cool hybrid cars

Will the Economic Crisis Affect Green Cars?

2008-09-29T21:23:00.001-07:00

Hybridcars.com has a very perceptive article on the affect our current economic crisis will have on the development of hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles.

Its important to keep in mind, that while the economy may benefit over the long term from green cars, in the short term we are still far away from fully realizing the goal of putting green cars in every driveway.

The world of hybrid cars is still very much in flux.

We are seeing this as new technologies emerge, and many different manufacturers are releasing ever-different models of cars.

We have electric cars, hydrogen cars, gasoline hybrids, and who-knows-what will be next.

All this new development could be seriously stifled by the economic crisis, as investment decreases, and a manufacturer's ability to get credit to fund new technology development shrinks.

Among the points outlined and what to watch for: The vehicle market in general is shrinking, Dealers are struggling to get credit, Manufacturers lack investment funds, Battery developers lack access to credit... and let's not forget the price of oil, which still powers most gasoline hybrids, continues to increase.

Read the whole article here, to see how the future of hybrid car development might be affected by the economic crisis.

Toyota to Release CNG-Electric Hybrid

2008-09-24T17:54:00.001-07:00

USA Today reports today that Toyota plans to announce a new concept version of a CNG-electric hybrid Camry at the LA Auto show in November.

What is a CNG-electric hybrid? CNG (or Compressed Natural Gas) can be a substitute for gasoline. It is cheaper than gas, and also burns cleaner.

Combine CNG with powerful electric batteries, and you have a hybrid car that is cleaner, cheaper, and more green than the existing hybrids out there.

Honda is currently the only car company developing a CNG-electric hybrid (Honda makes a Civic version of the CNG-electric hybrid).

Toyota's announcement also comes not long after Honda announced plans for a worldwide launch of their new hydrogen hybrid based on the Insight.

While Toyota is the current leader in hybrid car sales, with their ever-popular Prius, Honda is trying to catch up.

I've long thought that the gas-electric hybrid car as a transition vehicle: ultimately our goal should be to make 100% emission-free cars, which means burning no gasoline OR natural gas.

When major car companies like Honda and Toyota compete to put the most efficient and affordable cars on the market, I think eventually we will get there.

Aptera: 300mpg, affordable, revolutionary

2008-09-23T19:15:00.001-07:00

California company Aptera has unveiled two cool new concept cars that will change the hybrid and plug-in car game forever.

The three-wheeled vehicles sell for only $26,000 and get amazing mileage.

The all-electric version gets 120 miles per charge, and the plug-in hybrid version gets 300 miles per gallon of gas.

Besides looking totally cool and revolutionary, the cost is actually pretty reasonable.

The Aptera is set to be released by 2009, and so far will only be available in California, but the car company plans to expand.

Check out the Aptera website, where they have lots of pictures and more stats on these futuristic hybrid and electric cars.

Nissan: Lighter Batteries Lead to Electric Cars

2008-09-20T07:02:00.001-07:00

The head of Nissan, CEO Carlos Ghosn announced this week his company is working on developing new lightweight car batteries.

The technology could lead to more efficient hybrid cars - battery weight and size has been a drawback - but almost more importantly, the lighter batteries could lead to more practical electric cars.

While hybrid cars are the growing trend now, one wonders if the future is really in electric cars.

Electric cars are emission-free, which is the ultimate goal in all this green car technology.

Hydrogen, and plug-in cars cars might also be something we see more of in the future as well.

The new lightweight battery technology being developed by Nissan is a good sign for things to come.

It seems that Nissan sees this growing trend and wants to be a leader in electric car development, according to this article from pantagraph.com:

While consumer interest has surged in gas-and-electric hybrid cars due to higher fuel prices and global warming, the Brazilian-born Ghosn said Nissan was serious about going one step further and introducing vehicles powered only by electricity.

"If you have an efficient battery for a hybrid, why not go all the way and go for electric cars?" he asked. "It has zero emissions of anything."

Electric cars have failed to catch on because they are expensive, difficult to recharge and travel limited distances. Still, several auto companies are trying to develop them for the mass market.

