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Report: Honda Fast-Tracking List of Updates to Improve Insight
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According to the U.K.’s Autocar, Honda is fast-tracking a list of updates for the Insight originally scheduled for a mid-cycle makeover that’s still several years off. The focus of the changes will be to further improve fuel-economy, which while impressive at 40/43 mpg (city/highway), lags significantly behind the 2010 Prius and its 51/48 mpg rating….
Report: Acura NSX to Return as All-Wheel Drive Hybrid
The latest bit of Acura NSX gossip points to a return of the luxury Japanese automaker’s flagship sports car, but as an all-wheel drive hybrid. 7Tune is reporting from their sources that when the next generation NSX (known as the Advanced Sports Car Concept) was canned, it was actually more of a temporary matter as…
Report: GM Launches ChevroletVoltage Social Networking Site to Help Promote Upcoming Volt
To help promote the upcoming Chevrolet Volt and provide owners and potential owners with a place to discuss the ground-breaking car, General Motors has launched a new forum called ChevroletVoltage.com. And to help kick-start interest in the forum, GM has released a video of the build process for the prototype Volt cars. The Voltage…
Report: Mazda to License Hybrid Technology From Toyota
Mazda is reportedly in talks with Toyota over the prospect of licensing hybrid technology from Japan’s largest automaker for use in future green cars. Currently Nissan has a similar arrangement with Toyota for the Altima Hybrid. Mazda currently has one hybrid model, the Tribute HEV (pictured above), which is based on the Escape Hybrid and…
Honda Confirms CR-Z Hybrid and Fit Hybrid for 2010
Honda has just confirmed that it will build two additional hybrid models that will go on sale in Japan starting in February 2010. The first is the highly-anticipated CR-Z hybrid and the second is a hybrid version of the sub-compact Fit. Both models will use Honda’s IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) hybrid system, a less sophisticated…
Hyundai Brings Elantra LPI Hybrid to Market in Korea
Today Hyundai introduced a hybrid version of its compact Elentra sedan for the Korean marketplace. This mild-hybrid system makes use of an unconventional 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that is powered by LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), or what is also known as propane. That engine is then mated to an electric motor, which receives its power from…
Top Chevy Volt Engineer Says Hybrid Has the “Feel of a Sports Car”
Last week Andrew Farah, Chevrolet’s top Engineer responsible for the upcoming Volt plug-in hybrid, said that the car would be a sporty rival to Japanese alternatives. Now he is taking that claim a step further, telling Automotive News that it will have, “the feel of a sports car.” In fact, Farah doesn’t say that the…
Plug-in Prius Due Out in 2012; Two Years After Chevy Volt
According to a report in Japan’s Nikkei business paper, Toyota expects to sell as many as 30,000 plug-in Prius models annually once production begins in 2012. This would put the PHEV Prius on the market almost two years after General Motors has said its plug-in hybrid, the Volt, will be launched. The paper is also…
Chevy Volt Will Be Sportier Than Japanese Hybrids Says Chief Engineer
The upcoming Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid will be a sporty alternative to Japanese hybrids says the car’s chief engineer. Andrew Farah let this juicy bit of info slip on a recent chat session on GM’s official FasLane blog. “Our chassis is much more sporty than either of the other vehicles,” said Farah, referring to the…
Consumer Reports Trash Talks Honda’s Insight
In the latest issue Consumer Reports tests 22 small cars and hatchbacks and Honda’s new Insight only rates a “Good.” That might not sound all that bad, but CR usually gives all Hondas an “Excellent” or “Recommended” or “Top Pick” rating. Out of 22 cars, the Insight is just 21st. The only car to rate…
General Motors May Sell Rebadged Prius
Toyota may share a version of its Prius hybrid with General Motors according to a recent report by Bloomberg. Sources say Toyota President Akio Toyoda and GM CEO Fritz Henderson will meet in August in Michigan to discuss the possibility of selling a version GM-badged Prius – or possibly using Toyota hybrid technology to build…
Infiniti to Show Essence Concept at Goodwood Festival of Speed
To help promote the launch of the Infiniti brand in the U.K., the luxury Japanese automaker will bring its stunning Essence Concept to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in September. Alongside the Essence will be Infiniti’s brand new G37 Convertible. Sadly, Infiniti explicitly points out in its press release that while the G37 will be…
