Hybrids
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Did you hear? Last night, Porsche showed a series hybrid vehicle (analagous to the Chevy Volt) with a radically different design from any of its latest line of hybrids. Its pair of 1.7-liter single-cylinder engines powers a generator that flows electric power to a pair of front wheel motors, each one almost two feet in diameter. That's the specification of the Semper Vivus, the 1900 vehicle designed by young Austrian engineer Ferdinand Porsche that's widely considered to be the world's first hybrid-electric vehicle. To celebrate their new line of hybrids--the 2011 Cayenne S Hybrid sport...
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Suzuki Kizashi EcoCharge Concept Hybrid: 2011 NY Auto Show
Suzuki has had a rough time of it lately, with its only new product being the well-received but still low-volume Kizashi sports sedan, halfway between a compact and a midsize car. But for this week's 2011 New York Auto Show, they're display a couple of Kizashi concepts that point toward what the...
John Voelcker -
How Much Gasoline Can You Save With A Hybrid Or Plug-In Car?
As of the middle of April, gasoline is approaching $4.00 per gallon across the United States and oil is surging past $110 per barrel. More and more energy observers are talking about "$5 per gallon fuel" here in the U.S. So how do you minimize your gasoline costs and maximize your mileage? What...
George Parrott -
Attention, Shoppers: Infiniti QX56s, Diesels Are NOT Hybrids
It will come as a horrible shock to the driver of the pale green Infiniti QX56, but the 2-ton-plus full-size sport utility vehicle is not actually a hybrid. Nor, for that matter, is a Volkswagen Passat TDI--though it at least has a diesel engine, which gives higher gas mileage than the QX56's...
John Voelcker -
Survey: Consumers Growing Greener -- And They'll Shell Out The Green To Prove It
With gas prices barreling toward $4 per gallon, there's lots of talk on the evening news about consumers shopping for fuel-efficient cars. In fact, many theorists see $4 as the tipping point at which car buyers prioritize fuel economy above all other criteria. But a new survey indicates that people...
Richard Read -
Redesigned Audi A3 Getting New Sedan Model, Six Different Power Sources
Audi is currently working on a new generation of its A3, a preview of which we got at last month’s 2011 Geneva Motor Show in the form of the Audi A3 Sedan concept. Since then we’ve received these official sketches showing the design of the production version due early next year. While...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Last week they teased it; this week, they took the covers off it. In this case, "it" is the Lexus LF-Gh Hybrid Concept car that will be the centerpiece of the Lexus display at next week's New York Auto Show. The LF-Gh concept car is a styling exercise that "sets out to redefine the premium grand touring sedan," according to Lexus. In reality, it's an evolution of the longstanding L-Finesse design language that previews the next midsize Lexus GS sedan line. The current GS has been with us since the 2006 model year and is due for replacement. The hybrid part of the equation highlights the next...
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Land Rover’s First Hybrid Coming In 2013, Plug-In Hybrid One Year Later
Land Rover’s ongoing pledge to become more environmentally friendly is starting to result in some interesting developments, with the automaker’s brand director recently confirming the launch of the first Land Rover hybrid in 2013. Speaking with Inside Line, Land Rover’s John...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Lexus LF-Gh Hybrid Teaser Photos: New York Auto Show Preview
Say "hybrid" and most U.S. buyers think Toyota, if not Toyota Prius. Indeed, the company just sold its millionth Prius in the United States, where roughly half of the 2 million Priuses it had built as of last fall have found homes since 2000. But Toyota's luxury marque Lexus also has hybrid models...
John Voelcker -
BMW 5-Series Plug-In Hybrid Prototype: 2011 Shanghai Auto Show
BMW has taken the wraps off a new plug-in hybrid prototype based on its long-wheelbase 5-Series sedan, which it will be showcasing in just a few weeks at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show. Built in collaboration with its Chinese alliance partner Brilliance Auto, development of the new prototype is the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
U.S. Toyota Prius Sales Top One-Million Mark
Toyota announced today that it's sold more than one million of its Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles. The Prius went on sale in the U.S. market nearly eleven years ago, and while it wasn't the first hybrid on sale here—that title would go to the original Honda Insight two-seater—it has...
Bengt Halvorson -
Putin Test Drives Prokhorov's Russian Hybrid: Video
A three-mile, highly publicized test drive of Mikhail Prokhorov's ë-mobile (say, "yo-mobile") natural-gas hybrid car is the big car news out of Russia this week. Given Putin's previous spin in a Renault F1 car, hopping behind the wheel of the funky-looking economy car is a definite change of...