Peugeot Releasing Hybrid LeMans Race Car

2008-09-16T05:18:00.001-07:00

French automaker Peugeot released concept photos of their new diesel electric hybrid LeMans race car.

The car company first unveiled their hybrid race car in 2008 at the LeMans Series at Silverstone, but racing regulations have not yet caught up to the new technology.

Peugeot hopes to race the new hybrid car in 2009, regulations permitting.

The Peugeot 908HY runs on a conventional internal combustion engine, augmented by an electric motor, which is powered by 10 lithium-ion cell battery packs distributed throughout the vehicle.

Large and heavy batteries have long been one of the challenges to overcome in hybrid cars. The fact that auto endurance racers are now developing hybrid vehicles, means the technology will continue to be pushed toward smaller, lighter, and more efficient batteries.

Peugeot Sport director Michel Barge said: 'After innovating through the use of our HDi FAP technology in competition, running a hybrid car in endurance racing would give Peugeot a chance to gain extremely valuable experience that would benefit the development of production cars.'

The Peugeot 908HY Hybrid LeMans Race Car

Mercedes Luxury Hybrid to be Released in 2009

2008-09-14T20:06:00.001-07:00

Mercedes plans to be the first car company to break into the luxury hybrid car market, releasing news about their plans to roll out an S-class hybrid sedan.

According to Business Week, the automaker will launch its hybrid luxury offering in June 2009.

The 30 mpg hybrid luxury car is still not as efficient as the more compact Honda and Toyota models, but at least they are trying!

And it might not be much, but at 30 mpg Mercedes actually doubled the efficiency of this car.

Business Week asks a good question in the article, wondering why it took so long for Mercedes to enter the hybrid car market (the first Toyota and Honda hybrids rolled out almost 20 years ago),

Why did it take so long for Mercedes to get into the hybrid market? One reason is that Mercedes, as well as BMW (BMWG.DE) and Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), have concentrated on optimizing diesel engines. BMW's diesel Mini and 1 Series rival the Prius for gas mileage and carbon dioxide emissions. Daimler says its BlueTec line of diesel SUVs, launched in the U.S. over the summer, account for 20% of Mercedes SUV sales in the country, a substantial percentage considering that diesel passenger cars make up only 4% of the total market.

Which brings up a good point: if diesel engines are indeed more efficient than gasoline ones, will we be seeing diesel-electric hybrids soon?

The Mercedes S-class luxury hybrid sedan

Buy Hybrid Cars Tax Free in 2010!

2008-09-12T20:19:00.001-07:00

One of the better laws passed in Washington will give a sales tax exemption to buyers of hybrid and alternative fuel cars.

This is just the type of thing we need more of to spur the growth of the Hybrid car industry.

The legislation has been in the works for years, showing how long some of these laws take to pass.

The exemption was first proposed in 2005, and applies to purchases beginning in 2010, so you have plenty of time to plan and research what type of alternative fuel vehicle you need.

Used in combination with the hybrid tax credits, this can amount to serious savings for hybrid car purchases.

Chevy Volt Setting Expectations Too High?

2008-09-11T21:25:00.001-07:00

Scientific American published an article today about the much-talked about Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid car.

The magazine calls it "Chevy's worst kept secret," and its no wonder: blogs have been speculating and posting photos of design shots for literally years and the Volt has still not hit the streets.

Leaked photos of the production 2011 Chevrolet Volt indicate the car company is still far from decided on its final plans.

I'm not sure if GM meant for their car to be hyped for so many years, but at a certain point you have to wonder if they aren't nervous about setting expectations too high.

Its also not surprising that people are commenting on how the design has changed since the first photos of the Volt leaked out: so many years have passed since then, car styles have literally changed!

Joking aside, it will be cool when Chevy finally does release the Volt.

The Chevy Volt is the first ins a series of cars by GM with electric propulsion systems.

In other words, the Volt is an electric vehicle with a small gasoline engine to "assist" the battery.

This is also known as a "gasoline assist" hybrid.

