Hybrids

Electricity and high-performance cars may or may not mix, depending on your frame of reference, but whether you're a Tesla fan or a Formula 1 devotee, it's easy to agree that a hybrid or all-electric Porsche would be a welcome creation for sports car and EV fans alike. The famous sports car company...

With the handful of new production intent concept cars Lotus is showing off at the 2010 Paris Auto Show this week, it’s evident the automaker, typically focused with lightweight sports cars, is trying new things. What’s interesting to see is that Lotus is expanding towards both ends of...

Concept cars, green cars, electric cars--new cars. It's all coming to the 2010 Paris Auto Show at the end of this month, and High Gear Media is gearing up to bring you wall-to-wall Paris coverage starting...now. The show opens tomorrow to the media, but we've already previewed some of the dozens of...

Jaguar Land Rover's efforts in the green arena are well-documented, and this week the push got a bit stronger at the Low Carbon Vehicle event at Millbrook, U.K. Showing off a joint-developed "flywheel hybrid system for premium vehicles" (FHSPV) on a Jaguar XF prototype, the company claims a gain of...

California’s Fisker Automotive has already unveiled the production version of its Karma plug-in hybrid but at the 2010 Paris Auto Show this month the niche automaker will debut the first factory-built version. This is an important milestone for Fisker and it’s also a sign that the car...

Whether it's the rather bland looks or the underwhelming stats, the 2011 Lexus CT 200h hasn't primed us for our first shot behind its wheel. Today's announcement of four driving modes for the car doesn't do much to change that, though we're interested to see just how much sport can be added to the...

There's slow-selling and then there's Maybach. Moving a paltry 200 cars from its factories last year, the Maybach brand is still failing to achieve the reach and appeal of the established classic ultra-luxury brands Bentley and Rolls-Royce. The truth remains that Maybach’s sales are far below...

For Lotus fans, the next few years will prove to be very exciting as the company pushes ahead with its five-year plan to update its model lineup, and at next month’s 2010 Paris Auto Show we will be graced with a preview of almost every new model addition the British sports car company has...

Honda's new hybrid strategy is focused on reducing the cost of hybrid components and introducing the fuel-saving technology into new markets, including the ultra-competitive compact car segment. We’ve already seen the first of these low-cost hybrids in the form of the Insight, as...

The original Morgan LIFEcar, unveiled in concept form at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, was a heavily-hyped hyrdogen fuel cell vehicle that featured a total of four electric motors and could drive up to 250 miles on a single tank. Purely a concept, the LIFEcar was never meant for production but was...

With the current ZR-1 supercar already priced above $100,000, the question remains whether General Motors should push the Corvette into the upper echelon of the performance market or allow it to remain somewhat affordable to the average Joe--at least in base spec. Rumors of the Corvette getting a...

Criticism of General Motors' choice to can the Pontiac brand while keeping Buick ran rampant in the days following the announcement last summer, but as the brand's new image becomes clearer, it makes more and more sense. After all, Buick does have some exciting new products in the pipeline, such...

It’s a well known fact that the U.S. misses out on most of Ford’s hot products, but with a push for new global models taking shape in Blue Oval offices around the world hopefully we will start to see more of these coveted models make their way into local showrooms. Last year reports emerged...

The green racing series gets a bit greener.

The last we heard of America’s Revenge Designs and its Verde ‘HP2ge’ hybrid supercarwas at the Detroit Auto Show back in January and since then things have been very quiet on all fronts regarding the up-and-coming supercar start-up. As you may recall, Revenge Designs is a tuner of GM...

With Honda no longer spending hundreds of millions of dollars on motorsports programs, and the NSX replacement now well and truly dead, it’s little surprise the automaker’s sports car lineup up is so woeful. That won’t last for long according to latest reports, however. The new 2011 Honda...

The Phaeton flagship sedan may have been a major flop for Volkswagen but officials are keen for a launch of a successor. The car was priced similarly to BMWs and Audis but it wore a humble VW badge, and there was nothing particularly exciting or innovative about it either. It had mundane styling...

When it comes to buying hybrids there are usually two main motivating factors that persuade potential customers; either saving money at the pump or the image of being green. When it comes to the new 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7, the $102,300 starting price ($106,200 for the long-wheelbase model) makes...

Tax incentives designed to help promote the adoption of technology that is slightly more expensive but in the end, more fuel efficient, are growing rapidly. The Internal Revenue Service’s Alternative Motor Vehicle provision, for example, is targeted at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. BMW...

Sales of the new 2010 Volkswagen Golf (MkVI) is picking up pace all around the country and considering the car’s solid feel, classy styling and German engineering, it’s easy to understand why. Oh, did we mention that it’s also available with a dual clutch transmission and a frugal turbodiesel...