Archive for the ‘Hybrid’ Category

Vice President Joe Biden, known for repeated instances of foot-in-mouth disease, unwittingly spilled the beans on Fisker Automotive's plan for a Delaware-built, three-vehicle family of plug-in hybrids.

Fox News reports that Biden told press gathered in Wilmington, Del., that Fisker would eventually build 100,000 plug-in hybrid sedans, coupes and crossovers "every single year."

In a follow-up interview, founder Henrik Fisker told Fox that Biden "definitely told what our product plans are."

Fisker's gambit in the government's full-court press for electrified vehicles is a brilliant one, on its face. While electric-car company Tesla has yet to...

Speaking of the Tokyo Motor Show, hybrid vehicles, and executive pronouncements, Nissan's head honcho, Carlos Ghosn, has made some interesting statements about Nissan's technology plans. Speaking from the exhibition floor, Ghosn said that Nissan doesn't want to be a big player in the hybrid market, having chosen instead to set its sights further down the road: "We are not intending to play a leadership role in hybrids. One company already assumed leadership in the technology. We want leadership on EVs." Sounds a little reminiscent of Honda's view on EVs versus fuel-cell vehicles -- although Ghosn gets points for standing firm instead of...

There hasn't been much groundbreaking news to emerge from the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, but the event has generated some intriguing statements from the handful of automakers in attendance. For example, Ikuo Mori, the president of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, the manufacturer of Subaru vehicles, noted that Subaru is working with Toyota to develop a gas-electric hybrid vehicle; according to Mori, the drivetrain will appear as an option on an existing Subaru model rather than as the basis of a new, hybrid-only vehicle. (If true, things don't look so good for the Hybrid Tourer Concept pictured above.) No word on what the lucky, greener model will...