hybrid vehicle Archives – The Green Optimistic

Falling Gas Prices Not Affecting Electric Vehicle and Plug-In Hybrid Sales

Benji Jerew — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 17:00:11 +0000

For the latter half of 2014, gasoline prices have dropped precipitously, some 40% lower than just six months ago, which some feel may suppress the sales of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. Interestingly, this hasn’t turned out to be the case. Last week, I wrote a piece on gasoline prices vs Tesla Motors’ electric vehicles, […]

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Hybrid Vehicle Fuel Economy without Electrification? – Namikoshi Electronics

Benji Jerew — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 18:00:17 +0000

Improving fuel economy can be done in a number of ways, not all of which require electrification. The internal combustion engine (ICE), although over one hundred years in the making, is woefully inefficient when it comes to converting the stored energy in a fuel into usable energy. Even the best engines are a mere 25-30% […]

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Electric Vehicles Top Best Fuel Economy Charts – Well, duh!

Benji Jerew — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 18:15:33 +0000

Considering that a gallon of gas has the equivalent energy of 33.7 kWh of electricity, this makes it fairly easy to compare fuel economy of different vehicles, in spite of the fact they may use entirely different fuels. Whereas convention vehicles have been, for decades, ranked their fuel economy in miles per gallon, it may […]

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BMW i8 Specifications Revealed, Carbon Performance Without the Carbon Aftertaste

Benji Jerew — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 18:02:30 +0000

BMW’s finally released the specifications of the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle [PHEV], and they’re sure to please. The price will boggle you, though. Could the BMW i8 be one of those guilty pleasures without the guilt? I’ll admit that I enjoy performance vehicles as much as the next person, from my 12mpg 1993 […]

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Volkswagen XL1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle gets 261MPG with Supercar Roots

Benji Jerew — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:51:06 +0000

The XL1 owes its unspeakably awesome fuel economy to the generous application of supercar technology. Question: How do you make the most of the engine power in a supercar? Answer: Make it lighter. Some look at hybrid electric vehicle technology and think performance, while others take a more balanced view, or not. Those interested in a […]

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

Benji Jerew — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:47:32 +0000

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 […]

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Toyota Prius Backup Power – An Aftermarket Solution

Benji Jerew — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:50:41 +0000

Modern society depends on electricity, and without it, most everything ceases to function, including heating and cooling, refrigerators, mobile phones, computers, and the list goes on. In emergencies, such as Hurricane Sandy knocking out power for millions of people, some for weeks, backup power generators make all kinds of sense to have on hand. Backup […]

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Nissan’s Future Hybrid Lineup Inspired by Resonance SUV Concept

Benji Jerew — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:21:55 +0000

In continuing with Nissan’s commitment to reducing emissions, both in support of corporate environmental responsibility as well as to meet stricter Corporate Average Fuel Economy [CAFE] standards, Nissan has been working to increase their overall fuel economy across the entire lineup. Since 2005, the implementation of hybrid– and pure-electric vehicles has increased Nissan’s CAFE by […]

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A 1929 Hybrid – The Stearns-Knight Gasoline-Electric Hybrid Vehicle

Benji Jerew — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:56:18 +0000

Gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles are nothing new, as some news from as far back as 1929 goes to show. Colonel Edward Howland Robinson “Ned” Green had three hybrids custom-built for him. A wealthy son of the wealthy, but eccentric, Hetty Green, had a hybrid car designed and built simply because he could. Of course, there was […]

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SCI hyMod: an EV – HEV Modular Vehicle Designed by Romanian Engineers

Benji Jerew — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:06:00 +0000

A Romanian design team, made up of automotive journalist Dan Scarlat, designer Marian Cilibeanu, and engineer Cristian Ionescu, has come together to design a unique hybrid vehicle, the SCI hyMod. The hyMod is basically an electric vehicle, equipped with a 5 kWh battery pack in the floor of the car, and a 42 kW motor on the front axle. […]

