2013 Audi Q5 Hybrid First Impressions
MALLORCA, Spain– Not much more than the width of an oxcart, the narrow road wound its way up the mountainside, flanked on 1 side by thickets of holm-oak and juniper, on the other by yellow stone walls.
Some of these roads date back to the 12th century—most have been resurfaced, of course, but right here and there are the remains of primitive crumbling tracks, disappearing up into hillsides rich with lemon and olive fincas.
In a strange juxtaposition of ancient history and futuristic engineering, we watched the timeless landscape unfold from inside the most recent in hybrid car engineering.
Regrettably, hybrids have come to be synonymous with “dull”. Trust the Germans—the folks responsible for the autobahn, Nürburgring and the best damned corner-carvers on the planet—to come up with a single that is actually entertaining to drive.
Audi’s no latecomer to the hybrid party. Way back in 1989, they created the Audi Duo, a plug-in, parallel hybrid version of the Audi 100 Avant quattro. The front wheels have been driven by a 136-hp, 2.3L five-cylinder, while driving the rears was a 9.4-kW electric motor. Dilemma was that all that electric running gear was heavy, which drastically compromised the Duo’s efficiency whilst operating on gasoline alone, and only ten had been ever created.
As an alternative of piously trundling along, with numb steering and a rubber-band gearbox, the acceptable trade-off for a scant handful of miles of joyless but emissions-free of charge travel, Audi’s new Q5 Hybrid offers extended electric driving at larger speeds with all the responsive sportiness of the regular gasoline-driven variant.
Nissan Altima Hybrid Euthanized for 2012
June 15, 2011 at 11:34am by Alexander Stoklosa
Nissan will discontinue its Altima hybrid model after 2011 and instead focus on “four- and six-cylinder models for model year 2012, which make up the large majority of sales for the [Altima],” according to a company spokesman. We take this to mean that the limited-availability hybrid wasn’t moving in sufficiently large volumes to keep it viable.
The Altima hybrid arrived in 2007 using hybrid technology licensed from Toyota. While mid-size hybrids like the Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion have been well received in the marketplace, the gas-electric Altima has seen fewer takers for a variety of reasons, not least of which is its availability in only a handful of states.
If you do live in one of the 10 California-emissions states where the Altima is sold, 2011 models should still be on dealer lots, and we imagine you could get a pretty discount from the starting sticker price of $ 27,560.
Ford Cancels 7-Passenger C-Max for U.S., Will Sell Only 5-Seat Hybrid and Plug-In Models
June 9, 2011 at 5:28pm by Alexander Stoklosa
Ford has announced it is no longer bringing a gas-powered, seven-passenger C-Max to the U.S., and will instead only offer the 2013 C-Max five-passenger hybrid and plug-in Energi hybrid starting in 2012. (Aww, and we’d already driven our C-Max. Sort of.) The now-canceled North American gasoline C-Max was essentially a European Grand C-Max without the “Grand” portion of the badge; it’s similar in size to the Mazda 5, features sliding rear side doors, and seats three in the second row and two in the way back. In contrast, the C-Max hybrids we’ll get, as well as the conventionally powered non-Grand C-Max models sold in Europe, seat just five and feature four conventional front-hinged side doors. All C-Maxes use a version of the Global C platform that underpins the 2012 Ford Focus.
Seven-passenger Ford C-Max
90% of Chevy Volt Plug-In Hybrid Customers New to Brand
2011 Chevrolet Volt drive test, March 2011
There’s nothing sales executives love more than seeing sales figures indicating that the latest product is attracting new buyers to their brand, so we’re sure Chevrolet board members must be pretty happy right now.
Why? According to data collected from buyers of its 2011 Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric hybrid most have never owned a Chevrolet before.
Of those who traded in a vehicle as part of buying their Volt, 90% were new to the brand Chevrolet revealed yesterday.
While Chevrolet hasn’t listed which brands its new customers are moving from we’d like to guess that many of them are former hybrid car owners looking to make the next step towards a 100% electric vehicle.
Incoming search terms:
- Chevrolet VOLT 90%
- chevrolet volt attracts new customers
Virginia Hybrid Car HOV Perk Is Tied to Police Budget
Published April 22, 2011
Last week, Virginia passed yet another extension of its hybrid HOV law, which gives drivers of “clean fuel” vehicles access to the commonwealth’s carpool lanes. The law has been extended annually since its original expiration date in 2006—even as the state’s HOV lanes (and hybrid sales) swell. Could the extensions have anything to do with the fact that, with every registration for access, $ 15 goes to the state police’s “HOV Enforcement Fund?”
