For all the excitement generated by every new hybrid car introduction, there is one little problem. In case you haven't noticed, hardly anyone is buying them.
Okay, I admit it. The media love to report on a horse race, whether it is between bond underwriters or presidential candidates, and I'm just as guilty as anybody else. Horse races are easy to write about because, unlike real life, they can be quantified and have a definitive outcome.
Rivals Ford Motor and Toyota Motor announced an agreement Monday to work together to develop a new hybrid system for use in light trucks.
Ford will soon produce a competitor to General Motors' Chevrolet Volt.
Faced with complaints of battery packs in Civic Hybrids dying prematurely, American Honda Motor Co. offered a free software upgrade last summer to fix the problem. Many owners say it only made things worse.
Chrysler Group is working on a new hybrid minivan that doesn't use batteries or electric motors to drive it, the automaker announced with the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday.
At the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, Toyota is asking "What's the plural of Prius?"
Give Alan Mulally lemons and he makes lemonade.
General Motors will unveil a hybrid version of its popular Buick LaCrosse sedan this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show. But don't expect GM to call it a hybrid.
BMW will mass produce a high-powered plug-in hybrid sports car, the German auto maker announced Friday.
If you thought electric cars were about to take over the world's highways, a new report by auto analysts at J.D. Power Associates says, "Not so fast."
Toyota will unveil a new version of its famous Prius Hybrid at the Detroit Auto Show in January, the automaker announced Thursday. This car would not be a replacement for the Prius hatchback but would sell alongside the now-familiar egg-shaped car.
Toyota Motor Co. will put out six all-new hybrid vehicles worldwide by 2012, a Toyota spokesman confirmed.
When the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid sedan goes on sale in the fall, the price will probably surprise a lot of people. The sticker price will be $35,180 -- exactly the same as the non-hybrid version of the car.
General Motors will guarantee the lithium-ion battery in the Chevrolet Volt for 100,000 miles of driving or eight years, whichever comes first, the automaker announced Wednesday.
Electric carmaker Tesla Motors will deliver two prototypes to Toyota Motor Co. by the end of the month, a Tesla executive said Saturday.
Moving ahead with a partnership announced in May, Toyota is working on a potential new electric car with California's Tesla Motors, a source at the Japanese automaker said.
Ford Motor Co. announced Thursday that it will ask owners of its Ford Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrids sedan to bring their car into their Ford dealer to replace software that operates the car's braking system.
General Motors announced Tuesday that it intends to become the first major automaker to design and manufacture electric motors for cars in the United States.
The Toyota Prius, America's most popular hybrid car, will become a family of vehicles, Toyota announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Monday.
General Motor's Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz is back and he's ready for a fight.
Honda's new hybrid-only Insight, touted as a low-cost competitor to the Toyota Prius was dealt a major blow Monday after it failed to get a thumbs up from the influential magazine Consumer Reports.
Even though he has the same last name as five of the 10 previous presidents of Toyota Motor, Akio Toyoda is nothing like his predecessors.
There's a saying as the nation pushes for cleaner electric cars: The United States will end up trading dependence on Saudi oil for dependence on Asian batteries.
Electric cars have a big role to play in reducing the world's greenhouse gas emissions, but it's going to cost a lot, according to a new report. It could even push automakers into further trouble.
Ford wants to roll out a fleet of hybrid and plug-in cars over the next several years, but it does not want to go down the road General Motors is taking with the Chevrolet Volt.
After nearly a year of flagging sales, low gas prices and fat incentives are reigniting America's taste for big vehicles.
General Motors unveiled the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle on Tuesday, allowing outsiders their first full look at the car GM says will go on sale in 2010.
Honda Motor Co. unveiled a pure-hybrid concept car Thursday that hopes to go head to head with Toyota's wildly popular Prius.
Toyota lowered its global sales target for 2009 to 9.7 million vehicles on Thursday, down from an earlier 10.4 million vehicles, blaming "tough times," caused by rising material costs, a slowing U.S. market and soaring gas prices
Toyota is introducing a plug-in hybrid with next-generation lithium-ion batteries in Japan, the U.S. and Europe by 2010, under a widespread strategy to be green
General Motors is far from being a market player with hybrid vehicles, but it may be in a position to deliver down the road, according to some industry analysts.
The lithium-ion batteries to be used in General Motors' Chevrolet Volt electric car will soon be installed and tested in specially-equipped versions of the Chevrolet Malibu, the company said.
