Hybrids
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Mitsubishi has picked this year's Geneva Motor Show in March to launch its new Outlander SUV. The all-new Outlander takes cues from the PX-MiEV concept seen at recent shows, and Mitsubishi says its fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas figures are among the best in its class. Better still should be the plug-in model, due during the 2012 fiscal year. This will be a plug-in hybrid model rather than an all-electric, similar to the PX-MiEV II concept revealed at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Show. The company says that the vehicle will use elements derived from its pre-existing EV technology. The PX-MiEV...
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Could BMW Drop Diesel For Hybrid In New 3-Series?: Report
The 2011 BMW 335d is quite a machine. With gasoline-rivalling power and performance and gasoline-shaming economy, it seems to offer the best of both worlds. That's only set to improve in the next generation based on the new 3-Series, but will U.S. buyers be getting the ActiveHybrid 3 instead of a...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Will Be U.S. Made, Says Toyota
Buy a gasoline 2012 Toyota Highlander crossover in the U.S., and the chances are it will have been made at Toyota’s Princetown factory in Indiana. Opt for the more fuel efficient 2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid model, and your car will have been made a third of the way around the world in...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2015 Acura NSX Hybrid Super Bowl Ad So Popular, It Crashed Acura’s Website
The chances are by now that even if you didn’t watch Super Bowl XLVI, you’ve watched all of the new TV ads which aired during the event last Sunday. That means you’ll also have seen the hilarious debut advert for Acura’s 2015 NSX Hybrid, staring Jerry Seinfield and Jay Leno...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2013 Acura ILX Hybrid Expected To Reach 38 MPG Highway
The 2013 Acura ILX will be the company's first entry into the compact sedan market since the Integra, but of most interest to GreenCarReports readers is the hybrid version. Previewed in concept form at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, the production ILX, Acura's first ever hybrid model, will make its...
Antony Ingram -
2012 Toyota Prius C: First Drive Report And Full Details
The 2012 Toyota Prius C may be the most surprising entry in the expanding Prius range. It's smaller, less unusually styled, and about $5,000 less expensive than the standard Prius liftback. And it's more fun to drive (relatively) than its larger siblings. It also gets real-world gas mileage of 50...
John Voelcker -
It takes a lot of money and time to develop and produce hybrid cars and electric vehicles, but that's not to say regular gasoline cars can't benefit from some of their technology. Mild hybrid technology is a cost-effective way of improving the gas mileage of a car using a fairly simple electric motor and battery setup. That's the approach Buick is taking, when it equips its 2013 model-year Buick Regals with eAssist. The 2.4-liter gasoline Regal will use the system, that pairs a small lithium-ion battery pack with a small electric motor, to assist the engine. That will allow it to achieve an...
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Want To Race A Tesla, Prius, Leaf? You Can In Gran Turismo 5
While we can all appreciate the low running costs and environmental credentials of hybrids and electric cars, they also have plenty of other benefits. Strong torque, for example, and good balance from the low-mounted batteries. It can make some hybrids and electric cars quite good fun to drive...
Antony Ingram -
Audi To Rival Toyota In Fielding Hybrid Racer At Le Mans
Many automakers claim that their exploits in the world of motorsport go towards improving their road cars. It's a tenuous connection sometimes, but Audi could lay fair claim to motorsport -derived technology in its road cars, from its Le Mans program. With maiden wins for its TFSI technology in...
Antony Ingram -
Honda Confirms CR-Z GT300 Hybrid Race Car, To Rival Prius
Hybrids are set to go head-to-head on Japan's race tracks this year, as Honda has finally confirmed it's set to enter a CR-Z in the GT300 class of Japan's SuperGT series. Toyota announced its Prius GT300 challenger several months ago, before it was revealed at the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon last month...
Antony Ingram -
Acura Super Bowl Ad: What'd You Swap For NSX Hybrid Supercar?
The stakes are high for Super Bowl XLVI this Sunday. Not just for the New York Giants and New England Patriots, though, but for the sponsors who spend millions on the precious seconds of advertising time during ad breaks. We don't know how much Acura's two minutes are costing to promote its 2015...
