Hybrid WorldThe new gas-electric hybrid cars, current news about the hybrid car, future trends and hybrid cars under development. Compare hybrid cars and...

Toyota Motor Corporation has completely redesigned the Crown Royal Saloonand Crown Athlete versions and added a hybrid model to the product lineup. And will go on sale in Japan both the Royal Saloon and Athlete. 5,500 units a month Toyota hopes to sell including 800 hybrids cars.

In Japan, over the more than half a century the 13^th-generation Crown unveiled retains the sense of poise and reliability that characterizes the Crown series, which has earned a reputation as the leader among luxury vehicles since its debut in 1955. At the world's highest levels the new Crown adapts advance technologies to create luxury sedans that provide performance.

The Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management offered a three series benefit form the excellent vehicle stability and preventive safety performance, while the hybrid version delivers outstanding cruising and environmental performance.

Both Crown Royal Saloon and the Crown Athlete will be available with V6 3.0 liter and V6 2.5 liter engine, mated to a 6 Super ECT Super Intelligent Electronically-controlled, Six-speed Automatic Transmission and Driving Response and Acceleration Management System. According to driving conditions all engines feature Dual VVT-i (Dual Variable Valve Timing Intelligent) to optimize intake and exhaust valve timing.

The Toyota Crown Hybrid features rear-wheel drive Toyota Hybrid System II with a two-stage motor speed reduction which “provides the driving performance of a 4.5-liter vehicle with the low fuel consumption of a 2.0-liter vehicle”.  With a high performance electric motor the propulsion system features a combination of a 3.5-liter V6 engine. And also the vehicle will only use the electric engine by pressing a button.

At this time that the Jaguar and Land Rover sale is final, Tata has guaranteed at least the next 5 years of existing product plans. The total amount to be paid in cash by Tata Motors for Jaguar Land Rover upon closing will be $2.3 billion. As part of the transaction, FoMoCo will continue to supply Jaguar and Land Rover with powertrains, other vehicle components and a variety of technologies such as environmental and platform technologies. Ford also has committed to provide engineering support, including research and development, plus information technology, accounting and other services.

According to AutoCar, the UK will see hybrid Jaguar and Land Rover models within the next 5 years. Engineers are messing around with fuel-saving technologies and two new engines  a 3.0-litre version of today's 2.7-litre V6 diesel and the all-new direct-injection 5.0-litre V8, to be launched late next year.

A new version of the 2.7 liter V6 diesel used today will be upgraded to a 3.0 liter V6 diesel and will be the first to be launched in the Land Rover Discovery 3, Range Rover Sport, Jaguar XF and the Jaguar XJ that’s due out in 2010. A 5.0 liter V8 will also be launched late next year. With the help of start-stop technology, combined fuel-economy for all four models can be increased by 10 percent.

A ZF 8-speed transmission is also an important part of this combination and will feature a new fuel-saving technology and a hydraulic reservoir that makes it work smoothly with start-stop technologies used in todays 6-speed ZF.

Jaguar is also considering a ZF Dynasart electric motor for a full-hybrid version of the XJ that could hit markets by 2012.

 Source: AutoCar

The globe’s finest automaker goes on China in power yesterday for the eight-day “Beijing Auto Show 2008”, which is anticipated to magnetize up to 600,000 potential purchasers.

Let me get to the point, I’m talking about and really excited about this Mitsubishi model and productions here. The last creation Mitsubishi Lancer had unbelievable street credential due to its Evolution 8 outcome. A star of worldwide road meetings and video games, the Evolution got a lot of bodylooks and eye-catching moves from movie “The Fast and Furious” crowd, children and citizens. On the other hand, the usual Lancer sedan that the Evolution was derived from didn’t move up an eyebrow even in athletic “Rally Art” creation.

For the latest 2008 Mitsubishi choose to unveil the new Lancer GTS first and after that the great high performance Evolution which will appear this coming spring as an early 2009.

