition in the hybrid market.  Seemingly every hybrid model developed by the company fares well including the newly released Lexus HS 250h.  So what could hold Toyota back in this hybrid...