The Chevy Volt electric/gasoline-assist car

UPDATE (Sept. 13, 2008): The mainstream news media picked up on the report of the inadvertent image leaks, with CNN, the LA Times, and the AP all running stories today:

CNN, "Photos of Chevy Volt leaked"
LA Times, "Volt leaks"
AP, "GM says Volt photos inadvertently posted on the Web"

Hyundai-Kia Releasing New Hybrid Car in 2009

2008-09-10T20:47:00.001-07:00

Hyundai-Kia plans to begin mass production of environmentally friendly cars in mid 2009.

They will begin with and LP1 hybrid car in 2009, and then introduce a mid-sized gasoline and LPG car in 2010.

Kia-Buzz.com reports, in an article by Hyun Jin Cho, of the "Sustainability Management Team" for Kia Motors Corporation, the announcement of new hybrid car plans.

Hyundai-Kia Group also plans to develop a mass produced hydrogen fuel cell car in the next 2 years.

The automaker seems passionate about their commitment to begin production of a green line of cars, here's what Hyun Jin Cho had to say about the announcement,

Presently, most automakers around the world are focusing on developing
and launching green cars or similar vehicles under the realization that
such products are directly linked to their future existence.

Hybrids may be off to a slow start around the world, but now that we understand the urgency of clean energy, we will see a rapid growth in the next 2 years.

The Hyundai-Kia Hybrid car

What is a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car?

2008-09-10T20:37:00.001-07:00

About the Hydrogen Car:

Cars that use a Hydrogen Fuel Cell system emit only water. No smog!

The first fuel cell was built in 1843 and the first fuel cell car
was attempted in 1966, but only now are we starting to see them.

Did the oil companies stifle innovation of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles? Some say yes.

Or is it that only now we realize how important environmentally friendly transportation is.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles have long been a dream
for many, and now we are beginning to see some of the first examples rolling off the production line.

The 2008 Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell SUV (left) and the 2009 Honda FCX Clarity (right) are two of the first Hybrid Fuel Cell vehicles to come out, but only the Chevy Equinox has been released to the public. Apparently Honda is still refining their FCX Clarity.

New Chrysler Hybrids Being Planned

2008-09-07T13:10:00.001-07:00

According to The News Tribune, Chrysler is getting into the hybrid game.

The US auto market has taken a dive, with auto sales dropping 13 percent in July.

Increasingly, the struggling car manufacturers are looking to hybridize their vehicles as a way of competing in the new energy-efficient market

and more American companies are getting into the growing hybrid market.

Chrysler plans to enter the hybrid car market by hybridizing their current lineup of SUV's:

We’ve chosen to enter the hybrid market with a more effective product, the (Dodge) Durango and (Chrysler) Aspen SUVs. If you look at the footprint of a conventionally powered Corolla vs. a conventionally powered Aspen, obviously the Aspen has a much greater carbon footprint so the advantages of savings of oil, savings of cost and global-warming issues are captured to a greater degree with the Aspen than with the Prius (link).

I think its about time that US car companies make their vehicles more efficient! And even though they are still making relatively large vehicles, at least they are trying to make them more efficient and less harmful to the environment.

Toyota and Honda do indeed have a good corner on the compact hybrid, but there is still room for improvement on light truck and SUV hybrids.

Chrysler thinks they will shine in this area, though it looks like they will have some stiff competition from the Ford 2008 Escape, which earned a respectable #5 in Kelley Blue Books top 10 Green Vehicles of 2008.

Honda: New Affordable Hybrids on the Way

2008-09-06T08:49:00.001-07:00

Honda confirms plans for a worldwide launch of their new hydrogen hybrid vehicle, based on the Honda Insight.

Honda hopes their new Insight hybrid sports hatch will change people's
perception of hybrid vehicles, when it debuts at the Paris Motor Show
in November 2008.

Apparently this is only the first of 4 new hybrid car models Honda plans to release over the coming year.