Nelson Ireson -
Big plans are afoot for Chevrolet, which GM plans to take global to face off against Ford. With spring auto-show season upon us, Chevy is showing not only its 2013 Malibu LTZ Concept but also, halfway around the world, its idea of a "muscle car of the future." But hold onto your small-blocks, guys, 'cause this one is electrically powered. Unveiled today at the media day for the Seoul Motor Show, the Chevrolet MiRay is the first concept car designed by GM's South Korean arm."Miray" means "future" in Korean, and this is their interpretation of a future performance car for a plug-in world. Two...
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2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Sells Better Than Expected, Ford Says
When Lincoln launched its 2011 MKZ Hybrid model at the New York Auto Show last spring, the car was less remarkable than its price of $35,180. The number was a surprise because it was the same price as the only other engine option for the MKZ, a 3.5-liter V-6. So what do we know about the two...
John Voelcker -
New A5 e-tron quattro Plug-In Packs Audi’s Latest Hybrid Tech
Audi has taken the wraps off a sophisticated plug-in hybrid prototype that combines a number of leading green car technologies all in a single platform. Utilizing the shell of the luxurious A5 Coupe, Audi’s new A5 e-tron quattro prototype not only features a conventional power-split hybrid...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Report: 2014 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Range To Be Almost Completely Hybrid
Mercedes-Benz just took the wraps off its facelifted C-Class range, which enters the market as a 2012 model and comes with a host of modifications to make it more fuel efficient. Namely, the introduction of a 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the first four the C-Class has been available...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In: Driven
When the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid goes on sale about this time next year, it will be the first mass-production vehicle from Toyota that plugs in. Yet, despite that, the Plug-In feels more like a value-added version of the Prius than a model that will be itself iconic or radically new. It's...
Bengt Halvorson -
Winner: $845K Porsche 918 Spyder Is Now World's Priciest Hybrid Car
We’ve known for some time that Porsche’s 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid concept from the 2010 Geneva Motor Show would eventually enter production but today, more than two years out from its debut, Porsche has announced that the order books have officially opened. We can confirm that the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Gas prices are rising, so you'd think that the 2011 Toyota Prius hybrid would be the car of the moment. But with car production halted in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami, Prius supplies are already growing tight. And Toyota is hardly helping the thriftiest buyers, those who want only a bare-bones version of the car with the highest combined EPA mileage rating: 50 mpg. Since the redesigned 2010 Toyota Prius launched almost two years ago, buyers have been perplexed by the four available trim levels, which are named II, III, IV, and V. The mysterious Prius I, the missing model of the...
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Toyota Total For Hybrid Vehicles Passes 3 Million & Counting
Late last month, Toyota announced that it had delivered its 3-millionth hybrid-electric vehicle, with 3.03 million sold as of February 28. Of that total, almost 2.2 million were the company's dedicated hybrid Prius model, now in its third generation. The 1997 Toyota Prius four-door sedan was one of...
John Voelcker -
New Study Looks At Illusive Break-Even Costs For Hybrids
With fuel prices continuing to edge higher, the cost benefit of fuel saving hybrid and diesel vehicles are now more important than ever. We recently looked at why mainstream automakers in the U.S. refuse to launch more fuel efficient diesel models locally, and now we have details of a new study...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Drive Report: BYD F3DM, Chinese Plug-In Hybrid Needs Work
Chinese auto giant BYD is one of the world’s leaders in the field of hybrid vehicles, having been the first in the market with a mass-produced plug-in hybrid back in 2009--albeit in China only--and now with several small fleets of plug-in hybrid models here in the U.S. These are small-scale...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Barrier To Buying Green: Electric Cars And Hybrids Confusing
Think car buyers understand what a hybrid is, or a plug-in electric car? Think again. A new survey conducted by research firm Synovate finds that many of almost 1,900 new-car "buyers and intenders" don't understand how hybrid vehicles work. Worse, most of them don't seem to understand how...
John Voelcker -
Up To 15 Mile Electric-Only Range For Honda Plug-In Hybrid, Debuts In Accord In 2012
Honda has been slow to the game when it comes to plug-in hybrids and electric cars but at the recent 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show the automaker proved that it was not completely in the dark in this area. On display at the show was a new version of its Fit compact car powered by an electric...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran