Hybrids
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It looks like the 2011 Lexus CT 200h isn’t the only new hybrid vehicle Lexus has in the pipeline. New filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have revealed that a hybrid version of the Lexus ES sedan is likely to be in the works, though apart from its new name we don’t have many other details. A filing made by Toyota for “ES 300h” follows Lexus’ nomenclature for its hybrid models and suggests that the car will feature the same gasoline-electric hybrid system found in the Toyota Camry Hybrid. The move is a logical one, considering the Camry has been...
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Waiting for Your 2011 Nissan Leaf? Here, Have an iPhone App
We know. You’ve put the deposit down, agonized over the charge station installation and felt a pang of jealousy when you discovered your 2011 Nissan LEAF won’t arrive for another four months. But while all hopes that Santa is bringing that new electric car may be lost you can at least...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Reader Question: Can I Tow My Prius Behind My RV or Motorhome?
We love reader questions, and occasionally they prompt posts, like this one: I'm thinking of buying a motorhome. Can I tow my 2008 Toyota Prius behind it? Stumped us, so we turned to the good people at Toyota. They sent us excerpts from the Prius owner's manual, complete with many, many, many...
John Voelcker -
Electric Honda Fit Hits The Road In CA, Accord Plug-In Hybrid To Follow
Well, that was quick. Just one month after it unveiled the electric Fit EV prototype at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Honda is about to put the first of its electric subcompacts into daily use in southern California. Amusingly, it's in Torrance, where rival automaker and hybrid leader Toyota has its...
John Voelcker -
Want To Buy a Toyota Prius Hybrid? This Is The Month To Do It
Auto executives always want you to buy their cars, today. That goes without saying. But it's slightly less common for them to say, in effect, "This is the month to buy, 'cause we're going to be discounting the heck out of 'em." Nonetheless, that was the message from Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice...
John Voelcker -
Three Different Electrified Ford Focus Models To Be Built At Single Michigan Plant
It’s well documented that Ford is planning an all-electric version of its new global Focus--heck, we’ve even test driven a very early prototype based on the previous generation car. But what isn’t that well known is that there will be two other electrified versions of the new...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
The 2012 Range Rover Evoque--the stylish new baby "soft-roader" that's Land Rover's smallest-ever luxury vehicle--will not be offered with a hybrid-electric version to improve its gas mileage. That's the word from John Edwards, Land Rover's global brand director, who noted that in Europe, the Evoque will come with a 2.2-liter diesel engine that delivers 42 miles per gallon on the European test cycle. And that was the goal set for the original Land Rover LRX concept when it debuted at Kensington Palace in June, complete with an appearance by Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham. Weight penalty...
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Needed Or Not, Electric Car Noisemakers Are Going To Be Law
Although the relative silence of electric cars and hybrids was originally touted as one of their key beneficial attributes, alarmists have been less than enamored with the perceived difficulty involved in hearing one coming, especially advocates of the blind and the seeing impaired. While critics...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Russian Billionaire's Natural-Gas Hybrid Electric Car, Yo
Never let it be said that Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov doesn't put his money where his mouth is. He plans to invest 150 million euros, or about $200 million, in a new company that will build the world's first production natural-gas series hybrid vehicle. The car will be called Yo, which is...
John Voelcker -
BMW Hiring 2,600 Workers By 2012 For Hybrid And Electric Cars
First General Motors said it would add 1,000 workers purely to work on electric cars. Now it's BMW's turn. In a strong indicator of its commitment to developing hybrid and pure electric vehicles, BMW says it will hire an additional 2,600 employees over the next two years to work in these particular...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Video: 2011 Lexus CT 200h From Start To Finish
Whether it's the hatchback body style or the modest stats, the 2011 Lexus CT 200h hasn't yet created much buzz in the headlines. A new video, however, showing the car moving through its different phases of production at Lexus’ plant in Kyushu, Japan, may help alleviate that problem. Unlike...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Delayed A Month, Misses Tax Credit
The U.S. launch of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid has slipped a month, just enough to preclude buyers from taking advantage of a $1,300 Federal tax credit that expires December 31. According to Hyundai, the first cars will now reach dealers in January or perhaps later, rather than in early or mid...
