But only for large vehicles? For some time a common topic on Hybridcarblog has been the need for Honda to develop a ‘full’ hybrid powertrain, such as found on a Toyota Prius or a Ford Fusion hybrid , that enables a hybrid vehicle to run purely on electric power. Well, Honda has confirmed that it is working on such a powertrain. “We’ve left the research stage and entered the field of development,” Tomohiko…

But only for large vehicles? For some time a common topic on Hybridcarblog has been the need for Honda to develop a ‘full’ hybrid powertrain, such as found on a Toyota Prius or a Ford Fusion hybrid , that enables a hybrid vehicle to run purely on electric power. Well, Honda has confirmed that it is working on such a powertrain. “We’ve left the research stage and entered the field of development,…

In a class of its own? I’ve been very excited about the potential of Hyundai hybrid cars ever since Hyundai announced its lithium-polymer powered Hybrid Blue Drive at the 2008 LA Auto Show. According to many experts, Hyundai’s lithium-polymer technology might give Hyundai an edge in lithium battery production. And, now that the Hyundai Sonata hybrid is just months away from hitting US dealerships, my excitement is beginning to percolate. In…

Coming this Spring The new Toyota Auris hybrid will make its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show, and the production-ready hybrid will go on sale throughout Europe later this Spring. Not many details on the new Auris hybrid are yet available, but Toyota did reiterate its plans to have hybrids across its…

Purely about CAFE GM will continue to build money-losing hybrid vehicles , but only because of CAFE requirements, according to GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz . And, to make up for the losses GM will have to increase the prices on the rest of their vehicles. Fortunately, since GM sold only 800 hybrids in January, they won’t have too many losses to make up. Ultimately, Lutz believes hybrids might one day make…

Simply more expensive compared to conventional and hybrid cars, despite energy savings The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory is prepared to release a new study on ways of achieving plug-in hybrid and EV cost-effectiveness. Like most studies, the NREL study also finds that under essentially every scenario possible, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles simply are not going to be cost-effective compared to conventional …

Incentives and more incentives Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation, believes that Toyota was a little slow getting ahead of the current recall issues plaguing the automaker, and that was a mistake. Nonetheless, overall Jackson believes that in a few months Toyota should mostly regain its sale’s loss. However, regaining lost market share will require consumer incentives. So, the next several …

Smartest hybrid on paper? For decades full-sized trucks have dominated US auto sales. Since the fuel economy of these beasts is so horrific, creating hybrid versions of these trucks seems quite logical. Fortunately, GM undertook such a task several years years ago with the GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado hybrids . Unfortunately, however, the added hybrid costs of these trucks has scared most pickup…

Just not built for stop and go traffic We’ve had a number of conversations on this blog as to whether Honda can ever mainstream their hybrid cars without adding full hybrid technology to their hybrid portfolio. Obviously, all hybrids can offer fuel efficiency gains outside of tough urban traffic, however, in such conditions …

VW’s first hybrid coming to America later this year Volkswagen, in cooperation with Porsche, is set to launch its first ever production hybrid and it will hit American showrooms later this year. Using an Audi-built supercharged 3.0-liter V6 mated to a battery-powered electric motor, the new Touareg can achieve 380 hp and …

The Cadillac Escalade hybrid A few weeks ago GM announced development plans for a new line of smaller, more efficient electric motors that will first be used in GM’s dual mode hybrids. Today, all of GM’s dual mode hybrids are large trucks and SUVs, however, thanks to this reduction in motor size, GM will be able to add its dual mode hybrid technology to …

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