Hybrid


REPORT: Toyota Supra HV-R GT hybrid coming to LeMans

Toyota's pulled out of F1, but that doesn't mean the company has lost its will to win with cutting edge tech. Rumors suggest it's dusting off the underpinnings of the Hybrid Supra HV-R it used to win the Tokkachi 24-Hour race two years ago, and staring at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a glint in its eye. The Supra HV-R used a 473-horsepower V8 that gets help from regenerative braking, a quick-charging capacitor, and three additional electric motors: two in the front wheels, one in the back of the car. Toyota would need to upgrade the ... Read more →

Ford claims biggest five-year fuel economy improvement among major automakers Sam Abuelsamid

According to the latest report from the Environmental Protection Agency, Ford has scored the biggest improvement in combined fuel economy of any major carmaker over the last five years. Between ...

REPORT: Honda plans to settle Civic Hybrid mileage suit out of court. Is it a fair deal? Jeremy Korzeniewski

If you buy a hybrid, you'll be rewarded with excellent fuel economy, right? Well, that's the idea, but sometimes things don't turn out exactly as we had hoped. Such is apparently the case with a ...

Autoblog Podcast #157 - Mike Levine trucks along with us! Dan Roth

Our friend Mike Levine from Pickuptrucks.com joins Chris, Sam and Dan for Episode #157 of The Autoblog Podcast, bringing his vast knowledge of all that is crew-cabbed and full framed. Of course, ...

REPORT: Ex-execs from Chrysler join startup green company Jonathon Ramsey

Ex-Chrysler CEO and co-president Tom LaSorda (above) and ex-VP of North American sales Steven Landry have joined a small Detroit startup called ALTe. Focused on the fleet industry, ALTe aims to ...

VIDEO: GM commissions Chevrolet Volt dance to go with song. Yes, really. 5 days ago on Autoblog

"E for electricity, V for Chevy Volt and me..." Catchy little diddly, sure. But we were mostly willing to let the Chevrolet Volt song make the deep, dark trek into obscurity with nary another mention. That is, until today. What made us change our tune, you ask? Boy, are you in for a treat. ...

Detroit Preview: Toyota teases new hybrid concept vehicle 5 days ago on Autoblog

Toyota, the Undisputed Heavyweight Hybrid Champion of the World, has just announced that it will unveil a new gas-electric concept vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show next month. Beyond that, details are decidedly scarce. As a dedicated model, this apparently won't be a hybridized version of a ...

Toyota officially launches plug-in Prius program, retail sales in 2011 6 days ago on Autoblog

In Japan today, Toyota officially launched its Prius Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) lease program. Over the next six months, Toyota will be building and deploying 600 examples of the plug-in Prius for testing primarilly in Japan, United States and Europe. The Japanese market will get 230 units, with 150 ...

Rumormill: Next generation Nissan GT-R to go hybrid 9 days ago on Autoblog

Japan's Best Car magazine seems to be on a little bit of a hybrid high lately. Just a couple of weeks ago, the publication ran a story stating that Toyota is planning to revive its beloved MR2 nameplate with a new hybrid roadster. Now they're reporting that the Nissan GT-R will also gain a ...

Another leaked brochure shows Honda CR-Z by Mugen 10 days ago on Autoblog

With yesterday's leaked brochure of the production version of the 2011 Honda CR-Z, a Temple of VTEC member wasted no time uploading what could be the first Mugen variant of Honda's new hybrid hatch. Details on the mods are minimal, but the tuner appears to be working on a dress-up package ...

Honda CR-Z brochure leaks out, production specs revealed 11 days ago on Autoblog

The variable valve-timing obsessives at the Temple of VTEC have scored a leaked brochure of the 2011 Honda CR-Z, and in addition to getting a glimpse of the production version of the hybrid hatch, some specs and trim details were included in the document. We finally have hard figures on the ...

Dodge Challenger tops Consumer Reports owner satisfaction survey 12 days ago on Autoblog

Consumer Reports has surveyed 380,000 subscribers to rank the most satisfied new car owners and a newcomer came in and dethroned the Toyota Prius. An amazing 92 percent of V8-powered Dodge Challenger owners said that they would definitely buy another Mopar pony car if they had the chance to do ...

REPORT: Infiniti still mulling production Essence coupe 16 days ago on Autoblog

- c When we first laid eyes on Infiniti's Essence concept at this year's Geneva Motor Show, we were, quite frankly, smitten by its voluptuous lines. We apparently weren't alone, as Infiniti exec Ben Poore has reportedly told Motor Trend that reaction to the concept was "phenomenal." When the ...

