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Transonic Combustion, based in Camarillo, CA, has developed a gasoline fuel injection system that can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by 50 to 75 percent, beating the fuel economy of hybrid vehicles. A test vehicle the size and weight of a Toyota Prius (but without hybrid propulsion) showed 64 miles per gallon for highway driving. The company says the system can work with existing engines, and costs about as much as existing high-end fuel injection.

Porsche unveiled its new 918 Spyder concept that not only brings sleek styling to the table, but also a wealth of high-tech powertrain goodness. Looking somewhat like a gorgeous mashup up of a Ferrari F430, Porsche Carrera GT, Porsche Boxster, and Porsche 911 GT1, the 918 Spyder concept features a mid-engine layout, seating for two people, and all-wheel drive. The roadster also features dual side-exiting exhaust pipes on either side of the vehicle along with a nod to the past with an intriguing "disk" wheel design. Being that this is a Porsche first and foremost, this vehicle is all about...

Is it just me, or does this Audi "Green Police" ad succinctly summarize Obama's dream for America? It's a perfect melding of enviro-soviets and police state fascism.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 4, 2010 — An advancement in hybrid electric vehicle technology is providing powerful benefits beyond transportation. Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed, fabricated and demonstrated a PHEV traction drive power electronics system that provides significant mobile power generation and vehicle-to-grid support capabilities. "The new technology eliminates the separate charging mechanism typically used in PHEVs, reducing both cost and volume under the hood," said Gui-Jia Su of ORNL's Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center. "The PHEV's traction drive system is used to charge the battery, power the vehicle and enable...

Warren Buffett's Chinese Cars Will Start Killing The US Auto Industry As Soon As This Year Vincent Fernando Jan. 13, 2010, 7:12 AM BYD, the upstart Chinese electric car maker Warren Buffett famously has an investment in, is planning enter the U.S. market as soon as the second half of this year. Considering the U.S. market entrance by multiple new auto players (from Chinese firms BYD and Geely, to India's Tata and even U.S. upstart Tesla Motors) expect auto industry competition to get far more intense than it already is. BYD just showed off their latest e6 model and while...

You know this is gonna be a good car for the environment! It's the one the government wants to build! NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and please refrain from copying the cartoon within this thread. Thanks!

UPS and its competitors at FedEx and DHL have all been testing a variety of hybrid drive delivery vans for several years now. Recently, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory completed a twelve-month evaluation of six hybrid vans being used by UPS in the Phoenix, Arizona area and the results were good. Very good, in fact. After twelve months of operation, the hybrid vans averaged 28.9 percent lower fuel consumption than similar conventional diesel vans. Even with the extra cost of the hybrid vehicles, the overall cost per mile was cut by 15 percent.

Hybrid gasoline-electric and all-electric cars will continue to cost more than vehicles with a conventional internal combustion engine for the foreseeable future, putting the new technology beyond the reach of many car buyers. Sales of hybrid and all-electric cars therefore may be limited to affluent buyers who can afford to make an environmental statement and the vast majority of vehicles will continue to be powered by gasoline or diesel engines. While promising, the new lithium-ion battery technology won’t significantly reduce pollution or dependence on foreign oil by 2030.

Toyota Motor said Monday that it planned a widespread release of its plug-in hybrid car in 2011 as the company scrambled to gain the upper hand in an increasingly crowded battle over next-generation “green” technology. Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, dominates the current generation of gas-electric hybrid vehicles, but it has refrained from rushing lower-emission cars like the plug-in hybrid to market. Instead, Toyota has focused on plans to introduce regular hybrid technology to all its models by 2020. But Toyota’s rivals are surging ahead. General Motors plans to build as many as 60,000 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids a year,...

The world’s cheapest car is about to get greener and sportier. A hybrid version of the tiny Tata Nano has been confirmed by Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, according to South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper. The current gasoline-powered Nano — on sale in India since April — is hardly a gas guzzler. Powered by a tiny, 35-horsepower 2-cylinder gas engine, the Nano is capable of approximately 50 miles per gallon. A greener variant of this engine (or the larger 3-cylinder motor planned for export markets) could make the Nano the world’s cheapest hybrid.

