It doesn’t really look good to win your own sponsored race, but at the same time, if you can’t manage to win the race you set up you end up looking pretty incompetent.

Thus, it’s not exactly a huge surprise that the Suzuki Alto is out in front and looking pretty good on its fuel consumption.

The Alto Green Challenge is sort of, from what I can tell anyway, a hybrid car race.  Both a race for hybrid cars and a two-pronged car race.  Cars are not only trying to clear the track first, but they’re also trying to do it with the least amount of fuel consumed.

For instance, that Suzuki Alto?  It’s burning through about a gallon of fuel for every fifty miles it travels, or 3.99 liters per one hundred kilometers.

I don’t care what country you’re in–fifty miles per gallon is pretty sweet.  So here’s to the Alto, the current frontrunner in its own contest.

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The Tokyo Motor Show is underway and information about new vehicles continues to flow out — The latest bit focuses on the Nissan Fuga hybrid which is expected to hit North American dealerships sometime in 2011 as the Infiniti M.

This vehicle features an electric motor capable of 50 kW and 200 pounds-per-feet of torque that will have the Fuga reaching speeds of up to 62mph on electricity alone. Couple that with a 3.5-liter 6 cylinder engine and you have yourself a luxury model that any fuel sipping driver would love.

Nissan is expected to release complete engine output numbers sometime next year.

via autoblog

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Yesterday we told you that Ford’s hybrid sales were up 73% over last year but we had no idea the Detroit automaker was going to see this kind of success. Recent reports have surfaced that suggest Ford is dangerously close to surpassing Honda as the second best hybrid seller in the United States.

Let’s take a look at some numbers: Honda has sold 29,958 hybrid vehicles so far this year which is a 8% increase over last year while Ford sold 26,016 vehicles, a 73% increase over last year like we already told you.

If these trends continue, by this time next year we may very well be seeing the U.S. hybrid seller top 3 looking like Toyota, Ford, Honda. But don’t pop the champagne yet, Ford, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

via autobloggreen

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We’ve all heard of biodiesel and we’ve all heard of hybrid vehicles but how about a hybrid biodiesel burning 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle? No? Me neither. Neither did students at the University of Kansas until they built one, that is.

What you see above is their creation which gets close to 50mpg  running on both biodiesel and 10 lead acid batteries.Professor Chris Depcik, leader of the team, comments on the project:

“We have driven it around and reached approximately 30 mph, but this was more of a proof of concept drive without pushing the boundaries. We are currently getting the vehicle into road-ready shape to be driven safely in order to determine these values.”

via autopia

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Now here’s something interesting, folks–apparently Subaru wants a piece of the steadily growing hybrid pie.

This move has been years in the making, but Subaru’s going to have its new model, the Subaru Hybrid Tourer, ready for display at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show.

But there are some things we do know about it before it hits the show floor–stuff like that it comes with regenerative braking, that it has a straight flat-four turbocharged mill gas engine for high-speed running and two electric motors for help getting up hills and the like.

Some aspects of the current concept car Subaru likely won’t be making it to market–tell me, though, how awesome would it be to get a car with gullwing doors again?  I haven’t seen a car with gullwing doors since the last time I watched Back to the Future, and I for one would kind of like doors that serve as rainproof paviliions.

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You’ve been reading in this space piece after piece about electric and plug-in hybrid cars with ranges so preposterous you could probably walk farther than they could take you on a single charge.

Well, you can look to the Suzuki Swift to be a step in the right direction.

Designed to be used by motorists with about ten miles per day commute (does anyone live that close to work?  If so, chances are they work from home.) to be a pure electric, those of us who live farther away for once can actually still apply–the critical difference here being that the car could then switch into hybrid mode to get the rest of the distance.

I’ve been sick to death of reading all these reports about these electric cars that can’t go more than thirty, forty miles without whimpering like a schoolgirl and then folding up into the night.  Even though this is just a hybrid, it’s still a pretty good move, and hopefully the Suzuki Swift is just the beginning.

And, though you’ve heard about that one here once before, there’s some extra news along with it–not only will we be seeing that one at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show, but we’ll also get the fuel cell version of the SX4 SUV.

The fuel cell in question for that one is being provided by General Motors.

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While we broke the tale of the BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics way back in September, some fresh news has emerged to make the whole thing a lot more interesting.

Specs have recently hit, and they’re downright amazing: it’s a plug in hybrid with a three cylinder turbo diesel, it gets zero to a hundred km/h in 4.8 seconds, and its total gas mileage is right around sixty two miles per gallon.

