Plug-In Hybrids
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Back in 2007, on the eve of his 70th birthday, Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piëch made the bold promise his company would launch within the next few years a vehicle capable of achieving a fuel economy of greater than 200 mpg. The technology was already available, and was in fact previewed five years earlier with VW’s 1-Liter concept, named so because of its fuel economy rating of 1.0 liter of fuel burned per 100 kilometers driven, which is roughly equivalent to 235 mpg. However, bringing a vehicle like the 1-Liter to market, especially at a time when few were complaining about the...
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Bentley To Offer Diesels, Replace Mulsanne V-8 With W-12
Former Bentley CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen was never a fan of diesel, and it appears Rolls-Royce isn’t either, however, Volkswagen Group dynamo Wolfgang Dürheimer, who was brought in back in 2010 to oversee Bentley’s expansion into the world of SUVs and advanced powertrains, does see a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Verano Turbo, Project 370Z, Audi Digital Rear-view: Car News Headlines
Buick priced the 2013 Verano Turbo from just a tick under $30,000. At 250 horsepower, 0-60 mph in 6.2 seconds, and 31 mpg highway, is that a bargain, or a bad bet? Nissan's Project 370Z is complete, and it's a turbocharged, built suspension, big-brake version of the Z car, specced out by fans as a...
Nelson Ireson -
2013 Honda Accord Preview
The 2013 Honda Accord sedan and Accord Coupe go on sale in the fall of 2012.
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
SSC Aero XT, Tramontana XTR, 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV: Today's Car News
It's weird word Friday, apparently, but the the SSC Aero gets an upgrade for a send-off edition: the XT, powered by the 1,300-horsepower engine of the Tuatara. Spain's Tramontana XTR is the next generation of the company's take on a closed-cockpit, street-legal formula-stylesports car. Our cohorts...
Nelson Ireson -
Porsche Targets Sub-7:22 Nürburgring Lap Time For 918 Spyder
Development of Porsche’s upcoming supercar, the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid, is progressing nicely, with the company moving from concept to test mule to final prototype stage in rapid fashion and with things so far remaining on track. In the past year or so we’ve spied prototypes for the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
The production version of Jaguar's stunning C-X75 concept is on track for its scheduled debut late next year, albeit without the concept’s original jet-turbine technology. Instead, Jaguar will go with a conventional internal combustion engine paired with a plug-in hybrid system. However, as journalists invited to Jaguar’s test facility in Gaydon, England recently found out, the engine featured in the production C-X75 will be like none other found in a production car on sale today. The engine will be a four-cylinder unit displacing just 1.6 liters but developing more than 500...
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Porsche 918 Spyder To Get Optional Race Track Package: Report
The Porsche 918 Spyder remains on track for debut late next year, with development so far progressing steadily and currently in the prototype stage. Production of the car is scheduled to start on September 18, 2013, and only 918 examples in total will be built. Pricing is set to start at $845,000...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche 918 Spyder Concept To Make Goodwood Appearance
The 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed officially kicks off today and on the eve of the event Porsche announced that its stunning 918 Spyder concept will be making an appearance. First unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, and almost immediately confirmed for production, the 918 Spyder concept will...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche Releases Latest Specs For Upcoming 918 Spyder
Earlier this month the first prototypes for the 2014 Porsche 918 Spyder started testing at secret locations around Europe, and today Porsche has released its own batch of photos of one of the prototypes and confirmed some of the car’s final specs. Development is now in the later stages though...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Audi A6 L e-tron Concept Debuts At 2012 Beijing Auto Show
Audi has taken the wraps off a new plug-in hybrid concept based on its A6 luxury sedan at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show. The new concept, grouped under the automaker’s e-tron label for electrified vehicles, is based on an extended wheelbase version of the latest generation A6. More importantly...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Bentley Lists Potential Engines For SUV, Mentions Plug-In Hybrid
Bentley’s polarizing SUV concept, the EXP 9 F, has made its debut in front of audiences in one of its primary intended markets, China, and we now have some tentative new details about the future production version’s powertrain lineup. Unmistakably a Bentley--yet a Bentley like none...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
French automaker Citroën will celebrate the launch of its upmarket DS line in the Chinese market with the unveiling of the striking Numéro 9 concept at the upcoming 2012 Beijing Auto Show. Showcasing the future look of its DS models, Citroën's Numéro 9 concept also hints at a possible ‘DS9’ flagship. It also builds on 2010’s Metropolis concept but drops the sedan bodystyle in favor of a sultry shooting brake design. While a DS9 flagship may still be far out on the horizon, some upcoming models the Numéro 9 concept will influence include a...
