A 2010 Honda CR-Z has hit the landmark of clocking up 100,000 miles in just three years. The car is part of a UK-based ten-strong fleet made up purely of Honda hybrids, also including Jazz and Insight models, which has racked up an amazing half a million miles since 2010. The fleet is owned and
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The first Sustainability Hackathon was held at the BMW Technology Office in Mountain View, Calif. The purpose of the event was to share ideas and develop new apps in the areas of electro-mobility and sustainability. The winning app is designed to help electric-car users communicate quickly and simply with one another on an anonymous basis
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Last week, hybrid conversion startup ALTe and battery maker A123 Systems signed a long-term contract to enable ALTe to build extended-range light-duty fleet trucks by next summer. A123 will supply 21.6 kwh – and eventually other – battery packs for the high-mpg plug in series hybrids that will operate similarly to a Chevy Volt or
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Hundreds of hybrid owners joined together in Madison, Wis., on Sunday to set the Guinness world record for the longest hybrid parade ever staged. The previous record was set last year in Belgium, and totaled 140 hybrids. Sunday’s procession consisted of 208 vehicles, which completed a 2.1-mile loop in about 20 minutes. Organizers had hoped
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The blogosphere is a beast fed with lightning-fast news reports, and posts about the trendiest of latest trends. Yet, despite massive marketing efforts behind a wave of electric cars, like the Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF, the conventional gas-electric Toyota Prius—which has been on the market since 2000—continues to dominate online chatter. New data from
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Last week, Toyota announced that it made the one-millionth sale of the Toyota Prius in the United States. It took Toyota 11 years to achieve that impressive benchmark. While 1 million might sound like an arbitrary figure (well-suited for marketing purposes only), it becomes meaningful when you consider President Obama’s goal (dating back to 2008)
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Most auto market analysts point to gas prices, payback periods or public education as the key to increasing adoption of hybrid cars and electric vehicles. When you ask hybrid buyers, they’ll tell you that they’re doing something positive for the environment, reducing oil dependence, or investing in innovative new technologies—while saving a few pennies at
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Mike Howard, an enterprising local businessman in Elk Horn, Iowa, has put his hometown on the electric car map. Howard financed the installation of four plug-in car charging stations, capable of providing 110-volt or 220-volt charges. Despite the fact that Elk Horn has exactly one electric car—a Chevrolet S-10 pickup that Howard himself converted to
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The new Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept is cool—but Subaru fans are losing patience with the company’s hybrid promises. If ever there was an automotive brand that embodied the spirit of hybrid cars—urban, progressive, outdoorsy, family-oriented—it would be Subaru. Furthermore, Toyota, the hybrid leader, owns 16 percent of Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru cars.
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One day, drivers might download “vroomtones” for their cars, the way they download ringtones for cell phones today. After years of complaints from blind pedestrians that ultra-quiet hybrid cars pose a safety threat, the auto industry is responding by producing on-board devices that emit sound. Nissan is considering using a high- pitched science fiction sound
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