Hybrids

Cars of today are immeasurably safer than those even a decade ago, and manufacturers have been working very carefully to ensure that the different requirements of electric car construction don't mean taking a step back in safety. Volvo has always been known for safety and its plug-in cars are no...

Many town and city councils across the U.S. are introducing legislation to enable electric car owners to park for free as a way of encouraging more people to make the switch from gasoline to plug-in cars. Normally, these free parking spaces include access to a suitable level 2 charging station...

In the automotive industry, leaks about an upcoming product normally fall into two categories: genuine mess-ups, or a purposeful, pr-driven leak designed to give a new car extra attention. But we the latest leak from Japan -- an entire Toyota Aqua Hybrid sales brochure -- falls squarely in the...

Fisker is planning to build a midsize crossover on its Nina platform, and the vehicle will be positioned against the upcoming Tesla Model X.

You’re an SUV owner looking to upgrade your current car, but you’re also getting tired of increasing gas prices and the way those hybrid and electric car owners look at you on the freeway. At the same time, you’re not about to downsize to a sub-compact in order to get good gas...

When the original Toyota Prius launched over ten years ago in the U.S. as a nerdy sedan, it wooed many buyers with its low-speed, near-silent operation. Now the days of the whispering Prius are over, thanks to U.S. legislation requiring every single electric vehicle and hybrid car to fit an active...

For many people, the purchase of a fuel efficient car is usually made to save money on driving, as the cost of being a car owner rises further and further. That being the case, why buy an expensive car in the first place, potentially taking years longer to pay off the fuel savings? The good news is...

If you remember Volkswagen’s Super Bowl advert from earlier this year involving a pint-sized Darth Vader, its 2011 Passat had a particular affinity with the dark side of the force. But as of 2013 the evil Pasatt will have a nemisis in the form of the 2013 VW Jetta Hybrid, complete with a...

Kicking off the car's launch in Europe, Guinness World Records has certified the Infiniti M35h hybrid as the "world's fastest accelerating full hybrid."

While Rolls-Royce may have hit the headlines earlier this year with its all-electric 102EX Phantom Concept, its large customer base hasn’t been quite as welcoming. Despite a strong customer ambivalence to anything other than a throbbing 12-cylinder engine underneath the hood of its hand-built...

A common misconception of electric cars and hybrid vehicles is that at the end of a short battery life, the remainder is dumped in landfill and contributes ever more pollution to the Earth. Of course, we know this to be incorrect. Not only are the more common lead acid batteries the world's most...

We've got used to carmakers using the letter "i" to describe their products, but isn't that a little selfish? Volvo clearly thinks so which is why its latest design study, due at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, is called the Concept You. The unusual name comes from the Swedish maker's new brand...

Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon and five-time champ Jimmie Johnson might earn their living in gas-guzzling V8 Chevy Impalas, but on the roads it's a different story. In contrast to the champions' high-octane lifestyles, on a day off you're more likely to see them cruising around...

We've learned to take official EPA gas-mileage ratings with a pinch of salt in the past. They're useful for comparing model to model, but not always representative of the figures real people out in the real world will achieve. That's not to say that the EPA's fuel efficiency numbers can't be...

China appears to have abandoned its plans to gain an early advantage on Western carmakers by beating them to the market with mass-produced electric vehicles. As China develops more and more as a nation the demand for cars is increasing at a huge rate. The Chinese government had initially intended...

F1 television rights boss Bernie Ecclestone has never been one to mince his words, and now his ire has turned towards the 2014 Formula One rules that will require pitlane travel to be entirely electric. Adding to comments made about the lack of sound produced by regular electric vehicles, Mr...

Ford has issued data showing remarkable reliability among the battery packs and electric motors in its hybrid vehicles, not the least of them the ones used in grueling taxi service in cities like New York and San Francisco.

Toyota may have started the hybrid revolution with its original Prius, the first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid car and the vehicle which quickly became the eco badge of honor for celebrities and city dwellers alike. But ten years after the first Prius rolled into the U.S., Toyota is now...

Based on recent spy photos, Britain's Autocar believes that Ferrari is testing a hybrid drivetrain to be launched on an upcoming version of the Ferrari California.

According to a report from gigaom earlier this week, the electric auto industry will soon be producing battery packs at a rate far greater than the number of electric cars being built. Caused in part by a slower uptake of electric cars by consumers than was initially hoped, the article warned that...