Hybrids
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Infiniti may have been one of the early pioneers of electrification in the luxury segment, having introduced the M35h hybrid sedan as early as 2010, but the brand has been slow when it comes to electric car technology, which is a bit odd since parent company Nissan is one of the biggest proponents of EVs in the industry. There have been a couple of false starts. First with the Emerge-E extended-range electric sports car and then the LE electric sedan, both of which we saw as concepts in 2012. Now, though, Infiniti finally looks serious about launching an electric car on the market. The...
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2018 Lexus LS priced from $75,995Lexus has introduced a significantly improved LS for 2018. The car has been designed from the ground up around a lightweight platform shared with the LC coupe, and it features two new powertrains, one of which is a hybrid. The good news is that there's only a small premium for all this as the new...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW gives 2-Series Active Tourer minor updatesBMW sells a frumpy, front-wheel-drive minivan known as the 2-Series Active Tourer outside the United States. (There’s also a 7-seat version known as the 2-Series Gran Tourer.) The vehicle made its debut in 2014 and was originally pegged for sale in the U.S., though BMW’s local division...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Hyundai hybrid sports car confirmedHyundai is working on a plug-in hybrid sports car with two seats, senior executives have confirmed to Australian media. The Korean automaker revealed on Monday at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show that it is working on as many as 18 eco-friendly models for launch by 2025, one of which is tipped to...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Bentley Bentayga plug-in hybrid set for 2018 Geneva motor showBuyers of the Bentley Bentayga will no longer need to feel guilty lugging their 2-ton-plus luxury SUVs around town as a plug-in hybrid option is coming up shortly. Bentley recently confirmed to Automotive News (subscription required) that a plug-in hybrid Bentayga will debut in March at the 2018...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta with delivery mileage up for saleYou know a car is important when the company that builds it decides to hand-pick its buyers. Many folks with beaucoup bucks raised their hands when Ferrari said it would offer an open-top version of the LaFerrari hypercar dubbed the Aperta. But hand raising wasn't enough for the rarest machine in...
Jeff Glucker -
In announcing on Tuesday Toyota’s commitment to future seasons of the World Endurance Championship, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, company president Akio Toyoda dropped a major hint that Toyota might be working on a hybrid sports car utilizing technology derived from the company’s Le Mans prototype race cars. “This year, I went to Le Mans for the first time and heard people cheering for Toyota,” Toyoda said in a statement. “I also heard many people saying that they would like to see Toyota come out with a hybrid sports car like our cars in the race.”...
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BMW Group delivers over 100,000 electrified cars in 2017The BMW Group has reached its goal of delivering more than 100,000 electrified cars in 2017. The total includes hybrids and electric cars sold across the BMW and Mini brands. The 100,000th car was a BMW i3 finished in blue. It was handed over to its owner at the BMW Group headquarters in Munich...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Battery suppliers struggle to keep up with demand for Porsche Panamera hybridsPorsche previously asserted that half of its sales will come from electrified cars by 2025. Judging by the demand for Panamera hybrid models, the brand may have made a pretty solid prediction. Reuters reported on Saturday that battery suppliers are having trouble keeping up with demand for the...
Sean Szymkowski -
Toyota ramps up electrification, targets 1 million zero-emission cars by 2030Toyota on Monday announced it would accelerate its vehicle electrification plans as part of an overarching strategy to reduce fleet-wide carbon emissions by as much as 90 percent from 2010 levels, by the year 2050. Under the accelerated plans, Toyota hopes to have every model in the Toyota and...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM patented a ridiculously high-compression twin-charged hybrid powertrainThe latest General Motors patent underscores how busy the automaker's powertrain engineers have been. The automaker received a patent approval for a high-compression, twin-charged hybrid powertrain in October, AutoGuide reported Wednesday. And when we say "high compression," we're talking...