The objective of the new hybrid vehicle is to be both efficient and affordable, and the different models will be geared to consumers based on income level. In this way, Honda hopes to make hybrid cars at different levels so they can be affordable to everyone.

As an enthusiast of hybrid cars, I applaud Honda's efforts and the efforts of other companies, to make hybrid vehicles more mainstream.

Honda Environmental manager James Kingston says,James Kingston, Honda's environment manager said the new hybrid vehicle,

will be offered globally in America and Europe and above all will be affordable.
It will feature five doors, be a five passenger vehicle and be built on a newly developed platform.
The
aim is for full scale penetration at a more affordable price, so that
this vehicle will be chosen by customers based on economic benefit.

The 2008 Honda Insight

The Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser (UK) reports that Honda

"...intends to introduce no less than four new
hybrid cars which will eventually account for more than half a million
sales within a short space of time.
Already at the advanced planning and development stage is a Jazz hybrid and Civic hybrid.
There are also moves to construct a brand new two seater sports car currently code-named the CRZ."

The Financial Times and CNET both note that Honda hopes the new Insight will compete with the more popular Toyota Prius.

Toyota Leasing New Hybrid Car

2008-09-01T19:57:00.001-07:00

Toyota to start leasing a new fuel cell hybrid car.

Nagoya, Aug 29, 2008 (Jiji Press) - Toyota Motor Corp said Friday that it will begin to lease its new fuel cell hybrid car in September, targeting the central and local governments and energy-related firms.

Toyota will lease a unit of the new FCHV-adv fuel cell car to the Ministry of the Environment from next Monday. It set the fee for the 30-month rental at 840,000 yen, about 200,000 yen cheaper than that for the predecessor FCHV model. The new model performs better in cold areas and has better fuel efficiency than the predecessor, company officials said.

The new five-seat car can travel about 830 kilometers without refueling and has a maximum speed of 155 kilometers per hour. The old model had a range of about 330 kilometers.

The Toyota FCHV fuel cell car

The top Japanese automaker obtained certification for mass production of the new fuel cell hybrid car from the transportation ministry in June. It plans to use data from users of the new car to advance its research and development for the widespread use of fuel cell vehicles, the officials said.

Source: Jiji Press, (c) Jiji Press

Students Build Hybrid Race Car

2008-08-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

A group of engineering students at University of Manitoba have formed their own hybrid auto club, designing and constructing a variety of hybrid off-road and race car vehicles.

The University of Manitoba Society of Automotive Engineers (UMSAE), which is operating in part with an endowment from Honda, among other sponsors, is developing and testing a speedster called the Formula, and an off-road vehicle called the Baja.

By all accounts, the Formula and the Baja are holding their own in competition, here's some video of the vehicles in action to see for yourself:

The UMSAE racing team is not the first to come up with a hybrid race car design, several car companies have released hybrid race cars, notably Toyota whose Supra HV-R race car (pictured below). The Supra HV-R made history by being the first hybrid race car to win a competition, and won the award for Race Engine of The Year 2007.

Hybrid Fuel Injection Systems

2008-08-28T21:16:00.001-07:00

Market Watch reports that Ontario company Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies Inc. announced they have successfully completed field trials of its new Hydrogen Fuel Injection (HFI) system, which increases fuel efficiency and decreases emissions.

The system attaches to diesel and gasoline engines, where it vents hydrogen and oxygen "directly into the air intake of the engine,"

Adding hydrogen significantly improves the efficiency of combustion, in the engine, with significant financial and environmental benefits.

Can you imagine what kind of mileage you could get with one of this technology combined with hybrid electric and regenerative braking technology?

We have been burning gasoline dirty for a long time, now we are finding ways to burn it cleaner and to get more energy out of it.

DIY Hybrid Gets 225 MPG

2008-08-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

Robert Q. Riley Enterprises is selling this interesting do-it-yourself hybrid car kit called the XR3. The 3-wheeled diesel vehicle can reach a speed of 80mph, weighs 1480 pounds, and gets a fuel economy of 125 mpg (diesel alone) and over 200mpg (with electric assist).

