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alternative energy
VW Golf Twin Drive Plug-In Hybrid Diesel Makes Prius Look Thirsty
The combination of a fuel-sipping diesel engine with plug-in hybrid technology is something that hasn't really been utilized — until now. This is the Volkswagen Golf Twin Drive Concept, and it looks even more promising than VW's late Golf TDI Hybrid from Geneva. Evidently, the Twin Drive can be run in electric-only mode for a range of up to 30 miles using an 82 HP electric motor. But, there's also a 2.0-liter turbo-diesel that makes 122 HP which can take over once the batteries have been drained. When the two powerplants combine, youMore »
industry news
GE Wants To Help Chrysler Bring Plug-In Hybrids To Life
GE's looking to play with some new hybrid battery technology in the automotive space, so what better man for them to reach out to than former GE executive Bob "The Builder" Nardelli — the current CEO of Chrysler? That's exactly who the company all about the light bulbs and bringing good things to life is reaching out to. According to Automotive News GE's teaming up with Chrysler on a project to demonstrate a technology they're calling a "dual-battery energy storage system." What this one-time project means, after the jump. More »
industry news
Toyota Tries To Lower Expectations On Plug-In Hybrids, Mark Fields Asks For Handout To Build Them
Toyota appears to be starting the expectations-management game for its upcoming plug-in hybrid vehicles after being stung in the past by complaints from Prius owners of lower-than-advertised mileage. Bill Reinert, national manager of Toyota U.S.A's advanced technology group, yesterday told a Brookings Institution/Google conference panel, "when we see the (claims of) 100 mile-per-gallon stuff, not everybody's going to get 100 miles per gallon." Mark "The Mullet" Fields, Ford Motor Co. president for the Americas, made what we think was the most important point to be made at the conference — that plug-ins need to be a "national priority." However, that message was lost when he next asked for a government handout, saying "significant government funding is needed for development of domestic production of advanced batteries and for retooling of plants." Sorry Mark, John McCain doesn't have any money to hand out yet — even if your battery can go 100 miles per charge. More »
2011 chevy volt
GM Calls Us Out, Claim Chevy Volt Spy Photos Not-So-Much Electric
Remember when we ran the spy photos of that not-so-much-sexy Chevy Volt mule yesterday? Remember how there was a certain assumption this one carried that all important E-flex powertrain? Well, according to GM E-Flex spokesman Rob Peterson, what we saw was only a ride and handling mule — this is the E-Flex equipped Malibu. Okay, so the color is different. This proves nothing! Regardless, the Chevy Volt is still pretty far out on its timeline — so far out that Popular Mechanics doesn't even know GM is working on exactly what they're asking for in their latest opinion piece. True, the Volt's got a second powertrain in there, but for the most part it does what they're asking for. Hmm, maybe they should just stick with getting Wert to lobby for better concept cars or, you know, rendering flying cars every other month.[GMVolt.com, Popular Mechanics]
news
Scientific Types Working On The Plug-In Hybrid Heater Dilemma, Really
One of the advantages of the internal-combustion engine (or the external-combustion engine, for that matter) is that you get vast amounts of waste heat for use in making the vehicle's passenger area nice and toasty when it's cold out. However, an increasingly large group thinks that an engine technology that squanders two-thirds of its energy on waste heat leaves something to be desired, so legions of engineers are now working on plug-in hybrids and full electric cars. Thing is, without all that hot water coming out of the engine all the time, how do you keep the vehicle's occupants from freezing their tuchuses off while at the same time refraining from sucker-punching the batteries by making heat in the same manner as your toaster? Antarctic-grade parkas will do the job, but the engineers seem to think that the next generation of thermoelectric semiconductors are the way to go. [MIT]
detroit auto show
"Holy shit, my boss just drove into the auto show" When I went down to the booth of BYD Auto, a Chinese car maker trying to break into the US market, all I hoped for was a few honest answers to my questions. The motto of the company is "Build Your Dream," but that last thing I'd dream was that BYD's Chairman would drive me through someone else's press conference during an illegal, surreal and American-media first test drive around the floor of the Detroit Auto Show. Breaking all the rules of proper auto show behavior, BYD Auto's chairman Wang Chaunfu hopped in the driver's seat of his prototype hybrid and took off with me in the passenger's seat, thus proving to the world that he's ready to show that his company's car works. The story of how one small upstart Chinese automaker turned our Detroit Auto Show upside down with the turn of one key below.
