Click above for a hi-res gallery of the facelifted Civic Hybrid

It looks like Honda's giving the Civic Hybrid a little bit more of an edge in the form of a mild facelift. Up front, the fascia is new, with a three-opening lower intake and a new grille that's shaped like the one you'll find on the Accord and FCX Clarity. A walk to the back of the car reveals what seems to be a new trim piece connecting the taillamps, which are very mildly updated with more ronounced reverse lights. Beyond that, the car looks unchanged. For example, the wheels and profile are identical to the cars on the road right now. It'll be interesting to see whether the appearance updates are exclusive to the hybrid to give it some differentiation, or if they'll make their way to the other Civics as well.


[Source: KGP Photography]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the new Honda Hybrid

Honda has acknowledged that not having an instantly-recognizable hybrid-only model since the demise of the Insight (still modern-looking today) has taken a toll. While the company offers the Civic Hybrid, that car lacks the green cachet that Toyota has very successfully cultivated with the Prius. So, Honda made no secret that a new hybrid-exclusive model was coming, and wouldn't you know -- it's very reminiscent of the Prius!

The spies at KGP snagged the car out testing, but there's no denying that its teardrop shape brings Toyota's car to mind. We assume this is the result of Honda going for the most aerodynamic shape possible, which resulted in a profile that can't help but be similar to the Prius. A look at the FCX Clarity shows that Honda's new weapon shares much with its big brother, too. In front, the grille slats solidly carry the family resemblance forward from the new fuel-cell car, and when the new hybrid is ultimately shown without the cladding and cover-ups, we have a feeling that it'll look a bit like a downsized Clarity. The Toyota Prius is a major success story, and Honda wants a piece of that action. You know the saying: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And so, it appears, they are.

[Source: KGP Photography]

"We have to build cars and trucks that people want to buy." So said Rick Wagoner, head of General Motors, at a recent conference in Dallas, Texas in response to why GM didn't begin offering hybrid cars earlier. Yeah, Rick, that's entirely true. But, your company also has to have at least a modicum of foresight in order to be successful in the tough American market these days. For instance, Toyota is just now reaping the benefits of its hybrid electric vehicles, despite the fact that the automaker has been building them since 1997. Did Toyota know something that GM didn't? Not really, as the entire world has been watching oil prices climb for the last few decades. It was bound to happen in the United States -- GM's own backyard -- as well, and now that it has indeed taken place, the three remaining American automakers have been caught with the wrong product at the wrong time sitting on dealer lots.

[Source: MSN Money Central]

Hybrid and fully electric vehicles have come under fire as of late due to the quietness at which they operate. While this is seemingly a good thing for passengers of the vehicle, there are legitimate concerns that blind people will not be able to detect the rapidly approaching vehicle if it is not making any sound. Along with blind pedestrians, safety advocates are concerned that children and cyclists will be at risk from silent vehicles.

The issue of hybrid and electric car silence is a complicated one. Of course, these vehicles are not really "silent," as the tires and associated systems do emit some sound, though it may be inaudible with other various traffic sounds. Some are proposing a minimum sound level for all vehicles, though nothing is likely to happen until the situation is studied.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to begin research right away into the dangers of quiet hybrids and electric cars and has plans to introduce "technology neutral" ways to combat the problem. This continues to be an interesting discussion and one we're sure to hear plenty more about.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Hyundai will release its first hybrid vehicle for sale to the general public in 2009, as long as the general public in question lives in Korea. Though the automaker has been testing hybrids for the last few years, only government officials were able to drive the vehicles. According to Hyundai, though, none of the research and development costs for its hybrid drivetrain were paid for through government grants. This information seems much more important after Mark Fields' recent assertion that the Korean government had provided assistance to its automakers for the development of the fuel-saving technology. There has also been some question as to whether the Japanese government helped pay for hybrid development, though Toyota denies these allegations.

Regardless of who has funded its development, Hyundai's first hybrid will be the Avante, which is known as the Elantra in the U.S. Interestingly, the first versions of the vehicle will use liquified petroleum gas (LPG) for fuel, along with, of course, electricity. The year 2010 will bring a flex-fuel version capable of using gasoline or LPG. So far, there is no announcement regarding a launch date in the states, though Hyundai indicates it would like to be selling hybrids here by 2011. By that time, the market will be much more crowded.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Click on the photo for a gallery of high-res images of the Hybrid-X Concept

So, we already know that Toyota will be showcasing its new third-generation Prius hybrid sedan at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show early in 2009. It's long been assumed that this new third-gen Prius would spawn a Lexus vehicle using the same platform and a similar hybrid system. Differences would include a higher price, obviously, and lithium ion batteries in place of the nickel metal hydrides installed in the Prius. What may be more interesting to some, though, is news that Toyota will also be displaying a third hybrid vehicle at the same show. Without giving away too many details, Masatami Takimoto, a VP in charge of research and development, indicates that this third hybrid will be a totally new car based on a larger platform than the current and next Prius. As has been widely reported, including on this very blog, Toyota's first plug-in hybrid is expected to debut in 2010.

