Category: Autoblog

Dr. John Patten of Western Michigan University recently installed one of HyMotion's L5 plug-in conversion kits in his Toyota Prius as part of his work in educating people on alternative energy. The HyMotion kit is the first commercially available…

2011 Chevrolet Volt – Click above for high-res image gallery
When General Motors conceived the extended range electric powertrain for the Chevrolet Volt, the 40-mile electric driving range was specified so that most drivers would rarely, if ever,…

Ford 6.2-liter V8 – Click above for high-res image gallery
During Ford's announcement of the new powertrain lineup for the 2011 F-150 yesterday, we learned that the new 6.2-liter V8 would only be available in the SVT Raptor, Harley-Davidson and F-150…

The star of the new British kids' show Roary the Racing Car will be making a public appearance at this year's on June 22-24. Roary and his mechanic, Big Chris, will be joined by Sir Stirling Moss (who lends his voice to Roary in the show) in the…

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a report on how the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar against almost all other currencies is prompting car makers to take a new look at exporting vehicles built here. Almost as an aside deep within the…

Italian magazine Quattroroute is reporting that Ferrari will show its first road-going hybrid next March at the Geneva Motor Show. The concept is reportedly based on the the 599 GTB and is expected to use a derivative of the kinetic energy recovery…

Mazda was granted a new U.S. patent this week for a design of an offset wheel-mounted motor for electric and hybrid vehicles. In previous wheel/hub motor configurations, the motor has typically been mounted concentric with the wheel. The essence of…

2011 Peugeot iOn – Click above for high-res image gallery
Peugeot has announced pricing for the iOn electric commuter car ahead of its debut in production form at the Paris Motor Show later this month. When the iOn becomes available, Peugeot will be…

Most drivers in North America old enough to remember the first wave of diesel cars that came our way in the early to mid-1980s have unpleasant memories of those cars. They were slow, smelly, smoky, noisy and did I mention slow. They got great fuel…

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Among the seven new hybrid models that Mercedes-Benz will be displaying at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show is this S300 hybrid. The S300 has a four cylinder Bluetec diesel (probably the latest 2.2L) that, combined with the hybrid…