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Detroit Auto Show: World Exclusive Surreal, Illegal Test Drive Of Chinese Hybrid Through Cobo Arena
"Holy shit, my boss just drove into the auto show" When I went down to the booth of BYD Auto, a Chinese car maker trying to break into the US market, all I hoped for was a few honest answers to my questions. The motto of the company is "Build Your Dream," but that last thing I'd dream was that BYD's Chairman would drive me through someone else's press conference during an illegal, surreal and American-media first test drive around the floor of the Detroit Auto Show. Breaking all the rules of proper auto show behavior, BYD Auto's chairman Wang Chaunfu hopped in the driver's seat of his prototype hybrid and took off with me in the passenger's seat, thus proving to the world that he's ready to show that his company's car works. The story of how one small upstart Chinese automaker turned our Detroit Auto Show upside down with the turn of one key below.
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9:30 AM on Tue Jan 15 2008
By Matt Hardigree
16,575 views,
71 comments
Latest by Placebo: This was a truely beautiful and poetic story. Thank you for making my day. Eco-bombing a ALMS pressie, that's just great! more »
detroit auto show
We're not here just to mock the Chinese Automakers for their Engrish press releases and to accept their nice tea sets. We're actually on the floor getting stories. Yesterday, we interviewed one of two American execs we could find for BYD Auto about the Ferrous Battery Powered Dual Mode Hyrbrid. And how do you get a job as an American exec for a Chinese auto company when you can't get a date to the prom? It sort of helps when you're dad is the company's American president. You can also read the story of our unprecedented, world-exclusive test drive with the company's Chairman around the floor of the Detroit Auto Show.
Detroit Auto Show: Jalopnik Interviews China's Youngest Auto Executive
We're not here just to mock the Chinese Automakers for their Engrish press releases and to accept their nice tea sets. We're actually on the floor getting stories. Yesterday, we interviewed one of two American execs we could find for BYD Auto about the Ferrous Battery Powered Dual Mode Hyrbrid. And how do you get a job as an American exec for a Chinese auto company when you can't get a date to the prom? It sort of helps when you're dad is the company's American president. You can also read the story of our unprecedented, world-exclusive test drive with the company's Chairman around the floor of the Detroit Auto Show.
8:45 AM on Tue Jan 15 2008
By Matt Hardigree
1,215 views,
15 comments
Latest by n/a: Hey .. for a young kid, I thought he did a bang up job for an on the spot interview....and he's kind of cute, too! more »
detroit auto show
Detroit Auto Show: Saturn Vue Plug-In Hybrid
In a mere two years Saturn will make its Vue Plug-In Hybrid available for masses. Wait for it, wait for it, yes, this hybrid will plug into the standard 110V household electrical outlet and connect to the car at the front fender, utilizing an adapted two-mode hybrid system from GM. The battery will fully recharge in four to five hours. In addition to the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, the Plug-In Hybrid will also feature GM's 3.6-liter V6 VVT engine. Even though it does contain a V6 engine, the Plug-In Hybrid will be capable of electric-only propulsion of 10 miles or so at low speeds according to the early testing. I would hate to see what this would do to household electronics. I have problems running the toaster and the dryer at the same time and who knows what would happen if a car was plugged into the mix.
1:44 PM on Mon Jan 14 2008
By Travis Hudson
808 views,
14 comments
Latest by lascauxcaveman: @philibuster: 10 miles / 2 minute drive = 300 mph. @Novaload: It goes only 10 miles on a 4-hour charge; sounds like a relatively small battery (Vuebattery < Priusbattery < Teslabattery) charging at a fairly low amperage. Maybe more »
alternative energy
Ford Delivers Plug-In Hybrid to SoCal Electric Company
Ford has gone through on its promise to lead on technology that other automakers have already developed, delivering the first of 20 Plug-In Escapes to Southern California Edison. The Plug-In Escape achieves 120 mpg when the lithium-ion batteries are full charged (for the first 30 miles at least). The little hybrid gets the Ford advanced technology livery, which sort of flies in the face of the "I didn't feel the need to talk about hybrids" theme in their commercials. All things considered, this is a step forward, if only a small one. Press release below the jump: More »
future cars
Aptera announced today that it would be producing both an all-electric and hybrid version of the 300 MPG prototype we told you about in July. The Aptera Typ-1 plug-in hybrid uses an all-electric drive train coupled to a small diesel gas engine and will achieve 300 MPG, while the all-electric version has a total range of 120 miles. The company claims that the car (categorized as a motorcycle by the Dept. of Transportation) in either form will be available for under $30,000! Aptera is Greek for "Wingless Flight," so let's hope this isn't a flight-of-fancy. The company will take a $500 reservation deposit if you live in Southern California (and has taken 400 already), with the rest of us SOL for now. Full press release below.
