The BMW Vision Plug-in Diesel Electric Hybrid

The BMW Vision concept car will be arriving at the Frankfurt Auto Show. The plug-in hybrid, which runs on diesel and electric power is a demonstration for BMW of all the possibilities for a sports car (including gull wings) that's gone green.The 2+2 seater has a 1.5 liter, direct injection, turbodiesel engine with only three cylinders capable of 163 hp with peak torque of 214 lb-ft with a double clutch transmission with six speeds for maximum efficiency...

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Fed Handing Out Grants for Hybrids

Seattle received $1.4 million in federal grant money to purchase 15 diesel electric hybrid trucks.  The money will also go towards equipping city-owned properties with electric charging stations.  $500,000 of the grant will go towards the electric charging station, with the rest being used to pay for the trucks.It's estimated the diesel hybrids will save more than 10,000 gallons of fuel annually.The Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation...

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Insight and Prius Get Five Star Safety Rating in Europe

Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius received five star ratings as part of the safety testing for vehicles in Europe (Euro NCAP - For safer cars | Safety comes clean). Euro NCAP assesses the safety of new cars.The report notes in particular the high scores for pedestrian safety that "not only fulfil Euro NCAP’s current five star requirements, but already meet the organisation’s challenging 2012 targets."Euro NCAP’s top scorers with five star results are the Honda Insight, Kia Sorento, Renault Grand Scenic, Skoda Yeti, Subaru Legacy, Toyota Prius...

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Final Cash for Clunkers Numbers

The final Cash for Clunkers numbers have been released.  With 690,114 deals submitted, the final bill will total $2.877 billion.  That was after the deadline was extended for submissions until Tuesday evening. The deadline was extended when the CARS website went down for dealers on Monday.The White House Council of Economic Advisers said the program will create or save 42,000 jobs in the second half of the year.  Check out my list of winners and losers during the C.A.R.S. Program.Toyota, Honda and Nissan outpaced the 'domestic'...

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Mazda Looking to Up Fuel Economy by 2015

Seems like a long time from now, but Mazda is planning on increasing their fleet fuel economy by 30% over the next five or six years.Mazda will be working on its powertrain, but without giving up the rotary engine.  They are looking to add in idle-stop (start-stop technology) and direct injection spark ignition.  That may also lead to regenerative braking, electric power steering, and electric water pumps. The direct injection spark ignition will have a combination of smaller displacement, higher power output, and greater efficiency. ...

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CARS (Cash for Clunkers) Website Broken Again

So, here we are on the last day and the CARS website is broken again. As dealers rush to submit all the last minute claims by 8 PM tonight, they have apparently overwhelmed the government run site again.Although that might not be a bad thing, given that some dealers wanted some extra time to make sure they got all their entries in anyways. A hard deadline of 8 PM tonight was set, but given the hiccup in service, I'm wondering if the deadline will be extended.On the other hand, that might be a bad thing since 635,186 claims for $2.65 billion have...

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Toyota SAI, a New Hybrid Sedan

Toyota will introduce another hybrid sedan (Kyodo news via GCC), based on the Lexus HS 250h. The price is expected to fall between the Prius and the HS 250h.The SAI will have the same platform as the 250h, but with a different interior and exterior.Toyota is also looking to introduce a cheaper hybrid based on the Vitz and a hybrid minivan, possibly by 20...

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Cash for Clunkers Ending : Check Out the Winners and Losers

Cash for Clunkers will officially end on Monday at 8 p.m. But don't wait till then to make the deal if you're still interested. That's the hard deadline for dealers to file their paperwork, although based on history, I'm guessing they'll be given time to have the claim rejected for errors, at which point they can resubmit.Cash for Clunkers to end on Monday - Yahoo! NewsThe popular program will end at 8 p.m. EDT Monday after burning through much of its $3 billion in funding in just a month. All new deals will have to be completed and dealers must...