Since the emergence of hybrids in the last decade, several states have enacted similar carpool laws as an added incentive for consumers to embrace gas-electric vehicles. But with fuel prices high and hybrids no longer the newest fuel-saving technology on the block, the argument for keeping around added hybrid driver perks has weakened.
This June, California hybrid drivers will lose their HOV access—a bonus that has been available to 85,000 such vehicles since 2004. But with hybrids all but ubiquitous in many parts of the state, California decided last year to shift the privilege to drivers of plug-in electric vehicles, and push solo hybrid drivers out of HOV lanes. Virginia has long ranked among the top ten states for hybrid sales, which would likely make it among the first to end its HOV incentives—except that it isn’t.
In order to be eligible for full HOV access, a Virginia hybrid must sport the state’s special Clean Fuel Vehicle (CFV) license plate, which is available for an additional $ 25 fee on top of the annual registration cost. Of that money, $ 15 goes to the state police’s “HOV Enforcement Fund,” which was established alongside the CFV law to help troopers identify and ticket HOV violators.
When Virginia first began granting solo hybrid HOV access, the state police issued a report (PDF) requesting a $ 300,000 annual enforcement budget—up from $ 140,000 the year before. Today, with more than 66,000 hybrids on Virginia roadways, the state income generated by CFV registration fees is adding up. Though information on exactly how many such tags are circulating isn’t readily available, if all 66,000 hybrids were to register each year, the state police budget could rake in more than $ 900,000 annually from the program.
Incoming search terms:
- hov laws passed in va 2011
Bugatti Galibier Super Sedan to Get Hybrid Tech
Bugatti president and CEO Wolfgang Durheimer confirming that Bugatti will move forward with producing the 16C Galibier isn’t the biggest news about the super sedan, rather, it’s the fact that Bugatti will be offering a hybrid variant of the car. In an interview with CAR Magazine, Durheimer announced more details on the Galibier program and what Bugatti will be offering for its luxury sedan.
As we already know, the standard Galibier will also utilize Bugatti’s potent W16 power plant but a hybrid option will also be available. Durheimer expressed the importance of being socially acceptable in various markets that might demand a more quiet vehicle. By offering an EV mode with the Galibier, the luxury sedan will have more versatility in an already limited market.
“When the mayors of cities know we can make cars that run silently, I don’t expect they will allow cars that pollute into city centres,” Durheimer said. “But I can’t imagine a Galibier owner leaving their car at the park-and-ride and catching a bus. That’s why we need to offer a hybrid with this car, so owners drive up to the hotel silently in EV mode. But not every Galibier needs to be a hybrid – in places like Dubai it is not what the market wants.”
With the Veyron’s production fading into the horizon, many will anxiously await the production of the Galibier which will be limited to 3,000 units.
[Source: Car Magazine UK]
Incoming search terms:
- Bugatti Galibier with hybrid power
2011 Toyota Highlander Hybrid – Short Take Road Test
April 1, 2011 at 5:20pm by Mike Sutton
Toyota gives its hybrid crossover more power and character.
Despite the return of four-dollar-per-gallon gas and the ongoing maturation of small cars in the U.S., Americans still want and occasionally need large vehicles. The seven-passenger Toyota Highlander hybrid was one of the first crossovers to balance suburban practicality with electrified efficiency when it debuted in 2006, and a thorough redesign for 2008 strengthened the overall package.
Keep Reading: 2011 Toyota Highlander Hybrid – Short Take Road Test
Incoming search terms:
- 2012 toyota highlander hybrid
- toyota highlander a dubai
- HIGHLANDER 2011 hybrid japen
- toyota highlander из дубая 2011 года
- toyota highlander in dubai
- toyota highlander hybrid & blogs
- toyota highlander future
- toyota highlander dubai
- toyota highlander car dealer in dubai
- dubai car market toyota freelander
- toyota highlander 2011 IN DUBAI
- test highlander 2011 hybrid
- sales 2011 toyota highlander in dubai
- placement of highlander hybrid
- toyota hylander a dubai
