Antony Ingram, Contributing Writer
Articles
-
The Honda Insight hybrid is no more. That's the confirmation from Honda itself, as slow sales prompt the Japanese automaker to end production of its flagship hybrid.
According to Bloomberg, Honda...
-
Fuelshark Gadget To Boost Gas Mileage Does Nothing Of The SortDozens of companies around the world will sell you devices claiming to improve your gas mileage. For what seems like a nominal amount, the magic devices can apparently increase your fuel economy by double-digit percentage figures. It seems too good to be true. And all too frequently, as Jalopnik...
Antony Ingram -
So What's A Brand-New (Defunct) Coda Sedan Electric Car Worth?For every success story in the electric car world, there's also a less than successful endeavor. Coda would find itself in the latter category. Years of hype deflated like a burst balloon when the company went bankrupt in May 2013. The company's cars are still available though, through a firm...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Honda Fit EV: Model Year Ends Early As Last Cars Are BuiltHonda has announced through its EV sales division that the Fit EV model year production will end early, with production of the last of the 2014 Fit EVs this fall. [UPDATE: Honda North America subsequently clarified that Fit EV production will end on schedule this fall, not "early." Honda added that...
Antony Ingram -
Hyundai Intrado Concept Previews Next-Gen Fuel Cells At GenevaHyundai has revealed official images of its Intrado fuel cell concept, due at this year's Geneva Motor Show in early March. Revealed in a preview image back in December, the Intrado is a compact crossover vehicle powered by the latest generation of Hyundai's fuel cell technology, before production...
Antony Ingram -
2015 Ford Focus To Offer Fuel-Efficient 1.0 EcoBoost Option In U.S.Ford's global 'One Ford' policy means that fewer and fewer cars in the manufacturer's range are sold in just one market--they need to be viable worldwide to be viable as a whole. That's why you can buy Fiestas in the U.S, while Fusions and Mustangs will soon be on sale in Europe. It's also why the...
Antony Ingram -
Modern electric cars are nice enough, but ask them to climb a snowy bank or forge through a forest and we suspect you'd quickly find their limitations.
For truly tough conditions, you need something...
-
Lawsuit Accuses Ford Of Infringing Hybrid Technology Patents, Once MoreFord isn't having much luck with its hybrid vehicles. Don't get us wrong, they're selling well, but after complaints that Ford's hybrids couldn't hit their stated EPA mileage figures, Ford is now facing a lawsuit that accuses it of infringing on technology patents in its hybrid vehicles. Bloomberg...
Antony Ingram -
Mitsubishi's Mini-Motor For Electric Cars Integrates...Well, A LotElectric vehicles already offer car designers much greater freedom than internal combustion vehicles, eliminating the need to find space for the rigid shape of an engine, its transmission and its ancillaries. That's not to say electric vehicle packaging can't be improved though, and Mitsubishi is...
Antony Ingram -
New Mazda Hazumi Concept Is New Mazda 2, Next Toyota Yaris TooWith the new Mazda3, Mazda6 and CX-5 crossover launched over the last few years, you might have forgotten the smaller Mazda2 subcompact even exists. Mazda hasn't forgotten the 2 though, and will unveil a new subcompact concept car at the Geneva Motor Show to point the way to its replacement. Mazda...
Antony Ingram -
Volkswagen Golf GTE Plug-In Hybrid: Geneva Motor Show PreviewVolkswagen has released full details of its all-new Golf GTE, a plug-in hybrid model making its debut at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. The German automaker has chosen the sporty GTE moniker as a way of tying the model into its GTI and GTD gasoline and diesel sports hatchbacks, but as the 'E'...
Antony Ingram -
Ominous Sign For 2014 Cadillac ELR: Half Of Dealers Turn It DownSales of Cadillac's ELR range-extended luxury coupe are... well, they're not high right now. But that's okay, since Cadillac hasn't set itself huge targets for the Volt-based coupe. It's a niche product, not a volume model. Less okay is that nearly half of the brand's dealers have decided not to...