Frankly, this car is amazing no matter how you slice it.  it’s got incredible numbers on its side, and it’s easily one of the sexiest plug-in hybrids on the market.  After looking at the frumpy hausfrau that was the Toyota Prius (which will, by all accounts, still look like a shaved brick on wheels for the next couple of years at least), it’s downright liberating to get a look at the shapely, vaguely Lamborghini styled BMW Efficient Dynamics.  A sixty two mile per gallon car that looks like that?  Almost too good to be true.

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Infiniti has come forth today to let us know that they will in fact be selling hybrid version of their M35. The proper title is the 2012 Infiniti M35 Hybrid and will hit dealerships sometime in 2011.

Under the hood you can expect a 6 cylinder engine, twin-clutch transmission along with a lithium ion powered electric motor all powering the cars rear wheels.

Unfortunately that is currently all the information we have regarding the 2012 M35 Hybrid but we’ll keep you updated as more is made known.

via kickingtires

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Recent reports have surfaced that suggest Mazda is currently on the market for funding to the tune of $1.1 billion to help speed up their hybrid vehicle development.

To secure this funding Mazda will be issuing 96.8 million treasure shares and 315.2 million new shares and then reinvest the collected money back into their company. In addition to hybrid development, Mazda will be looking at other environmentally friendly technologies to help power their cars and get back into the green movement game.

Will it work? Only time will tell.

Read (Reuters)

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What you see above is Suzuki’s 2010 Swift, a plug-in hybrid concept that is set to make it’s official debut at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show. This little vehicle features a 660 cc engine to charge its on board lithium ion batteries situated between the 2 front seats.

Those lithium ion batters in question will be used to power the car’s 54 kW motor which will then give the car front wheel drive.

That’s all we have now regarding the 2010 Suzuki Swift plug-in hybrid concept, check back as the Tokyo Motor Show grows closer.

via autoblog

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It’s the king of the hill as far as gas sippers go, kids–the Toyota Prius is still, for at least two years running now, the best vehicle as fuel efficiency goes outside of a horse-drawn hay wagon.

But there have been plenty of changes to the 2010 model–changes in horsepower, in fuel use style, in gear shifting, and plenty more.  You may not be aware of this, but the user manual for a Prius weighs in at over six hundred pages.

So if it’s a hugely fuel efficient vehicle you’re wanting, then the Toyota Prius is absolutely the car for you.  But be prepared– you’ll have a lot to learn about this buggy before you can even drive it any length.  After all–if you don’t relish the possibility of getting stranded in the middle of nowhere because you were driving in EV mode when you really wanted Eco mode, then you’ll definitely need to hit the books first.

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Honda!

That’s who!  Seems that Honda got sick of watching fellow Japanese car company Toyota eat its lunch round the clock with nonstop harping on the Prius, and as such has readied a line of its own hybrids to go after some of that fat green–and cash, too.  There will be a Honda hybrid minivan based on the Odyssey (it’s apparently already for sale in Japan) and a regular sedan based around the Insight.

Smart of Honda, I’d say–take advantage of current models to rejigger their fuel systems a bit and churn out a hybrid car.  Strike while the iron is hot and be rewarded with the ability to reshape the market as you see fit.

Hopefully other companies will start to take up this approach–I’d love to see a hybrid Ford Explorer, and if someone comes out with a Jeep hybrid I think I’ll just plain old lose it.

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Toyota has today announced that they will be increasing the price of their newly redesigned 2010 Prius by $400. There wasn’t much of an explanation for the price increase but it can be generally assumed that it is due to the fact that the Prius has been nothing short of a huge success in pretty much every market it was released in.

Just to make it clear, this $400 will be added onto the entire line of Prius’ from the base model all the way to the premium model.

via autoblog

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It seems that the government isn’t done lending out money just yet as it was recently announced that they have lent half a billion dollars to Fisker Automotive for work on their forthcoming plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Fisker reportedly has two plug-in hybrids in the works; a $90,000 one entitled the Karma (pictured above) and the much more reasonably priced Nina at $40,000. There’s no telling when the Karma is set to hit the road but with this new round of goverment funding Fisker hopes to have the Nina in the hands of consumers by 2012.

Even better, Fisker hopes that with the introduction of the Nina will come up to 5,000 new jobs, something this country desperately needs.

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Now honestly, who doesn’t love Mercedes-Benzs? More importantly, hybrid Mercedes-Benzs? Lucky for us, it was recently made known that the S400 Hybrid has in fact begun shipping to US dealerships and is now available for purchase.

The S400 Hybrid reportedly gets 19mpg/26mpg for city/highway respectively which is none too bad considering the car features a 3.5-liter 6 cylinder engine. Don’t expect to drive this vehicle off the lot for cheap, however, as it starts at $87,950.

via autoblog

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