News Feeds

Hybridcarblog

• My wife just fell in love with the Chevy Volt
  And she doesn’t give one crap about plug-in technologies I can still remember the debut of the original Chevy Volt concept. The long front end, like the Camaro and the Corvette. I had mixed feelings about that design, but in terms of a concept that form worked well I think. It drove the right kind of [...]
  
  
• Tesla still a bright, shining star in the plug-in space, but
  It’s crunch time for this EV maker Last quarter Tesla lost $89 million dollars. The quarter before, $48.9 million. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn’t worried, as long as Tesla can perfectly deliver 5000 Model S’s this year and head into 2013 with the ability to produce 20,000 S’s every year — and sell most of [...]
  
  
• Any Smart automaker should have an electric bike
  Could be a good way to train the kids to love electrification The other day I facetiously called the plug-in revolution dead. I should have restricted that death mask to cars and other four wheeled vehicles. China alone proves that the plug-in revolution is alive and well, but only on two wheels. And automakers are noticing. Consequently, [...]
  
  
• The cheapest rides: Hybrids and plug-ins rule, honestly
  Can a hybrid or plug-in ever be the most cost-effective new car buy? In this sluggish economy, many new car buyers want to spend less on a new ride, plus they want to save money on their monthly fuel bill. Obviously, saving money on a fuel bill makes you think of hybrid and electric cars. Of [...]
  
  
• Fisker fire: The plug-in revolution is dead
  OK. It’s not dead, but the plug-in revolution is on life support I have one metric in life when it comes to transportation. OK. It’s one metric, but it’s split into two parts. The basic metric — the main part — is simply US foreign oil independence, but the critical first part is OPEC independence, ASAP. [...]
  
  
• Battery-powered: Prius hybrid sales surging past estimates
  New hybrids ordered for the growing US market Toyota’s best year of US Prius sales was 2007, when the automaker sold 181,221 units according to Bloomberg. This year, thanks to the growing Prius family, Toyota aimed for 220,000 units. However, the Prius is now on a pace to blow past 250,000 sales in 2012. And Toyota aims [...]
  
  
• Toyota Camry: Most improved hybrid car
  According to Total Car Score Do hybrid cars save consumers money? Some do and some don’t, and which ones depends on whom is asked. Ask JD Power, Consumer Reports, Kipplingers, etc that question and they all come up with different results. Car ratings themselves are similar. Edmunds says one thing. Consumers Digest another. Thus, Total Car Score [...]
  
  
• Toyota/Tesla RAV4 EV an experiment, not a sale’s tool
  Toyota and Tesla electric car partnership very limited While the Toyota RAV4 electric crossover is debuting at EVS26, the reality of its limited role in Toyota’s alternative powertrain arsenal has now become obvious. Over the next 3 years, Toyota plans to sell just 2,600 RAV4 EVs according to the DetroitNews. At a smudge below $50,000, the RAV4 [...]
  
  
• MPG: Since 9/11 no one has done more than Toyota
  30 percent improvement in fuel economy the last 10 years I can still remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. On that day I decided to make major changes to my lifestyle. Eventually, annoyed by the countless ‘no blood for oil’ bumper stickers on blood-oil guzzling SUVs attending anti-war rallies near my office during the buildup to [...]
  
  
• Despite the hype, the kids aren’t buying hybrid cars
  Most of their favorite brands don’t even sell hybrids American consumers are a pretty sad bunch. Noble intentions are everywhere. Noble actions are not. For several years now consumer survey after survey demonstrates that a good majority of Americans are interested in buying hybrid cars. Yet, month after month, year after year, only a few percent [...]