Antony Ingram -
China represents a huge, and growing, market for new car sales.
But when it comes to choosing greener cars, the country lags far behind the U.S., with electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales lower...
-
GM Pickups To Have Aluminum Bodies Too, But Four Years Behind FordIt's long been known that aluminum is an effective way of reducing the weight of vehicles, but Ford's adoption of the metal for its 2015 F-150 truck has finally spurred others into action in the pickup class too. General Motors has recently secured contracts with aluminum suppliers Alcoa and...
Antony Ingram -
Rinspeed XchangE Concept: Tarted-Up Automonous Tesla At Geneva Motor ShowOne of the highlights of the annual Geneva Motor Show--whether technologically or simply for amusement value--is seeing what Swiss automaker Rinspeed has chosen to unveil. For decades the firm has churned out all manner of weird and wonderful vehicles, from submarines based on the Lotus Elise to...
Antony Ingram -
Compressed-Air Hybrid Tech: Peugeot To Offer In 2016 On SubcompactsLast year French automaker PSA Peugeot-Citroen launched a whole new take on the hybrid system: Hybrid Air. While previous air-powered cars have had little more substance than the air that drives them along, the French carmaker's system is set to appear in actual Peugeot production cars over the...
Antony Ingram -
Three Lithium-Ion Giants Join To Build Better Electric-Car BatteryThree large global companies--Bosch, GS Yuasa, and Mitsubishi--have announced a joint venture to improve development of the next generation of batteries for electric vehicles. The group's aim is to double energy capacity, helping electric cars become truly mass-market in the next decade. Today...
Antony Ingram -
Opel's New 3-Cylinder Engine May Preview Volt's Next Range-ExtenderIt's been expected for some time that the next generation Chevrolet Volt could use a smaller, more efficient and likely three-cylinder power unit as its range-extending engine. Now, we may be getting our first glimpse of that engine, in a more conventional installation than last year's Opel Monza...
Antony Ingram -
On Wednesday, Tesla will report its full-year financial results for 2013, a year in which it seems to have sold more than 20,000 Model S electric luxury sedans.
It's an impressive figure for the...
-
Are New, Smaller, Higher-Mileage Engines Less Reliable?For the first time in over 15 years, increased engine and transmission problems in 2011 model year cars have contributed to a decline in vehicle dependability in J.D. Power's annual Vehicle Dependability Study. Ordinarily you might put this down to the luck of the draw--an occasional drop is almost...
Antony Ingram -
New Renault Twingo Previews Next Smart ForTwoCar companies aren't in the habit of persisting with loss-making enterprises, so it's a surprise that Daimler has continued with its Smart city car brand as long as it has. Perhaps the next generation will fare better than previous models, thanks to a tie-up with French automaker Renault. We've now...
Antony Ingram -
Volvo's Efficient 180-Horsepower Drive-E Diesels DrivenVolvo may be best known for its emphasis on safety, but the marque is keen to cultivate an image of efficiency, too. As such, the Swedish automaker has overhauled its engine range with a new lineup of four-cylinder powerplants, in both gasoline and diesel formats. The idea is to offer four-cylinder...
Antony Ingram -
Will We Reach 'Peak Cars' Within Our Lifetime?"Peak oil" is the term given to the date after which extraction and production of oil enters terminal decline. It doesn't mean the oil is necessarily running out--more that its extraction becomes less viable as time goes on. Some suspect a similar thing is happening with automobile use in the U.S...
Antony Ingram -
2015 Ford F-150 Aluminum Pickup Body Points Toward Fuel-Economy GainsMaking a large, heavy vehicle like a pickup truck economical isn't the easiest of tasks. You can drop in a more efficient engine, of course. But it'll struggle against poor aerodynamics and ample weight. Ford has done both the first and the third of these, the latter handled by a new aluminum...
Antony Ingram