Hybrids
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Common advertising practice tends to show you how your life can be made better by a product--easier, perhaps, or more fun, or bringing friends and family closer together. If you're advertising a commercial truck, you might show it hauling heavy loads, or maneuvering with ease around a city. MUST SEE: 2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost: Huge Push For Turbo Four-Cylinder On The Way Or, if you're Wrightspeed, you show a converted electric truck drifting on salt flats and being chased by a helicopter. Because why not? Reader and BMW ActiveE driver John Higham recently got the chance to drive one of...
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Honda Civic, Hybrid & Natural Gas: Ultimate GuideThe Honda Civic originally made its name in the 1970s, arriving at the perfect time to attract tens of thousands of customers scared out of larger, thirstier vehicles by the oil crisis. Four decades down the line and the Civic still has a reputation as a gas sipper, though the modern car is...
Antony Ingram -
Next Rolls-Royce Phantom Cuts Weight, Offers Plug-In HybridRolls-Royce is known for many attributes. Luxury. Expense. Cars with performance wryly described as "adequate". Light weight and frugality are two attributes you won't often find in cars assembled by the British luxury marque, though the next-generation Phantom flagship could offer both--by...
Antony Ingram -
2013-2014 Ford C-Max Hybrid Recalled Over Airbag Software IssueFord is recalling 2013 and 2014 C-Max Hybrid models due to faulty airbag-control software.
Stephen Edelstein -
Mercedes-Benz Touts Its Hybrid History From Way Back In 1906Have you noticed how many automakers seem to have a hybrid or electric vehicle somewhere in their history files? If one were being cynical, you might think the long-forgotten knowledge has been retrieved to prove the manufacturer has always been progressive and innovative. Mercedes-Benz is the...
Antony Ingram -
Chrysler: Mild Hybrids Coming, Says Electric Cars 'Overblown By Media'Yesterday's multi-hour presentation of the five-year plan for the combined Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was called "Chryslerpalooza" by local Detroit reporters who sat through it. The first green news was that Chrysler will build small numbers of plug-in hybrid minivans and large SUVs to meet emission...
John Voelcker -
Micro-hybrid vehicles remain relatively unexplored in the automotive sector, but their time in the limelight may soon be due. More sophisticated than vehicles with simple start-stop systems, but less reliant on electric power than a mild hybrid vehicle, micro-hybrids are nevertheless a low-hanging fruit, potentially selling five million units by 2018. As Earthtechling writes, it's all about the batteries. Stop-start systems are perhaps the easiest fuel-saving systems to implement in a modern car, requiring little more than a beefed-up starter motor to ensure the car can handle the thousands...
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Toyota's Texas Move: Prius Maker Lands In Highest-Carbon State (Updated)Toyota announced yesterday that it would relocate the headquarters of its U.S. arm from Torrance, California, to Plano, Texas. Left unaddressed in the announcement was the fact that the Japanese carmaker, known for its green image and its pioneering Prius hybrid range of 50-mpg cars, is moving from...
John Voelcker -
How Do You Make A Chevy Camaro Muscle Car Green? Students Have 4 Years To TryIf you're currently shopping for a fuel-efficient vehicle, the Chevrolet Camaro probably hasn't appeared on your radar. With combined economy of 22 mpg for the most efficient, V-6 automatic model, that's not a huge surprise. But given some time and some of the finest young engineering minds as part...
Antony Ingram -
Will GM Offer A Five-Seat Hybrid Or Volt To Target Prius V, Ford C-Max?With the anticipated launch of the revised 2016 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car now less than a year away, expectations are that it will be a compact hatchback similar to the current model. Whether it has four or five seats remains up in the air, though the addition of a fifth seat would...
John Voelcker -
New Fiskers In 2015? What Company Must Decide FirstThe embers of life still glow at Fisker Automotive, as the company readies plans to put its Karma back on the road by the middle of next year. With a new owner and new company president, hope has been renewed that the striking Karma and its stillborn stablemates would return, but Fisker still needs...
Antony Ingram -
Ford C-Max Hybrid Sales Hurt By Cut From 47 MPG To 43 MPG, Exec SaysThey say that honesty is the best policy. It's also said that the truth can hurt. Ford is experiencing both of these with its C-Max Hybrid--with lower sales since the company dropped its official EPA-rated mileage figures. The C-Max Hybrid was launched to great fanfare in 2012, touting EPA combined...
Antony Ingram -
The Insight may be Honda's flagship hybrid model, but that hasn't stopped the Japanese automaker from putting it out of its misery recently, with no replacement on the horizon. Luckily, another Honda hybrid is doing rather better--with demand actually outstripping current supply. According to Wards Auto, Honda currently has a waiting list on its Accord Hybrid--based on online reviews and a small online marketing push alone. Lack of inventory precludes any greater marketing push on the car. Inventory-limited sales are therefore modest in the U.S--2,414 cars between October 2013 and February...
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New York Auto Show: Green Cars And Concepts RoundupThe 2014 New York Auto Show is fast approaching, and as usual a small roster of green vehicles will be making their debuts. This year it's mainly about production vehicles, with very few green concepts in attendance. That's not such a bad thing though--while there's little truly fuel efficient...
Antony Ingram -
2015 Lexus NX Compact Crossover Launches With Hybrid And Turbo OptionsLexus has unveiled the first official images of its new compact crossover, known as the NX. The NX is set to debut at the upcoming Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, and will be offered with hybrid, turbocharged and naturally-aspirated powertrains. The former, known as the NX 300h, is...
Antony Ingram -
Audi A6 e-tron Plug-In Hybrid To Be Sold In ChinaThe Audi A6 e-tron plug-in hybrid is based on the A6 L e-tron concept from the 2012 Beijing Motor Show.
Stephen Edelstein -
Bentley Hybrid Concept: Preview Of 2017 SUV Plug-In Hybrid SystemAs 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...
John Voelcker -
Audi Q4 Hybrid Crossover Concept: Sketches Appear Before Beijing ShowThe market for crossover vehicles grows with every passing year, so it's surprising that few automakers have offered the vehicles with hybrid or plug-in powertrains up until now. One that could is Audi's Q4 crossover, should a production version of the Beijing-bound concept appear in the next few...
Antony Ingram -
Ever since the first Honda Insight and Toyota Prius arrived on U.S. shores, hybrid vehicles have been among the most efficient vehicles on the road. The latest Toyota Prius is rated at 50 mpg combined by the EPA, a figure that only plug-in vehicles currently top. But in other countries, the Prius has even higher official economy figures. And in some, the real-world savings are even greater than they are in the U.S. too. Hybrids are typically at their best in city driving, particularly full hybrid vehicles that offer a mile or two of all-electric range. In countries like India and China, where...
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2015 Lexus NX Crossover Gets Beijing Auto Show DebutLexus has announced that its eagerly-awaited 2015 NX crossover will debut at the upcoming 2014 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. Thanks to leaked images back in January, we already have a pretty good idea of what the production NX will look like--but largely the car will be a toned-down...
Antony Ingram -
Always Wanted A Harley-Davidson-Powered Prius? You're In Luck!It's fair to say most Toyota Prius owners are probably quite happy with their cars. Sure, they aren't the quickest vehicles on the road, and plug-in cars use even less gas. But they're quiet, efficient and easy to drive. It might not have crossed many owners' minds to swap the clean-burning...
Antony Ingram -
2015 Porsche 918 Spyder Plug-In Hybrid Supercar DrivenHybrid technology is no longer the preserve of fuel-sipping family cars. In recent years, we've seen it used on SUVs and large luxury sedans too. And more recently still, the latest breed of supercars has driven down the hybrid route. One such supercar is Porsche's 918 Spyder, driven by Motor...
Antony Ingram -
How Reliable Is Your Hybrid? Take It Apart To Find OutModern vehicles are derided in some circles for their complexity, but in reality cars are more reliable today than they've ever been. Sure, stuff still goes wrong--but it usually does so with such infrequency we just notice more. Cars go and stop when we ask, and they're capable of massive mileages...
Antony Ingram -
Ford Parodies Divisive Cadillac ELR Ad With 'Upside' C-Max VideoWhy do we work so hard? Because hard work means "anything is possible"--and maybe you'll get a nice pool and a fancy car out of it. At least, that's the answer if Cadillac's "Poolside" ad for its ELR range-extended electric luxury coupe was to be believed. MUST SEE: Tesla Model S To Get Titanium...
Antony Ingram