Hybrids

The 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid has officially been revealed at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Click here for all the details and images. We first heard about Toyota using its Prius nameplate for a family of hybrid vehicles as far back as March, but since then there has been little indication that the...

Designing and building to a multitude of standards for each one-off or proprietary set of electric vehicle (EV) specifications is an expensive and laborious process. That's why Daimler and BMW engineers have joined together in a call for industry-wide standards for future development. The industry...

General Motors is celebrating its 100th birthday today and has organized a number of events taking place around the world to mark the occasion. Major highlights of the day include the unveiling of the production Chevrolet Volt scheduled for later today, as well as the groundbreaking of a $250...

Futuristic depictions of the 21st century in classic films often showed sprawling metropolises with flying cars, expansive urban development and any of a number of fanciful mass transit systems. The reality of the situation is that our transport systems have evolved to be bigger, faster and...

Peugeot's current Le Mans competitor, the diesel-powered 908 HDi FAP, has been taking on the likes of Audi's R10 diesel racer among others, where it has met with some success. Previously we reported on Peugeot racing a hybrid-diesel car in the 2009 Le Mans 24 hour endurance race, and now the French...

Large-scale testing of alternative fuel technologies is becoming a big aspect of future vehicle development. Sussing out the realities of daily use, practicality, infrastructure needs and customer feedback are key to deciding which fuels will have the potential for retail sale. Chevrolet is already...

Jaguar engineers are currently testing a new version of the XK in Germany that has some very peculiar traits, leading to suggestions that the car could be a prototype for a new diesel model or possibly even a hybrid. A number of XK prototypes have been spotted in recent months but most of these...

Congress is currently deciding whether to provide Detroit’s carmakers with new loans that could top $25 billion as part of a greater package to help them ride out the storm that is CAFE. The new regulation will force carmakers to improve their fleet-wide fuel economy levels to 35mpg...

General Motors has announced on several occasions that its ground-breaking Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car will be launched to the public in late 2010, but this will be only for the North American market. In Europe, the Volt won’t be available until sometime in late 2011 or even 2012...

Toyota has teamed up with utility company EDF Energy in the UK to start trials of a plug-in hybrid prototype based on its current-generation Prius. The trials start today and will continue for more than one year, with all data generated crucial for the development of the company’s first...

The original two-speed Tesla transmission has had notorious reliability issues, in the end forcing the company to sell the car with the unit effectively locked in second gear. That was a temporary solution, however, and now that the California company has partnered with Borg Warner for production...

The Fisker plug-in hybrid saloon has officially been revealed at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Click here for all the details and images. Despite the occasional lawsuit from competitors and some fairly lofty design goals, Fisker's Karma plug-in hybrid appears to be headed smoothly toward production...

The Chevrolet Volt is expected to be shown next week as part of General Motors' centenary celebrations, but it appears an advance copy of the photos to accompany the release has leaked ahead of schedule. The photos, which clearly depict the car alongside several executives, show the car has taken a...

While Japanese manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Subaru all work feverishly to get their electric vehicles on to the market, Honda Motors has decided to stay above the fray, arguing that battery development is too premature to make electricity logical for automotive use. The...

Nissan will present a new concept vehicle at next month’s Paris Motor Show that the carmaker claims is a preview of a future production model due in the middle of the next decade. The concept is called the Nuvu, short for ‘New View,’ and is described as a compact city car aimed at...

General Motors is planning a number of events to mark its centenary this month, including a formal celebration later this month at its headquarters in Detroit. In the lead up to the date GM has released a number of teaser shots and more details for the production version of its Chevrolet Volt...

While American and Japanese carmakers are racing to launch a new-generation of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles over the next couple of years, German carmakers are taking a more conservative approach. BMW’s new Project i division isn’t expected to spawn an electric vehicle until...

General Motors' Volt plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and Toyota's upcoming plug-in version of the Prius are getting a lot of attention for their low-emissions, partial electric-only travel modes. But Tata Motors' EV currently in development in Norway has almost three times the 40mi...

Both Toyota and General Motors are committed to launching a new generation of plug-in hybrid vehicles over the next two years but they are far from being the only carmakers in the race to develop the ultra-efficient vehicles. A Nissan official has today revealed that his company has already...

Chrysler may be struggling substantially more than its Detroit 3 rivals, or any other major carmaker for that matter, but the company is hard at work and investing in the next-generation of powertrain and vehicle technologies. Its co-president has now revealed that three new electric vehicle...