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Toyota Riding Hybrid Back to Profit

Toyota will be raising their output from 6.3 million to 6.67 million for the current business year through March 31 according to the Yomiuri newspaper (via Bloomberg). The increased output is due to the increased demand in hybrid vehicles.Businessweek writer Ian Rowley thinks this might mean Toyota could be headed back into profitability one year ahead of schedule.  That is, if sales improve a little bit more or the yen weakens a little bit more.And that may all be due to the highly popular hybrids in and out of Japan.  The LS 250h has...

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Has the NYT Heard of the EV RAV-4?

Does no one at the New York Times know about the electric RAV-4?Toyota Holds Back in the Race to Go Electric - NYTimes.com“Why is Toyota waiting on electric cars?” asked Tadashi Tateuchi, a former race car designer turned electric-car evangelist.... Even when electric cars are sold widely, the company says, they will be suitable only for short trips and serve a decidedly niche market.Toyota is instead building on its hybrid technology, bringing out a plug-in, gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle later this year that runs a short distance on batteries...

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Cash For Clunkers to Wind Down

Even as J.D. Powers predicts the best month of the year due to the CARS program, the Obama administration is talking to dealers and telling them the program will be winding down, most likely by early September.J.D. Powers and Associates is expecting August retail sales at slightly more than 1 million units, up nearly 2 percent from one year ago.  This is the first time, if it happens, that sales will have increased year to year since June, 2007.Given the positive impact of the CARS program, J.D. Power and Associates is increasing its forecast...

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Will Cash for Clunkers Last Much Longer

As the CARS program, also known as Cash for Clunkers, now hits $1.8 Billion (out of the $3 Billion now available) in submissions, questions about how much longer the program will last are getting louder. Dealerships are apparently getting sick of waiting for their money.NY dealers pull out of clunkers programThe Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members have left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates. They're also worried about...

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Buick Crossover Hybrid Dead on Arrival

Or maybe that should be dead on the table? Either way, the crossover from Buick was killed off almost as soon as it was announced. Based on feedback they were getting, within one day GM executives killed off the crossover, along with the plug-in hybrid that was to go along with it.This does not mean the plug-in hybrid is dead, but it will have to find a new home. After starting out as a Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid, the technology was said to be moved to the new crossover. Badging for the the test vehicle was changed, but now GM will have to find...

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Toyota Will Buy Batteries From Sanyo

Starting in 2011, Toyota will buy batteries for its line-up of hybrids from Sanyo Electric (Reuters).But what kind of batteries?If we're talking about lithium-ion battery packs, then we get a good idea about when Toyota is going to start using Li-Ion, and how many they are going to use per year. Toyota is planning on buying 10,000 batteries a year from Sanyo.Could this be the upper limit on plug-in Prius for 2012?Or this could just be a way of obtaining more battery packs for their current Prius. Production has been limited by the number of battery...

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Halfway Through the Cash for Clunkers Program

The Cash for Clunkers program has reportedly seen 358,851 submissions for the program from dealerships. Those submissions indicate the government owes about $1.5 billion in rebates, making this the halfway point for the program. That is, unless the government once again decides to push more money out.The government has only released some summary numbers on the program so far. The AP and others have applied for the raw data, but so far they have not received anything.The latest figures from the government indicate that Toyota has surpassed GM...

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Ford Develops Smart Charging for Plug-In Hybrids

Plug-in hybrids are coming, and if the car companies and government have anything to do with, are coming very soon.  But, in order to be successful, plugging in your car is going to take a bit of co-operation between government, automakers, and utility companies.  Ford is working in partnership with  Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an independent nonprofit organization to continue to develop and test plug-ins and how they're going to affect the grid in the coming years.Part of the technology that Ford has been working on...

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Cash For Clunkers Tripling Workforce

Dealing with a backlog of submissions, the Cash for Clunkers (CARS) program is now tripling the work force to process claims from dealerships. The number of public and private sector workers will go from 350 to 1,100 by the end of the week.That's a lot of jobs to fill in just one week. I wonder what these people are going to do in a month or two when the program runs out of money?The CARS program has now seen submissions for $1.6 billion for more than 390,000 vehicle sales. Details on the submissions have yet to be released, although edmunds.com...

