Plug-In Hybrids

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...

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...

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...

Earlier this morning, we wrote about GM's announcement that engineers developing the 2011 Chevrolet Volt have partnered with the National Federation of the Blind to figure out "a safe level of sound" from the company's first extended-range electric vehicle. Our subsequent interview with Tony...

Over the next 12 months, carmakers will introduce several new plug-in electric vehicles. One question that's frequently asked of GreenCarReports: Does recharging electric cars pose a threat to the electricity grid? The 2010 Fisker Karma and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids, among other...

As planning for the arrival of plug-in cars accelerates, electric utilities need to know which of their customers intend to hook their vehicle up to the power grid every day. Now Southern California Edison, the 123-year-old electric utility that serves 5 million customers in and around Los Angeles...

Well, this is encouraging. A new study of luxury car buyers commissioned by BMW finds that even luxury car buyers are beginning to reject conspicuous consumption, with more and more choosing their purchases for "social, political, or environmental reasons". BMW and Mini executives, in a...

There's nothing like a little old-fashioned reporter shoe leather, especially when few other automotive media outlets bother to make the trip. Our colleague Gary Gastelu of Fox News traveled down to Delaware yesterday, to cover the official announcement of Fisker Automotive's $18 million purchase...

At 10 am tomorrow morning, Vice President Joe Biden is expected to announce that Fisker Automotive will buy the closed General Motors factory in Wilmington, Delaware, his home state. According to reports, company founder Henrik Fisker will join Delaware Governor Jack Markell and other dignitaries...

It's a sad thing when an auto show loses its exhibitors, and this was a tough year for Tokyo. Foreign automakers shunned the show--unless you count England's Lotus--so the biannual event had pretty much only Japanese products on display. Despite the downsizing, green cars abounded, ranging from new...

Here at GreenCarReports.com, sometimes we get e-mails that make us scratch our heads. For instance, why would advocacy group Plug In America target Toyota, which offers the popular 2010 Prius? Why would it slam the world's undisputed leader in hybrid-car development, the company that made...

The U.S. Department of Energy yesterday approved a $529 million low-interest loan to Fisker Automotive, which will start building its 2010 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan later this year. Customer deliveries will start next May. In June, Tesla Motors received a $465 million loan for...

"Electric vehicles of today are less costly than in 1990s, but if you compare them with the other vehicles out there they are still too expensive." Those were the words of Toyota Executive Vice President, Takeshi Uchiyamada, at the Frankfurt Motor Show which opened to the press today. "Unless there...

Every other year, Mercedes-Benz unveils a "Vision" concept car at the Frankfurt Motor Show that points the way to cars it will launch in future years. This year's concept car looks just like a standard 2010 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Instead, it's the mechanical parts that are remarkable: It's a...

There's something about the Toyota Prius that makes people want to modify it. Maybe it's the Hybrid Synergy Drive system, maybe it's the electric running, maybe it's even the car's shape. We're not quite sure. Now, joining the growing parade of Prius plug-in conversions (whether professional or...

Toyota will show the final version of its prototype Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid at the Frankfurt Motor Show two weeks hence, trying to keep up with the flurry of electric, hybrid, and diesel concepts to be shown there. With numerous concepts from German automakers, and GM pulling out all the...

While many US car buyers are still getting used to the idea of hybrid electric vehicles like the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid or the 2010 Toyota Prius, a new variation is barreling down the pike: the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, or PHEV. A plug-in hybrid uses a larger battery pack to allow the car...

Well, the other shoe finally dropped. General Motors said today that the plug-in version of its Two-Mode Hybrid system would be fitted to a Buick crossover to be introduced next year, with the plug-in arriving in 2011. That'll be at least a few months after the arrival of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt...

The Nikkei Business Daily has reported that Toyota plans to produce between 20,000 and 30,000 plug-in hybrids in 2012. The Japanese automaker has already committed to leasing 500 plug-ins for government and corporate use by the end of this year. The plan is hardly a surprise. While traditional...

Ric Richards is the independent owner of a McDonald's restaurant in Cary, North Carolina. He's about to be the first McDonald's owner to offer a dedicated parking space to charge plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. In that way, he's an environmental pioneer. In addition to the ChargePoint...