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Hybrid Cars Safer Than Gas-Only Siblings Due to Weight, Study Finds

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:30:16 +0000

Hybrid cars may have lots of advantages related to fuel economy, but a recent study performed by the Highway Loss Data Institute found out they’re even safer in a case of crash than their non-hybrid counterparts, MSNBC reports. The analysis took into account only hybrids that have a gas-only powered sibling, like the Toyota Highlander […]

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New 2012 Prius V Plug-In Hybrid Features Neat EV-Only Mode and Much More

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:36:25 +0000

Toyota has been keeping people waiting for their new plug-in Prius for a long time now. Consumesearch drove a prototype of the Prius V set to enter the market in 2012 and made a list of the enhancements it will feature compared to a present-day non-plug-in Prius.

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Ford Undecided Where to Place Charging Sockets in Future EVs and Plug-In Hybrids

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:40:45 +0000

Well... when the only remaining issue before producing electric cars isn't what battery they should use or what the charging technology will be, then for Ford it's where will they put the charging socket to satisfy most of the customers in Europe and the U.S.

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Georgia Tech Students Convert School Bus Into a Hydraulic Hybrid

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 26 May 2011 18:47:51 +0000

Who said a hybrid vehicle has to have a battery storing electricity? Georgia Tech students are currently working to convert a classic school bus into a hydraulic hybrid under a project sponsored by Ford with $50,000 and cheered by the local school districts and not only.

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Small Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Show Potential in Central and Eastern Europe

Cristi — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:19:10 +0000

Nobody would have ever though that Central and Eastern Europe would have the technology or financial resources to build a super car or a zero emission vehicle. This is why we are now astonished as the Hungarian company called Antro developed a hybrid car that is also able to run on solar power.

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VW Presents Its New Coupe Hybrid Concept at NAIAS in Detroit

Cristi — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:58:04 +0000

2010 comes with no surprises anymore as it continues the trend imposed last year, when most of the manufacturers presented electric vehicles and hybrid or plug-in hybrids.

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Protoscar Makes Waves Before Geneva Motor Show With Lampo II Electric Vehicle

Cristi — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:23:36 +0000

Switzerland can finally brag with their most expensive sports car: Protoscar has just finished the development and manufacturing of a 1 million Euro electric sports car prototype called Lampo.

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Prius Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) Present at Tokyo Motor Show

Cristi — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:02:05 +0000

A long time ago, Toyota Motor Corporation has started its green thinking trend with hybrid cars which revolutionized fuel consumption. Now they found a way to combine electric vehicles with hybrid ones and they presented their concept just days before the Tokyo Motor Show.

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ETV Motors to Launch Jet Turbine-Based Prius with Higher MPG

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:17:37 +0000

Israeli start-up ETV Motors, located in Tel Aviv has invested about $12 million in this technology that combines a car, electricity and a jet engine. The prototype of a modified Prius will be ready next year for testing.

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Converted Prius to Get Over 100 MPG or Over 40 Miles of Full Electric

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:29:48 +0000

Here's some good news for DIYers. If it ever passed through your head to convert your actual car to an electric one, here are some Orange County guys that already did that and sell Prius conversion kits so you can do it at home, too.

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DEKA Revolt: First Hybrid Stirling Engine Car – Powered by Anything!

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:03:45 +0000

Dean Kamen, a UK inventor, has just released to the public a modified electric Ford Th!nk, hacked in his DEKA labs. DEKA is his company located in Manchester Millyard. Kamen's modified electric car has a Stirling engine onboard, into the trunk. He uses the stirling engine mainly to defrost and heat the car, because the systems doing that are huge power consumers.

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Prius PHEV Testing Started on French Roads

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:43:03 +0000

They are testing their Toyota PHEVs with the help of their employees in a real urban environment. They have already built a charger infrastructure and a method for charging the users' pockets, incorporated in the vehicle's software.

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