Hyundai has not yet put a hybrid car on the market—and yet the company is throwing around big numbers for its hybrid program: an SUV that gets 38 miles to the gallon; a diesel minicar that beats 60 mpg; and 500,000 annual hybrid sales by 2018.
This week’s Paris Auto Show is practically a parade of electric and hybrid cars. It's a chance to see a glimpse of the future. Check out our showcase of the 10 coolest and greenest vehicles from the Paris show.
What will your children drive 20 years or more from now? According to one analyst, many of them are likely to take the wheel of a battery electric car.
Last week, HybridCars.com took a drive through Reykjavik in one of 10 hydrogen-fueled Toyota Prius hybrids, offered as part of Hertz’s Reykjavik rental fleet. Available for around $300 a day, the hydrogen-powered Priuses make for an intriguing drive through the spectacular landscapes around Reykjavik.
The Chevrolet Aveo sedan and Aveo5 hatchback are a pair of no-frills five-seat subcompacts aimed at efficiency and affordability. Our drive time was spent with the Aveo5, which achieved 32.8 miles per gallon in mixed driving.
President Bush signed a spending bill Tuesday that includes $25 billion in low-cost government loans for the auto industry. The idea is to allow automakers to borrow money in order retool plants to build more advanced technology vehicles—including hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and clean diesel cars—to boost fuel efficiency by 25 percent.
For 2009, the Malibu Hybrid is rated at 26 city and 34 highway, meaning a much healthier 4-mpg boost over the base-level Malibu—compared to the 2-mpg benefit in last year's model. We took the 2009 Malibu Hybrid on a 156-mile loop and managed 29.8 miles per gallon.
The current credit crisis—with or without a $700 billion bailout—has already spread from Wall Street to commercial banks, and from the financial sector to other parts of the economy, including to the auto industry. We take a look at how the credit crunch is impacting key players in the hybrid vehicle market.
Toyota confirmed last week that it asked suppliers to bid on parts needed to produce a vehicle based on the Toyota A-BAT concept hybrid truck. Though it’s far from a commitment to production, it shows Toyota is seriously looking into a new small-size super-efficient pickup. Is a Prius pickup on the way?
Nobody has questioned the importance of high gas prices to the rise of green cars, but one has to wonder: Just how many car shoppers out there are concerned enough about the environment that it factors into a purchase decision? According to a study by Kelley Blue Book's market research division, the answer is "quite a few."