In other green news, Toyota will be adding new gasoline-burning 1.3 liter and 2.5 liter engines along with stop/start technology, which is becoming increasingly popular in these days of high gasoline prices. Also on the docket is a new six speed manual transmission which will be kept compact for use in small cars. We look forward to seeing what else Toyota's got up its corporate sleeves.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Sebastian is joined by Jeremy for AutoblogGreen Podcast #23, since Sam was hanging out with Bob Lutz and his Vectrix scooter when we recorded. Jeremy recounts his experience with Piaggio MP3 scooters on a ride from New York to Connecticut, and we move on to talk about the limited Prius supply as of late. We also touch on some developments at GM: the impending doom that may befall Hummer, and the coming of the Volt, which GM wants to build in Detroit. We go on for a while about hybrids and EVs for a while before wrapping up. Thanks for listening, we'll see you soon!

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Click the Tahoe hybrid for a high-res gallery

Marketing is extremely important when launching a new vehicle. The idea that you can "Build it and they will come," doesn't actually work in the real world, even when the vehicle is designed to save money at the pump. Such is the case with General Motors and its most recent hybrid vehicles: large SUVs. Despite the fact that the Tahoe and Yukon hybrids are all new and boast an extremely high-tech and well-integrated hybrid system, sales of the gas-savers stands at a mere trickle. High-cost is surely a factor, but, as experts point out, the marketing of the new vehicles has been sorely lacking.

GM's main marketing man, Mark LaNeve, agrees that the automaker could be doing a better job. "There's very little awareness that we even have these products. We're going to be constrained by battery availability, but we still think that we could work it up to 5 to 10 percent of our full-sized SUV sales." Since it began reporting hybrid sales five months ago, GM has sold 1,540 Tahoe and Yukon hybrids out of 57,818 total sales of its big SUVs. Expect to see much more advertising for these hybrids in the coming months.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Over at the Toyota Open Road blog, Toyota's American Communications boss Irv Miller has a new post talking about hybrid battery supplies. As we reported yesterday, May sales of the Prius were down 40 percent compared to the previous May. It's not because people suddenly didn't want Priuses anymore, especially with gas at $4/gallon. In fact exactly the opposite is true. So many people have wanted Priuses through the first four months of the year, that there simply weren't any more to be had. Those 15,000 units Toyota sold were basically all the cars that were left.

Miller mentions the same things the he told ABG the other day and then goes on to discuss the situation in a little more detail. The Panasonic EV Energy plant in Omori, Japan currently builds the batteries for Toyota's hybrids and it is being expanded. A new lithium ion battery line is being installed to supply batteries for the first plug-in Priuses that are coming in 2010. Toyota expects to sell 450,000 hybrids worldwide this year, an amount that the company has stated it wants to increase to 1 million annually sometime within the next decade.

[Source: Toyota Open Road]

Nobody could ever accuse Hyundai of not thinking big. The Korean carmaker has grown into the fourth largest volume import brand in the U.S. market and is now on the verge of launching into the luxury and high-performance segments. So far, aside from some concepts and relatively efficient small cars, they haven't made any big waves in the green tech area, at least in the U.S. In an interview with Britain's AutoCar print edition, CEO Dr. Kim Dong-Jin made it clear the company is targeting the big dogs like Toyota in the coming decade. Hyundai has been running test fleets of hybrids in Korea, as well as fuel cell vehicles in both Korea and the U.S. Dr. Kim claims that Hyundai's products will be more advanced than the Prius. The question is will they be more advanced than today's Prius or the third-gen model that's coming next year? Hyundai is developing a lot of technology in-house, including fuel cells, hybrids and diesels that are already offered overseas and coming to the U.S. as soon as 2010. Hybrids are due to arrive at about the same time with limited numbers of fuel cell vehicles hitting the market a year after that.

