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Chrysler's actually getting a little non- financiapocalyptic press today with the announcement that the Chrysler Aspen hybrid and Dodge Durango hybrid have managed an EPA-estimated 20 MPG city and 22 MPG highway rating. Coupled to the 5.7L Hemi V8 with cylinder-deactivation capability, the powertrain is good for 385 HP and 380 lb-ft of torque. The two-mode gas-electric hybrid system used in the Aspen and Durango is fundamentally the same as that used in the Chevy Tahoe hybrid and, while not Prius smooth, we can attest to it providing a great blend of performance and economy in our tester. [Chrysler]
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OK folks, now that the new Prius-fighter from Honda has officially seen the sheet dropped at the Paris Motor Show early this morning, it's time to ask the important question — which one will win? In one corner, you've got the long-time champion of the hybrid arena. In the other, the pugnacious new Honda Insight , determined to beat the Prius in at least one chart — price. With that, here's the question: Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.
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The hybrid version of the Toyota Camry is, behind the Toyota Prius, the best-selling hybrid in America, but there are at least ten other cars for sale this year that get better EPA-estimated mileage on the city, highway or combined cycles. Some are diesels, some are hybrids and some are just light-weight cars with smaller displacement motors. But all share one thing in common — they're more fuel efficient. So why's the Camry Hybrid selling so well? Your answer's as good as ours. But first some stats on the Toyota Camry Hybrid. For starters, it's a "dual-mode" hybrid utilizing the same Toyota-branded Hybrid Synergy Drive found in the Toyota Prius. The trim level of the Camry Hybrid is relatively up-featured, including LED taillights, a DVD-based navigational system and most of the features found on the top-of-the-line Camry XLE. Though the Camry was originally advertised with a higher mileage, new EPA standards bring the over-reaching hybrid down to a city...
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Apparently, even in light of Chrysler's announcement this morning , Honda thinks all this plug-in hybrid stuff is nonsense...at least until battery technology is up to the task, reports Bloomberg News . Masaaki Kato, head of Honda's research unit, said "For battery-powered vehicles to become more widespread, more popular in the market, we feel battery technology needs to advance further." Kato considers the rapid release of a plug-in hybrid when technology isn't quite up to the task could be a PR disaster, and he hints at such, remarking that the expectations for plug-ins are big and "we don't know that that could be sustained right now." Instead, Honda will continue work on its hydrogen fuel-cell FCX Clarity , which the company considers less technologically challenging than developing advanced batteries. Kato explains the problem with battery-powered vehicles as a simple problem of weight versus energy content: lithium-ion batteries hold less than half...
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Actually, we don’t know if this is a 2010 Jaguar XK Hybrid or some other form of alternative powertrain, but Next Autos ’ spy photographers were shocked to see it lapping the Nurburgring in anger this morning while making almost no sound from its dual exhausts. Click through to see what they had so say. What’s the thing with this strange Jaguar XK? The front bumper does not look like the old, and also not like the one we have seen on the face-lift prototypes. So that’s a completely new one. And also the cut out for the exhaust pipes in the rear bumper look different. Bonnet is from the XK-R One other strange think, this car was very quiet. We can normally hear all the Jag prototypes roar when out on the loose, especially on the Nürburgring track, but not this one. So that makes us wonder if this is a hybrid prototype from Jaguar. [via Next Autos ]
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Toyota , teaming up with EDF Energy, begins road trials today of the first plug-in hybrid vehicle in the UK. The trials will give Toyota real-world driving test data on its PHEV, while EDF will get to test its public charging stations, 40 of which have already been installed throughout the country — as well as provide yet another marketing win for the automaker by making them the first major manufacturer to test plug-ins in the UK. Plug-in test cars will be given to EDF employees to drive in the company fleet, ensuring the vehicles will get the crap beaten out of them and that any major problems can be discreetly rectified by the partner organizations. Full release after the jump. EDF Energy and Toyota launch UK trials of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle EDF Energy and Toyota have teamed up to road trial the first Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) introduced by a car manufacturer to the UK (1). Trials start today and will continue for more than one year. Toyota’s right-hand drive PHV will make its...
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Peugeot promises to reveal the full name of its "RC..." concept car at the 2008 Paris Motor Show , along with a few more details about the just-announced concept. So what do we know? It's designed to be a technical showcase, a hybrid with 313 HP (though it's unknown if that's combined IC and electric), and it looks vaguely like a Dodge Intrepid, sporting 4 doors and, according to the company, 4 seats. There even appears to be a Maxima-like longitudinal moonroof. And, in an ominous sign for the design, Peugeot actually refers to the car as the "missing link," albeit between its RC show cars of 2002 and the 908 RC from the 2006 Paris Motor Show. We'll have to wait and see what Peugeot has here, but right now it looks pretty much like a hybrid sedan. Full release after the jump. galleryPost('peugeotrcconcept', 9, 'Peugeot Reveals The Missing Link'); Environmental efficiency combined with motoring passion The “RC...”, which its full name will...
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Even before he saw today's new Chevy Volt pictures , New York neurologist Lyle Dennis liked the idea of the 2011 Chevy Volt . In fact, he liked it enough to start GM-volt.com more than a year ago, in the process collecting the names of more than 33,000 prospective buyers for the Chevy electric car. The greatest interest comes from California, Texas, Florida and Michigan — no surprise there. What is surprising is that General Motors has apparently been watching Dennis' activities closely, even meeting with him and a handful of other Volt enthusiasts at the New York Auto Show this year. So what's the good doctor's motivation in all this? Apparently, Dennis is concerned that GM may be underestimating consumer interest in the Volt, leading to shortages when the vehicle finally arrives. "If everyone who wanted a Volt could get one, that would be the dream," he said. Given the Volt's expected price point, there's no word on whether Dennis' dream goes...