LA 2009: Toyota debuts its plug-in Prius for North America 16 days ago on Autoblog

Toyota rather unceremoniously parked their plug-in Prius hybrid prototype at its North American market debut during the LA Auto Show, while their new Sienna minivan got a royal welcome at its coming out party. At a show that saw the production-ish Chevrolet Volt appearing in public for the ...

LA 2009: BMW ActiveHybrids get North American debut; 7 Series model priced from $103,125 16 days ago on Autoblog

BMW took advantage of California's proclivity for greenwashing to give its ActiveHybrid models their North American debuts at the LA Auto Show. Just for good measure they also brought along the incredible Vision Efficient Dynamics sustainable supercar concept. While we know a great deal about ...

LA 2009: Honda P-NUT concept gets cracked open 17 days ago on Autoblog

Turns out that the Honda P-NUT is not some sort of twist on the UX-3 unicycle thing we saw in Tokyo recently. Instead, the concept vehicle is a three-seat thing enclosed in lots of glass and angular lines. Honda says the P-NUT is ready for one of three possible powertrains: an efficient gas ...

LA 2009: All-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata to come in regular, turbo and hybrid 17 days ago on Autoblog

Not counting full-size trucks, the meat-and-potatoes of the American car market remains the mid-size family sedan. For the past two decades, the undisputed kings of this particular segment have been the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, especially since the Ford Taurus fell off its pedestal right ...

LA 2009: Volkswagen Up! Lite Concept teases with practical, lightweight innovation 17 days ago on Autoblog

Volkswagen has just taken the cover off an all-new concept called the Up! Lite, a sinister looking diesel hybrid that gets (according to VW) 70 mpg combined. As in both City and Highway. Impressive, even if that only ends up being 90 percent accurate. In fact, should Volkswagen decide to green ...

GM confirms Chevrolet Volt to be introduced in California before nationwide rollout 18 days ago on Autoblog

If environmentally-friendly transportation is your thing, there's no place like California. Not only is the state home base to Tesla – the first company to genuinely demonstrate that hugging a tree and hugging the road needn't be mutually exclusive – it was also chosen by General ...

"Viridian Joule" picked as winner of Chevy Volt Paint Color Contest 18 days ago on Autoblog

The votes have been cast, the tallies tallied and the winner determined: Viridian Joule will be the official name of the silvery-green hue as seen on a slew of Chevrolet Volt marketing material for what seems like the last decade or so. So, um, what does Viridian Joule mean? We'll let the winner ...

REPORT: Initial Chevy Volt launch will be in select U.S. markets only 18 days ago on Autoblog

Undoubtedly, the 2011 Volt is one of the most hotly anticipated new model launches in Chevrolet's long and storied history, and it will likely be seen as a halo model of sorts for General Motors as a whole. As we experienced first hand when we slid behind the wheel of a preproduction Volt the ...

Spy Shots: Smart ForTwo+2 in the works? 18 days ago on Autoblog

Smart, the German-born automaker that revived the stagnant microcar market in the first place, has seen itself fall behind in the city car wars with Toyota's oh-so-clever iQ taking the top spot with its extra space for passengers and packages via its brilliant layout. What's more, new machines are ...

REPORT: Ratan Tata again confirms hybrid Tata Nano 19 days ago on Autoblog

Once again, Tata chairman Ratan Tata has confirmed via the South Korean Maeil Business Newspaper that his company intends to launch a hybrid version of the Nano. While it's impossible to know for sure, we'd imagine that starting off with the World's Least Expensive Automobile may very well equal ...

Quick Spin: 2011 Chevrolet Volt charges toward production 20 days ago on Autoblog

Three years ago this December we first walked into a Manhattan conference room for a background briefing on a new concept being developed by General Motors for the upcoming Detroit Auto Show. Earlier that year, the release of a documentary called Who Killed the Electric Car made the then largest ...

Cars & Coffee: Chevy shocks the crowd, brings Volt 21 days ago on Autoblog

General Motors shocked the crowd at Cars & Coffee this weekend by bringing out the 2011 Chevy Volt. Representatives on hand said this is the same car that will be on display at the LA Auto Show next week. They added that this is a pre-production model with a lot of development miles on it. ...

Rumormill: Toyota MR2 to be reborn with hybrid power 23 days ago on Autoblog

Tell us if this sounds familiar: Hybrids will kill the driver-oriented sportscar. It's the line taken by no small share of enthusiasts, and some of them are among us here at Autoblog. But the skeptics were silenced – or temporarily hushed, at least – when Honda took the wraps off of ...