The Mitsubishi Lancer GTS competes chiefly with the sport-leaning Nissan Altima, as well as Mazda 3. While the modification and driving characteristics of those vehicles are a notch higher I like the styling or how the Lancer GTS is done, and the value story is hard to ignore. My friend tester GTS had a price about $18,490 plus additional Sun and Sound package, roof, Sirius sat. and 650-watt stereo set, for $1,500 together with the Navigation & Tech wrap up (entry system, navigation system) more or less $2,000. Destination charge extra $625 for an as experienced cost of just $22,615. This is extremely practical for the styling capability, performance along with utility this sedan brings.

Do you think Tahoe hybrid of Chevrolet SUV plus the evolutionary identical GMC Yukon hybrid can save fuel? Sufficient to defend their pricey costs? Do you think being in hybrid line made them winners in all hybrid vehicles?

This question has the respond later than a week in a 2008 GMC Yukon rear-wheel-drive hybrid production. True

These full-size SUV hybrids are examined and got 20 to 22 miles for each gallon in every situation against vehicles runs in gasoline 14 in city and 16 in combined public road driving.        

I’m not thinking and figuring out if I be supposed to feel confident or embarrassed for selecting a GMC Yukon Hybrid lately. Its a great creation from GMC.

For sure, it’s a fuel-friendly four-wheel drive vehicle that can give more space because of its seating capacity, however, it also uses a enormous latest hybrid system that can, theoretically, present it fuel economy numbers nearly the same to many compact SUVs Such as the RDX from Acura Motors..

For me, I can say that I’m glad to have this car if I had a possibility to try this marvelous truck out for a week, in spite of gas value presently hanging just about $1.25 all over Canada).

From cars.com, The Yukon Hybrid is brand new for 2008, and GMC didn’t do things halfway in developing it. The vehicle’s 2-mode hybrid system is a joint venture between GM, BMW and DaimlerChrysler, and works like many hybrids on the market these days - at low speeds, the vehicle uses either all-electric power, all-gasoline or a combination of both, while at higher speeds the vehicle uses either electric plus gasoline, or all gasoline.

Other people says that It’s very significant to keep in mind that getting a full-sized hybrid SUV similar to the Yukon isn’t adequate if you really concern on saving on gas, as different to just creating a lame shot at an ‘I’m environmentally mind thinking!’ saying.

When it comes to hybrid, no automaker really comes close to Toyota. It is one of the reasons why the automaker is on track to unseat General Motors as the world's largest automaker.

Last year, the automaker marked the sale of their one millionth unit of a hybrid vehicle. The 1-million sales figure is of course boosted by the sale of the very popular Prius. But apart from the Prius, the automaker also manufactures other hybrid vehicles including the Camry Hybrid.

There are also Lexus hybrids, in fact Lexus flagship car is a hybrid. And the automaker is serious about making hybrids available to more and more consumers. And if they cannot make them cheap yet so that millions more can afford hybrid vehicles, they have at least given consumers a wider choice. In Japan that is.

The automaker recently took off the covers on the new lineup of the Crown, Toyota's luxury flagship in Japan apart from Lexus. The said new lineup has really cool features. They are hybrids so they run using both an electric motor and a small internal combustion engine. But there's more the Crown series.

The automaker announced that it will have a pre-crash safety feature. What that means is that it is a feature that prevents accident from happening. Toyota revealed that it is a system that will determine if the driver's eyes are fluttering, ready to close. This is a sure sign of drowsiness which if the driver succumbs to can be cause of a traffic accident.

The said system is sure to have a corresponding action if the driver is indeed falling asleep. A vibration in the seat might do the trick or buzzing sounds and bright lights. I just hope though that this feature makes it to the United States sooner than later.

Global warming. The earth’s worst nightmare! We’ve been informed about the causes and effects of this natural phenomenon a long time ago, and several environmental-groups and ecologists continue to address and educate people about this matter.

