Hyundai has announced a price of $25,750.00 for the basic Sonata Hybrid sedan, which goes on sale in the U.S. in January.  With mileage figures of 36mpg city and 40mpg highway, it almost perfectly inverts the numbers of a mid-size competitor,the 2011 Ford Fusion hybrid (41/36). Touted by Hyundai as having better d...Read more

It was recently revealed that the newer, less expensive Tesla Model-S sedan which is scheduled for a 2012 release (and will be a full EV) is to have a switchable battery.  This would seem to be good news for EV industry startup Better Place, who have been the lone voice in the wilderness on this issue for the past...Read more

The first  Chevrolet Volt (or technically the second, since the first one went to the GM museum) sold at auction Tuesday for $225,000.00. This was the first Volt to actually be sold to the public at large.  The auction was a charitable affair with proceeds going to the Detroit Public Schools Foundation. Presu...Read more

The 2012 Buick LaCrosse will include something the company is calling eAssist, the version2.0 of a Stop/start hybrid system originally developed for the 2007 Saturn Vue Greenline.  You may recall that the Vue Greenline was resoundingly rejected by buyers because although marketed as a hybrid, it got only 25 MPG on...Read more

Official Chinese Government policy is to encourage the sale of both hybrid and electric vehicles, and Chinese policy is generally a lot closer to imperial edict than to gentle persuasion.  Nevertheless, sales of these vehicles have been remarkably, even disturbingly, slow. BYD, the huge Chinese automaker (and reci...Read more

Diesel engines have more torque, lower maintenance costs, and potentially get better mileage than their gasoline counterparts, observations which make it seem odd that no 1/2 ton diesel pickup is currently available in the U.S..  Blame it on the U.S. consumer's distrust of diesel in the wake of the 70's and 80's O...Read more

Battery electric vehicles will start to be cost competitive with their petroleum fueled competition within five years, according to U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu. Speaking to reporters at the annual U,N, climate talks in Mexico, he went on to say that technological advances would very soon increase battery en...Read more

Dr. Jeremy Malachek, Dr. Ching-Shin Shiau and other researchers at Carnegie Melon recently published a paper in The Journal of Mechanical Design in which they modeled life-cycle costs, petroleum use and total green-house gas emissions, assuming differing proportions of hybrid electric, plug-In hybrid electric and conve...Read more

Kalmer, a subsidiary of Finnish multinational Cargotec specializing in the manufacture of dock-loading and cargo-handling equipment, has introduced a new hydraulic/diesel dock tractor aimed at the U.S. market.  Promising 20% greater fuel economy and vastly reduced emissions, the kalmer/Cargotec vehicle uses a parr...Read more

Nothing screams new technology quite like low-cost carbs. Now Cracker-barrel Old Country Store Inc. (the restaurant chain) will be capitalizing on that well known truism by installing Blink electric vehicle chargers at 24 of its Tennessee locations.  This effort will be underwritten by the Ecotality Project, a pub...Read more