A good long term hedge against higher gasoline prices? But I sure wish it was easier to sell the Civic hybrid “Get with the program.” That’s what an advertising agency friend told me once regarding Hybridcarblog. I’m too critical, he rightly pointed out. Instead, he suggested that I sell every hybrid and plug-in that I cover. That, he assured me, would drive ad revenues…

The fun to drive “non-Prius-like” Toyota Prius At least according to some early Prius C reviews After more than 10 years on the market, hybrid cars have sadly achieved very little in terms of real world impact. At less than 3 percent marketshare of total US auto sales, hybrids are still just scratching the surface of change. Ultimately, prices have to come down. That makes the sub-$19,000 smaller Toyota Prius C…

Pistons are so last century An easy hybrid revolution In a few months Toyota promises to offer a new smaller Prius that will achieve 50 mpg and cost just under $19,000, a pretty compelling offering, right. Well, imagine if that new Prius instead cost $14,000 and achieved 65 mpg. That’s the potential of the wave …

V – Best new wagon and best resale value in class They weren’t tops in their class, but these hybrids still scored While only 1 hybrid car, the Lexus RX 450h, took best in class according to Kipplinger’s 2012 ratings, a few hybrid cars were picked as best new models in their class. Likewise, many hybrids achieved the best …

Cheaper hybrid price + gov incentives = Japanese Prius success Tax incentives and cheaper hybrid costs working in the land of the rising sun As the American press continues to sell the decline of hybrid sales in 2011, apparently unable to deduce that a massive earthquake and tsunami almost wiped out hybrid supplies coming out of Japan — the bulk of all hybrids made in …

C-Max: Two hybrid steps forward? C-Max hybrid versus the Prius and the Ford Escape hybrid For many years now, Ford has done quite a bit of hybrid talking, but Ford’s hybrid results have never matched up to the rhetoric. Even when the Ford Fusion hybrid topped Toyota Camry hybrid fuel economy, the buzz fell short. Not only did the Fusion hybrid…

Toyota's Le Man's race hybrid car Using pop culture to sell fuel efficiency As I was web-surfing earlier today I was stopped dead in my tracks by a few images on the AutoWeek home page regarding NASCAR and Le Mans. Emblazoned upon the 2013 Ford Fusion NASCAR Sprint Cup car, in big and bold letters, …

A rare earth free electric motor Rare earth free Toyota hybrids could be here in 2 years I’ve been following the rare earth story now for a few years, since the resources are so valuable for the production of hybrid and plug-in cars. And it has always been clear that rare earth free hybrid cars are possible, but the real question has been the costs of rare …

Can the V's versatility and fuel economy reshape the crossover segment? Doe the V make any sort of sense? So a friend of mine called yesterday to ask my opinion about the new Toyota Prius V, particularly regarding battery life, an interesting bit of synchronicity since I covered this subject in a post yesterday. Ultimately, my friend — let’s call him Stan — is considering the Prius V and …

Can the V's versatility and fuel economy reshape the crossover segment? Doe the V make any sort of sense? So a friend of mine called yesterday to ask my opinion about the new Toyota Prius V, particularly regarding battery life, an interesting bit of synchronicity since I covered this subject in a post…

A good concept for a future Scion hybrid? Study suggests that Generation Y could be the tipping point for hybrid mainstreaming I’m not a big fan of consumer studies and surveys. It’s always easier to talk the talk than to walk the walk, and a decade of hybrid surveys and hybrid sales proves the relative …

A battery challenge for the hybrid industry Buying into lithium hybrids There’s no doubt that consumers are interested in hybrid cars, but there is a big difference between being interested and actually buying a hybrid, and years of consumer data prove that point. Obviously, cost is the biggest hybrid deal killer, but battery worries continue to …