hybrids

Regardless of the actual mileage Heather Peters achieved with her 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, the automaker did not misstate its fuel economy estimates, ruled a California judge today. Based on that decision, Honda won its appeal to overturn a $9,867 award granted to Peters in small-claims court.

The 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid is advertised to achieve up to 50 mpg in the city. However, due to faulty batteries many drivers argue that the vehicle gets closer to 30 mpg. Peters opted out of a class-action lawsuit against Honda that granted dissatisfied customers up to $200 in cash compensation -- … Read more

Audi proved the worth of its diesel engine technology with a win at the 2006 Le Mans, breaking new ground for the legendary endurance race. This year, Audi ups the ante with two cars using hybrid diesel-electric drive systems.

The drive technology, branded by Audi as e-tron, uses a V-6 turbo-diesel engine on the rear axle, and an electric motor on the front axle. Similar to Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) being deployed in F1 racing, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro captures braking energy in a flywheel. The car can then convert the energy of the spinning flywheel into electricity, … Read more

Ever since hybrids became popular, with the second generation of the Toyota Prius, the question arose of whether the fuel savings justified a hybrid car's higher price. The extra expense for a hybrid car has been called the hybrid premium.

The extra cost for a hybrid car comes from the additional equipment in the driveline. Along with the gas engine, hybrid cars have an electric propulsion motor, a high-voltage battery pack, and a power control module, this latter component determining how to feed electric power into the drive system.

Now, with many automakers offering some type of hybrid car, … Read more

Can wind energy really power modern cargo ships? We've seen the idea of hybrid freighters before, but this concept from the University of Tokyo has a remarkable sail system.

A model of the UT Wind Challenger was recently shown off at the Sea Japan trade show in Tokyo. It would have giant telescoping sails that rise above the deck when wind conditions are good.

As seen in the vid below, University of Tokyo professor Kiyoshi Uzawa and collaborators believe this hybrid system could cut fuel consumption by cargo ships by about 30 percent. … Read more

Apple's CEO Tim Cook may have just thrown down the gauntlet to the Windows camp about nothing less than the future of portable computing.

Cook dismissed the idea of a hybrid MacBook-iPad device, during the company's second-quarter earnings conference call this afternoon. "You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going be pleasing to the user," he said.

The toaster-refrigerator hyperbolic analogy aside, it just so happens that Intel has begun to push the Windows 8 laptop-tablet hybrid concept. And it has even built a demo unit to prove the … Read more

China's international auto show in Beijing starts on Friday, April 27, but we have an early look at the production cars and concepts that will be on display.

The show features cars from Chinese automakers and their joint venture partners, the latter including such well-known brands as Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Jeep.

Some of the concepts will be the basis for new, global production models. Many employ electric or hybrid power trains.

Get a look at Chinese market production models from BAIC, Geely, GAC, and Brilliance, companies that may eventually … Read more

It seems like the Prius C model should come after the Prius B, and before the Prius D. But Toyota shows no interest in alphabetical naming when it comes to its Prius lineup. Toyota recently expanded the cars it calls Prius, adding to the standard model the Prius V, a plug-in version, and now the C.

The C means City, which explains the smaller dimensions of the car. The Prius C is a nice, modern little hatchback a foot and half shorter than the standard Prius. Its size makes it easy to park and maneuver through narrow lanes.

But its real virtue is fuel economy.… Read more

Intel officially announced the high-end, third-generation Core "Ivy Bridge" processor today, and confirmed that more mainstream processors will be coming later.

As expected, Intel said that 13 quad-core i5 and i7 Ivy Bridge processor models are available starting today, aimed at high-end desktop, laptop, and all-in-one designs.

And the chipmaker confirmed that dual-core processors for ultrabooks and mainstream designs will be announced "in the coming months."

Those processors will ultimately find their way into Windows 8 hybrids. "There's a whole new wave of convertible designs coming, where you can get the best of a … Read more

Apple's next laptop could offer the portability of the MacBook Air and the power of the MacBook Pro, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

"We also predict Apple will roll out a fully new MacBook model in early 3Q12, boasting strong performance and easy carryability by combining the advantages of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro," Kuo said in a report yesterday  cited by MacRumors.

To make way for the new laptop and streamline its lineup, Apple could kill its 17-inch MacBook Pro this year, predicts the analyst. Pointing to sluggish sales and falling shipments, Kuo believes Apple's largest laptop is the likely candidate for the chopping block.… Read more