Sky-high gas prices bring fuel economy front and center when it comes to buying a new car. But if you're not careful, your bargain gas-sipper could wind up costing you a lot more in the long-run.
If you bought a hybrid vehicle last year, and you were counting on a tax credit, you may be in for a nasty surprise.
At a breakfast in New York last week, Jim Press, vice chairman and president of Chrysler LLC made the startling announcement that every single new Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep is being engineered so that it can be adapted for a gas-electric hybrid powertrain. That's a huge change for technologically challenged Chrysler, which currently markets only two gas-electric hybrid vehicles - both of them equipped with technology developed by General Motors.
General Motors Corp. says it expects to bring its first lithium-ion battery powered hybrid engine system to market in North America in 2010.
Gasoline use over the next two decades is expected to soar as developing nations get richer and more people there buy cars, but gas alone won't be able to shoulder the burden.
OK, it's official: Hybrid vehicles are definitely the wave of the future or at least one of them. With gas prices remaining over $3 a gallon and oil prices up around $100 a barrel, the need to save on fuel -- and fuel costs -- is clearly not just a passing trend. And, of course, concerns about air quality and global warming seem to mount every day.
When they're thinking about buying a hybrid vehicle, people sometimes worry about stuff that's just silly. Sometimes, though, they're absolutely right to be concerned.
The winner of this year's Green Car of the Year doesn't look a thing like the award's past winners. It's a full-sized SUV.
Some car companies just can't leave well enough alone. After all, if you have the best-selling car eight of the past nine years, have projections to sell 420,000 more next year and your new model has won just about every automotive award available, except the Indy 500 Milk Bottle, why would you place the engineering equivalent of a graffiti mustache on it?
Gas is getting more expensive and yet you still want a fun drive, right? For some car buyers, a genuinely fast ride with excellent handling, braking, tech and entertainment makes for a big fun-to-drive factor.
Gas-electric hybrid vehicles, the status symbol for the environmentally conscientious, are coming under attack from a constituency that doesn't drive: The blind.
Introduction of the next version of Toyota's hit Prius gas-electric hybrid won't hinge on improvements in a more efficient type of battery called lithium-ion, a senior Toyota executive said Friday.
Nowadays, most car models get a major redesign about every 4 or 5 years. By that time, sales have started to slow as competitors have introduced fancier, better cars in the auto industry's endless cycle of one-upsmanship.
U.S. sales of new hybrid cars were up 49 percent in the first seven months of this year, due largely to a boom in sales in the Midwest, an auto information and marketing company said Monday.
When the first mass-produced hybrid car launched in 1997, it was heralded as the ideal compromise between modern convenience and environmental responsibility. A decade on, the cost of a hybrid is still higher than traditional cars of its class.
There are roughly 800 million cars in the world today. One day that number is going to mushroom -- but to what extent is anyone's guess. According to the Wall Street Journal, we could have 1 billion cars on the road by 2020. Forrester Research puts the number at 1.2 billion, according to Reuters. But it could be more than that.
updated: Sun Sep 16 2007 23:35:00
The world's first hybrid train hits the hills to much fanfare by scientists and tourists. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.
When the first mass-produced hybrid car launched in 1997, it was heralded as the ideal compromise between modern convenience and environmental responsibility. A decade on, the cost of a hybrid is still higher than traditional cars of its class.
General Motors Corp. will begin road testing its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid in the spring of next year and remains on track to produce the rechargeable car by late 2010, a senior executive said Thursday.
Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled a "plug-in" hybrid car based on its popular Prius model Wednesday, saying it would test the fuel-saving vehicle on public roads - a first for the industry.
The percentage of car shoppers considering hybrid vehicles has declined in the past year, according to a survey released Tuesday by J.D. Power and Associates.
Ford Motor Co said Monday it would test a fleet of rechargeable hybrids with utility Southern California Edison in a partnership that environmental advocates said underscores the growing interest in vehicles capable of running with little gasoline.
Ford Motor Co. and power utility Southern California Edison will announce an unusual alliance Monday aimed at clearing the way for a new generation of rechargeable electric cars, the companies said.
Google said Tuesday it is getting in on the development of electric vehicles, awarding $1 million in grants and inviting applicants to bid for another $10 million in funding to develop plug-in hybrid electric vehicles capable of getting 70 to 100 miles per gallon.
