Very good fuel economy, but only in some conditions Great for the highway, but not as great in the city So, high gas prices have you out shopping for a new car with great fuel economy, but you have a limited budget. No problem. The dealership has some great new cars that offer hybrid-like performance, but without the hybrid price. Perfect, right? Until you realize you’re still spending …

Expanding the Prius family key to increasing near term market share Emerging markets and hybrids key to Toyota’s future Toyota has very vaguely outlined its plans to sell 10 million vehicles per year and to double profits by 2015. The key to achieving these targets will be both hybrid cars and emerging markets under Toyota’s ‘Global Vision’ plans . Consequently, Toyota will add 10 new hybrids to its current fleet of hybrid cars …

BMW's mainstream take on plug-in vehicles BMW’s electrification plans begin to shape up MotorTrend has a number of great photos of the new i3 and i8 plug-in vehicles undergoing cold weather testing. Overall, the pictures aren’t too shocking, although the i3 plug-in electric car definitely appears far more conservative than the original Megacity concept. The i8 plug-in hybrid, on the other hand, …

Will the real Chevy Volt please stand up A 20 mile Volt in the works? According to Consumer Reports the Chevy Volt isn’t a very cost-effective car, and according to the Green Car Book, it’s not very green either. Nevertheless, the Volt makes a lot of sense, at least from a marketing perspective. Moreover, for those wanting to reduce, or even end, their …

The Accord plug-in hybrid will offer about 15 miles of EV range The economical plug-in hybrids? While at the International Rechargeable Battery Expo in Tokyo, Hirohisa Ogawa, a chief engineer of battery research at Honda, told the audience that Honda’s new plug-in hybrids will offer an EV range “ of up to 15 miles “. That puts Honda’s plug-in hybrid EV range in the …

A best buy that only gets better as gas prices rise Only hybrid on the list Toyota has now sold more than 3 million hybrid cars , largely thanks to the Toyota Prius . Why does the Prius resonate? For years many have claimed it’s just about green statements, but over and over again the Prius is picked as one of the most value-packed cars, …

The Tesla Model S Sedan coming in 2012 Is Tesla the Porsche of electric cars? By late summer next year Tesla will start selling the Model S sedan, when the automaker plans to sell up to 5,000 electric cars, increasing production up to 20,000 in 2013. More interesting, the Tesla Model S will be offered in 3 different versions based on electric range, offered at 3 different prices. The 300 mile Model…

Honda offers some of the best hybrid deals this March The best deals on hybrid cars in March Back in 2008 rising gas prices eventually created considerable demand for hybrid cars , far more demand than supply. Those conditions resulted in many dealership add-ons. The Toyota Prius , for instance, often included dealer markups as high as $5000 atop MSRP, in …

Smokes, snacks and plug-in charging Top off your plug-in while grabbing a candy bar Panasonic Electric Works and a group of 10 vending machine companies plan to turn 10,000 vending machines in Japan into electric vehicle charging stations as well, with SoftBank Telecom and SoftBank Mobile providing telecom services to connect the stations. While such vending machines don’t resonate in the …

Out of compliance Sonata hybrid just doesn’t sound right Because of new government regulations requiring an artificial engine noise for hybrid and plug-in vehicles when in electric mode – when the cars are virtually silent, at least compared to conventional cars – the Hyundai Sonata hybrid has been delayed. Rather than begin selling Sonata hybrids that would only have …

An attack on Saudi oil production would cause gas prices to skyrocket Food for thought for car buyers I’ve been closely following the Middle East and oil stories since Egypt, when I predicted $4.00 gas sometime in 2011. Now my call looks like it will probably come true. Even worse, gas prices could spike much higher, although such a spike will probably be temporary…

The plug-in sales leader so far Were these plug-ins rushed to market? So far GM has sold 928 Chevy Volts while Nissan has sold 173 Leafs. Even more worrisome, sales for these plug-in vehicles declined in February compared to January according to AutoBlogGreen . Why? In recent weeks and months, both companies have …