Sean Szymkowski -
US among initial launch markets for Polestar 1The United States will be among the first countries to be offered the new Polestar 1 when the plug-in hybrid coupe starts deliveries in 2019. The others will include Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany and China. Polestar says the countries were selected in part due to the level of interest...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Polestar, now its own brand within Volvo Cars Group, unveiled its first production car this past October, the Polestar 1. Although the car possesses a stunning design and impressive performance specs, it won't be a mass-market vehicle, thanks to difficult production processes. The brand plans for just 500 units of production starting in 2019. Automotive News Europe (subscription required) reported Thursday the low production volumes are due to the car's difficult assembly process, which include mixed materials. You'll remember that the car was first designed as a flagship Volvo coupe. Per the...
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BMW’s electrification plans mapped outThe BMW Group is committed to launching 25 electrified cars by 2025, 12 of which will be battery-powered electrics. The automaker on Tuesday revealed the full schedule for the 25 cars along with a few tentative details. The first two cars out of the 25 have already been revealed. They are the BMW...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2019 Land Rover Range Rover PHEV first drive: London, here's your off-roaderA cynic could argue that the 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e PHEV is a compliance special for the well-heeled. But the reality is that adding an electric motor both keeps the world's flagship SUV a viable option for city dwellers in places like London and points toward the future of off-roading...
Andrew Ganz -
Jeep boss Manley: Plug-in hybrid was always planned for WranglerEven the best-kept secret at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show was whispered in Jeep hallways years ago, the automaker’s CEO said last week. “Electrification was always on the books for Jeep—it was inevitable,” Jeep CEO Mike Manley told Motor Authority on Wednesday. Only...
Aaron Cole -
America’s Aria unveils 1,150-HP hybrid supercar at LA Auto ShowA company that specializes in building concept cars for the major automakers as well as other limited production vehicles unveiled its own concept on Thursday at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show. The company is California’s Aria Group, which is celebrating its 21st anniversary this year with...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2019 BMW i8 Roadster revealedBMW’s i8 plug-in hybrid sports car can now be ordered as a convertible. BMW took the covers off the new i8 Roadster on Wednesday at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show, where the automaker also announced some updates for the i8 coupe. It was all the way back in 2012 when we first saw a concept of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Last week, Mercedes-Benz showed off what to expect from its next-generation compact luxury cars' interiors. Upon closer inspection, the photos also revealed an A-Class plug-in hybrid is forthcoming. Virtuel Car first noticed the small detail and published the images on Tuesday. Looking closely at the interior teaser image's all-digital gauge cluster reveals a battery icon and a range readout just below it. Comparing it to the E350e plug-in hybrid, the gauge is basically identical. The display reads 36 kilometers (22 miles) of range remaining with about 75 percent of the battery's power...
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Ford now offers a plug-in hybrid cop carFord loves a good police vehicle. Earlier this year, Ford showed us the first pursuit-rated Hybrid police vehicle. The Blue Oval also offered the 2018 Expedition for police use. Now Ford is bringing a plug-in hybrid sedan into active duty. It's called the Special Service Plug-In Hybrid Sedan. Based...
Jeff Glucker -
Subaru could delay next WRX STI in order to add hybrid techStricter emissions regulations, particularly in Europe, could lead to the end of the WRX STI as we know it. That’s according to David Dello Stritto, Subaru’s sales and marketing head in Europe. Speaking with Dutch website AutoRAI, Stritto said the WRX STI’s current format of a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
EU proposes stricter emissions regulations for 2030A handful of European nations have recently announced calls to drastically reduce vehicle emissions and in some cases ban completely the sale of cars powered solely by gasoline or diesel. Now the European Union has joined the discussion by proposing tougher emission targets in addition to an...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mazda engineer drops more hints about rotary range-extenderMazda continues to tease us with a rotary engine, which last found a home in a production vehicle in the 2012 RX-8 sports car. At the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show, neither of the brand's gorgeous concepts housed a rotary engine, but managing executive officer Mitsuo Hitomi, who oversees engine...
Sean Szymkowski -
Polestar 1 was originally a flagship Volvo coupeFormer Volvo tuner Polestar on Tuesday unveiled its first car, the aptly named Polestar 1, but if you’re thinking you've seen the design before, it’s because you have. Yes, the Polestar 1 is just a slightly massaged version of Volvo’s Concept Coupe which was presented at the 2013...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran