The Lexus GS 450h combines a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine with a mighty 197bhp electric motor, and enables the luxury saloon to power to 62mph in 5.9 seconds, and onto to 155mph at the top end. If it wasn’t for a combined economy figures of 35.8mpg, and emissions of 186g/km you’d think that Lexus had completely missed.
The car also features another first - electronically-controlled Continuously Variable Transmission with sequential shift mode. This gives the driver the ability to shift between six ’steps’ of drivetrain ratio much like a conventional automatic, each giving a sharper engine braking force. More
May 2006
Monthly Archive
Thu 25 May 2006
Mon 22 May 2006
Trinity, a highly fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid vehicle, was unveiled today by engineering students at the University of California, Davis. The vehicle is the team’s entry in the national Challenge X competition, sponsored by General Motors Corp. and the U.S. Department of Energy. Field trials for the competition will take place in Phoenix next month.
Trinity is a 2006 model Chevy Equinox SUV powered by electric motors and a small internal combustion engine that can run on gasoline or ethanol. The electric motors and batteries provide power for driving at low speeds and for a range of up to 40 miles, and the gas engine supplies additional power for longer journeys and highway driving.
“This is a car that is completely sustainable with no oil at all,” said Andy Frank, professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering at UC Davis, who advises the team. Trinity does all the things a conventional model of the vehicle can do with higher performance, Frank said.
Unlike hybrids currently on the market such as the Toyota Prius, Trinity’s batteries can be recharged from a domestic power supply, allowing the vehicle to be powered by cheap off-peak electricity. This reduces fuel consumption and emissions and allows the vehicle to run exclusively on electric power for most short trips around town. More
Sat 20 May 2006
Honda Motor Co. will stop making the slow-selling Honda Insight hybrid in September and will introduce a new, more affordable hybrid to the North American market in 2009, a company spokesman said Thursday. more
Thu 18 May 2006
Honda Motors aims to release a small hybrid car in 2009, powered by petrol and electricity, President Takeo Fukui said.
The new model’s annual sales in and outside Japan are projected at 200,000 vehicles, according to the Honda president.
“It is critical to develop hybrids featuring a better cost performance” than petrol cars, Fukui added, indicating that Honda aims to keep down the prices of its eco-friendly vehicles.
Honda’s existing hybrid, called Insight, is not selling well so the company is hopeful that its new hybrid will help the firm catch up with Toyota Motor Corp, whose Prius is doing much better in the hybrid market. more
Mon 15 May 2006
U.S. hybrid vehicle sales more than doubled last year, according to new data released
this month, although they still only comprise slightly more than one percent of U.S. vehicle sales.
Registrations for new hybrids rose to 199,148 in 2005, a 139 percent increase from the year before, as more models came on the market, according to R.L. Polk & Co., a Southfield, Mich.-based firm that collects and interprets automotive data.
The Lexus RX400h and hybrid versions of the Toyota Highlander and Mercury Mariner were among the new models from which consumers had to choose. more
Fri 12 May 2006
Mariner SUV goes hybrid, But only about 4,000 vehicles will be built this year
Posted by gohybrid under New hybridsNo Comments
The Mercury Mariner has now joined the fleet of hybrid vehicles available to U.S. car buyers, and along with the Ford Escape, gives consumers a choice of compact SUVs with a gasoline-saving hybrid drive train.
2006 MERCURY MARINER HYBRID
BASE PRICE $29,225
TYPE Front-engine, four-wheel-drive, five-passenger, compact, hybrid sport utility vehicle
ENGINE 2.3-liter, double-overhead-cam Atkinson cycle four-cylinder mated to a 70-kilowatt electric motor
MILEAGE 33 mpg (city)
29 mpg (highway)
LENGTH 174.3 inches
WHEELBASE 103.2 inches
CURB WT. 3,787 pounds
BUILT IN Kansas City, Mo.
DESTINATION CHARGE $615
OPTIONS Premium package (includes premium leather seat trim, heated and power outside mirrors, retractable cargo cover, navigation system, side air bags and curtain air bags), $3,795
Wed 10 May 2006
•Toyota. Prius sales were down 27% for April and 10% so far this year compared with last year. Press blames having to reallocate parts for the start-up of the Camry hybrid, which went on sale April 24.
Waits for a new Prius can run up to a couple of weeks at Rice Toyota in Greensboro, N.C., up to four months at Toyota Santa Monica, Calif. “We are selling every one we get,” says Rice’s general sales manager, Elmon Dale.
•Honda. Civic hybrid sales fell 7.5% for the month, although they are up overall this year. “Sales were purely constrained by supply,” says spokesman Sage Marie. Sales of Honda’s generally overlooked Insight hybrid two-seater jumped 22.2% last month, while sales of the Accord hybrid, unpopular because of its V-6 engine, fell 69% in April from a year ago.
•Ford. In contrast to its Japanese competition, Ford says sales of hybrid versions of Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs soared 68% in April from a year ago. They doubled from March. Ford has promoted hybrids heavily and has offered incentives in some markets.
Tue 2 May 2006
For more than a year, in nondescript buildings in Troy, Michigan, north of Detroit, a German-American consortium of BMW, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors has been working quietly to develop a distinctly different type of hybrid powertrain.
On Friday, April 30th, the consortium’s top executives formally unveiled that system, which they call a two-mode hybrid, at an industry conference in Vienna, Austria. Until then, most important details were kept under wraps by the joint development group, called the Global Hybrid Cooperation.
The two-mode system will be available in a wide range of cars, trucks and SUVs made by the three companies, starting with the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe that goes on sale in fall 2007. G.M. says that compared with conventional Tahoes, the hybrid version will achieve 25 percent better mileage in combined city and highway driving.