Gas 2.0 |
- Toyota Officially Unveils Baby Prius Concept, Again Hints at Whole Prius Family
- Ford Sweeps Detroit Auto Show Awards
- GM Vice Chair Says Cadillac Converj is a Go
- Holland To Start Taxing Based On Mileage In 2012
- BMW Files Patent For Dual Engine Hybrid System
- Ford’s EcoBoost Engines Moving On… Down
- Detroit Auto Show 2010: The 24 Best Green Cars
| Toyota Officially Unveils Baby Prius Concept, Again Hints at Whole Prius Family Posted: 11 Jan 2010 02:15 PM PST
As hinted at for the last few months, Toyota has today debuted a smaller sibling to the Prius at the Detroit Auto Show. According to a statement from Toyota, the FT-CH (CH=compact hybrid) is “designed to target a lower price point than the Prius, thus appealing to a younger, less-affluent buyer demographic.” Translation: “This car is for you, you poor recent college graduate… who, due to the econopocalypse, settled for a job making half of what you expected to… who would buy a Prius if your parents weren’t driving one and would lend you $23K.” Oh come on, you know you want one. The FT-CH is… dare I say it… cool. Hell, I want one… but mostly because I’m a cheap skate. Actually, I’m still positive my next car will be a plug-in, but even so, I’m having just a little bit of FT-CH lust. I might honestly be having way more FT-CH lust if the simple act of even writing that horrendous name wasn’t enough to put ice in my loins. |
| Ford Sweeps Detroit Auto Show Awards Posted: 11 Jan 2010 01:00 PM PST
Rack another one up for the Blue Oval. After ending 2009 on a high note, and with their hybrid sales up 147% from the year before, the Blue Oval started 2010 off with a bang. Today, at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, the Ford Fusion Hybrid was gifted with the Car of the Year award, and the Transit Connect, Ford’s new compact transport van walked away with Truck of the Year honors. Ford beat out Chevy, Volkswagen, and Subaru to take home the awards. And why not? This is the strongest lineup Ford has had since the original Taurus debuted, and it only gets better from here. |
| GM Vice Chair Says Cadillac Converj is a Go Posted: 11 Jan 2010 12:17 PM PST
At a pre-Detroit Auto Show industry dinner last night, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz announced that GM has definitely green-lighted the virally popular Cadillac Converj EREV. The car, which is based on Volt technology, made its debut as a concept car at last year’s Detroit Auto Show. |
| Holland To Start Taxing Based On Mileage In 2012 Posted: 11 Jan 2010 09:49 AM PST
Traffic sucks. It is a waste of time and of fuel. But even though we have congestion problems of our own in America, it is nothing like the Netherlands, where an estimated 70 million hours a year are wasted by the populace stuck in traffic. The problem is so bad that in 2012 a new law goes in effect in the Netherlands that will tax drivers based on how many kilometers they drive. As Europe’s most densely populated and congested country, Dutch politicians hope a hefty tax levied against most drivers will encourage people to use public transportation and lessen their legendary congestion problems. Here is the caveat that caught my eye though. Dutch officials estimate that 6 out of 10 motorists will end up paying less, because the new tax will replace registration and the 25% (!!!!!!!!!) sales tax on new cars. So why would people drive less, if it costs less? |
| BMW Files Patent For Dual Engine Hybrid System Posted: 11 Jan 2010 09:33 AM PST
File this one under over-engineered. Bayerische Motoren Werke, better known as BMW, has come up with some eyebrow-raising concepts and engine ideas before. But this one is certainly far out. Bimmer has reportedly filed a patent for a hybrid system that features two separate-but-equal petrol powered two-cylinder engines, PLUS an electric motor. Those crazy Germans, always making things so… complicated. |
| Ford’s EcoBoost Engines Moving On… Down Posted: 11 Jan 2010 09:28 AM PST
Back in high school, I had a friend who drove a 1972 Cadillac Eldorado. The thing was a literal land yacht powered by a 500 cubic inch engine with enough torque to burn the tires at 60 mph. 500 cubic inches = 8.1 liters. This thing could displace more volume than four bottles of Mountain Dew. And there was a time people thought engines would only get bigger. Flash forward forty years, and everyone is running in the opposite direction. How small can we get an engine? Well Ford seems to think its EcoBoost technology can take engines to less than a liter, and plans to introduce a whole slow of low-volume engines during 2010 for Europe and North America. |
| Detroit Auto Show 2010: The 24 Best Green Cars Posted: 10 Jan 2010 12:11 PM PST The Detroit Auto Show starts on Monday and runs til the 24th of this month. Along with the EcoXperience returning to the show’s basement, a new display called Electric Avenue will premier. The “avenue” will be an orgy of electric cars ranging from the Nissan LEAF to X Prize alumni.
A Brand New Toyota HybridToyota will unveil a new dedicated hybrid at the Detroit show on Monday. Pictured above is Toyota’s Hybrid X concept from a few years ago. Rumors say the new model is just a hybrid version of the Yaris, but Toyota claims it’s a brand new model all together. |
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