VIDEO: Chevrolet Volt tests driver-controlled audio warning system with the blind 24 days ago on Autoblog

As the popularity of hybrids has grown over the last few years, advocates for the blind have been raising a red flag about noise, or -- more to the point -- the lack of it. Because electric-drive vehicles emit much lower levels of sound on the street, blind pedestrians who've relied on the noise ...

Top Gear builds Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust, an ER-EV to answer the Chevy Volt 25 days ago on Autoblog

Many electric vehicle fans out there are constantly complaining about how long it's taking automakers to bring plug-in vehicles to market. We've had commenters on this site claim that automakers should be able to bring EVs to the street in six months. Apparently even six months is too long for ...

REPORT: New Lexus small car may be headed for U.S. by 2012 - perhaps sooner 1 month ago on Autoblog

Lexus introduced its LF-Ch concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and it's believed to be a shoe-in for production for the European market. However, in a new Detroit Bureau interview with the brand's general manager, Mark Templin, it is confirmed that Lexus is seriously considering ...

Spy Shots: BMW 1 Series hybrid spotted in Munich 1 month ago on Autoblog

At the launch of the BMW X6 ActiveHybrid, officials acknowledged the automaker would be producing several additional hybrid models in the near future. Rumors have been floating around that the new 5 Series – due to launch in 2010 – will get the same mild hybrid system going into the ...

BMW prices the ActiveHybrid X6 starting at $89,725 1 month ago on Autoblog

For your hard-earned $89,725, you can have your pick of V8-powered BMW X6s. That substantial pile of dosh will secure you the keys to the Bavarian automaker's monster 555-horsepower X6 M or its new X6 ActiveHybrid. Unlike rival Mercedes-Benz which has opted to make its ML450 hybrid available ...

REPORT: Toyota U.S. president Lentz believes Prius could supplant Camry as brand's best seller 1 month ago on Autoblog

The Toyota Camry has been the best selling car in the US for 11 of the past 12 years, and only a total industry meltdown has managed to slow the Japanese automaker's bread-and-butter sedan. Even with that impediment, the Camry still has a comfortable lead versus its archrivals, the Honda Accord ...

Five Axis offers up Aerius body kit for 2010 Toyota Prius 1 month ago on Autoblog

If you don't win the charity auction for the Aemulus-modified Prius, but want something flashy for your 2010 model, take a look at the Aerius Prius that made its debut at SEMA this year (they're practically the same vehicle). The kit designed by Five Axis will, according to Gas 2.0, be available ...

Chevy Volt color contest finalists include EV-ergreen, environMINT and Viridian Joule [w/VIDEO] 1 month ago on Autoblog

As of this morning, Chevrolet is moving into the final stage of its Volt color naming contest. The company has picked three finalists from among the names submitted by 13,000 people over the last two weeks. Starting this morning, you can cast your vote for which of the finalists will win the ...

REPORT: Toyota Prius wagon, SUV in the works 1 month ago on Autoblog

Exactly how the Prius name might shift from defining the world's most famous hybrid to its own sub-brand – "Not!" – or moniker for other Toyota hybirds – "Yes!" – has been a source of interest for quite some time. The latest bit of speculation comes from the Yomiuri ...

Mercedes-Benz ML450 Hybrid 4Matic not for sale, lease only 1 month ago on Autoblog

This week brings the official launch of the first European-branded vehicle equipped with the two-mode hybrid system that was co-developed between General Motors, Daimler, BMW and Chrysler. The Mercedes-Benz ML450 edges out the BMW X6 ActiveHybrid in getting to showrooms but it actually shares ...

Next Page →






Autoblog Podcast #157: Mike Levine trucks along with us.

Mike Levine from PickupTrucks.com joins Chris, Sam, and Dan this week and gets a chance to talk about cars, too! 

 
 

Subscribe via: iTunes | RSS

Featured Galleries

  • Spy Shots: 2011 Lincoln MKX
  • Spy Shots: 2011 Ford Edge
  • MINI Beachcomber concept
  • Gold Mercedes-Benz SLS for Dubai Motor Show
  • 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet
  • 2011 Audi A1 Graffiti Teasers
  • Reader Spy: SRT-prepped Dodge Journey R/T
  • 2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is
  • Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta
  • 2010 Dodge Viper ACR-X
  • First Drive: 2010 Lexus GX460
  • Hennessey Performance Venom GT in the shop
AOL Autos

Find Your Next Car

Resources

10 Most Searched Cars on AOL Autos

Autoblog Video

Autoblog Green

BloggingStocks

Download Squad

Engadget

Joystiq

Autoblog Spanish

Switched.com

FanHouse

Asylum