Antony Ingram -
Citroën DS5 Diesel, Four-Wheel Drive Hybrid: Forbidden Fruit
Back in 1955, French carmaker Citroën launched one of the most dramatic-looking cars ever made. It was named the DS, in French pronounced Déesse, meaning "goddess". Many thought that appropriate given the striking, avante-garde looks, and today it's often considered one of the greatest...
Antony Ingram -
If you've been following over the last few weeks, you'll have seen us pitch two cars from particular manufacturers against each other. While there are often clear differences between the models, the exercise highlights what someone in the market at a particular price point can expect, when comparing a hybrid model for an equivalently-priced gasoline-only vehicle. This time, it's the turn of two more Toyotas - the ubiquitous 2012 Toyota Prius, and the all-new 2012 Toyota Camry. Both are better than ever - but where would your money go? Economy While the Camry can do little to topple the Prius...
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Variations On Cheaper Hybrid Tech To Help MPG, Efficiency
The market for gasoline-electric hybrids and electric cars is expected to grow over the next few years, but they aren't the only energy-efficient vehicles expected to become more popular. Also looking at an increase in popularity are micro-hybrids and mild hybrids, according to a Lux Research...
Antony Ingram -
2012 Toyota Prius V: Hybrid Wagon Drive Report
When you drive a wagon, you usually need the space. And so it was with the 2012 Toyota Prius V, in which we hauled holiday gifts, heavy sagging boxes of old car magazines, furniture, and other life impedimentia over a 10-day, 650-mile test drive that spanned late December and early January. It's a...
John Voelcker -
Buick eAssist Smartphone App Makes A Game Out Of Saving Fuel
The Buick Fuel Efficiency Games App teaches players about mild hybrid systems, aerodynamics and maximizing fuel economy.
Kurt Ernst -
2012 Toyota Prius C Hybrid Vs 2012 Toyota Yaris: MPG Battle
A few days back we took a look at two similar, yet very different Hondas. The 2012 Honda Insight and 2012 Honda Fit share a platform, but different bodystyles and the use of Honda's Integrated Motor Assist hybrid technology in the Insight, makes each model unique. The same could be said of the...
Antony Ingram -
Why Do Buyers Avoid Prius, Electric Cars? It's Styling And Price
According to the ninth annual Avoider study published yesterday by J.D. Power and Associates, many car-buyers avoid green cars because they’re too small, look strange, or cost too much. As we’ve previously found from other recent surveys, gas mileage proved to be the number one...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
A southern California Prius owner learned the hard way that energy-efficient building windows can reflect enough sunlight to melt plastic.
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2012 Honda Fit Vs 2012 Honda Insight Hybrid: High Gas Mileage Battle
If you're in the market for a fuel efficient vehicle your choice is better than ever. Virtually every manufacturer now offers a high-mpg vehicle, but Honda could lay claim to being one of the first. Since the Civic arrived back in the 1970s, the Japanese carmaker has made fuel economy a high...
Antony Ingram -
U.S. DoT Sued For Toyota Prius Unintended Acceleration Documents
Five days ago, when we told you the National Academy of Sciences was backing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s findings into unintended acceleration issues concerning Toyota Priuses, we speculated it wouldn’t be the last we’d hear on the matter. Now an American...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Toyota Prius C Manual Leaked: Here’s What It Tells Us
You’d think after scans of the complete Japanese-specification 2012 Toyota Prius C brochure leaked onto the Internet, Toyota would be a little more careful about information surrounding its upcoming subcompact hybrid. But a few days ago popular Prius fansite PriusChat discovered that the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Boulder, Colorado, Loves Hybrids As Much as Los Angeles
Ask most Americans to name a place in the U.S. where hybrid cars are popular, and they’ll probably name somewhere in California, the Pacific Northwest, or Washington D.C. Now the city of Boulder, Colorado is keen to let the world know it also wants to be known for its hybrid-loving...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Prius Unintended Acceleration: Electronic Faults Untraceable
A new report from a National Academy of Sciences panel has said that the NHTSA was justified in closing a probe into Toyota's 2009 and 2010 unintended acceleration cases. More than 8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles, including models like the Toyota Prius hybrid, were recalled worldwide to fix...
Antony Ingram