First Chevy Volt Pre-Production Model Hits the Road
General Motors may still be in bankruptcy protection but that doesn’t mean work at America’s largest automaker has stopped. In fact, engineers have been hard at it, especially those working on the upcoming Chevrolet Volt. Today Chevy has released a few photos of a pre-production model of the Volt. Until now, every other version was…
Land Rover Green-Lights LRX Hybrid
Land Rover recently secured a $38 million grant from the U.K government to investigate building an environmentally responsible vehicle, likely to be based on the LRX Concept that debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2008. And according to a recent report in the U.K.’s AutoExpress, Land Rover has given the…
Japanese Company Considers Building Toyota Prius Hearse
Thanks to Lequios, you can do more for the environment once you’re dead than just become fertilizer for pushing up daisies. The Japanese hearse manufacturer is designing a hearse based on the 2010 Toyota Prius, meaning your last trip in a car can be an environmentally-responsible one. And you thought saving the planet for future…
GM’s Next Volt-Style Plug-In Hybrid Could Be a Buick Crossover
The next General Motors product to get a plug-in hybrid powertrain, like the one that will be introduced in the Chevy Volt, may be a Buick. This new PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) was supposed to be a version of the Saturn Vue, but as GM has now sold off the Saturn brand to the…
Honda Insight Sales Lower Than Expected in U.S.
Honda is warning that it may not meet its forecasted sales target for the all-new 2010 Insight hybrid and is citing both the worldwide recession and the low cost of gas as factors. The Japanese automaker set an ambitious target of 200,000 units for the car’s first year, with almost half of those vehicle sales…
Toyota Struggles to Keep up With Demand for 2010 Prius
While Toyota’s sales may be suffering as a whole, sales of the all-new 2010 Prius are well above expectations. In fact, the Japanese automaker is having trouble keeping up with demand – something which may result in lengthy waiting lists for the third-generation of Toyota’s successful hybrid. At the two facilities where the Prius is…
Chevy Drops Hybrid Malibu From Lineup
Chevrolet has decided to cancel production of its Malibu Hybrid. As shocking as this might seem for a company that claims it is now dedicated to building environmentally-friendly cars, it actually makes a lot of sense. For starters, while the Malibu itself continues to sell well and has received critical acclaim from auto journos, the…
Audi Working to Reduce Weight of Vehicles Considerably
As much improved as Audis have become over the past few years one consistent complaint about the German luxury cars is how much they weigh. Audi aims to eliminate that critique by removing the problem – weight. According to Audi technical development boss Michael Dick the automaker is currently working on its next modular longitudinal…
Ferrari Confirms Hybrid Concept Car Coming
Ferrari has confirmed that a hybrid model is in the works and that a concept car will debut as early as the LA Auto Show this December. The news comes directly from Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa just weeks after a patent application for a hybrid system by Ferrari was uncovered. At almost the same time…
Lamborghini To Explore Hybrid Engines As It Promises 35% Emission Reduction by 2015
In an ambitions new emissions reduction strategy Lamborghini has just unveiled, the Italian exotic car maker says it will look to hybrid powertrains (among other things) to cut vehicle emissions by 30 percent by 2015. The company has already made a significant step in that direction with the launch of the LP560-4. Due to the…
Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrids Will Hit the Streets This Year
Toyota has announced that it will lease 500 plug-in hybrid-electric Prius models starting this year. These will be the first plug-in version of the Prius on the road and will feature new lithium-ion battery packs, which hold more energy than the conventional nickel-metal hydride batteries used in other hybrid systems. Of the 500 vehicles, 200…
Toyota Prius Is The Top Selling Car in Japan in May
The all-new Toyota Prius was the most popular selling car in Japan for the month of May, according to numbers just released by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. In total, Toyota sold 10,915 Prius models to take the top sales spot, which was held last month by rival Honda Motor Co. and its new Insight…
