Honda's new hybrid lineup could further cut into Detroit Three's market share(May 22) - Detroit - Honda Motor Co. is coming out with hybrid cars starting early next year that will cost about $1,900 more than comparable gas-only models.  Complete Story
 
Triac: The $19,995 Electric Commuter(May 22) - California - Meet the newest entrant into the tri-wheeled, quasi-car, electric commuter vehicle mindspace. Green Vehicles of Mill Valley, California is planning to launch sales of its Triac, pictured above. The company claims the two-seater has a top speed of 80 mph and a range of greate than 100 miles.  Complete Story
 
AFS Trinity's fast XH-150 SUV that gets 150 MPG(May 21) - California - California state officials and legislators as well as the general public in Sacramento are getting their first chance today to drive AFS Trinity's fast XH-150 SUV that gets 150 MPG, goes up to 87 MPH on the highway, accelerates faster than comparable gas only vehicles, cuts transportation costs 75%, and greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Complete Story
 
Electric cars: iPhones of the auto industry?(May 20) - "This is probably something that has not been seen since we moved from the horse to the engine," said Henrik Fisker, the CEO of Fisker Automotive, which is designing a luxury hybrid electric car, the Karma. Complete Story
 
Prius passes one million sales milestone(May 20) - Business Green - The company said that as of the end of last month it had sold approximately 1,028,000 units globally since the car was first launched in Japan a decade ago. According to Toyota, these vehicles have contributed to a reduction in carbon emissions of approximately 4.5m tonnes when compared with gasoline powered vehicles in the same class. Complete Story
 
Rental-car firms add hybrids to offerings(May 20) - Ohio - Enterprise Rent-A-Car has nearly 5,000 hybrids nationwide, including Priuses and Ford Escapes, and its sister companies, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, also offer hybrids. Complete Story 
 
Texan Builds Car That Costs $7 For Every 300 Miles(May 19) - With gas pushing $4 per gallon, many people are looking for ways to save some green at the pump. One North Texas man found a way to help the environment and commute to work for just pennies a day. Complete Story
 
Eco-friendly car fantasies become reality(May 19) - Hawaii - But the times (and gas-pump gauges) are changing, and a car that costs only 1 to 2 cents per mile to operate is starting to sound hot. Eco-friendly is quickly turning into eco-sultry. Complete Story
 
MythBuster: Why Electric Vehicles Beat Gas in 5 Extreme Tests(May 19) - PopularMechanics - In a PopularMechanics.com exclusive, Jamie Hyneman breaks down his team's most recent eye-popping experiment: rolling out a Ferrari, Harley, ATV, compact car and hand-built go-kart to the track, and pitting each against its electric-propulsion counterpart.  Complete Story

MIT Students Design All-Electric Porsche(May 19) - PC Magazine - What's so different about this car, you might ask? Other than the fact it is a 1976 Porsche 914, this convertible is powered by an innovative all-electric propulsion system conceived by students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  Complete Story

Ethanol based cars fights back for lime light against Hybrid cars(May 18) - Hybrid cars much like the Prius have been the talk of the town for a while, from celebrities to politicians advocating it. However recently ethanol based cars called flex-fuel vehicles have been trying to fight for some lime light in the eco-friendly arena.  Complete Story

Save Gas With ZAP Electric Car in California's Central Valley(May 14) - CnnMoney - A new kind of electric car and truck are taking gas prices head-on in California's Central Valley. The gas-free vehicles are from California automaker ZAP and are now available in Visalia. Complete Story

Nissan Plans Electric Car in US by 2010(May 13) - Detroit - The Nissan Motor Company plans to sell an electric car in the United States and Japan by 2010, raising the stakes in the race to develop environmentally friendly vehicles. Complete Story

Renault debuts electric car prototype with swappable battery(May 13) - MotorTrend - TLast weekend the automaker demonstrated a new electric vehicle prototype developed with Silicon Valley startup Better Place, and reports are Renault and Nissan could wind up investing nearly $1 billion in the project. Complete Story

Hybrids recoup higher cost in less time(May 12) - USAToday - Rising fuel prices and competition among a proliferation of gasoline-electric hybrids have sliced the payback period for hybrids to two or three years in some cases, instead of five years or more that made hybrids harder to justify at lower fuel prices.  Complete Story