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Suzuki Hybrid in 2011

A Nikkei report (via Reuters) reported Suzuki will begin selling hybrids in 2011.  Suzuki, partnered with GM, will market a 'next generation hybrid system' in a sedan.The hybrid system will be installed in the Kizashi.  The Kizashi is supposed to begin selling in North America in late 2009.The midsize Kizashi has a 2.4 liter, dual overhead cam four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission or CVT. All-wheel drive will be...

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Boston Blocked From Turning Taxis Into Hybrids

Once again, an effort to turn taxi fleets into hybrid fleets has been officially blocked by a judge.  The judge had granted a temporary injunction of the switchover, but has now officially ruled in favor of the cab owners.The US District Court ruled in favor of the taxi owners. The Judge William G. Young ruled that Mayor Menino was infringing on the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, which established fuel economy standards for vehicles and forbids local officials from setting up their own standards.Young noted that his 10-year-old...

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Toyota Raises Price on Lexus RX 450h by $450

Toyota announced price changes for the 2010 Lexus RX 450h. MSRP for the FWD and AWD models have by $450. The 450h FWD has a new MSRP of $42,110 and the AWD was set at $43,700. The MSRPs do not include a delivery, processing and handling fee of $875. 2010 Lexus RX 450hThe 2010 RX 450h introduces an updated version of Lexus Hybrid Drive, featuring a 3.5-liter V6 Atkinson-cycle engine, lighter electric motors, a smaller and lighter power-control unit...

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Honda Hybrid SUV

You would think that Honda, being one of the first hybrid developers over a decade ago, would have built a hybrid SUV by now. But, so far, Honda has shied away from the SUV and crossover hybrid market.Why?Ford has shown that a small, fuel efficient hybrid can be popular. The hybrid system from Honda is certainly developed enough, yet there is still no Honda hybrid SUV on the horizon.Honda hasn't been afraid to experiment with their hybrid line-up....

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Ford Increases Production for the Third and Fourth Quarter

Citing the Cash for Clunkers program, Ford is increasing production of their Escape and Focus by 10,000 units in the third quarter. They are also planning on producing 33 percent more vehicles than last year in the fourth quarter. The increase represents higher production across a range of cars, crossovers and trucks.At Wayne (Mich.) Assembly Plant, Ford is increasing Focus production by more than 6,000 units in the third quarter through increased overtime Monday through Friday and adding Saturday production shifts.Ford is focusing their efforts...

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Prius and Insight Earn Top Safety Pick From the Insurance Institute

The 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Honda Insight (with the optional electronic stability control) were both awarded Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.To qualify for Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn the highest rating of good in the Institute's front, side, and rear tests and be equipped with electronic stability control. Criteria to win are tough because the award is intended to drive continued safety improvements such as top crash test ratings and the rapid addition of electronic stability control, which is standard...

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People Want the Solar Sun Roof on Their Prius

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. President Jim Lentz had a lot to say at the 2009 Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars.According to Lentz, people want the solar panel on top of their Prius. Although Toyota had estimated 2-3% of customers would opt for the solar panels, the going rate is actually closer to 12%.That's putting a bit of a strain on production (along with the previously mentioned battery constraints on Prius sales). Toyota is currently projecting 135-140,000 units sold in 2009 for the Prius. Sales are very brisk...

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AP Claims Obama Will Not Release Cash For Clunkers Numbers

Yes, the Transportation Department has released their top 10 list of vehicles being traded in and being sold, but so far, the AP can't get their hands onto a detailed list of sales.Source: SPIN METER: $3 billion buys not-so-green vehiclesJust how many consumers used the federal rebates to buy these larger, not-so-green vehicles is unclear. The Obama administration has declined so far to release detailed records of purchases under the program being compiled by the Transportation Department, listing every clunker deal requesting rebates. The Associated...

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BMW ActiveHybrid 7

BMW announced the ActiveHybrid 7 will be presented at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. It will be on sale in the Spring of 2010.Like the BMW ActiveHybrid X6, the ActiveHybrid 7 will mate a V8 engine to an electric motor to boost fuel efficiency. But unlike the X6, the 7 uses a mild hybrid system with a single electric motor that is used to assist the gas engine.  The X6 will use the two-mode technology developed with GM and Chrysler and...

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