John Voelcker -
It's all very strange. Just last March, Chrysler definitively killed the Ram Hemi Hybrid pickup it had been developing for several years. RIP Hemi Hybrid. Now comes a mysterious post on fan site Allpar.com that proposes that the company's Ram 1500 pickup truck will offer a Cummins 5.0-liter turbodiesel, making it the first of the Detroit Three to offer a "small" diesel option in a light-duty pickup, along with a hybrid-electric transmission option behind the oil-burner. According to the site, this was based on entries appearing in the company's Stars dealer-ordering system, which we can't...
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2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid Gets...A Tax Break
All kinds of green cars are eligible for tax breaks, but the 2011 Porsche Cayenne Hybrid could be one of the most expensive vehicles ever to get the IRS' nod of approval. The Cayenne S Hybrid earns its buyers up to $1,800 in federal tax credits, the automaker says, making it the first Porsche ever...
Martin Padgett -
Report: Honda CR-Z Model To Drop Hybrid Motor, Pick Up Turbo
The 2011 Honda CR-Z hybrid hot-hatch was meant to be the car that showed hybrids could be sporty as well as green, but its paltry 122 horsepower and dismal 0-60 times were never going to excite anyone. And don’t think its fuel economy is anything to write home about; the CR-Z returns 36/38...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM Confirms, Yes, We're Losing Money on Every Volt We Build
Doug Parks, vehicle line executive for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, GM's range-extended electric vehicle, confirmed Tuesday that the company loses money on every Volt it sells. This should hardly be a surprise. It's called R&D, folks Every major automaker spends billions of dollars a year on...
John Voelcker -
2010 Los Angeles Auto Show: 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid Details
First previewed at last year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, we've been hearing about the 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid for more than a year. Now, finally, Infiniti has officially unveiled the M35h, its very first hybrid-electric vehicle, at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. First of many? It's the...
John Voelcker -
Try Again: Honda's Big-Car Hybrid System Has Plug-In Ability
It wasn't even at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, where Honda only showed a video of the new plug-in hybrid platform it only discussed But details of the new powertrain point the way toward a range of future hybrid Honda models. It uses two separate motor-generators, as does Toyota's Hybrid Synergy...
John Voelcker -
While the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and Nissan LEAF have stolen most of the green-car limelight of late, and the Toyota Prius continues to be the go-to vehicle for those seeking reliable yet efficient transportation, Honda's Insight continues to plug along, with new upgrades to standard equipment and a less expensive entry-level model for 2011 aimed at improving its competitiveness. The new base model is called, simply enough, the 2011 Honda Insight. Standard features for the $18,950 (including destination fees) base Insight include remote entry and a basic two-speaker CD audio system with cloth...
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Hybrids Don't Cost More To Repair or Run, But Payback Debatable
It's a concern that comes up over and over: If I buy a hybrid car, won't I have to spend thousands of dollars to replace the battery pack in a few years? The answer is, No. Not only are automakers required to warranty the high-voltage battery packs in hybrid-electric vehicles for 8 years/100,000...
John Voelcker -
Toyota To Service, Not Recall, Hybrid Cooling-Pump Components
Toyota plans to service approximately 650,000 of the more than 2 million Prius hybrids it has built to date, to correct a potential flaw in a cooling pump that could cause overheating. About 390,000 of the affected models are in the U.S. While the company hasn't yet released details on what it...
John Voelcker -
Making Silent Electric Cars Noisier: 3 Carmakers, 3 Sounds
It looks like carmakers are going to make their quiet, electrically powered cars a lot noisier. And that's going to happen regardless of whether there's any actual data to support the notion that electric cars are so silent they pose a hazard to blind pedestrians. As of now, three different...
John Voelcker -
NHTSA Investigating Honda Accord Hybrid For Unintended Acceleration
Normally it’s Toyota that’s in the headlines whenever ‘unintended acceleration’ is concerned, however, this time ‘round it’s close rival Honda that’s in the spotlight. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that it is...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2010 LA Auto Show: Mitsubishi Plug-In Hybrid SUV For 2013
Mitsubishi rolled out the tiny "i" electric minicar (nee i-MiEV) during last week’s 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, confirming its eventual sale in the fall of 2011. But all-electric vehicles are just one avenue the Japanese automaker is investigating as it attempts to curb emissions and end the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran