Hybrids

Politics in New York City are a tough, bruising game. Pit a billionaire Mayor with a desire to make the city work better and cut carbon emissions against the entrenched interests of taxi owners, and you get an ongoing battle. The latest skirmish is a concession by the NYC Taxi and Limousine...

The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, a mid-size sedan that competes with hybrid models of the Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, and Toyota Camry, will go on sale in October, its maker said today. 47 mpg combined With a more powerful electric motor than its competitors, the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid...

Show us someone who actively enjoys getting stuck in heavy traffic and we'll show you someone with nothing better to do. But if you have little choice but to sit in that traffic on your way to work, a new study shows you'd be best off with a hybrid vehicle. You probably didn't need a study to tell...

In the market for a used hybrid? Now could be the time to start looking, as prices are steadily falling. It's all down to stable gas prices, reports Wards Auto, which have seen used hybrid values fall faster than any other segment--down a full 9 percent from January. Where fuel prices in 2011 and...

It's pretty easy to take regenerative braking for granted, these days--virtually every electric and hybrid car on sale uses it to some extent. Maybe we should be a little more appreciative of its benefits, as Ford estimates owners of its vehicles have saved 100 million gallons of gasoline over the...

We have good news and bad news for hybrid car owners. First the bad news: basic car repairs are more expensive than they used to be. According to a CarMD survey of repair costs across the U.S., problems associated with the "check engine" light cost $367.84 to repair in 2012. That's 10% higher than...

Remind us in future to avoid drive routes confined almost exclusively to Manhattan. While they're great for showing off hybrid cars--including the 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid we briefly tested on Tuesday--they take years off your life. We had a chance to put about 10 miles on the new hybrid MKZ, the...

Information is power, right? More precisely, based on an interview last week with Mike Tinskey, Ford’s Director of Global Vehicle Electrification and Infrastructure, information is both what buyers of the brand’s Energi plug-in hybrids want to feel empowered, and what they need to get...

We're often asked why more automakers don't sell diesel-electric hybrid vehicles. There are plenty of good reasons why, but that doesn't stop people wanting the twin-pronged benefits of highway and city economy. SUV buyers could get their wish if Land Rover brings diesel-electric hybrids to the...

It seems Ford has taken to heart the concerns over the difference in its new hybrids between EPA gas-mileage ratings and real-world results. In a media presentation yesterday on the new 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Ford's luxury brand devoted considerable time to explaining how it helps drivers...

While the assembled hoardes drooled over Ferraris, Porsches and McLarens at March's Geneva Motor Show, those of a greener disposition were more interested in another vehicle. Launched alongside the hybrid hypercars was a true hybrid supercar in its own right--the plug-in diesel hybrid Volkswagen...

Plug-In Hybrids like the Ford Fusion Energi and Ford C-Max Energi—or the Toyota Prius Plug-In, among others—encourage those with regular commutes to plug in daily and do some (or all) of their commute in electric-only mode, without the gasoline engine ever firing up. But it appears that...

Toyota said today it would recall some 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Lexus HS 250h hybrid cars in the U.S. due to a potentially faulty brake-pressure accumulator. The component, said the company, may develop an internal crack due to metal fatigue caused by vibrations over the course of the vehicle...

The next-generation Toyota Prius hybrid may retain the same shape as its predecessors, but it's likely to be different in several important ways. With spy shots of 2016 Prius prototypes now emerging, it's time to follow up on a piece we did six months ago. So, let's look at all the confirmed facts...

If you ever feel cars are getting too expensive, consider yourself lucky you don't live in Singapore. The country, an island located on the tip of mainland Malaysia, is smaller than most cities, and one of the most prosperous nations in the world. Due to its (lack of) size, traffic is a big...

If going green was all about financial payoff, BMW is the latest company whose products suggest that diesel is better than hybrid for the shrewd consumer. The German firm has revealed pricing for the 2014 5-Series range, and lurking within the price list are both the 2014 ActiveHybrid 5, and the...

It's official: Cars really are getting more efficient. Not that there isn't a long way still to go, but virtually every month statistics emerge to suggest the average fuel efficiency of vehicles in the U.S. has gone up another few fractions of a percent. There are still winners and losers though...

Lexus has announced a coupe version of its compact luxury sedan, the IS, will go on sale in 2014. The company hasn't confirmed whether a hybrid version will be made, though with the latest IS inspired by last year's LF-CC concept, itself a hybrid, such a thing is likely. The coupe is expected to...

The belief that electric cars must somehow perform badly in crashes is slowly being eroded, with many well-known examples scoring well in crash tests around the world. The 2013 Ford Fusion Energi, the plug-in hybrid variant of Ford's midsize offering, is the latest to join that list, with a top...

Toyota is one of few automakers still using nickel-metal hydride batteries in its hybrid vehicles, but that could change for its next generation vehicles. Reuters reports that the company aims to boost production of more common lithium-ion technology by six times for its future products. Toyota has...