Cars, trucks and more

Henderson, Lutz and Wagoner next to the Volt
I’m a big fan of the Chevy Volt. I think it’s an important step in the right direction, especially for a company like GM. Still, I’ve blogged over-and-over that the Volt was not an excuse not to build a direct Toyota Prius-contender.
Ultimately, the lack of small hybrid cars [...]

The two-seater 2011 BMW Z10 ED will be launched in limited numbers in 2011 for approximately $115,000. It will feature BMW’s Efficient Dynamics (ED) environmentally-friendly technology.
Although the price tag should keep the car at the exclusive end of the US market, BMW hopes its clever deployment of technology will allow the customers [...]

Get a deal on a Toyota hybrid today
Toyota has announced a bunch of incentives on its vehicles, including its hybrid cars. Incentives can vary depending upon your region, but the Toyota Camry hybrid is averaging about a $1500 discount and the Prius is averaging about $1000 discount according to Cars.com.
Check out Toyota’s consumer site for [...]

The Chevrolet Beat was introduced as a concept car in 2007. Although it was planned to be introduced everywhere else, GM did not originally want to bring it to the U.S. market. Executives at GM thought Americans would not want a city car that was smaller than the Aveo.
Despite this initial [...]

Can lithium power the Sonata past other hybrids?
Hyundai has confirmed that it plans to begin selling the Hyundai Sonata hybrid in October of next year. More interesting, the Sonata hybrid will utilize Hyundai’s Blue Drive – a lithium polymer powered hybrid drive.
In related news, the Hyundai Blue Will plug-in hybrid concept has not yet been [...]

BMW will bring out their new 1-Series in 2011. At least five models are being considered in the future 1-Series line up by BMW – a 3-door hatchback, a 5-door hatchback, a 2 door coupe, a 2 door convertible, and a small crossover vehicle. Also, as part of this 1-Series debut, a new [...]

Hyundai’s hybrid weapon?
A couple of years ago, when it was speculated that Toyota would use lithium in the third generation Prius, I thought the world of hybrid cars was ready to explode. Unfortunately, Toyota chose the safe and reliable path and stuck with NiMH.
Since then, there has been a lot of talk about lithium chemistry’s, [...]

569 units sold in first week
If you checked out your local Honda dealer last week hoping to purchase an Insight hybrid, you might have been disappointed. While Honda did begin delivery of the Insight, availability was limited. Nonetheless, Honda did record the sale of 569 Insights last week.
Interestingly, Honda Civic hybrid sales were down 20.8% [...]

Thought I’d post you some of my first observations on the Suburban fuel economy. It hasn’t been the best, especially when I drove it without thinking at all about economical driving style. However, I’ve been trying to push the number towards better and I’d say that driving style is what matters the most.
So, here are [...]

Greenhouse gases to be a “health danger”
The EPA is ready to declare carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a public health danger according to reports. If the White House accepts the EPA’s proposal, sweeping change is forthcoming. Already, the White House has indicated that it wants Congress to act on this issue, such as in [...]