Only for Europe? Here’s the latest sketch of the Hyundai i-flow diesel hybrid concept. The i-flow hybrid is powered by a 1.7-liter turbodiesel, six-speed dual-clutch transmission, coupled with an electric motor and a lithium-ion-polymer battery. Interestingly, outside of European automakers, there has been little interest in diesel hybrid cars . Sure, there have been…

Tax money required for hybridization? Last year Jaguar received almost $800 million in government loans to keep the automaker alive. This year the EU has granted another $500 million to Jaguar to develop hybrid cars . Why? Does the world really need Jaguar, even a hybrid Jaguar?

One country that has reportedly been making excellent business with the eco -friendly cars today is Belgiu… Green Oil From Cows. Read more here: Yves Behar’s new Green Car. Tags: bus charter, group travel, green cars , hybrid …

Leaving her babies behind? Denise Gray, GM’s Director of Global Battery Engineering, is leaving GM to take a senior leadership position with an unannounced California start-up. Gray has worked with GM for 30 years and took over her director role in 2006. Her main task has been building GM’s battery labs in preparation…

The back end of the Lotus Evora 414E hybrid OK. I know that most following this blog don’t really care about luxury hybrids, such as Porsche’s latest Cayenne hybrid, or hybrid sports cars, such as the latest announced by Lotus. Nonetheless, I though the Lotus Evora 414E plug-in hybrid was worth …

On sale now in Japan The Honda CR-Z hybrid is now on sale in Japan and will make its way to the US and Europe this summer or a little thereafter. Based on Japanese pricing, the CR-Z hybrid should retail for $25,340, while offering Honda fatter profit margins than both the Honda Insight hybrid and the Honda Fit. $25,000 seems a bit steep for the CR-Z hybrid; however, Honda only intends to…

The new American sedan? A new Lexus hybrid usually isn’t that exciting to me, but the latest photos of the Lexus CT 200h have piqued my interest. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed. If this were the latest Scion hybrid, it would be a home run. No. A grand slam. But it’s not. Certainly, the Lexus version will be nice…

10,000 rollover deaths per year Since 2000 there have been 2,600 complaints of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles that have led to 34 deaths. Rather than fix this problem, according to a Congressional Panel, Toyota was ‘more concerned with profits than safety’. Of course, since 2000, Toyota has sold many tens of millions of vehicles, and more than 99.9 percent of them have been safer and more reliable than most other brands on the road then or …

Do 25,000 Volts change the auto game? For a long time I’ve been critical of the government’s plug-in tax credits. They are simply too focused on large battery vehicles. While some might counter ‘the bigger the battery the better’, the plethora of studies demonstrating the cost-ineffectiveness of such vehicles is simply undeniable. Inevitably, big battery plug-in hybrids, for instance, will not EVER be cost-effective using current battery technologies according …

Tides is a scheme used to register expensive eco-friendly cars like the Mitsubishi iMiEV pure electric vehicle without registration fees or COE for four years. An ordinary Mitsubishi i with a 660cc petrol engine has an OMV of roughly $14000 . But the electric version – the iMiEV – has an OMV of almost $90000 because of its sophisticated battery technology. Based…

I am using a 100% biodiesel fuel in my Xantia, which produces no particulate emissions and is eco-friendly . Why should I pay this penalty? – Mariusz, London. If they were truly serious about reducing pollution, they would alter the use …

Here is but another example: Today while driving up the mountain, a man in a Jetta- jetting to his destination proudly boasts a bumper sticker stating his vehicle is propelled by BIODIESEL . Yet, I can’t breathe because there is enough smoke … I appreciate Toyota for building eco-friendly cars but when the brakes don’t work and they deny this within the company to make more money- here again lies this human…