Electric Cars

Just yesterday we announced that VW signed a memorandum of agreement with Chinese automaker and battery maker BYD, well today there is more news on that front.  Ford is considering partnering up with BYD in a similar agreement. The news is not confirmed by Ford at this point, but rumors suggest...

Any worthwhile discussion of today's best supercars mentions the Audi R8. It's a car that looks like it was sent to Earth from an alternate, more advanced (but clearly benevolent) dimension. The interior is as luxurious as they come. Not to mention the performance, which rivals that of Ferraris...

JP Morgan issued its annual hybrid report on May 22. The 88 page document seems fairly bullish on the prospects for hybrid-electric cars. Analysts believe hybrids will account for 19.4% of the US market by 2020, and that the global hybrid market will grow 23-fold to 11.2 million by the same year...

Vehicle valuation company, NADA Appraisal Guides, published a list of five 'hidden gems of the auto industry' today. The Buick Enclave, Pontiac G5, Volkswagen CC, Lincoln MKS, and our favorite, Ford Fusion Hybrid rounded out the list. NADA describes the Fusion Hybrid as 'easy on the planet, easy on...

Miles Electric Vehicles is ready to reveal its electric sedan on June 3rd.  This much anticipated vehicle will be a fully electric sedan capable of obtaining highway speeds and is expected to reach mass production in 2010.  We have previously reported about this vehicle several times including...

The Hybrid HEMI is on the prowl again. The folks at Leftlane News got some new pictures of what will become Dodge's only hybrid model: the Ram pickup truck. This comes after Chrysler pulled the plug on hybrid versions of the full-size Aspen and Durango SUVs a short time ago. The Hybrid Ram uses...

The joint venture between Mitsubishi Motors and GS Yuasa Corporation called Lithium Energy Japan plans to build an additional battery factory to support the recently announced increase in production of Mitsubishi's        i MiEV. The new lithium-ion factory will be built in Kyoto, Japan at a...

Let's say you're interested in the Tesla Roadster but prefer something different, perhaps something European. Until now, there haven't been many options, except perhaps the super-sleek Fisker, which is still a stretch in terms of direct competition. But now there's something new, something...

Greenhouse gases, those harmful pollutants emitted by fuel powered vehicles, has come under scrutiny lately.  First, the EPA finally discovered just a short month ago that greenhouse gases are dangerous. Who would have thought?  Now, the EPA is holding public hearings to see what people have to...

Honda has quietly entered the hybrid market by slowly adding additional models to their lineup of cars.  From the Insight, to the Civic, to the defunct Accord hybrid, they have covered most of the car segments.  Missing is a sporty hybrid.  They are set to release their CRZ Hybrid within a year...

Freightliner, a truck division of Daimler, has teamed up with Eaton to introduce a world first in hybrid trucks. Together they have developed a hybrid truck for the transport of hazardous materials.  The vehicle, a Freightliner Business Class M2e, will see its first use by a propane company called...

On the heels of the VW announcement that feasible electric cars are years away, Audi's CEO Rupert Stadler confirms that they too believe EVs are years away from becoming affordable, mainstream vehicles. Last week, Audi held an annual meeting in Germany.  They discussed future product plans and...

In response to hybrids gaining market share, Sanyo has decided to ramp up production on batteries. Sanyo, despite losses near 1 billion dollars in 2008, plans to spend millions in the next two years to build new battery plants and expand current production plants.  The decision comes as industry...

VW of America CEO Stefan Jacoby recently spoke out about his opinion and the company's point of view on plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. According to Jacoby, the technology is simply not ready for the masses yet.  There are cost hurdles in the way and although VW and Audi will look into...

The name Ferrari isn't exactly synonymous with fuel efficiency, so when we heard news of a four-wheel drive "hybrid" system from Maranello, it piqued our curiosity. Apparently the Italian exotic car company has applied for a patent for a design that uses an electric motor to power two wheels and a...

Tom Hanks, the movie star, is also an early adopter of electric vehicles.  His 2003 Toyota RAV 4 EV is still in use today, and runs on the original batteries that came with the vehicle. Hank's RAV4 sees daily use by one of his employees.  The vehicle has just over 50,000 miles on it now and is...

Quirky carmaker Subaru sees cleaner diesels and hybrids on the horizon. This week Ikuo Mori, president of Fuji Heavy Industries, (Subaru's parent company) told Japanese reporters that Subaru is developing a cleaner diesel designed to meet 2011 global emissions standards and that he hopes to have a...

The rise of the lead acid battery may not be far off as several companies are working on ways to reinvent the old standby battery.  The downside to this battery type being weight and discharge and recharge cycle, the upside being low costs. What if a company could find a way to cut down on the...

Controversial car reviewer Jeremy Clarkson made his hatred of the Honda Insight widely known. His review of this car for the Times Online is to say the least negative. At one point, he states that the only newsworthy bit about this car is his hatred towards it. Describing the Insight as "biblically...

With Congress breathing down the automakers' necks, demanding more fuel efficient vehicles, it's no wonder GM is developing a new gas-sipping engine. Instead of using a spark plug to light the air-fuel mixture in a piston, the 'homogeneous charge compression ignition engine,' (HCCI) squeezes the...