Plug-In Hybrids

Starting a company is tough; starting a company in the green automotive field may be even tougher. So it seemed like the engineering team from defunct startup Bright Automotive, once granted investment by GM, might have a second chance to see their technology on the road. The assets and...

The best-selling electric car in the world, the Nissan Leaf, logged its best-ever U.S. sales in August, selling a record 3,186 units. This marks its 18th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases, and brings the eight-month total to 18,941 and the total sold in almost four years to more...

It is, as yet, not possible to buy a plug-in car with seating for seven passengers. That will all change when the 2016 Volvo XC90 hits the market, as the latest generation of the Swedish SUV features both a seven-seat option, and the availability of a Twin Engine plug-in hybrid model. At a glance...

Toyota has been quite upfront about its belief that plug-in electric cars are not the technology of the future. (It says hydrogen fuel-cell cars are.) And now this belief has appeared in the advertising for its Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid. That car is the third or fourth best-selling car with a...

It's been a quiet period for hybrid news lately, with the 2016 Toyota Prius launch delayed and still more than a year away. But further down the road, it appears that both Hyundai and Ford now plan to offer dedicated hybrids--vehicles designed specifically around a hybrid powertrain that offer no...

For a two-seat car priced at more than $100,000, not sold in North America, and with just 250 built, the Volkswagen XL1 gets an extraordinary amount of attention. That's due to the hugely high fuel-economy ratings for the tiny carbon-fiber vehicle powered by a diesel plug-in hybrid system. It's...

The average new vehicle transaction price in the U.S. today is around $32,000. Now it appears that the upcoming 2016 Chevrolet Volt may possibly have two model variants, one of them targeting a base price of $30,000. That price could potentially equal--or undercut--every plug-in hybrid offered...

The first BMW i8 plug-in hybrid coupes were delivered amid the appropriately-upscale atmosphere of Pebble Beach.

Sales of plug-in electric cars in the U.S. continued their rise in July, as Nissan delivered more than 3,000 Leaf battery electric cars and Chevy more than 2,000 Volt range-extended electrics. It's was only the second time that the two cars together have sold more than 5,000 units in a single...

The Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car remains Canada's plug-in sales champion, but the Nissan Leaf battery-electric--the best-selling electric car in history--is coming up fast in its rear-view mirror As consistently as the Toyota Camry tops the U.S. car sales charts, the Chevy Volt leads...

Over the past few years, it's become clear that the German prestige makers are determined to offer plug-in electric vehicles across their various ranges. Some makers are more aggressive (BMW), some less so (Mercedes-Benz)--but by the end of next year, there will be a dozen or more vehicles with...

Audi has revealed more details of its second major plug-in hybrid drivetrain, set to appear first in the upcoming Audi A8 e-tron luxury sedan. The German automaker has chosen to go down the diesel route with its larger plug-in hybrid setup, which Auto Express reveals will use a new 3.0-liter V-6...

Two years ago, we described the difference between high-volume electric cars and "compliance cars"--those built in very limited numbers solely to meet California rules that require a certain number of zero-emission vehicles to be sold each year. Now it appears that manufacturers don't want new...

Mercedes-Benz revealed back in May that it would launch a plug-in hybrid version of its all-new C-Class in the fall of 2015. Further details of that car have now emerged, including drivetrain specifics and its efficiency figures in European testing. Mercedes sources have revealed to Autocar that...

Automakers love to boast about Nürburgring lap times when selling performance cars. Once one of the most dangerous motor racing circuits in the world, it's now a measuring stick for the capabilities of road-going sports cars, performance sedans and supercars. ALSO READ: White House Responds To...

We've got used to seeing plug-in car sales inexorably rising over the last few years. Different models sell at different rates of course, but when one or two cars each month hit some kind of individual sales record, the growth is rarely remarkable. But every so often we're taken by surprise by one...

Audi will concentrate heavily on the development of plug-in hybrids over the next few years, as the company plans to offer a plug-in model of very significant model in its lineup by 2020. Speaking to Autocar, Audi's research and development chief Ulrich Hackenberg says plug-in hybrids will be...

BMW has revealed full pricing and options details for its plug-in hybrid sports car, the i8. It's the first glimpse we've had of pricing beyond the i8's regular base price, and what BMW's 'World' trim levels offer beyond the standard i8's equipment tally. Revealed by BMW Blog, the i8's base price...

We always knew the Volkswagen XL1 wouldn't be cheap. It's a limited-run, carbon-fiber bodied, plug-in hybrid, gull-winged low-slung eco supercar. None of that sounds cheap. And as Volkswagen UK reveals pricing for the light-weight plug-in hybrid, we now know just how not-cheap it actually is...

Audi has promised plug-in models for some time, and towards the end of this year its first production plug-in will finally arrive. The 2015 Audi A3 Sportback e-tron will hit European roads in winter 2014, priced at 37,900 Euros. That's around $51,500 at current exchange rates, or similarly priced...