Hybrids

  • Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, at Ford plant announcement

    Ford was on a roll at this year's Detroit Auto Show. It launched its new 2011 Ford Focus compact sedan and hatchback, which got rave reviews, and its 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid won North American Car of the Year. The company added a late-breaking press conference on Monday to make a further announcement about hybrids: It's investing $450 million in its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to produce future hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles starting in 2012. Future hybrids and plug-ins That's the plant that will produce the new 2011 Ford Focus, along with the 2012 Ford Focus...

  • Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept
    2010 Detroit Auto Show: Cadillac XTS Concept Revives GM's Plug-In Hybrid Hopes

    Say "luxury hybrid," and very few people think of Cadillac. Sure, the Escalade Hybrid large luxury sport-utility vehicle has been around for a few years, but Cadillac has no hybrid sedans. That may be about to change, if the Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept unveiled this morning at the Detroit Auto...

  • 2011 Honda CR-Z
    2010 Detroit Auto Show: Full Details on the 2011 Honda CR-Z Hybrid

    The 2010 Honda CR-Z hybrid is the first compact hybrid to go for a sporty edge.

  • 2010 Toyota Prius
    2010 Toyota Prius Is Best-Selling Car In Japan

    In another sign that Toyota hit a home run with the third-generation Prius hybrid hatchback, the 2010 Toyota Prius was the best-selling car in Japan during 2009. It beat out the Honda Fit, followed by the Toyota Yaris (known in Japan as the Vitz), as well as its closest hybrid competitor, the new...

  • City of Detroit, by jdurchen [Flickr]
    Update: Green Cars at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show

    Next month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit promises to be greener than ever before. That's a recognition that more fuel-efficient and smaller cars are a permanent part of the U.S. automotive landscape, but it's also desperation to fill space in a show that's losing exhibitors...

  • 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
    Diesel Hybrids From Peugeot and Mercedes Get Closer to Reality

    Peugeot is still on track to launch the world's first diesel-hybrid vehicle late this year. Its 3008 HYbrid4 Concept is a thinly disguised version of a crossover fitted with a mild-hybrid system that will go into production late this year as a 2011 model. Now other manufacturers are joining the...

  • Aston Martin Cygnet Concept

    Apparently James Bond won't be going green any time soon. In a report published by Auto Telegraaf today, Aston Martin boss, Dr. Ulrich Bez, said that current hybrid systems aren't a good match for Aston Martin's performance car reputation. Bez did, however, open the door for a hybrid vehicle as part of the luxurious Lagonda brand, which the British automaker is expected to revive in the coming years. Until then, eco-conscious Aston Martin fans may have to settle for the Toyota iQ-based Cygnet pure-electric vehicle (because, the Cygnet, of course, fits much more neatly into Aston's product...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    Faceoff: 2011 Chevrolet Volt Vs 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid

    Toyota and GM are the auto industry's heavyweights. Each has stumbled this year; General Motors collapsed into bankruptcy and Toyota is beset with embarrassing recalls that may dent its reputation for reliability. Each also has a plug-in car coming. The 2011 Chevy Volt will hit dealers in less than...

  • 2010 Toyota Prius
    2010 Toyota Prius Prices Rise $400 On All Models

    The prices of all five trim levels of the new 2010 Toyota Prius will rise next month by $400, or roughly 1.5 to 2 percent, reflecting increased costs and an unfavorable yen-dollar exchange rate. Toyota announced the changes on December 21, buried at the bottom of a lengthy press release on the...

  • 2011 Audi A1 and Justin Timberlake on LA photo shoot
    Preview: 2011 Audi A1 Subcompact Sports Hatchback

    As luxury automakers focus more on how to extend their brand into smaller packages that maintain the prestige and performance of their larger models, Audi has a few advantages. Its new 2011 Audi A1 subcompact hatchback can draw on the full experience of its parent, Volkswagen Group, while selling...

  • Eko ET-120 hybrid two-wheeler, from Bangalore, India
    World's First Hybrid Motorcycle To Launch In India

    We don't cover electric two-wheelers much here at GreenCarReports.com. They're not cars, and while millions are sold each year in China, we don't see many of them in the United States. But we thought it was worthwhile to note the launch of the world's first hybrid two-wheeler.  We're not entirely...

  • 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid 4-door Sedan Angular Front Exterior View
    Cash or Coupon for Honda Civic Hybrid Owners In Mileage Lawsuit

    If you're one of the 120,000 people who own a Honda Civic Hybrid made between 2003 and 2008, you may already know about the proposed settlement to a lawsuit against Honda contending its advertising overestimated the gas mileage of your car. If you're not aware of the suit, read up quick. EPA...

