Archive for category Hybrid vehicles

Princesse Benedikte Will Be World’s Largest Hybrid Ferry

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hybrid vehicles on May 17, 2013

The Princess Benedikte is not in service right now, but when retrofits are completed, it will be the world’s largest hybrid diesel electric ferry. The Princess Benedikte is already diesel electric, as most ships are these days. Powerful diesel engines turn generators, the power of which is then fed to electric motors on the propellers. [...]

Light Hybrid Vehicles May be The Next Best Thing

Posted by Benji Jerew in Car industry, Efficient engines, Electric Vehicles, Hybrid vehicles on May 17, 2013

To reduce emissions and increase fuel economy, hybrid vehicles are a pretty good option that aren’t nearly as expensive as pure electric vehicles. In the hierarchy of vehicle pricing, though, it can be difficult sometimes to justify spending more up front for better technology, even if it’ll save you money at the pump. Given a [...]

Porsche Lays Out Its All-Hybrid-Vehicle Future

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hybrid vehicles on May 15, 2013

While some automakers have been content to offer just a couple of hybrid vehicles, Porsche is planning something a whole lot more intensive. Subaru, for example, has only just gotten into hybrid vehicle technology, which is kind of surprising considering Subaru’s link to all things outdoors. Still it’s a start, but other companies like Toyota, [...]

Terrafugia’s TF-X is World’s First Flying Hybrid Car

Posted by Mike Sandru in Hybrid vehicles on May 14, 2013

As if putting their very first flying car through its paces was not enough, Terrafugia have recently revealed plans to build a hybrid flying car – the first of its kind in the world. The flying car would be semi-autonomous, small enough for regular-sized garages, have space for four people and a range of 500 [...]

Toyota Hybrid Vehicles Selling Better Than Plug-Ins in the UK

Posted by Benji Jerew in Car industry, Hybrid vehicles on April 29, 2013

As automakers strive to decrease emissions, thousands of hybrid vehicles are making their way into people’s garages. Hybrid vehicles aren’t the only choice in low-emissions, low-fuel-consumption vehicles. Drivers can also choose plug-in hybrid vehicles or pure electric vehicles. Apparently these other choices haven’t been all that popular, in spite of the fuel savings and emissions [...]

Volvo’s Kinetic Energy Recovery System Tested: 25% Fuel Savings

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Energy Storage, Hybrid vehicles on April 29, 2013

Volvo has been working since 2011 to implement this technology in street-legal cars, and it has now been confirmed that the KERS system they will use in future alternative hybrid cars (these have come to have alternatives, too) will provide fuel savings of about 25 percent to owners, while decreasing emissions. High performance motoring like [...]

Toyota Yueija: China’s Newest Hybrid Vehicle That Won’t Be Called “Prius”

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hybrid vehicles on April 25, 2013

China is the world’s fastest-growing automobile market, and Toyota’s new hybrid is aiming right for the hearts of younger buyers. The new elite in China, young buyers in their late 20s to early 30s, probably won’t find the decidedly placid Toyota Prius to their liking. On the other hand, something with world-class hybrid vehicle technology, [...]

Toyota Hybrid Vehicles Top 5 Million in Global Sales

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hybrid vehicles on April 24, 2013

Few items have universal appeal, and when you mention hybrid to some people, they’ll automatically think of Toyota Prius. Toyota hybrid vehicles can be so much more, the range including everything from the compact Toyota Prius c to the luxury Lexus LS600h. Toyota hybrid vehicle technology, nineteen models in all, has been gaining popularity around [...]

Cadillac ELR Extended Range Electric Vehicle, No Stepping Stone to Electric

Posted by Benji Jerew in Electric Vehicles, Hybrid vehicles on April 17, 2013

The Cadillac ELR is an extended range electric vehicle [EREV] with some very cool features, but doesn’t seem to be a stepping stone to a pure electric vehicle for the near future. The Cadillac ELR is based roughly on the same technology as the Chevy Volt, including a battery pack, electric motors, and a gasoline-powered [...]

Number of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in the US Rising

Posted by Benji Jerew in Electric Vehicles, Hybrid vehicles on April 11, 2013

Aside from charging at home, the first thing you’ll want to consider when looking at electric vehicles is if there are any charging stations nearby. The same was true 100 years ago when gasoline-powered vehicles were just starting to be adopted, and now there are just over 120,000 gas stations scattered across the US, sometimes [...]

Qoros Jumps Right In With a Crossover Hybrid Electric Vehicle, but Only in the EU

Posted by Benji Jerew in Car industry, Hybrid vehicles on April 11, 2013

Qoros only just showed up on the market at the Geneva Motor Show, and jumping right into the market with three models, including a crossover hybrid electric vehicle. Startup companies are often difficult affairs, and even the best idea can fail. Chinese automakers have been trying to break into the lucrative European automotive market, but [...]

Car Repair Costs Rose in 2012 – Not for Hybrids, Though

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hybrid vehicles on April 9, 2013

Car repair costs are one of those things that car owners never really want to deal with, but how much you pay really depends on what type and what age of vehicle you drive. The newer your car is, the less often you’ll need to make repairs. Where older vehicles recommended oil changes every 3,000 [...]

Rare-Earth Metals Not So Rare in Mud off the Coast of Japan, Tokyo University

Posted by Benji Jerew in Electric Vehicles, Energy news, Hybrid vehicles on April 5, 2013

China pretty much has a chokehold on the market for rare-earth metals, but a recent discovery off the coast of Japan could offer some competition. Because of their unique chemical properties, rare-earth metals are important in the production of electronics and even hybrid and electric vehicles. Rare-earth metals are found around the world, but they [...]

BMW i3 First EfficientDynamics Engine Tested in a 1 Series [UPDATED]

Posted by Benji Jerew in Efficient engines, Hybrid vehicles on March 28, 2013

Hybrid vehicles we’re looking forward to from BMW, the i8 and ActiveTourer, and they both have one thing in common, a three-cylinder engine. Engines are getting smaller and smaller in order to meet with increasingly strict fuel economy and emissions regulations. This doesn’t mean that all future vehicles are bound to be sanspersonality. BMW’s new [...]

NY Auto Show – Volvo V60 Plug-In Diesel Hybrid “World Green Car of the Year” Finalist

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hybrid vehicles on March 22, 2013

Currently, the only plug-in diesel hybrid that you can buy is the Volvo V60, but you can’t buy it here in the US. It seems odd then, that Volvo would be showing the Volvo V60 at the upcoming New York International Auto Show, unless they’re planning something. Some speculate that the planned increase in production, [...]