hybrid

Report: Honda to Launch Hybrid Motorcycle by 2011

Will volatile gas prices and global-warming concerns cause trickle-down adoption of hybrid tech?

Earlier this month, Japanese media reported Honda and Yamaha were each planning a line of electric motorcycles by 2010. The new bikes, which reports say can travel up to 60 miles on a charge, will use lithium-ion batteries for power. Now, word from Japan's Mainichi news service is Honda is also planning new gas-electric hybrid motorcycles.

[ Read Full Story ]

Who Birthed the Electric Plane?

The race for 100 miles per gallon, in the air

The small airplane is too dirty for an environmentally threatened world. Thats not the view from eco-activists, but from some of the leading lights in general aviation—the category encompassing small planes such as Cessnas flown by citizen pilots. At some point, some environmental group is going to figure out that small aircraft fly leaded fuel, said Mark Moore, NASAs personal air vehicle program manager, to a meeting of engineers, aviation advocates and a billionaire corporate titan with his own private jet. Their goal, however, is not to bury private aviation, but to remake it as the greenest form of personal transit.

[ Read Full Story ]

How It Works: Tomorrow's Hybrid

A plug-in concept from Volvo brings the power inside the wheels for increased efficiency and extra mileage

The ReCharge, Volvos concept plug-in hybrid, could squeeze 160 miles from a gallon of gas by tossing out the power-wasting transmission. It packs a small electric motor inside each wheel, so that no power is lost in the drivetrain. Heres a look at the next generation of fuel-efficiency

[ Read Full Story ]

Natural-Gas Guzzler

Will Honda's natural-gas-powered Civic GX blow other "green" cars off the road? See the first reports from our year-long in-depth test

For more on the Civic GX's natural-gas powertrain and the innovative home-fueling station that keeps it going at a fraction of the cost of gasoline, launch the slideshow.

Behold the car that could displace the Toyota Prius as the eco-ride of choice. The new natural-gas-powered Honda Civic GX uses domestically produced fuel–the same stuff your gas stove burns–that costs as little as one third the price of gasoline. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy calls it the cleanest-burning internal-combustion vehicle on Earth.

[ Read Full Story ]

The Race to 100 MPG

Gas prices are up, fuel economy is down-but the brightest minds in auto technology are about to do something about it

Over the past several decades, the promise of the "car of tomorrow" has remained unfulfilled, while the problems it was supposed to solve have only intensified. The average price of a gallon of gas is higher than at any time since the early 1980s. The Middle East seems more volatile than ever. And even climate skeptics are starting to admit that the carbon we´re pumping into the atmosphere might have disastrous consequences. To these circumstances, automakers have responded with a fleet of cars that averages 21 miles per gallon, about four miles per gallon worse than the Model T.

[ Read Full Story ]

2006 London Motor Show

Green cars galore! The U.K.'s largest auto show debuts a slew of sexy new fuel-sippers

Click here to launch the gallery.

[ Read Full Story ]

BMW´s Hybrid Vision: Gasoline and Steam

This novel concept uses your car´s wasted heat to enhance power and fuel economy

Certain parts of a car´s engine can reach temperatures in excess of 1,500�F. With this in mind, the engineers at BMW developed a way to boost efficiency: Transform that otherwise wasted heat into energy the engine can use. The resulting Turbo- steamer reclaims more than 80 percent of the heat lost from the engine´s exhaust and cooling systems. It uses this surplus heat to generate steam that helps drive the engine. It boosts power and torque by 10 percent and cuts fuel consumption by 15 percent without using a single additional drop of gasoline.

[ Read Full Story ]

The Turbo- and Supercharged Car

Volkswagen's new Twincharger engine offers a fuel-efficient alternative to hybrids

How's this for a hybrid?

[ Read Full Story ]
Flickr Block Header

Share your photos in the Pop Sci pool at www.flickr.com!
Current theme: Australia