Hybrids

Google has launched its new RechargeIT initiative to promote the development of plug-in hybrid electric cars in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global dependence on oil. Under the guidance of Google’s own philanthropic Google.org team, the new initiative will award $1 million...

Mitsubishi will launch its first all-electric vehicle by mid-2010 in Japan with the first European sales expected to start in the following year. The car will be based on the current i car, which is sold in Japan with a 0.7L MIVEC three-cylinder engine. The electric version, currently undergoing...

The 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid has officially been revealed at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Click here for all the details and images. Despite being at the forefront of hybrid technology, even Toyota is having trouble bringing next-generation models to market using lithium-ion battery technology. It...

Ford is hoping to expand its hybrid range beyond that of its current Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner models but is being held back by engineering problems surrounding the development of rechargeable electric cars. The head of its hybrid and sustainable vehicle programs, Nancy Gioia, has revealed...

Auto parts manufacturer Bosch already has a contract with one of Europe’s carmakers for the supply of diesel-hybrid technology. Its developers claim the system could be on the road by 2010 and that it would be the new benchmark in fuel consumption, with carbon-dioxide emissions levels below...

Hyundai has announced that it will release a hybrid version of its midsized Avante sedan in 2009, a car that will combine an electric motor with an internal combustion engine that runs on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This will be the first high-volume Korean hybrid car and according to Hyundai...

Toyota announced today that its hybrid sales have surpassed the one million mark after ten years of sales. The feat is a major landmark for Toyota, a pioneer in the development of petrol-electric hybrid cars, and comes as rival carmakers around the world prepare for the launch of their own hybrids...

General Motors has awarded two contracts for the development of lithium-ion batteries for its E-Flex electric drive system, a sign that development for the advanced vehicle is well underway. The new drivetrain will feature in a production version of the Chevrolet Volt concept car due to hit the...

Mercedes-Benz is reported to be developing a new version of its S-class limo equipped with an ultra-efficient Bluetec diesel engine. With a motor displacing just 2.2L, the new diesel driven S-class should return a fuel economy rating of just 6.6L per 100km, or roughly 35mpg. We should get our first...

We may soon be able to add a new vehicle to the growing list of sports cars equipped with electric motors. This time ‘round we have the American designed Palumbo M80 hybrid car, a two seat, mid-engine sports car utilizing a lightweight spaceframe chassis made of aluminum alloys and advanced...

Daimler will be testing the waters with its own automatic stop-start fuel-saving technology when it introduces an updated Fortwo minicar later this year. Already introduced in several BMW models, the system works by automatically shutting down the engine when the car stands still in traffic and...

Despite the US easily rating as the number one market for Lexus vehicles, and most other luxury makes for that matter, Toyota’s premium label is expecting to sell more of its LS600h and the long-wheelbase flagship saloons in Japan than it does in the States, with Europe close behind in second...

Tesla Motors, the company behind the electric-powered Tesla Roadster, has formed the separate Tesla Energy Group to design and sell what it calls Energy Storage Systems (ESS). The ESS is basically a large collection of lithium ion battery packs made from smaller individual cells. When designing the...

It’s hard to imagine that Toyota’s Prius was first released almost ten years ago. Still today, most carmakers around the world lack dedicated petrol-electric models. This makes it difficult to believe that Toyota engineers were tooling around with development of the Prius as far back as...

Updated: General Motors is likely to have fuel-cell vehicles in showrooms by 2012, according to its vice president of R&D Larry Burns. "I don't know how many of them we'll make at the time, but we should have them in showrooms by early next decade, around 2011 or 2012," he said during an interview...

You may remember reports last year about UK’s Project Kimber rejuvenating the famous AC badge with a new roadster based on the first-generation Smart car. The new model will be called the AC Ace and is said to have had Gordon Murray, of McLaren F1 fame, involved in its development as well as...

Honda is working on a high-volume hybrid model for launch before the end of the decade, which could possibly sell for around €20,000. Its release will follow several months after the launch of Honda’s first hybrid sports coupe in 2009 with production expected to top 200,000 units per...

Saturn will offer two different hybrid options for the 2008 Vue crossover, with both vehicles getting the Green Line badge. General Motors made the announcement last week that the new Vue would be its first FWD vehicle to feature its Two Mode hybrid transmission and that customers can expect a 45%...

Toyota has always backed its hybrid technology as the key to reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions, but as advanced as the technology is, diesel powered cars manage to offer similar levels of eco-friendliness but with more performance to boot. It doesn’t help that hybrid vehicles are...

A recent study has found that “intelligent” cars could be just as efficient when it comes to saving fuel as regular electric-hybrid vehicles. An "intelligent" car is basically an ordinary vehicle fitted with an array of sensors known as telematics, which monitor and predict traffic...