BMW's EfficientDynamics Vision concept car combines the best of all worlds with incredible fuel efficiency, breaktaking performance, and sensational looks. It's powered by a three-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, lithium polymer batteries, and electric motors front and rear. The BMW Vision gets a U.S. unveiling next week at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Dec. 4-13. The only bad news: The BMW Vision is more vision than production-ready concept car. What you'd most likely see on sale would be the key components such as the drivetrain and battery technology transplanted to a more mainstream body. On a stopover from Europe en route to...

For some people, hybrid wolf dogs are pets. For others, they're predators. Gary Schukantz said he last saw his three small dogs in his backyard ... "I didn't see any of my dogs, and I heard a yelp," . Schukantz said a hybrid wolf-dog came out of the woods and took off with his beloved pets. Shortly after the wolf ran off, Schukantz came across his youngest pet, a tiny Yorkshire terrier ..."We found his body and got him back," . Schukantz would have tried going after his pets, he said, but the wolf-dog turned on him and backed him...

Innovation: A New Rooftop Wind TurbineThe WindTronics turbine can generate energy at low speeds. By Nicole Marie Richardson Oct 1, 2009 The answer is blowing in the (very gentle) wind Generally, rooftop turbines can't produce electricity unless the wind is blowing six or eight miles per hour. This turbine is different. Developed by WindTronics, based in Muskegon, Michigan, it's only 6 feet in diameter and can generate energy at wind speeds of just two miles per hour. WindTronics moved the power-generating parts to the outside of the wheel, where the blades turn faster. Reducing the bulk in the center also...

An energy analyst is outraged that taxpayer dollars are being used for a bailout of the bus industry that's comparable to the now defunct "cash for clunkers" program. National Journal reports the Transportation Department's Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) program has spent nearly half its $100-million grant budget to replace diesel buses with hybrid-electric and fully electric models. The "TIGGER" grants are part of President Obama's $787 billion stimulus program and are designed to serve two purposes: stimulate the economy and clean the environment.

For decades, automakers have been on a quest to make cars quieter: an auto that purrs, and glides almost silently in traffic. They have finally succeeded. Plug-in hybrid and electric cars, it turns out, not only reduce air pollution, they cut noise pollution as well with their whisper-quiet motors. But that has created a different problem. They aren’t noisy enough.

Could the Prius and other Toyota hybrids be banned from the U.S.? It seems unthinkable, but that's one possible ending to a patent investigation launched this week. This case centers around Paice, a tiny Florida company that has patented a way to apply force to a car's wheels from the electric motor or the internal combustion engine.

It seems Al Gore's ambitions are limitless. After inventing the Internet, saving the planet from global warming, receiving a Nobel Peace Prize and an Academy Award, he now has ventured into green transportation. "Honest Al" has secured $529 million in taxpayer money for Fisker Automotive, a small car company he is backing to build a hybrid sports car. The price tag? Only a mere $89,000. That's not exactly affordable to the average American. Al knows that only the wealthy can afford to go green when it comes to cars. Judging by the early release photos it will be a sharp...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of gadgets and consumer goods. That makes Toyota's market-leading gasoline-electric hybrid car and other similar vehicles vulnerable to a supply crunch predicted by experts as China, the world's dominant rare earths producer, limits exports while global demand swells. Worldwide demand for rare earths, covering 15 entries on the periodic table of elements, is expected to exceed supply by some 40,000 tonnes annually in several years unless...

The push for conversion to plug-in electric cars will do nothing to stop carbon emissions, a report by the GAO warns, throwing cold water on a push by Democrats to get more plug-ins on the road. In fact, the problem could be made worse as demand goes up at coal-fired electrical plants. Plus, the need for batteries may just have the US changing the dictators to which we’re chained, as IBD reports...

Conservation: The Chevy Volt is said to be able to get 230 miles per gallon. That's if it's continually plugged into a fragile and overburdened power grid. Where will you be when the lights go out? Since most U.S. electricity generation is not carbon-free, the Congressional Research Service agrees. The "widespread adoption of plug-in hybrid vehicles through 2030 may have only a small effect on, and might actually increase, carbon emissions," it observes. "If you are using coal-fired power plants and half the country's electricity comes from coal powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?"...