hybrid


The 2016 Toyota Prius is Official!

2016_Toyota_Prius_031_1E9B69CE8E4156EB4B206135DFD860F936C2F099Late last night in Las Vegas, Toyota revealed the new fourth-generation of the world’s best selling hybrid, the Prius. Eighteen years after the debut of the original, the Prius has become an automotive icon with a distinctive look that has become synonymous with battery-assisted cars. Images of the of the new Prius have been leaking out for weeks and by time Toyota revealed the car it was no longer a surprise. All that was really left to reveal were the technical details, but unfortunately those have been kept to a bare minimum other than the news that it will offer a 10 percent boost in fuel efficiency.

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Could Mazda Return to Le Mans with a Hydrogen Rotary Hybrid

P1J04888sThe 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans will actually mark two very important anniversaries in the history of the world’s most famous endurance race. It will be the 50th anniversary of the first of four consecutive victories by the legendary Ford GT. It also marks the 25th anniversary of Mazda’s only victory with the rotary-powered 787B. Just after Ford announced it’s return to France next year, Mazda’s Nubohiro Yamamoto told Top Gear magazine that he would like to see the Japanese brand return to the endurance race.

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2015 Lexus NX300h – A Surprisingly Dynamic Hybrid Crossover

2015 Lexus NX300h - 1 of 27In the mid-1990s the original Lexus RX kicked off the wave of luxury utility vehicles that has now infected pretty much every premium brand short of Ferrari and McLaren. In time, Lexus added rebadged versions of the Toyota Sequoia and Land Cruiser large SUVs and has now fleshed out the lineup with the compact NX crossover. The addition of the NX has inflated Lexus utility sales to the point where they have nearly overtaken car sales, a promise that will likely be completed when the new RX hits the streets this fall. While we wait on the 2016 RX, I got to spend a week driving it’s little brother, the hybrid electric NX300h.

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The 2016 Chevrolet Malibu Should be a Serious Midsize Player, up to 48 mpg

cq5dam.web.1280.1280There was a period in my lifetime when General Motors absolutely dominated both car sales overall and midsize cars in particular. The Oldsmobile Cutlass was the Toyota Camry of its era and the Chevrolet Malibu wasn’t far behind. While it’s unlikely that the Malibu is going to unseat Toyota’s perennial sales leader any time soon, the all-new 2016 edition is Chevrolet’s best shot at breaking back into the top five in many years.

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2016 Chevrolet Malibu Finally Gets a Proper Hybrid Drivetrain

2016_MALIBU_DRIVE UNIT_CUTAWAY_TITLED

It goes without saying that the current-generation Chevrolet Malibu has been something of a disappointment. Almost as soon as the Malibu hit the streets in late 2011, Chevrolet engineers began work on an all-new next-generation model that goes on sale this fall.  While full details of the Chevy’s new midsize sedan will have to wait until next week’s New York Auto Show, I can now tell you about the all-new hybrid powertrain that will be available.

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2015 Lexus RX450h – The Luxury CUV Pioneer Stays Calm and Carries On

2015 Lexus RX450h 01

Scan the model lineups of every premium automotive brand available today and it would be hard to fathom that as recently as 1997, the luxury crossover utility vehicle didn’t exist.  That was the year that Toyota’s premium Lexus brand launched the original RX300 into what marketers like to call a white-space segment and spawned a revolution. The RX is now into the waning years of its third-generation but it remains a segment leader and I recently spent a week driving one.

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If you've been considering a buying a new hybrid vehicle you've no doubt… 3

If you've been considering a buying a new hybrid vehicle you've no doubt noticed that there is a significant price premium associated with adding electric drive motors and big batteries to a vehicle. You will almost certainly have lowering operating costs thanks to the regenerative braking and electric assist, but several things factor into how long it will take for those savings to overcome that initial premium.

Over at FuelEconomy.gov they've put together a nice little calculator that estimates the payback period of a hybrid compared to its conventional alternative. Hybrids get most of their benefit from recapturing kinetic energy during braking, saving it in the battery and then returning it to propulsion through the motor. If you do most of your driving on the highway, the benefits of a hybrid will be limited, but if most of your commuting is stop and go urban traffic, the payback will be a lot quicker so make sure you adjust the slider for how much city driving you do.

In general for the average driver that does about 15,000 miles and 55% in the city, the payback for most hybrids is about 4-5 years.
#hybrid #fuelefficiency

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Hybrid Compare
These are some hybrid models that may pay you back quickly when compared to a similarly equipped non-hybrid model. Select a model to see how it compares based on your fuel prices and annual miles.

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Following on from the comments in this post https://plus.google.com/114133424228405038490/posts/MHq1RSv4Usi…

Following on from the comments in this post https://plus.google.com/114133424228405038490/posts/MHq1RSv4Usi about the flywheel hybrid system being used by Audi and Porsche on their endurance race cars, here's a link to a bit more on through-the-road hybrids (along with all the other flavors).

And here's another about Peugeot's version of a TtR hybrid
http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/06/paris-2008-peugeot-citroen-hymotion4-hybrid-drive-system/

#hybrid

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Translogic
Defining Hybrids- Hybrid systems are typically described as micro, mild or strong depending on the amount of electrical power available to drive the vehicle. The most basic function of hybrid systems …

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It looks like Toyota won't be the only automaker running a hybrid drive race…

It looks like Toyota won't be the only automaker running a hybrid drive race car at Le Mans this year. Audi has just announced that two of the four R18 TDIs will also feature a hybrid drive system.

Audi hasn't announced any technical details yet but there at least a couple of options open to the ten-time winners. They could go with either a battery system like that used in some of their newest production vehicles or get more radical.

At the Petit Le Mans a couple of years ago I asked Audi Motorsport boss Dr Wolfgang Ulrich if they would use the flywheel based system that has been proven so effective by corporate cousins Porsche in the 911 GT3R Hybrid. Dr Ulrich was non-committal but didn't rule out the flywheel system either. We should know more at the end of the month when Audi unveils the new car. http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/hybrids/porsche-911-gt3r-hybrid-flywheel

#audi #lemans #hybrid

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