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Hybrid Vehicles
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Hybrid Concepts From Toyota and Honda Roll Out at Geneva Auto Show
Well, well. Look what those Japanese automakers are playing around with in the hybrid arena. On the left is what some wags are saying could be the next Toyota Prius, but for now it's called the Hybrid X concept, loved by many but called such epithets as "jellybean" and "suppository" by others. Inside this concept car—but maybe not ever making it to the open road in the real world—are electronically-opening doors, energy-efficient LED lights throughout, drive-by-wire steering and touchscreens all over the place. Check out our friends at Jalopnik's extensive gallery of this science fiction-like prototype. More »
gadgets
VentureOne is One Quick Tryke, Electric or Hybrid
Electric tricycles seem to be a growing trend, and we can now add this VentureOne to that list. This one gives you a choice of either all-electric or hybrid power. It leans when you turn, can reach 0-60 in 6 seconds and goes 100mph with an impressive 100mpg fuel efficiency. Perhaps the most startling of all is its price, $18,000 for the hybrid drive Venture E50, up to $23,000 for the all-electric drive Venture EV. More »
gadgets
Toyota Teases With Upcoming Hybrid Concept
Toyota, you're such a tease. Unveiling the second of two of your latest hybrid vehicle prototypes at the Geneva Motor Show this month, and all you're showing us is this quarter shot of its ass end. So far, this Prius successor is called the Hybrid X, and it's said to have ideas that are so new they'll require a "new design language" to describe them. More »
gadgets
Toyota FT-HS Hybrid: 0-60 in 4 Seconds
Yeah, it's just a concept car, but this one might find its way onto the highway. It's the 400hp Toyota FT-HS Hybrid Sports Concept, set to roll out on January 7 at the Detroit Auto Show. What really caught our eye was the Electric Tesla-like numbers of zero-to-60 in 4 seconds, and one big figure that's actually smaller than expected: Toyota is shooting for the mid-$30,000 price range. More »
gadgets
Obvio Tribrid Sports Car: Electric Pocket Rocket Runs on Anything
If you can figure out front from back in this cab-forward next-gen vehicle, the next thing you can do is figure out what sort of fuel to put inside. It's called a "tribrid" car because it can run on any combination of regular gas/bio ethanol (that's kinda like french fry grease), natural gas, or electricity. Brazillian designer Obvio is partnering up with supercar maker Lotus (also the builder of the body of the Tesla electric sports car) to develop this roadster which is expected to sell for around $59K if it ever makes it to the US. More »
gadgets
Dual-Mode Vehicle Takes to Road and Rail
Is it a bus or a train? This dual-mode mini train is both. The JR Hokkaido Railway Company in Japan has been testing a bus that can switch between steel wheels and street-ready rubber tires, tooling around on the train track as a solo vehicle and avoiding accidents with satellite assistance, and then driving on city streets just like any other bus. More »
gadgets
Toyota Designs Hybrid Vehicle Using Pedal Power and Electricity
Toyota has designed a concept car for that time when we'll all be towing our Priuses with a team of horses, calling its creation a Renewable Lifestyle Vehicle (RLV). It takes the word "hybrid" to the next level, splitting its powertrain between pedal power and a battery-powered electric motor. More »
solar power
Venturi Astrolab: First Commercially-Available Solar Hybrid
From that forward-thinking French company Venturi, here's Astrolab, the first commercially available solar electric hybrid car in the world. The company says it can go 74mph and has a range of 68 miles, probably long enough for most commutes. The entire top of the vehicle is equipped with photovoltaic cells—3.6 square meters of them—and they store that energy in batteries, so you can still drive it on cloudy days, too. More »
gadgets
Google Sets Up Foundation to Develop Plug-In Hybrid Engine
Google has set up a for-profit foundation dedicated to fighting poverty, disease and global warming. One of its goals will be to develop a 100mpg plug-in hybrid car engine that's a triple play of fuel-efficiency, running on ethanol, electricity and gasoline, or combinations of the three. The company will start out with a small fleet of cars, converting the engines inside to this new plug-in hybrid configuration. More »
gadgets
Hybrids Bound for Formula One
Our beloved blood brothers at Jalopnik tell us that hybrid vehicles may be soon winding their way into Formula One racing, where overlords of that heady luxo-sport world are sniffing around the technology. Two big players who build such Formula One dream machines, N.Technology S.p.a. and Tatuus s.r.l., have teamed up to build the first hybrid formula car. The single-seater open-wheeled race car will have a 250hp engine, presumably along with a thus-far unspecified electric motor that uses
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Aptera Concept Car: 330mpg, Under $20K
Yeah, you're laughing at this weird-looking half-egg-shaped concept car now, but when gasoline costs $10 a gallon not too long from now, this 330 mile-per-gallon Aptera concept car might start looking pretty damn good. It cops that high-mpg efficiency with a fuel-sipping diesel engine lashed onto hybrid technology, coupled with its wind-slippery aerodynamics and 850-pound weight. More »
gadgets
GM Builds Its First Hybrid Trucks
We like to follow hybrid vehicles around here, and now even pickup trucks are getting into the act. GM will reportedly roll out its first hybrid trucks—versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra—for its Fall 2007 launch. More »
gadgets
GM to Build Plug-In Hybrid?
As we keep you posted on the latest developments in hybrid vehicles, we can't help but notice that General Motors has been lagging behind, and has even discontinued building promising cars that run on anything but internal combustion engines. But now, our greasemonkey brothers at Jalopnik tip us off about how the me-too suits at GM might be thinking about building a plug-in hybrid, according to "someone familiar with the company's plans." More »
gadgets
Next Prius: 100MPG, Turbocharged?
We're not really gearheads or grease monkeys, but our Gawker brothers at Jalopnik convinced us to tell you about the next Toyota Prius, since we all know that it's really just one big gadget. Anyway, they're telling us the next Prius might be a firebreather, where its 1.8-liter engine could be turbocharged. Meanwhile, its hybrid system will get more-efficient lithium ion batteries, and all this adds up to mileage that is said to be over 100 miles per gallon. More »
gadgets
Next-Gen Prius: 94mpg, 0-60 in Under 10 Seconds?
We know those car manufacturers are fast and footloose with MPG figures, but we had to take notice when we got word that the next Toyota Prius will be capable of 113 miles per gallon (in the UK, which is equal to 94mpg in North America). That's more than double the mileage the best hybrid vehicles get now. The Prius's redesigned electrical system will depend even more on the electric motor, using it by itself at slower speeds but kicking in the internal combustion engine when higher speeds are needed. Even with this higher mileage, the car's 0-to-60 time will be faster, reportedly under 10 seconds. More »
gadgets
EDrive Systems Testing Plug-In Prius Hybrid
EnergyCS of California is deep into testing of a plug-in Toyota Prius, and it's delivered a prototype to California's South Coast Air Quality Management District for evaluation. One of the next generation of hybrid vehicles, the EDrive-equipped Prius barely sips gas while its more powerful plug-in batteries do most of the work, resulting in efficiency that might top 100mpg. More »
gadgets
Sports Hybrid, Built by Kids, Runs on Soybeans, Zero-to-60 in 4 Seconds
The top auto designers in Detroit have been slam-dunked by a group of high school kids from Philadelphia who built the K-1 Attack Hybrid, a sports car that gets 50 miles per gallon and can go from zero to 60 in four seconds. During auto shop class, the group took a Honda Accord chassis, a Volkswagen turbo diesel engine and a 200hp electric motor, and put together a hybrid electric/biomass car that runs on soybeans. Now the car has won a race and is getting big-time press coverage all over the U.S. More »