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300 MPG Electric Vehicle & Plug-In Hybrid for Under $30K
Aptera announced today that it would be producing both an all-electric and hybrid version of the 300 MPG prototype we told you about in July. The Aptera Typ-1 plug-in hybrid uses an all-electric drive train coupled to a small More »
frankfurt auto show
So on top of the animated video we've charged up and popped up above this post, we've also got a few more details since earlier this morning on the new Volvo ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept to be revealed at the Frankfurt Auto Show next week. The gleaned details on this C30-based plug-in hybrid are all below the jump and the additional shots we've got of the concept.
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First Video, More Details On Volvo ReCharge Hybrid Concept Car To Be Revealed At The Frankfurt Auto Show
So on top of the animated video we've charged up and popped up above this post, we've also got a few more details since earlier this morning on the new Volvo ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept to be revealed at the Frankfurt Auto Show next week. The gleaned details on this C30-based plug-in hybrid are all below the jump and the additional shots we've got of the concept.
More »
frankfurt auto show
It's called the ReCharge, a concept car from Volvo to be unveiled officially next week at the Frankfurt Auto Show, it's a plug-in hybrid with a battery-only range of 100 km before you need to have the car's four-cylinder 1.6-liter Flexfuel engine kick in to power the car and recharge the battery. The ReCharge is built off a specially designed Volvo C30, meaning it's got a platform that doesn't need to be built from scratch — boosting the possibility we could see something like it really hit the streets. The best news would be for the environment which would see "about 66% lower emissions of carbon dioxide compared with the best hybrid cars available on the market today." We can already hear the birds singing. Full press release after the jump. UPDATE: First video of the Volvo ReCharge just posted here.
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Volvo ReCharge Plug-In Hybrid Concept Car
It's called the ReCharge, a concept car from Volvo to be unveiled officially next week at the Frankfurt Auto Show, it's a plug-in hybrid with a battery-only range of 100 km before you need to have the car's four-cylinder 1.6-liter Flexfuel engine kick in to power the car and recharge the battery. The ReCharge is built off a specially designed Volvo C30, meaning it's got a platform that doesn't need to be built from scratch — boosting the possibility we could see something like it really hit the streets. The best news would be for the environment which would see "about 66% lower emissions of carbon dioxide compared with the best hybrid cars available on the market today." We can already hear the birds singing. Full press release after the jump. UPDATE: First video of the Volvo ReCharge just posted here.More »
it's electric!
It's Official, Toyota Testing Plug-In Hybrid In Japan
What we first told you last week has now been made official by the boys and girls at the super-best number-one awesome automaker from the land of the rising sun. Toyota's saying it has developed a plug-in hybrid vehicle for public road tests in Japan and plans tests for the United States and Europe.Masatami Takimoto, the ToMoCo executive in charge of technology, declined to say when Toyota will bring a plug-in hybrid to market — mostly because of the same reason GM's saying they can't get one to market yet — both companies still require the necessary battery technology innovation to make it happen. [via NYT]
Photo Credit: Toru Yamanaka / AFP
alternative energy
Electric Vanliness: Sprinter to Be DaimlerChrysler's First Plug-in Hybrid
The term "plug-in hybrid" will one day hang beneath "1/3 less calories" and "dolphin-free tuna" in the advertising and public relations halls of fame. For now, we'd imagine all hybrid-building carmakers will either add the capability to their hybrids, or say they're looking into it. That's not to diminish the latest plug-in announcement, this time from everyone's favorite German-American hybrid. DaimlerChrysler says its first plug-in hybrid will be in the form of a Dodge Sprinter van. It'll test market viability among a control group of fleet buyers. The project will mark the first fleet test of a diesel hybrid plug-in system, though the company's also testing a gasoline-combustion variety. What's more, some of the test vehicles will use lithium-ion batteries instead of nickel-metal hydride batteries. However the test goes, it's obvious plug-ins will likely excel in the stop-and-go world of local delivery, the likely domain of the Sprinter PHEV. More »
news
This Is Our Country, This Is Our Hybrid - Toyota On The White House Lawn
A Plug-In Toyota Prius Hybrid is going to be on the south lawn of the White House today, but you're not going to be able to tell it's a Toyota because the hood is going to be up for photo time. Why? Because it doesn't sit well with the domestic automakers that a Toyota is there (why no Chrysler Hybrid? Oh... wait) and the White House won't stand up to the Big 3, even though Toyota is creating jobs in his adopted home state of Texas while the Big 3 are cutting jobs and benefits. That Prius I just told you about isn't supported by Toyota even though it gets close to 300 MPG. The Middle East is as unstable as it can be without devolving into chaos because we don't make or support many cars that get good gas mileage. But hey, Anna Nicole Smith is getting buried in the Bahamas, so I'm sure everything is going to work out fine. More »
news
