Hybrids

One of the benefits of hybrid vehicles is that they can often coast along on electric-power alone with the only sound emanating from the vehicle being a quiet whirr from its electric motor or a rustle from its tires, both of which are easily drowned out by ambient street sounds. Though this might...

GM is determined to keep its promise of delivering the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car by the end of the decade but if you were hoping to be one of the first in the world to own a Volt you had better hope you live in one of the trend-setting markets officials plan to launch the car in. Nothing is...

Diesel models may account for half of all vehicle sales in Europe but in the U.S. their numbers still hover around the 3% mark. Petrol-electric models, meanwhile, sell in even lower numbers with total sales in the U.S. only accounting for a meager 2.2% of the market. Despite their low popularity in...

Each year GM sponsors events and contests at various universities around the world to help nurture and encourage young designers with the hope that some of their talent will eventually benefit the carmaker’s future production models. In February, GM ran a design studio at Cincinnati’s...

The final design has been selected, markets have been chosen and production targets established - even if the car loses money for GM. Starting this month, the propulsion systems will begin road testing, bringing the Volt another step closer to reality. Some have doubted either GM's willingness or...

Two years after the release of the original Hydrogen 7 ultra-clean limo, BMW has taken the wraps off a new ‘mono-fuel’ version that unlike the previous car, which had dual-fuel capability, is strictly limited to running on hydrogen. Also, the new car has almost zero-emissions, is more...

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has today agreed to reduce the number of zero-emissions vehicles carmakers are mandated to build each year by 70%, easing an earlier target that would have seen them sell up to 25,000 zero-emissions vehicles between 2012-2014. This figure has now been...

One of the weirdest concepts from the recent Geneva Motor Show wasn’t from a major a carmaker but from independent manufacturer Magna-Steyr. The concept was the Mila Alpin hybrid and it served as a platform to showcase a number of different technologies all in the one vehicle. Features...

Hyundai has announced that it will begin to mass produce hybrid cars next year in a move certain to please an environmentally conscious market and which is likely to cement its position as a top five automaker. The new Hyundai hybrid vehicle will be called the ‘Avante’ and it will...

The low U.S. dollar has caused a number of carmakers to readjust their strategies, including canceling models and moving production. The latest vehicle to fall victim to the falling dollar is Audi’s upcoming Q7 hybrid, which will no longer be offered in the U.S. The green SUV was originally...

Le Mans could soon be vying with F1 in the technology stakes with news today that Peugeot is planning to race a hybrid-diesel car in next year’s 24 hour endurance race. The news comes from the carmaker’s new CEO Jean-Philippe Collin who revealed that a prototype hybrid-diesel racing...

GM product czar Bob Lutz has admitted the carmaker's failure to capitalize on hybrid and electric cars, technology it’s had since the 1960s, was a mistake. Speaking at the New York Auto Show, Lutz went on to reveal he regretted not beating Toyota in the hybrid race and that GM had effectively...

Nissan may have fallen behind its rivals in the race to launch a hybrid car but it won’t be making the same mistake with its new generation of all-electric vehicles. The carmaker today rolled out its new Denki Cube at the New York Auto Show, a concept car created to draw attention to...

Carmakers are rushing the development of smaller and more efficient models in the U.S. to help improve fleet average fuel economy levels in light of stricter CAFE regulations, but not all consumers are looking for such vehicles. There will always be a market for bigger vehicles such as fullsize...

Nissan may have fallen behind its rivals in the race to launch a hybrid car but it won’t be making the same mistake with its new generation of all-electric vehicles. The carmaker plans to introduce its first all-electric car in 2010 in both Japan and the U.S., and will preview one of its...

As odd as it sounds, the world’s largest oil refiner Exxon Mobil is helping to develop new battery technology for a range of new petrol-electric hybrids and all-electric vehicles. Using a component it developed for mobile phone batteries, Exxon Mobil is now working on improving batteries for...

Skyrocketing petrol prices and concerns over the state of the environment have previously driven BMW to focus on hydrogen power. However that focus is not so narrow as to exclude petrol-electric hybrids, or even all-electric vehicles. In fact, BMW is currently weighing its options for introducing...

Governments around the world are bowing to public pressure to reduce the levels of greenhouse gases their respective countries produce, and more often than not, the first sector they look at is the auto industry. The European Council has proposed a ruling that could see carmakers forced to limit...

Nissan may have fallen behind its closest rivals in the race to launch a hybrid car but it won’t be making the same mistake with its new generation of all-electric vehicles. The carmaker plans to introduce its first all-electric car in 2010 for fleet customers in both Japan and the U.S., and...

Toyota is looking to take advantage of the green image its Prius petrol-electric hybrid vehicle enjoys by building upon the ‘Prius’ name and launching a new family of eco-friendly vehicles under it. Earlier reports claimed Toyota could launch a second dedicated hybrid brand but now its...