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Update : We just got our hands on some images of the ongoing work at the Warren Tech Center at on the clay model and chassis of the Volt . GM's just sent us two new photos of the production version of the 2011 Chevy Volt . While the first of the two shots doesn't show much more than what we saw when ABC News lifted the skirt last weekend , the second one shows us the big bowtie on the rear end of the new gasoline-electric sled from GM's American Revolution. Check out the high-resolution shots in the gallery below. We're also being told GM will have 50 prototypes running around on the highways and byways of Metro Detroit doing testing by the end of the year. Hmm, maybe this whole Volt thing's actually going to happen. galleryPost('2010ChevyVoltProdP', 2, 'Like A Volt Of Lightning'); galleryPost('voltprototyping', 6, 'Prototype Volts Coming Together');
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GM's just sent us two new photos of the production version of the 2011 Chevy Volt . While the first of the two shots doesn't show much more than what we saw when ABC News lifted the skirt last weekend , the second one shows us the big bowtie on the rear end of the new gasoline-electric sled from GM's American Revolution. Check out the high-resolution shots in the gallery below. We're also being told GM will have 50 prototypes running around on the highways and byways of Metro Detroit doing testing by the end of the year. Hmm, maybe this whole Volt thing's actually going to happen. galleryPost('2010ChevyVoltProdP', 2, 'Like A Volt Of Lightning');
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As Toyota readies the new next-gen 2010 Prius , Honda has been working feverishly to bring its own dedicated hybrid model to market — at a price point lower than the Prius — after discontinuing the Insight nearly three years ago. We've gone to our sources and put together the best of the rumors, suspicions and ruminations to bring you this comprehensive guide of what we expect from the new Honda hybrid that has yet to receive a public name. Even more speculatively, we've spared no expense to commission a rendering from the good people at KORSdesign to show what they expect it to look like. So hit the jump to see what we expect to see first hand at the Paris Motor Show later this year. Click here for our rendering of the new Honda hybrid! As far as a name, the one thing we're told it won't be is "Insight." As far as a sales target and strategy Honda plans to bring to market four new gas-electric models over the next four years, as part of a broad global...
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A new study by the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC-Davis reveals only one-third of US car buying households have both the necessary charging infrastructure and the desire to purchase a plug-in electric hybrid. The comprehensive study, designed to determine more about the early plug-in market, found that most consumers know very little about plug-in hybrids or think that existing hybrids on the market are already plug-in capable. But, it's not all bad news for lovers of the slide toward electrics. Aside from the consumer education challenge, one curious conclusion in the study was "just more than half the population of US households that buy new cars has the potential to recharge a vehicle at home with at least 110-volt service. This is 1.5 to 3 times larger than prior estimates." We thought that if you had the capability to purchase a new vehicle, you probably had 110-volt electrical service, so either amperage loads and outlet availability were factored into the...
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Nissan yesterday unveiled prototypes for both a new all-electric powertrain vehicle as well as the first pictures of a prototype hybrid powertrain built on an Infiniti G35. Both systems would be run off a new lithium-ion battery pack system. galleryPost('nissanenvirotech', 9, 'Nissan Blinds Us With Science'); We knew Nissan was working on a new electric car and yesterday the company revealed that the FWD platform will use a new high-density Li-Ion pack that sits underneath the floor (and out of the way) providing power to an 80 kW motor. Though we still expect a Denki Cube , the new flagship electric vehicle will now apparently not be based on any current platform. The new parallel drive hybrid system in the Infiniti features an electric motor coupled with a gasoline engine like most other HEV systems. Similar to the Lexus LS600h , the Nissan version involves a larger engine, in this case a V6, powering the rear vehicles. In order to achieve more linear acceleration, there...
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With all the talk about alternative powertrains and who has the most hybrids, one statistic stands out: It's been more than five years since the second-generation Toyota Prius hit showrooms, marking the most recent new vehicle to have been designed only as a hybrid. And, as hybridcars.com reports, that's a huge challenge for Honda as it prepares to introduce its new Honda hybrid Prius-fighter. Not only does the new car need impeccable aerodynamics and the ability to seat five, but it also needs to be easily distinguished as a hybrid, yet instantly identifiable as a Honda and not a Prius. No matter how much they claim otherwise, hybrid buyers like to wear their green credentials on their sleeves. That's the beauty of the Prius: It can scream "green" without being covered with badging like the Tahoe Hybrid . It's smugness lies in its subtlety. So how can Honda rip off the Prius design while still producing a unique design? We're not sure, but if the artist's...
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Honda has been diligently working on its Toyota Prius -fighter, a dedicated Honda hybrid expected to go on sale early in 2009. But they recently pulled out the trump card in this battle royal — a starting price of just $18,500. The five-door, five-passenger hybrid-only car will get to that low, low price point by using a greatly simplified — and 50% cheaper — version of its Integrated Motor Assist hybrid system. Seems the mileage wars are really starting to heat up. galleryPost('NewHondaHybridSpy', 6, 'Prius Shaped Honda Hybrid Testing Out In The Desert'); Jalopnik Snap Judgment: Considering the Honda hybrid will be coming in a whopping $3,000 less than the base Prius and will wear the depreciation-proof Honda badge, we're betting the number one super-best automaker from the land of the rising sun will be redoubling efforts on its 2010 Toyota Prius . Within three years, we'll be looking at volume sales of high-mileage offerings from Toyota, Honda...
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