[Source: AutoCar, via Winding Road]

There may be a legitimate complaint levied against hybrids and the lack of sound that they produce. It's possible that pedestrians with poor eyesight might not notice a vehicle running on electricity if that person normally equates a specific sound with an approaching automobile. According to a post on Commercial Auto Dealers, though, the lack of sound inside a hybrid vehicle could lull you to sleep. Yeah, in these days, as manufacturers do everything in their power to reduce the interior noise levels in their products, that's a stupid claim to make. The writer also says that the electricity used by electric cars could be dangerous to your health. Umm, what about gasoline or diesel fuel. Last we checked, those can be rather harmful to your health too, and so can the fumes spewed from the tailpipes of said vehicles. Smog anyone? In conclusion, the writer suggests that you go buy a GMC truck. Did that writer forget that they are offered as hybrids too?

[Source: Commercial Auto Dealers via The Truth About Cars]

Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli seems to recognize that the automaker he's at the helm of needs to reduce its dependence on trucks and SUVs and begin offering more fuel efficient cars. Remember that Chrysler recently made a deal with Nissan to get a new small car in exchange for a full-size truck platform. Nardelli would be interested in more of these cooperations, according to the Detroit Free Press. Nardelli said, "We are accelerating our technology in response to the environment. We can't bet on every technology as some companies can. Hybrid, electric -- if you're at the roulette table, those are the two numbers we're betting on."

According to reports, Chrysler would like to offer something in the same vein as the upcoming Chevy Volt, an electric car with a small engine which recharges the battery for additional range. Chrysler has plans to introduce its first hybrid vehicles, which are, oddly enough, full size SUVs which use similar technology as the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon hybrids.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press]

Photo by Wili_Hybrid. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Massachusetts drivers are voting with their rides. According to the insurance company Travelers of Massachusetts, the number of hybrid drivers in the Bay State rose 36 percent in the last nine months. The numbers, from the state's Registry of Motor Vehicles, show that there are 22,353 registered hybrid cars on the roads in Massachusetts today, compared to 16,477 last July. That's an increase of 5,876 hybrids, or about 653 a month. One reason Travelers is paying attention to these numbers is because they offer a hybrid driver's discount (up to ten percent) for vehicles and drivers in Massachusetts. Of course, the national company offers hybrid discounts to drivers around the U.S., and you can find out if you qualify at the Hybrid Travelers website. Details after the jump.

General Motors' down under crew at Holden have been busy of late creating the Zeta platform that underpins most of the company's lineup of coming rear wheel drive cars. Holden has its own tuning division known as Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) that produces the really high performance variants of the Holden vehicles. HSV is facing the same realities as high performance groups like Mercedes' AMG and Audi's Quattro GmbH. They know that they will have start migrating to more efficient powertrains, and GM has a variety of elements in the parts bin to work with. Currently, HSV uses the classic small-block V8 as the heart of their vehicles but they are now looking at alternatives, with an eye toward attracting younger buyers.

With greater efficiency in mind, HSV is considering some of the diesel and hybrid technologies that GM has now or will have in the next couple of years. One obvious choice would be the new Duramax 4.5L diesel V8 that GM will launch in its light duty trucks next year. The engine was specifically designed to fit with the packaging envelope of the small-block meaning it will fit into the Zeta vehicles. At the Chicago Auto Show, GM showed the Denali XT concept which was a 4 door pickup truck built on the Zeta platform using the Two-Mode hybrid system. Other possibilities are the upcoming 2nd generation mild hybrid system set to debut in 2010 and the 2.9L diesel V6 that will debut in Europe next year. GM already has the direct injected and turbocharged 2.0L EcoTec in several vehicles as well as the direct injected 3.6L V6. Plenty of options abound for performance with drastically reduced emissions and fuel consumption. It will be interesting to watch what direction, HSV, AMG and others take in the coming years.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

Click above for a high-resolution gallery of the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring.

Of the one million Prius hybrids that Toyota has sold since its introduction in 1997, one-hundred-thousand of them have been registered in Europe. Toyota introduced the second-generation Prius in Europe and North America in the year 2000. While a hundred thousand units is certainly nothing to sniff at, it pales in comparison to the number of diesel-powered vehicles regularly sold in European lands. While hybrids have been, and will likely continue to be, the fuel-saving flag bearers in the United States, Europe has traditionally favored diesels. This fact hasn't stopped Toyota and their Lexus luxury brand from offering the gas/electric hybrid vehicles, though. It seems that the Japanese-giants tenacity in the European market is paying off, as more than a third of the total Prius sales in Europe have been made in the past twelve months alone, meaning that European sales of the fuel-efficient hybrids are on the up-swing.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]