Beside the fact this car has an very high fuel efficiency, it also looks pretty futuristic. You can see more photos of this vehicle at the rqriley.com website.

Industrial designer and mechanical engineer Robert Q. Riley is author of Alternative Cars in the Twenty-First Century: A New Personal Transportation Paradigm

The R.Q. Riley XR3

Kelley Blue Book Ranks Top 10 Green Cars for 2008

2008-08-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

Automobile authority Kelley Blue Book has teamed up with the LA Times to release their top 10 Green Cars for 2008.

Not surprisingly, the Toyota Prius ranked number one in their book, with the Toyota Highlander and Chevy Tahoe SUV's coming in #9 and 10.

The interesting upset of the list was the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, which beat out some smaller cars to rank a respectable #5.

The 2008 Toyota Prius #1 Green Car, and the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid ranked a respectable #5

From the LA Times:

As part of the launch of their eco-themed KBB Green section, the auto experts at Kelley Blue Book have put together a list of what they feel are the best bets for environmentally friendly rides. Considering factors such as comfort, utility, technology and performance as well as the obvious fuel economy and price, the editors prowled through this year's hybrids, diesels and low-emission vehicles to decide on the following 10 cars and SUVs that make up their top green cars for 2008.

Toyota Hybrids

2008-07-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

The first hybrid car I ever drove was a Toyota was 2002 in Japan. It took awhile to get used to the fact the car was so quiet, at one point I thought I was moving without the engine running! Several years later, the technology seems to be catching on here. Hybrid cars - especially Toyota hybrids - can be seen everywhere.

At this time, Toyota makes 3 hybrid vehicles: The Camry, the Highlander, and the ever-popular Prius.

The Prius has an efficient compact design. The interior is spacious, and the dashboard in the model I drove in sported a nifty rear view video camera for backing out of tight spaces. Under the stricter, revised EPA 2008 guidelines, the Prius gets 48 (city)/45 (highway) miles per gallon.

The Toyota hybrid Camry is a mid-sized sedan version. It looks just like the regular Camry, and the design is not quite as space-aged looking as the Prius. Mpg: 33 (city)/34 (highway)

Next up is the SUV-class Toyota Highlander hybrid. Why make an SUV-hybrid? Toyota has been making SUV's since the very beginning, back when the only sports-utility vehicles were the Toyota 4-Runner, the Nissan Pathfinder, and the Jeep Cherokee. SUV's still have a legitimate uses for some people, so why not make a more efficient one? Mpg: 27 (city)/ 25 (highway)

Toyota concept hybrid (2010 prius?) and the Toyota Volta concept car (Motortrend)

Honda Hybrids

2008-07-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

Honda is one of the major leaders in hybrid auto technology. Their Civic and the new FCX Clarity look great and get some of the best alernative fuel vehicles available.

As noted in my latest post, Honda does not have as much of the hybrid market as Toyota, due to the popularity of the Prius - but Honda plans to change that, as they get set to release 4 new hybrid car models this year. Each model will be geared toward the price range of a specific buyer. The hope is to make hybrid vehicles affordable for everyone.

For now, Honda currently offers three hybrid car models, all 4-door sedans:

Civic Hybrid Sedan "Hybrid efficiency in a Civic package". The Civic hybrid is affordable, looks great and gets a whopping 40 (city)/45 (highway) mpg.

Civic GX Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV)

"Civic style, fueled by clean natural gas"
Advanced Technology Partial-Zero-Emission Vehicle
mpg: 24 (city)/ 36 (highway)

FCX Clarity Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle

Zero emissions. Hydrogen powered. No gas! Plus, this vehicle is available for a $12,000 tax credit!

Honda Concept Cars

FIT Hybrid to be released in 2009. Check out some of the future concept cars Mazda is working on, including the FIT Hybrid (left), and the hot-looking CR-Z (right).