We thought that biodiesels are eco-friendly alternatives for fossil fuels that may help lessen the risk of global warming. But I guess this perception isn’t that good after all. Yes friends, according to the headlines from Hybrid Cars website, a couple of brand new rresearches cast uncertainty on the environmental advantages of biofuels. According to the news, teams which were divided from Princeton University and the Nature Conservancy carried out the studies, which were published in the journal Science. The two groups discovered that biofuels worsen - rather than neutralize - global warming. Sounds like bad news to me!

”Most of the biofuel that people are using or planning to use would probably increase greenhouse gasses substantially. Previously there’s been an accounting error: land use change has been left out of prior analysis,” says Timothy Searchinger, a research from Princeton University.

Furthermore, biofuels are not almost as striking from an ecological outlook. However, the bottom-line of the new study is that biofuel production cannot disregard the effect of growing, harvesting, and refining biofuels. Searchinger also discovered that changing fossil fuels with corn-based ethanol would produce twice as much as greenhouse gas emissions for the next 30 years. As a result, greenhouse gas emissions are difficult, regardless if scrubland or rainforest is applied to nurture the fuel.

Latest auto trend shows an increasing demand for hybrid cars in the United States.

According to greencarcongress.com, reported sales of hybrid cars in November last year posted an 82 percent annual increase, reaching up to 33,233 total units. That amounted to 2.8 percent of all light-duty vehicles sales for the said month.

According to a survey initiated by Mintel Comperemedia, 35 million Americans are “True Greens” - people who regularly patronize environmentally friendly products including eco-friendly cars such as the hybrids. Envicars.com noted some reasons behind increasing hybrid car sales:

• Hybrid cars have become a fashion/status symbol
• Increase in prices of fuel
• Aggressive campaigns
• Green marketing
• Tax deductions on hybrid cars.
• Oil Dependence
• Other benefits like car pool lane entry, free parking etc.

Toyota Prius got the strongest sales with 16,737 units sold while Camry Hybrid hit 5,118 units. On the other hand, Highlander Hybrid marketed 2,577 units. Lexus’ Rx 400h sold 1,674 units, the Lexus 600h posted 170 units while the GS 450h turned in 100 units.

Ford Escape and Mariner hybrid reached combined sales of up to 2,224 units. Honda’s Civic Hybrid hit 3,238 units sold and the Accord Hybrid, 204 units. Meanwhile, Nissan’s Altima Hybrid marked some 1,191 units sold.

However, according to J.D Powers and Associates, we must expect a modest increase in hybrid car sales next year. To be specific, that means some 31,000 units from this year. Industry analysts say that this is due to combined factors like often-hefty price premiums and the consumers’ acceptance of the $3-per-gallon gasoline. Limited supplies are also seen as an obstacle towards increased hybrid production.

J.D Power and Associates’ projected hybrid sales for this year reaches up to 382,000 units sold hitting a 2.4 percent market share.

Toyota Motor Corp., the leader in hybrid technology, is serious about its green credo. Other competitors must establish a pretty good fight before they could snatch the title. And it will entail a lot of effort and time.

The Japanese automaker said it plans to hold on to its position as competitors bring more hybrids to the market, said Yuki Funo, chairman and chief executive officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Environmental issues are part of Toyota's DNA, Funo said at the Detroit Auto Show.

Toyota accounted for about three-quarters of all U.S. hybrid sales in 2007, but every major automaker plans to roll out hybrid models in the next two years, reported Freep.com.

"I think for our competitors, it is a very difficult task to erode Toyota's foothold," Funo noted. "They have a great deal of challenge. Having said that, we have to defend our foothold. We have to be clever to do that."

Separately, Honda Motor Co., another Japanese automaker, has intimated its plans of building cars which run on fuel cells.

Takeo Fukui, the company’s president, said he thinks Honda could be selling hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCV) at dealerships in about 10 years. The second largest Japanese automaker plans to offer the FCX Clarity FCV to limited customers this summer for a 3-year lease at $600 per month.
 
