Toyota reveal the seven seater Prius – the Toyota Prius+ – at Geneva. Features the regular hybrid Prius drivtrain but with Lithium-ion battery pack. On sale 2012. Toyota are bashing on with the extension of the Prius brand as well as the extension of the hybrid drive train in to their regular model range. But probably the big Geneva news […]
Toyota Prius+ Geneva debut
Toyota are bringing the new, bigger Prius V from Detroit to Geneva. But it’s renamed the Toyota Prius+ and gets two extra seats. We’re still not sure we see the point of simultaneously growing the Prius badge in to a sub-brand of Toyota and adding hybrid running gear to the existing Toyota model range. But that’s Toyota’s way forward and we’re going to […]
Toyota Prius V MPV debuts
Toyota has revealed the next instalment in the Prius story. The Toyota Prius V is a Prius MPV with 50% more luggage space than a regular Prius. We knew Toyota were planning on growing the Prius family. We also knew that the next stage of that was going to be an MPV, or at least […]
BMW i8 – launch name for Vision EfficientDynamics. Possibly.
The rumourmill is declaring that the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics will come to market in 2013 as the BMW i8. Update 29-7-11: BMW has now revealed the BMW i8 Concept. BMW i8 Concept Photo Gallery Update: BMW has now revealed its new eco sub-brand as BMW i, and revealed that the Vision EfficientDynamics will indeed be the […]
BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Supercar priced
Ian Robertson, BMW Sales and Marketing Director, revealed at the lainch of the 1 Series M Coupe that the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Supercar will cost less than £150,000. Just like every car maker on the planet BMW is working on hybrids. So far they’ve been sensible and have used hybrid powertrains to do what they […]
Chevy Volt will get 37-93mpg
The EPA has revealed that the Chevy Volt will average 37mpg on its range extender engine and 93mpg when in electric mode. Back in August 2009 we all had a good laugh at the astonishing claim from GM that the range extender Chevy Volt would do 230mpg. We speculated that GM must have based this figure on the Volt using […]
Opel Ampera Euro price €42,900
Opel has revealed that the Euro price for the range-extender Opel Ampera will be €42,900, equivalent to £36,500 It’s always the case that early adopters of new technology pay the price of being the first to adopt a new product or technology. Economies of scale haven’t kicked in and manufacturers are often trying to recoup […]
BMW Vision EfficientDynamics gets green light +video
BMW has announced that their hybrid diesel electric supercar from Frankfurt 2009 – The BMW Vision EfficientDynamics – will go in to production in 2013. Probably the biggest show stopper at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show was the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept, which offered a diesel hybrid setup withn two electric motors, M3 levels of […]
London Congestion Charge Exemptions now CO2 based. Wrong.
Volvo are claiming victory in their campaign to get London Congestion Charge Exemptions changed. But it’s no victory at all. We had high hopes for Volvo’s campaign to change the exemptions for the London Congestion Charge. Volvo had moaned – quite rightly – that hybrid cars were being exempted even when they were great big […]
Chevy Volt / Vauxhall Ampera: It’s just an ordinary hybrid
GM has admitted that the Volt is not a pure range extender electric vehicle after all. It is in fact just a plain old hybrid. Yes, the headline is a bit dramatic and a bit disingenuous. But no more so than the barking mad claims made by GM for the Volt. How many hundreds of miles […]