Startup shows off electric car planned for Israel(May 12) - AP - Israelis got a first demonstration Sunday of the electric car that developers hope will revolutionize transportation in the country and serve as a pilot for the rest of the world.   Complete Story

Record Gas and Oil Prices Drive Sales for ZAP(May 12) - CnnMoney - Record gas prices are driving more consumers to seek electric transportation, says industry pioneer ZAP. The Northern California Company reported that as of April 8, 2008 it had $6.8 million in backlog orders for the Xebra electric sedan and pickup from auto-dealer purchase contracts.   Complete Story

Hydrogen Cars Won't Make a Difference for 40 Years(May 12) - Wired - President Bush, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the big automakers agree on this much: They love hydrogen-powered fuel cell technology and its promise of a zero-emission, petroleum-free future.  Complete Story

VW, Sanyo to Develop Batteries for Hybrids(May 12) - PC Magazine - German carmaker Volkswagen and Japan's Sanyo Electric Co will jointly develop a lithium-ion battery to be used in hybrid and electric cars, the Nikkei financial daily reported on Sunday.   Complete Story

RTEV Electric vehicles get Georgia Tech viewing(May 7) - Atlanta - contends some will do fine on short trips to the grocery store or high school soccer games. The cars are powered by a sealed gel battery that he says requires no maintenance and can be recycled. Complete Story
   
Pininfarina-branded electric car reportedly coming to U.S.(May 7) - Italy - The as-yet-unnamed, four-seat vehicle will reportedly be branded as a Pininfarina and the company hopes to begin series production of the vehicle by September 2010 for customers in Europe, Japan and the U.S. The vehicle is expected to make its debut in concept form at this year's Paris show, with a pre-production model on display at the 2009 Geneva Motor show next March.  Complete Story

Hybrid Technologies Electric vehicle company maintains its own in Mooresville, NC(May 7) - North Carolina - The as-yet-unnamed, four-seat vehicle will reportedly be branded as a Pininfarina and the company hopes to begin series production of the vehicle by September 2010 for customers in Europe, Japan and the U.S. The vehicle is expected to make its debut in concept form at this year's Paris show, with a pre-production model on display at the 2009 Geneva Motor show next March.  Complete Story

Japan's Toyota Motor to hike prices in North America(May 7) - Forbes - Vehicles imported from Japan such as the Prius hybrid and the Yaris compact, marketed as the Vitz in Japan, will carry the new prices.  Complete Story

Civic Hybrid Gets Great Mileage(May 6) - The Hybrid model is well equipped, much like the EX Civic line, so a price comparison is reasonable. The EX sedan, with a navigation system and XM Satellite Radio and automatic transmission, costs $21,895. The Hybrid runs $24,985. Complete Story

Start-Ups Race to Produce 'Green' Cars(May 6) - Wall Street Journal - Spurred by the belief that the market for fuel-efficient vehicles is about to take off, a slew of tiny car companies is springing up in Europe and the U.S. They are racing to produce the next "green" car, betting that soaring demand will allow them to survive alongside the giants of Detroit, Stuttgart and Tokyo.  Complete Story

Magna founder wants to build electric car(May 5) - MotorTrend - Magna International Inc. founder and Chairman Frank Stronach is apparently the latest CEO to jump on the electric-vehicle bandwagon. According to a recent report in Canada's The Globe and Mail, in the near future the Canadian-based automotive supplier plans to introduce its own lithium-ion battery powered vehicle that will have a range of 120 km (about 75 miles) on one charge. Complete Story
 
100 MPG in a Prius: Hacking a Hybrid(May 4) - Illinois - Brothers Chris and Andrew Ewert of Wheaton, Illinois, converted their standard-issue Prius to a plug-in hybrid that gets more than 100 miles per gallon by installing a battery array and charger in the rear cargo space. Cars with plugs and gas tanks, called Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), are on the bleeding edge of auto technology, but the Ewerts aren't alone in their low-emissions mission.  Complete Story 

Toyota's hybrid Camry to be built at Altona(May 3) - Australia - While the high-level talks are not yet wrapped up, sources have told The Age that senior Toyota executives in Tokyo are now strongly behind making the company's Altona plant the regional production base for the green Camry, provided the right government incentives are secured. Complete Story


2008 Monthly Electric Car News
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