mild hybrid

The mild-hybrid system that General Motors calls eAssist (on the 2012 Buick Lacrosse and Regal models) will also appear on the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco version. But now it appears that the system will spread further across GM's product lines, with a report on GMInsideNews that it will appear on...

The 2012 Buick Lacrosse with eAssist is now beginning to roll into dealerships across the country, and we've been curious to see how GM would market the car. On our preview drive this spring of a prototype Lacrosse with eAssist, we noticed that the dreaded H-word (hybrid) had been virtually...

Beyond the obvious Toyota, if any other make were to build hybrid cars, you might expect it to be Subaru. The small Japanese company's cars are revered for durability and standard all-wheel drive, and their drivers are often assumed to be on the liberal side of center. Subaru owners tend to cluster...

Buick announced today that it would offer the eAssist mild-hybrid technology on its mid-size 2012 Regal sedan as a $2,000 option over the base 2.4-liter model. That brings the price of the 2012 Buick Regal with eAssist to $29,530, including a mandatory $860 destination charge. The EPA rates the...

Buick announced today that it would price the four-cylinder version of its 2012 Lacrosse large sedan at $29,960. That sneaks the advertised price neatly under the $30,000 mark, although a mandatory $860 destination charge means buyers will see a sticker of at least $30,820 before they start adding...

The largest single model launch at the New York Auto Show two weeks ago was the 2012 Honda Civic line, with five separate models, new styling, and better fuel economy. The highest gas mileage in the entire lineup comes from the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid. Honda projects it will achieve 44 mpg for each...

First came the news that the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu would have only four-cylinder engines, following the path set by the 2011 Hyundai Sonata and other midsize entries. Then came the official unveiling of the line at last week's New York Auto Show, complete with projected gas mileage numbers. The...

The Honda Civic Hybrid was only the third hybrid model sold in the U.S., starting way back in 2003, and it was the brand's first mainstream hybrid. It's been a solid member of Honda's Civic lineup ever since, consistently returning the best gas mileage of any Civic model. Now in its third...

While the Kizashi Apex Concept shown at Suzuki's New York auto show stand showed off the brand's motorsports and motorcycle heritage, the Kizashi EcoCharge Concept here shows the direction for the hybrid version of the Kizashi that Suzuki has confirmed is under development. Pop the hood, and the...

Today at the New York auto show, General Motors pulled the wraps off what it says is Chevrolet's first global mid-size sedan, the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. And while the Malibu is a completely new car, with significant upgrades in safety and technology features, the true draw for those interested in...

We asked last year if the new GM would be a cleantech play. It’s looking more and more like that’s the case. Yesterday, the company announced it would be rolling out a hybrid technology system called eAssist in the Buick Regal 2012 that will boost fuel economy by 25 percent. The system...

The rumors started last week, and they were largely true: Buick plans to offer a model of its Regal compact sports sedan with the eAssist mild-hybrid system. What we didn't have were the projected EPA mileage ratings (based on GM's internal tests). The company expects the 2012 Buick Regal with...

Buick plans to add its eAssist mild-hybrid system to the 2012 Regal sedan as an option, making the Regal its second model to offer the mileage-increasing system. According to trade publication Ward's Auto, Buick will introduce the option at the Chicago Auto Show next week. Last November, General...

Well, that was quick. Just one month after it unveiled the electric Fit EV prototype at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Honda is about to put the first of its electric subcompacts into daily use in southern California. Amusingly, it's in Torrance, where rival automaker and hybrid leader Toyota has its...

News from next month's 2011 Detroit Auto Show is coming in almost daily now. The latest announcement: Honda will present the world debut of a concept car that shows the styling direction of its next--and crucially important--Honda Civic. In reality, this means that the Honda Civic Concept shown in...

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt has gotten all the attention lately, including a narrow second-place finish in our GreenCarReports 2011 Best Car To Buy award, but General Motors also has a significant hybrid-electric vehicle program. While its full-size Two-Mode Hybrid trucks have had mixed success, the...

As we first reported more than a year ago, a beefier version of GM’s mild hybrid system, the kind that was on the previous Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, is coming next year. Set to debut on the 2012 Buick LaCrosse, GM’s new “eAssist” mild hybrid system is said to improve fuel...

As we noted yesterday, we'll be giving one brand-new 2011 model the GreenCarReports 2011 Best Car To Buy Award in conjunction with the Los Angeles Auto Show next week. We'll summarize each of our five nominees, one per day, between now and then. We going down the roster by previewing each nominee...

One of the joys of the huge, splashy, raucous SEMA show in Las Vegas is seeing what manufacturers toss up in the air to show off. Kia brought several customized cars, one of which falls into the green category: a propane-fueled mild hybrid version of its new, and well-received, Forte compact sedan...

With the demise of Saturn, GM was left with only one model featuring its mild hybrid system, the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid sedan, but sadly even that green vehicle was dropped from the automaker’s lineup this year. GM is planning to bring back its mild hybrid models, however, and according to...