You can find a local Honda dealer, for new or pre-owned vehicles, or you can go to Ebay motors:

Nissan Altima Hybrid

2008-07-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

Nissan has put its efforts into developing the Altima as a hybrid, and there's an interesting story to how they got the technology. According to Wikipedia,

Nissan entered an agreement with rival Toyota to use some of its hybrid technology in the new Altima for the 2007 model year. The Altima Hybrid Electric is Nissan's first hybrid car. The company has asserted that subsequent hybrid models will be based on hybrid technology developed in-house. Up to 40,000 per year will be built at Nissan's Smyrna plant.

The Hybrid Altima features a 2.5 L QR25DE engine, CVT and electric motor/generator.

Its fuel efficiency is 6.7 L/100 km (35 mpg US) city and 7.1 L/100 km (33 mpg US) highway, based on revised EPA measures for fuel economy ratings. In 2008 the Altima Hybrid was rated at 35 mpg city and 33 mpg on the highway.^[4]

The Nissan Altima hybrid
(take a look at the 2009 model from Nissan here)

You can find your local Nissan dealership, or you can check Ebay for deals on Nissan hybrids:

Saturn Hybrids

2008-07-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

2007 Saturn Aura Green Line

From Wikipedia:

The Aura Green Line is a mild hybrid, following the Vue Green Line as the second vehicle in Saturn's lineup incorporating GM's belt alternator starter system. It rides on the XE's suspension.
As in the Vue, the Aura Green Line is equipped with the 2.4L Ecotec engine mated to an electric motor/generator and the 4T45-E four-speed automatic transmission. This powertrain is rated at 164 hp (122 kW) and 159 lbf·ft (215 Nm) of torque. The electric motor/generator augments the gasoline engine during launch and under wide-open throttle. The Aura Green Line has an EPA estimated fuel economy of 24 mpg city and 32 mpg highway, which Saturn claims is up to a 30% improvement over the Aura XE.
The Saturn Aura Green Line is eligible for a $1300 US Federal tax credit, as well as several state tax credits. It has been on sale since late March 2007.

2007-2008 Saturn Vue Green Line

From Wikipedia:

The Vue Green Line hybrid uses with the same mild hybrid BAS system with the 2.4 L Ecotec as first generation Vue. Software updates and optimizations to smooth the operation as well as improve fuel economy. Fuel economy under the new 2008 EPA standards is 25/32 mpg city/highway.
A full hybrid model featuring GM's Two-Mode system is to be introduced during 2008, most likely as a 2009 year model. After this system is introduced, GM will release a plug-in hybrid version of the vehicle in 2009. This will make it the first plug in hybrid with the system as original equipment.

Click here to find a Saturn local dealer, or you can be adventurous and check out Ebay for good deals on Saturn hybrids:

Mazda Hybrid

2008-07-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

Mazda Tribute Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)

As with several manufactures, Mazda's contribution to the hybrid market is with an SUV model: According to Mazda, the Tribute Hybrid SUV "Combines the well-crafted elegance of the Mazda Tribute with the energy efficiency of an environmentally friendly, gas-electric hybrid engine."

The Tribute utilizes the major hybrid systems, including an electric assist engine and regenerative braking. Something interesting about the Mazda Tribute Hybrid is its lightweight aluminum construction, which adds to the efficiency and handling. Unfortunately, these vehicles are still hard to come by, with Mazda only producing a limited run of 350 sold in select California areas. Mazda Tribute Hybrid HEV gets MPG 30 highway/34 city (2WD) and 27 highway/29 city (4WD), and is also available for up to a $3,000 tax credit.

2008 The Mazda Tribute was ranked #5 best Green Car

Mazda Premacy Hydrogen Vehicle

For the last 3 years, Mazda has been developing a hydrogen version of their Premacy line. According to Mazda, this Hydrogen Rotary Engine-Hybrid vehicle will begin leasing in 2008.

Mazda RX-9 Hydrogen RE Sports Car

Also in development and soon to be seen on the street, is Mazda's hydrogen rotary engine-hybrid sports car, the Mazda RX-8 Hdrogen RE. According to wikipedia:

At the 2004 North American International Auto Show, Mazda unveiled the RX-8 Hydrogen RE concept car, designed to run on either hydrogen or gasoline. In February 2006, Mazda revealed that it would start leasing a dual fuel RX-8 to commercial customers in Japan, and in March 2006 announced its first two customers, claiming the first fleet deliveries of a dual hydrogen/gasoline production car.