  • Denmark Crown Prince Frederik and Fisker Karma

    Not surprisingly, automotive journalists compete to be the first to drive the latest new cars. Some crave Chevies, others follow Ferrari. Here at GreenCarReports.com, we want to be among the first to drive electric cars and other plug-ins, new hybrids, clean diesels, and so forth. We've driven a lot of them, but one we haven't is the Fisker Karma extended-range electric sports sedan. But we don't feel singled out. No one outside the Fisker development team has ever driven one. Not a single person. Until now. So who gets the first drive? Noted auto afficionado Jay Leno, perhaps? Vice President...

  • 2010 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show
    Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid On Sale in 2011, Less Than $10K More

    High Gear Media has partnered with Tesla Motors on a new writing contest where YOU can win a tour and road test of the 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport. You can submit as many articles as you like and enter multiple times. Enter now! == As a plug-in battle starts to take shape among the 2011 Chevrolet...

  • 2009 Nissan GT-R
    Rumormill: Next Gen Nissan GT-R Going Hybrid (Godzilla Goes Green)

    According to a report in Best Car magazine out of Japan, the next generation Nissan GT-R will come with a hybrid powertrain. A 160 hp electric motor and a 440 hp gas engine will team up for a combined 600 hp. That's a number truly deserving of the car's nickname: Godzilla. The current generation...

  • Yokohama dB Super E-spec tire
    Green Tires From Orange Peels Use Less Oil, Bring Better MPGs

    Sadly, they're not actually orange. Nor do they smell like citrus when they get hot. But by infusing orange oil into natural rubber, a new line of tires from Yokohama cuts four-fifths of the petroleum needed to manufacture a tire. They lower rolling resistance too, meaning better fuel efficiency...

  • Toyota Prius EV-Mode button kit
    Holiday Gift Guide: The Best Accessories For Your Toyota Prius

    The huge SEMA show, mecca of car modifications from awful to awesome, now attracts even manufacturers, who commission custom versions of production cars in hopes that hotness will rub off on them. Even Toyota showed the Prius Aerius and Aemulus this year. But the real action is in the aftermarket...

  • 2011 Honda CR-Z leak
    Production Honda CR-Z Pictures and Specs Leaked

    Honda fan-boys have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the upcoming CR-Z Hybrid for months. The Japanese automaker calls the CR-Z "that place in the universe where sport and efficiency meet." According to a Japanese brochure leaked to the Temple of VTEC, what many had hoped would be the heir...

  • Toyota Prius body damage

    With early data now showing that hybrid cars seem to hit pedestrians more often, carmakers are ramping up efforts to find ways of alerting people when a nearby car is operating in electric mode. Now the UK's Group Lotus Engineering has come up with a noise-generating system, one of several approaches to noise-making equipment for electric-drive cars. Its HALOsonic External Electronic Sound Synthesis system creates a range of different noises, from a droning buzz to simulated exhaust sounds from a variety of virtual engines. Their reversing ping sounds particularly annoying, and we're not...

  • Chelsea Sexton
    2011 Chevy Volt Investment: How Does This Differ From the EV1?

    Another day, another announcement in the series of carefully timed press releases on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car. In this case, it's the news that GM's investment in the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where the Volt will be built totals $336 million. General Motors says that sum...

  • infiniti essence concept geneva live 004
    To Infiniti and Beyond: What's the Essence of Their Hybrid Program?

    It's no mystery that Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, wants electric vehicles to be a significant part of the Japanese automaker's future. He takes every chance he gets to advertise his ambitions and he's got the Leaf EV to champion his cause (and perhaps more importantly for Nissan, to take some press...

  • 2010 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show
    2010 Toyota Prius Plug-In Launches, But You Can't Buy One Now

    Hybrid and plug-in fans, not to mention the Prius faithful, have been eagerly waiting for Toyota's response to the reams of copy benerated by the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle. Surely Toyota, which invented the modern hybrid vehicle and has now built 1.5 million Toyota Prius...

  • 2010 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show
    2010 Toyota Prius Plug-In Arrives Early Next Year, For Fleets Only

    While Toyota's press conference today at the Los Angeles Auto Show covered the new 2011 Toyota Sienna minivan, a very special Prius hybrid on the show floor signaled the company's first tentative step into the world of plug-in vehicles. Toyota will deliver the first of 150 Toyota Prius Plug-In...

  • 2011 Toyota Sienna
    "Viridian Joule" Chosen In Chevy Volt Color Naming Contest

      The people have spoken and they've chosen Viridian Joule as the name of the Chevy Volt's green-gray paint color. Dave Thomas, of Sanford, Florida came up with the winning entry which beat the second place offering, "enviroMint" by nearly 300 votes. "EV-ergreen" came in third, falling 400 votes...

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