concept

Most car buyers would be hard-pressed to name a single automobile designer working today. But it wasn't always that way: names like Raymond Loewy and Harley Earl were known well outside the design studios where they created the "cars of tomorrow." A half-century-old concept from designer Brooks...

The Toyota C-HR will debut at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show.

Famed car designer Gordon Murray will team up with former Honda engine specialist Osamu Goto and oil company Shell to develop a concept for "an ultra-compact, efficient car for city use based around the internal combustion engine." It's not intended for production. Instead, the project's ambitions...

James Bond would probably like this one, for its silent speed and rough-terrain capability. And it's even an Aston Martin. At today's Geneva Motor Show, the British sports-car maker unveiled a surprise concept: a sporty crossover utility vehicle with an all-electric powertrain. DON'T MISS: Lagonda...

At today's Chicago Auto Show, Mitsubishi showed off a new concept for a full-size SUV with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Called the Concept GC-PHEV, the large and angular design exercise had previously been seen at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show last fall, but its appearance in Chicago represented its...

French carmaker Renault hasn't sold cars in North America in almost 30 years, But as half of the global Renault-Nissan Alliance--and Europe's earliest volume electric-car maker--its cars and concepts are important to watch for clues to future Nissan offerings. So the Renault Eolab Concept that will...

Solar charging is indisputably one of the best ways of running an electric vehicle. It certainly mitigates any lingering worries about fueling your car with a smoke-belching coal-fired power plant. BMW is backing solar too, commissioning its BMW DesignworksUSA arm to design a stylish solar carport...

As Bentley has been promising for more than two years now, it will introduce a plug-in hybrid powertrain in a future product. Now we know that the first plug-in Bentley ever will come in 2017, in a dedicated version of its upcoming sport-utilty vehicle. That confirmation came as the British marque...

Remember the Lexus LF-NX, the jaw-dropping concept for a new compact crossover from Toyota's luxury brand? It's been making the rounds at auto shows since last fall, scaring small children in many cities. Well, looks like Lexus will dial down the styling considerably when it hits the showrooms...

The startling Lexus LF-NX Concept, launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, appeared with a new powertrain at the Tokyo Motor Show. And this one's not the hybrid system it was shown with previously The LF-NX Concept that Lexus has been showing this year previews a production model that...

Mitsubishi will debut large and small plug-in hybrid SUV concepts at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show.

There's a lot to like about auto shows. Seeing new production models can be truly exciting, and chatting with industry insiders offers new perspectives on the automotive world. But for many folks, the best part of any auto show is the abundance of concept cars. Like haute couture clothing, concept...

Over the past few years, using the term ‘hybrid’ when describing a car makes it appear instantly greener to an increasingly gas-mileage obsessed public. In fact, in some situations, using that particular word can even make a high-performance luxury car seem more desirable, even sexier...

Just how do you keep occupants of an electric car warm? That’s the question that automakers have been tackling for many years, as they bring mass-produced plug-in cars to market. Now BMW thinks it has the solution to keeping occupants warm in the middle of winter: infrared heating. The use of...

The Renault Nissan alliance might be known for all-electric cars like the 2012 Nissan Leaf, 2012 Renault Fluence Z.E. and quirky Renault Twizy, but that doesn’t mean the two automakers aren’t interested in other forms of zero emissions cars. At this year’s Paris Motor Show, Nissan...

Earlier today, German automaker Audi unveiled the latest in its e-tron plug-in concept cars at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show. Based upon the A6 L, a highly-popular Chinese-only variant of the A6 sedan, the A6 L e-tron plug-in hybrid concept combines a 2.0-liter turbocharged, direct injected gasoline...

When the automotive world descends on Switzerland for its annual motor show, there’s one thing that we can be certain of: another imaginative automotive creation from Swiss firm Rinspeed. Unlike previous creations, like the world’s first underwater electric car or its...

Although Nissan already has a subcompact, fuel efficient hatchback in the U.S. market in the form of the 2012 Versa hatchback, the Japanese automaker has just released details on an inviting new subcompact concept car it plans to unveil at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. Called the Nissan Invitation...

Two weeks ago, Honda unveiled the EV-STER Electric Sports Convertible Concept at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, along with its new Earth Dreams range of eco-friendly engines, drivetrains and advanced drive technology. Now we learn that Honda could be about to use the EV-STER as the basis for a...

It’s been nearly three weeks since Honda told us it would be premiering a small sports electric concept car at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. True to its promise, Honda has just unveiled what it calls the EV-STER electric sports concept on the show’s first press day. With an unmistakably...