Shifting into fuel economy Hybrid fuel economy or hybrid performance? When the Lexus CT 200h hybrid hits dealers it will offer 4 different driving modes – Normal, Eco, Sport and EV – that will provide a nice element of control that might be demanded from Lexus drivers. While control is a nice option, is a focus on fuel economy slipping away …

Too reliable for a mechanic to make a living. Reliable hybrid cars Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers have picked the ten cars they hate the most for being too reliable. “Yes, the cars we hate most, as mechanics,” claim the brothers, “are the cars that provide us with the fewest repair dollars.” The list is mostly Japanese and includes 2 hybrid cars : the Ford Fusion hybrid and the Toyota …

GM's 'revolutionary' HCCI engine Embracing efficient and cost-effective change A new study claims that by 2035 US light duty fleet fuel economy could be tripled to 74 mpg without plug-in or hydrogen technology, at a much cheaper cost than achieving the same goal through plug-in or or hydrogen technologies. So, have …

Good for just 70 mpg? An extra 20 mpg What’s it like to drive a Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid ? What kind of fuel economy does it achieve? What’s the EV range? Time to charge, etc? MotorTrend answers those questions today in a great article on the plug-in Prius and, well, the plug-in…

US dependent upon on China for 17 critical rare earths Can rare earth activities in US catch up in time? For a few years now worries about a rare earth metal shortage have been growing. Several times this topic has been covered on this blog regarding rare earths and hybrid cars , most recently in:  Just how important are rare earth metals? and Hybrid …

Except the hybrid versions. As red, white and blue as it gets Essentially, every foreign brand saw their sales get hammered in August, and while US automakers also experienced declining sales, sales of pickup trucks continue to post gains. Without big gas guzzling pickup trucks, the Big 3 would be seeing a lot of red. Cars.com has put together…

Camry hybrid just can't compete Camry sales, but not the hybrid, lead way Sales of Toyota hybrid cars dropped from 17,504 hybrids in July to 15,444 hybrids in August, as the Toyota Prius dropped from 14,102 sales in July, to 11,799 sales in August. Despite some of the best lease deals ever on the Toyota Prius, hybrid sales continue to remain unimpressive.

Will demand outstrip supply? Final pricing rests with the dealer Nissan has been taking reservations on the Nissan Leaf for a while now, but the automaker is just about ready to turn those reservations into orders according to Straightline . However, final pricing needs to be negotiated with the dealer. Thus, are…

The 'range anxiety' killer. A cost effective solution to range anxiety? What happens when an EV driver has to drive a bit further than his plug-in range? He suffers from ‘range anxiety’ of course. Soon, however, when describing ‘range anxiety’, a GM trademark will have to be included if GM’s trademark filing succeeds. And, I have to admit, the first time I heard the term ‘range …

Adding a new hybrid system to hybrids A Toyota Prius with auto-drive Already a number of cars offer safety features that not only warn drivers of dangers, they actually take control of the vehicle to help prevent potential crashes. Today, we call cars with two power sources hybrid cars , but in the very near future most cars will also have two drivers:  a computer and the actual driver…

Will more be made in China than the US? All about guzzling coal? “China is the country that needs to move to electrification more than any other country and we know the government wants to move to electrification so we want to participate in that movement,” recently stated Kevin Wale, president and managing director of GM China…

8 cylinder performance with 4 cylinder fuel economy A pure Nissan hybrid While Nissan has been a bit of a hybrid bear, the automaker has still been hard at work developing its own proprietary hybrid drive. To date, Nissan’s Altima hybrid has been built with hybrid technology licensed from Toyota. However, at the LA…