When will the Mazda RX-9 Hydrogen RE come out? According to an article in Edmunds, a 2008 release is imminent.

Top 2008 Hybrid Truck and SUV Models

2008-07-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I ask myself, why make a hybrid truck or SUV? Shouldn't we be moving to smaller and lighter vehicles, as well as making our engines more fuel efficient? SUV's guzzle gas, how can they be cool?

Well at least the big truck and SUV manufacturers like Chevy, Ford, and GM are making hybrids of their popular truck lines - its better than nothing. A truck hybrid is still a pretty useful thing, for example if you work in the trades or construction. So, when Kelley Blue Book listed the Ford Escape hybrid SUV at a decent #5 out of the 10 best Green Cars, I decided to take a look at how their favorite hybrid trucks and suv's compared.

Kelley Blue Book's 3 ranking Hybrid Trucks / SUV's (top 10 list of Green Cars for 2008):

The Ford Escape (Kelley Blue Book #5 out of 10 Best Green Cars for 2008) gets 29-34 MPG (city)/27-30 MPG (hwy).

KBB says:

"The Escape Hybrid sweetens the sensible balance of a compact crossover SUV with lower fuel costs and the amusement of quiet, all-electric operation in parking lots."

The Toyota Highlander hybrid SUV (Kelley Blue Book #9 of 10 best Green Cars for 2008), gets better mileage, coming in at 27 MPG (city)/25 MPG (hwy). The trade-off between the two seems to be how much you need the extra power of the Chevy V-8 hybrid engine, or the better fuel economy of the V-6 hybrid Toyota.

The 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid (Kelly Blue Book #10 out of 10 best Green Cars for 2008). This gasoline hybrid V-8 engine is no doubt a mean machine. KBB says 4-wheel drive Chevy Tahoe hybrid can tow more than 8,000 pounds. However, looking at the fuel economy of 15-16 MPG (city)/21-22 mpg (hwy) (source), the Tahoe Hybrid still has a ways to go on efficiency.

Its good to know there are options for getting an efficient hybrid truck or SUV if you need one. While I prefer the sleek design and efficiency of hybrid coupes, I can't forget the tradition of powerful american work vehicles. Some people need a truck or an SUV, so I'm glad companies like Ford, Chevy, and GM are making them, because in the end even a hybrid truck is still better than a non-hybrid one.

Hybrid and Alernative Fuel Vehicles Go Mainstream

2008-07-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

In the 21st Century, more people are waking up to the necessity of developing energy efficient and eco-friendly transportation. Our natural resources are not unlimited, and we have the means and know-how to transform the way we use energy by developing hybrid, solar, and wind-powered alternatives. The most important thing we can do to ensure a promising future, is to adopt green technologies, and to conserve and create alternative forms of energy.

Green is the new cool thing, and energy efficient and eco-friendly alternatives to everyday products can easily be found in your area. Now it is easier than ever before to become part of the solution.

This site is set up to highlight cool hybrid cars on the market today, and to provide a resource for comparing features and mpg. (Note: all mpg listings given are from the revised stricter 2008 EPA guidelines) .

What is a hybrid vehicle, and how does it work? We are seeing lots of variations, as different companies compete for the best hybrid car design, most hybrid vehicles fall into 2 categories:

Gasoline Assist

The first type can propel itself using only the electric motor at very low speeds. The electric motor also has the ability to kick in and help out the gasoline engine when more power is needed, such as when passing or climbing a steep grade. The Toyota Prius and the Ford Escape Hybrid fall into this category.

Electric Assist

The second type uses the electric motor only to assist the gasoline engine when it needs extra boost, again during brisk acceleration or when going up a hill. The Civic Hybrid and Honda Insight fall into the second category.

Hybrid car buying tip: Ebay is a good source for deals on new and used hybrid cars.