“The technology is progressing,” Fukui concluded. “The big question is how fast hydrogen pumps could be put in place. Honda is exploring the possibility of home refueling stations to aid in the rollout. Once fuel-cell vehicles become more and more prevalent, then something like infrastructure will follow later on.”

True, the industry is getting greener and greener each day.

Thanks to automakers like Toyota and Ford, the auto industry is finally exerting more effort in eth development of green vehicles.  Green vehicles here mean vehicles which produces very little greenhouse gas or none at all.

In the past, automakers do not care how much petroleum fuel a vehicle burns as long as it is popular with consumers.  But today, consumers are demanding for vehicles with great fuel efficiency as the price of gasoline and even diesel continues to rise.  Apart from that, it is also better that green vehicles are now being manufactured as they produce very little or no emission gas such as NOX.

What is NOX exactly?  Well, it means oxides of nitrogen for starters.  Nitrogen makes up about 78 percent of the air in eth atmosphere.  It is not actually involved in the combustion in eth combustion chamber of engines. But it reacts with oxygen to form NOX if temperature reaches a certain point.  As temperature in the combustion chamber reaches about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, it produces NOX.  It usually happens when the throttle is wide open and the engine is under a load.

NOX is a harmful emission gas as it can cause health problems.  A few parts per million in the air we breathe of the NOX and it is enough to cause eye, nose, and lung irritations.  Higher concentration of the NOX in the air we breathe can cause bronchitis. NOX also reacts with oxygen in the air and smog.

To help reduce NOX emissions, the EGR is developed.  EGR stands for Exhaust Gas Recirculation.  As its name suggests, it passes emission gases back into the intake manifold.  This has a cooling effect on the comsbution process.  And when the temperature is lowered, NOX is prohibited from forming.   

More and more Americans are going for hybrid cars nowadays. Now that gas price is rapidly increasing and is apparently the country’s main economic concern, people are turning a new leaf when it comes to driving cars… and that’s turning towards the greener side!

The most popular hybrid, the Prius, is among the world’s most ideal hybrid vehicles. The popularity of this green car spread like wildfire. And right after it arrived in several dealerships, thousands of new car shoppers purchased this green hot package from Toyota. After the big impact brought by the Prius, several brands have engaged in bringing their own hybrid models. As a result, the world of green cars has expanded and became successful from the past few years up to the present.

In several states in the U.S., you can easily spot hybrid vehicles on the streets. Actually, world known celebrities have adopted hybrid vehicles because of its great advantages and at the same time, the environment can benefit from these awesome green cars. And that’s why hybrid cars are among the best-selling vehicles in the U.S.

Here’s the complete list and rankings of the top-selling vehicles in the U.S. including our very own hybrid cars courtesy of the Auto Channel. Check it out.

RANK VEHICLE - 2008/2007/'07 RANK/%Chng
1. F-Series - 690,589/796,039/1st/-13.2
2. Silverado-C/K Pickup - 618,257/636,069/2nd/-2.8
3. CAMRY- 473,108/448,445/3rd/+5.5
4. Accord * - 392,231/354,441/5th/+10.7
5. COROLLA - 371,390/387,388/4th/-4.1
6. Ram P/U - 358,295/364,177/6th/-1.6
7. Civic * - 331,095/316,638/7th/+4.6
8. Impala - 311,128/289,868/8th/+7.3
9. Altima - 284,762/232,457/10th/+22.5
10. CR-V * - 219,160/170,028/20th/+28.9
11. Sierra - 208,243/210,736/12th/-1.2
12. Cobalt - 200,620/211,449/9th/-5.1
13. TUNDRA - 196,555/124,508/33th/+57.9
14. PRIUS - 181,221/106,971/NA/+69.4
15. Caravan - 176,150/211,140/19th/-16.6
16. Focus - 173,213/177,006/16th/-2.1
17. Odyssey - 173,046/177,919/16th/-2.7
18. RAV4 - 172,752/152,047/15th/+13.6
19. Econoline/Club Wagon - 168,722/180,457/11th/-6.5
20. Escape - 165,596/157,395/22nd/+5.2