With the price of gasoline setting new records everyday, more and more people are turning to hybrid cars as a way to protect themselves against price increases at the pump. But are hybrids all they're cracked up to be? We'll tell you what you need to know.
To combat increased production and more competition from other hybrid vehicles, including some of its own, Toyota has introduced a large incentive program on its popular Prius.
If you bought a Toyota Prius last summer you may have thought you were entitled to a $3,150 tax credit.
If you're thinking of buying a hybrid car, this would be a good time to act on that impulse, according to a pricing and cost analysis by the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.
Registrations of new hybrid vehicles in the United States increased 28 percent in 2006, but that was the second-smallest increase since 2000, and represented just 1.5 percent of new vehicle registrations, R.L. Polk & Co. said Monday.
The major theme of this year's early motor shows in Detroit and Los Angeles confirmed that "green" cars are finally credible in the U.S., in the wake of increased awareness of climate change and continued high fuel prices.
General Motors unveiled a plug-in hybrid vehicle that, the company says, offers a preview of a high-mileage vehicle platform that GM could use in future vehicles.
The belief that General Motors has all the environmental sensitivity of a panda fur wholesaler has been widespread for a long time.
General Motors is working on a plug-in hybrid version of its redesigned Saturn Vue SUV, the company's CEO announced today at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
The Prius shortage may be ending, according to a report published Monday
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the 2007 Fuel Economy Guide on Tuesday.
It would be interesting if all cars, when you arrived home and pulled out the key, told you exactly what they thought of your driving. ("Hey, were you trying to get me totaled back there?") The Camry Hybrid won't insult you, no matter how badly you drive, but it will let you know if your driving was "Excellent!" in terms of maximizing your fuel efficiency.
As car buyers search for more fuel-efficient alternatives, interest in plug-in hybrids is increasing.
Rising gas prices and booming sales of the Toyota Prius mean a big opportunity for Pete Nortman. A year and a half ago, the Monrovia, Calif., engineer hacked his Prius by replacing the battery with...
GM, which has trailed some of its competitors in offering fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, is looking at a new version known as "plug-in hybrids" not yet on the market, which can offer drivers even better mileage, according to someone familiar with company plans.
More than a third of American drivers say they are considering getting rid of their current vehicle in favor of something more fuel efficient, according to a national survey by Consumer Reports magazine.
In creating its first gas-saving hybrid vehicle for the mass market, General Motors took the cheap way out. This time, it could prove to be a very smart move.
Buying a hybrid will save you money on gas...but you might still come out behind.
The Environmental Protection Agency says it can help drivers save fuel. It has said that for a long time, of course, but this time it's not talking about providing fuel mileage data for car shoppers. It's talking about a new invention created in its own Ann Arbor, Mich. research laboratories
If you just bought a brand new fuel-efficient hybrid vehicle, sorry but you should have waited.
Shortly after 7 a.m. on a recent Thursday morning, John Lazar drove up a winding road to Twin Peaks. Gazing out over downtown skyscrapers to the gray waters of San Francisco Bay, the 53-year-old pr...
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to introduce 10 more gasoline-electric hybrid models globally by early next decade in a push to boost total sales of hybrids to 1 million, a top Toyota U.S. executive said.
CRAWL BEHIND A DELIVERY VAN FOR a mile or two, and you quickly figure out that its stop-and-start progress consumes an enormous amount of fuel and produces clouds of noxious exhaust. That makes suc...
Wary of purchasing that hybrid car even though gas prices are pinching your wallet?
Ford Motor Co. is introducing its second fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrid vehicle a year earlier than originally planned, and the company is turning to some critics in the environmental community to help sell it.
Once again, the North American International Auto Show, held in Detroit earlier this month, highlighted both the best and worst in fuel economy.
Once again, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit highlighted both the best and worst in fuel economy.
Environmentally friendly hybrid cars are finally being mass-produced -- thanks to an increase in demand due to rising fuel costs, cheaper technology and growing public acceptance.
For SpaceShipOne, reaching space takes three things: a pilot, a spacecraft, and enough propellant to rocket away from Earth.
General Motors Corp. has no plans to try to answer the success of the Toyota Prius, the critically-acclaimed gas/electric hybrid car, said Robert Lutz, GM's vice chairman of product development.
Now here's a social dilemma: Say Cameron Diaz calls to ask if she can come over to your house right after the post-Oscars parties. You're tickled, of course. Then you realize in a panic that you do...
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