While Hyundai has already announced plans to enter the hybrid market in 2011 with a hybrid version of the new Sonata, due out in 2011, the company has now made clear plans for a state-of-the-art plug-in hybrid electric for 2012. This new model will be based on the Blue-Will Concept, which debuted at this year’s...
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According to a report in Japan’s Nikkei business paper, Toyota expects to sell as many as 30,000 plug-in Prius models annually once production begins in 2012. This would put the PHEV Prius on the market almost two years after General Motors has said its plug-in hybrid, the Volt, will be launched. The paper is also...
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In the latest issue Consumer Reports tests 22 small cars and hatchbacks and Honda’s new Insight only rates a “Good.” That might not sound all that bad, but CR usually gives all Hondas an “Excellent” or “Recommended” or “Top Pick” rating. Out of 22 cars, the Insight is just 21st. The only car to rate...
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Toyota may share a version of its Prius hybrid with General Motors according to a recent report by Bloomberg. Sources say Toyota President Akio Toyoda and GM CEO Fritz Henderson will meet in August in Michigan to discuss the possibility of selling a version GM-badged Prius – or possibly using Toyota hybrid technology to build...
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To help promote the launch of the Infiniti brand in the U.K., the luxury Japanese automaker will bring its stunning Essence Concept to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in September. Alongside the Essence will be Infiniti’s brand new G37 Convertible. Sadly, Infiniti explicitly points out in its press release that while the G37 will be...
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According to its sources, 7Tune is reporting that Toyota is in fact preparing a successor to the Supra. This top-level sports car has taken a back seat to the economy-minded 086A – the code name for the yet unnamed joint Toyota/Subaru project. It’s also likely that development of a Supra-successor has been slowed due to...
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General Motors may still be in bankruptcy protection but that doesn’t mean work at America’s largest automaker has stopped. In fact, engineers have been hard at it, especially those working on the upcoming Chevrolet Volt. Today Chevy has released a few photos of a pre-production model of the Volt. Until now, every other version was...
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Land Rover recently secured a $38 million grant from the U.K government to investigate building an environmentally responsible vehicle, likely to be based on the LRX Concept that debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2008. And according to a recent report in the U.K.’s AutoExpress, Land Rover has given the...
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Thanks to Lequios, you can do more for the environment once you’re dead than just become fertilizer for pushing up daisies. The Japanese hearse manufacturer is designing a hearse based on the 2010 Toyota Prius, meaning your last trip in a car can be an environmentally-responsible one. And you thought saving the planet for future...
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The next General Motors product to get a plug-in hybrid powertrain, like the one that will be introduced in the Chevy Volt, may be a Buick. This new PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) was supposed to be a version of the Saturn Vue, but as GM has now sold off the Saturn brand to the...
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Honda is warning that it may not meet its forecasted sales target for the all-new 2010 Insight hybrid and is citing both the worldwide recession and the low cost of gas as factors. The Japanese automaker set an ambitious target of 200,000 units for the car’s first year, with almost half of those vehicle sales...
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While Toyota’s sales may be suffering as a whole, sales of the all-new 2010 Prius are well above expectations. In fact, the Japanese automaker is having trouble keeping up with demand – something which may result in lengthy waiting lists for the third-generation of Toyota’s successful hybrid. At the two facilities where the Prius is...
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Chevrolet has decided to cancel production of its Malibu Hybrid. As shocking as this might seem for a company that claims it is now dedicated to building environmentally-friendly cars, it actually makes a lot of sense. For starters, while the Malibu itself continues to sell well and has received critical acclaim from auto journos, the...
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As much improved as Audis have become over the past few years one consistent complaint about the German luxury cars is how much they weigh. Audi aims to eliminate that critique by removing the problem – weight. According to Audi technical development boss Michael Dick the automaker is currently working on its next modular longitudinal...
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Ferrari has confirmed that a hybrid model is in the works and that a concept car will debut as early as the LA Auto Show this December. The news comes directly from Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa just weeks after a patent application for a hybrid system by Ferrari was uncovered. At almost the same time...
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According to a rather detailed post on BMW 1 Series forum 1addicts, BMW is aiming to significantly expand the future 1 Series lineup as a part of the company’s Efficient Dynamics approach. Using a new versatile modular architecture, BMW will be able to build 12 and possibly even 13 different vehicles based on the new...
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In an ambitions new emissions reduction strategy Lamborghini has just unveiled, the Italian exotic car maker says it will look to hybrid powertrains (among other things) to cut vehicle emissions by 30 percent by 2015. The company has already made a significant step in that direction with the launch of the LP560-4. Due to the...
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Toyota has announced that it will lease 500 plug-in hybrid-electric Prius models starting this year. These will be the first plug-in version of the Prius on the road and will feature new lithium-ion battery packs, which hold more energy than the conventional nickel-metal hydride batteries used in other hybrid systems. Of the 500 vehicles, 200...
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The all-new Toyota Prius was the most popular selling car in Japan for the month of May, according to numbers just released by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. In total, Toyota sold 10,915 Prius models to take the top sales spot, which was held last month by rival Honda Motor Co. and its new Insight...
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In 2007 Volvo partnered with Swedish energy company Vattenfall to examine ways to work together and now the duo has agreed to develop a plug-in diesel hybrid for production by 2012. This summer Volvo will unveil three initial test vehicles based on the V70 wagon. “We are investing in an industrial joint venture to series-produce...
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Volkswagen and Chinese automaker BYD (Build Your Dreams) have signed a “memorandum of understanding” announcing that the two car manufacturers will seek ways to work together to bring electric vehicles and hybrids to market. Volkswagen recently announced its TwinDrive diesel-electric hybrid system and we recently reported on a rumor that the German automaker will bring...
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A series of patents that Ferrari has filed for a four-wheel drive hybrid system have leaked out and in true Ferrari fashion they are more red than green. You see, the patents show several different layouts, all of which are designed to use a hybrid system where the electric motor powers one set of wheels...
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The new 2010 Toyota Prius isn’t about to let the Honda Insight take over in the hybrid segment and strong initial sales show the Toyota model will be another big success for Japan’s largest automaker. Japanese business magazine Nikkei is reporting that Toyota has already accepted 75,000 orders for the new Prius. This news comes...
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[vs-jwplayer movieid=”HREVhWFT1x0″ width=”560″ height=”340″ autoplay=”0″] It’s the Fisker Karma like you’ve never seen it before. This video (no doubt leaked on YouTube to keep up the marketing buzz surrounding the luxury hybrid) shows the Karma sliding through pylons and screeching its tires. Until now all we’ve ever seen are carefully crafted beauty shots and auto...
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