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New hybrid from Citroen to be released in 2011Posted 12/05/09
The new hybrid car from Citroen will revive its famous DS premium range and will be named the DS5. The new hybrid will be a diesel hybrid and is touted to set new records for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Its thought that the new hybrid will offer front wheel drive from the diesel engine, rear wheel drive from the electric motors and all wheel drive if both systems are engaged. Besides the new hybrid DS5, the non-hybrid DS3 (to be launched in 2010) and DS4 (2011) are also aimed at reviving Citroens luxury DS badge.
Toyota planning low cost new hybrid car
Posted 21/04/09
Toyota has plans for a new hybrid vehicle - a low cost budget hybrid. Honda has had good success with the Insight hybrid car which is currently the cheapest new hybrid on the market and Toyota is targeting those buyers. This move could spark a price war between the two makers.
Toyota will initially launch the new hybrid in Japan as early as 2011 with a smaller engine than the 1.5-litre Prius hybrid. The new hybrid will be priced below two million yen - about 20-30 per cent cheaper than its Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid, the Nikkei economic daily said. The company will reportedly also reduce the price of the current Prius hybrid to the same cost as Honda's Insight, which is priced at Y1.89 million.
Honda's sales of new hybrid cars in Japan is currently going better than expected. Honda has received orders for 18,000 second-generation Insights since it launched the new hybrid in Japan last month. This is more than three times its monthly sales target - some rare good news in the crisis-hit automotive industry. Honda wants to challenge the lead of Toyota, which has sold more than one million Prius hybrids since its launch about a decade ago.
Sports car rivals race for the best new hybrid
Posted 02/04/09
Toyota is the latest car maker planning to build a new hybrid sports car. The Japanese giant has confirmed at the recent Geneva motor show that it is aiming to revive the sporty MR2 badge with a new affordable and fun to drive petrol-electric hybrid.
This new hybrid would compete head to head with Honda's upcoming 1.8 litre petrol electric CR-Z hybrid coupe which is a successor to the CR-X. Toyota's new hybrid joins a growing list of future sports cars boasting green hybrid performance.
At the top end of the market, Ferrari and Porsche have both indicated they are busy working on new hybrid sports cars, while Honda too has led us to believe it could be reviving the NSX sports car with a new hybrid engine.
Ferrari is reportedly testing a new hybrid powertrain in the body of its 599 coupe and is aiming to have a petrol electric new hybrid car on sale by 2015. Porsche was the first sports car maker to announce it would build a hybrid car, with a petrol-electric version of the Panamera four door sports.
The new hybrid technologies are actually well suited to sports cars since electric motors have considerable torque, which is immediately available from start up, whereas conventional internal combustion engines take time to build to peak torque.
The Lexus RX450h is a new hybrid that is a good example of what can be achieved with a hybrid engine. It produces 220kW of power for just 6.3 litres of petrol per 100km.
The new hybrid sports car from Toyota will be rear wheel drive with a paddle shift gearbox and its engine will be a tweaked version of the new 1.8 litre Prius engine. The car won't however have the folding roof of the most recent MR2 model, which was discontinued in 2007.
Honda and Toyota both currently lack a standout sports car. In recent years Honda has ditched the CR-X, S2000, Integra, Prelude and NSX, and Toyota has shelved the Supra, Celica and MR2. Both manufacturers entered Formula One to spice up their image and are keen to add a sports car to their range to compete with their Japanese rivals. They are hoping that these new hybrids will be able to do just that.