Hybrid

Gas/electric hybrid vehicles tend to be pricier than their conventional counterparts, and many people still worry about the limited range of all-electrics. If you want to move away from purely petrol-powered vehicles, though, is there any alternative? The four-company Flybus consortium would definitely say there is. It recently rigged up a bus with a prototype flywheel-based energy recover system, that stores the energy that would be wasted when the vehicle brakes, then returns that energy to the drivetrain when the bus accelerates. The researchers claim that it could deliver hybrid-like fuel economy, at a fraction of the price. Read More

The famous and well documented Hindenburg disaster of 1937, when the hydrogen-filled airship burst into flames whilst attempting to tether to its moorings in New Jersey, killed off the 'lighter-than-air' aircraft industry, as well as 35 unfortunate souls. Since the 1970's however, a determined band of, mostly British, aviation engineers has been battling to design and build a commercially viable 'air vehicle'. Many false starts, experimental craft and research projects followed (funded mostly by the U.S. military) but viability remained elusive, until now. Read More

Ford's Evos may only be a concept car but with its four scissor doors reaching skyward to the heavens, it is both the most distinctive and important concept from Ford in many a year. The Evos is the first manifestation of the Blue Oval's "first truly global design language," a visual signature that Ford hopes will make its next generation of vehicles more recognizable than the current fleet. The plug-in hybrid will debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show two weeks from now and previews not just the new family resemblance, but the intuitive "cloud connected" functionality Ford will infuse into the next generation of vehicles. Read More

With gasoline prices steadily heading into the stratosphere, fuel economy is forefront in the minds of the majority of car buyers, prompting automakers to perform all kinds of stunts to highlight the efficiency of their vehicles. The latest such attempt comes from Korean company Kia, which is sending a 2011 Optima Hybrid on a road trip across the contiguous U.S. Kia hopes the journey will gain it an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records by setting a new record for the lowest fuel consumption in a gasoline hybrid car while driving through all 48 adjoining U.S. states. Read More

Audi will unveil a hybrid version of its flagship A8 at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show next month ahead of series production of the vehicle kicking off next year. Audi says a 2.0 TFSI gasoline engine generating 155 kW (211 hp) and 350 Nm (258.15 lb-ft) of torque and a disc-shaped, permanent magnet, synchronous electric motor developing 40 kW (54 hp) and 210 Nm (154.89 lb-ft) combine for a peak output of 180 kW (245 hp) and 480 Nm (345.03 lb-ft) of torque and give the A8 hybrid the power of a six-cylinder model with the fuel consumption of a four-cylinder vehicle. Read More

The Cadillac Converj luxury coupe, which made such a splash back in 2009 with its extended-range EV technology, is destined for production and will be named the Cadillac ELR. Not many details of the new ELR are available other than that it will feature an electric propulsion system made up of a T-shaped lithium ion battery, an electric drive unit, and a four-cylinder engine-generator. Read More

Chevrolet's lightweight, all-carbon-fiber roofless Miray concept is propelled by two front-mounted 15-kW electric motors for quick acceleration and zero emissions in urban driving. It can switch from the electric motors to the 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbo-charged gas engine mounted behind the cockpit, and it can employ all of the above for maximum sporting performance. Read More

Late last year, we brought news of the development of a very exclusive hand-built, luxury human-electric bike from Hungary dubbed the Beast. The M55 designers had set themselves the task of creating the best hybrid bikes on the planet and gathered together the very cream of top notch components to build a unique and eye-catching prototype. Back in April, the folks at M55 felt that they had at last reached the end of the prototyping phase and were ready to launch the company's first commercial hybrid bike - signaling the slaying of the Beast and the beginning of a new era for Terminus. Read More

Covini is testing a new petrol-electric hybrid "speedster" version of the new 434 bhp V8 C3A. In testing, the track-only hybrid is apparently proving to be extremely fast with excellent braking and handling. The six-wheelTyrell P34 Formula One car won an F1 race before it was banned, so the logical benefits of four-front-wheels (reduced high speed lift and improved aerodynamics, more rubber, more braking power and more grip, particularly in treacherous conditions) are once again being validated. Read More