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Porsche Panamera Plug-In Hybrid Coming In 2014: Report
Porsche’s first plug-in hybrid model will be the highly-exclusive and stupendously-expensive 918 Spyder due next year, but as we confirmed only last week Porsche’s near future will be enriched with even more plug-ins. While a plug-in hybrid version of its Cayenne makes the most sense...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche's Future, MINI Countryman Coupe, Chevy NASCAR: Today's Car News
We take an inside look at Porsche's near-term future in a roundtable discussion with some of the company's top brass, including CEO Matthias Mueller. Can you say plug-in hybrids, four-cylinders, and a new supercar? MINI might name the production version of the Paceman concept the Countryman Coupe...
Nelson Ireson -
Pininfarina Considering Limited Production Run For Cambiano
One of the highlights of last week’s 2012 Geneva Motor Show was the Cambiano concept car from Italian design house Pininfarina. Developed not only to express the talents of Pininfarina’s designers in front of a world audience, the unveiling of the Cambiano also marked two anniversaries...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche's Near Future: Macan, Plug-In Hybrids, 'Customer Experience'
Wrapping up our series of articles generated from a roundtable discussion with Porsche chief Matthias Mueller, management board member for sales and marketing Bernhard Maier, and Porsche Cars North America chief Detlev von Platen at the Geneva Motor Show, we take a look at the near future of...
Nelson Ireson -
Volkswagen Cross Coupe TDI Plug-In Hybrid Concept Makes Debut
Volkswagen is set to debut an updated version of last year’s striking Cross Coupe concept at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday, having replaced the original gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain with an even more fuel efficient diesel-electric plug-in hybrid setup. Volkswagen is a little...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Audi is quickly becoming a leader in the field of electric cars, having already shown off a barrage of zero-emission concepts and established the standalone e-tron electric car department, as well as a R&D center for electric drive systems at its Ingolstadt headquarters in Germany. And Audi’s vehicle electrification plans show no signs of slowing, with news today the automaker plans to launch its first plug-in hybrid vehicles from 2014 onwards. In his annual address to the company, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler confirmed that an A3 plug-in hybrid model, one that combines an internal...
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Tom LaSorda, Ex Chrysler CEO, Appointed To Head Fisker Automotive
Industry veteran Tom LaSorda, named to Fisker's board of director's last December, has been appointed CEO.
Kurt Ernst -
Pininfarina Cambiano Concept Leaked Ahead Of Geneva Debut
Pininfarina's Cambiano plug-in diesel hybrid concept, debuting in Geneva, claims supercar performance with minimal environmental impact.
Kurt Ernst -
Production 2013 Fisker Surf Coming To September's Paris Auto Show
Fisker is bringing a production version of its 2013 Surf shooting brake to the Paris Auto Show.
Kurt Ernst -
261-MPG Volkswagen XL1 Entering Production In 2013: Report
As outrageous as the idea of a production car capable of returning a fuel economy as high as 261 mpg may sound, more reports have emerged confirming that such an ultra-frugal car is in fact in development and could be on the market as early as next year. We are, of course, talking about...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volvo’s U.S. Chief Talks About The XC60 Plug-In Hybrid: Video
Volvo recently gave U.S. customers a taste of what’s to come from the automaker in terms of green technology with the unveiling of the XC60 Plug-In Hybrid concept vehicle at the recent 2012 Detroit Auto Show. The eco-friendly vehicle, the first to feature plug-in hybrid technology in a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran