#hybrids
2021 Honda Accord Hybrid First Drive - High Mileage Family Hauler
When Honda sent out the press release detailing the updates for the 2021 model-year Accord and Accord Hybrid, I shed a tear (figuratively) for the loss of the manual-transmission option in the gas models, and wondered why they were bothering with the hybrid. There didn’t seem to be much changed.
That may be true, but perhaps it’s because there wasn’t much to fix to begin with?
Adventures in Marketing: The Toyota Venza Attempts to Steal Subaru's Thunder
Toyota’s all-new Venza fills a two-row, crossover-sized void between the smaller RAV4 and the larger Highlander, and is essentially a return to what the Highlander was originally. To help draw in buyers to its resurrected nameplate, Toyota decided to use a long-standing Subaru ad trope: the family pet.
2020 Lexus LS 500h AWD Review - Quietly Being Green
Hey there, Mr. or Mrs. CEO who just got charged with making your company more “green”. Lexus has a car for you.
It carries a hybrid powertrain and boasts features meant to coddle.
You just have to get past the styling. This LS is curvy and bears a large “spindle” grille that has become a hallmark of Lexus of late — and that grille is quite polarizing.
Enjoy the Silence? Green Cars Can Remain Quiet for Another Six Months
Not every hybrid or electric vehicle motors along at low speeds with only road noise, and perhaps a bit of motor whine, alerting people in its path to its presence. However, under a new rule issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, automakers were told to ensure their vehicles emit a warning noise at speeds of up to 18.6 mph.
The measure was first proposed back in 2010, when hybrids were few and EVs almost non-existent. Moving at the speed of bureaucracy (the Department of Transportation finalized the rules in 2016), the low-speed noise mandate was supposed to finally enter into law last September, but the NHTSA extended the deadline by a year. On Monday, the agency extended it once again.
Plug-in Lincoln Corsair Could Be Thin on the Ground
Lincoln’s compact MKC transformed into the Lincoln Corsair for 2020, bringing style borrowed from its big brother Aviator to buyers of lesser means… or wants.
Tagging along a year late, a plug-in hybrid variant will join the Corsair trim ladder for 2021, but a new report suggests it won’t be in plentiful supply.
Pricing for Base 2021 Ford F-150, Hybrid Revealed
Thanks to a reveal schedule compressed by the pandemic lockdown, the revamped Ford F-150 didn’t soak up a typical amount of limelight before a more exciting new vehicle came along. Luckily for Ford, that model also wore a Blue Oval badge.
By far the brand’s most important product the F-150 enters 2021 with a raft of changes, though the most significant addition is the model’s optional PowerBoost hybrid drivetrain. A first in the pickup world, the package delivers a potent punch with a side of efficiency. Ahead of the model’s arrival in showrooms, the latest F-150’s pricing secrets are starting to be revealed.
Buckle Up - a New Mitsubishi Experience Is on the Way
No, there’s no new Mitsubishi model on the way — just “richer” versions of what we already have. That’s a term the automaker applied to the refreshed 2021 Mirage, by the way.
In announcing across-the-board changes to its North American lineup Wednesday, Mitsubishi seemed to suggest that a brand pull-out in this region won’t occur overnight, if ever. Or maybe this is just the brand’s last consumer salvo.
Fluke? Electrified RAV4 Outsells Normal RAV4
Please don’t send us emails complaining about the use of the word “normal” in a headline. Yes, the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is still a RAV4. Yes, it has every right to exist, and it makes its parents proud, each and every day.
Especially lately, given that the electrified version of the country’s top-selling compact crossover outsold its conventional sibling in June. Not that the hybrid RAV4 was a sales slug to begin with.
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE Review - Incognito Prius Alternative
Add the Toyota Corolla to the list of nameplates that were accused of losing the plot in recent years, before being righted — at least partially — by a redesign or refresh.
We’ve talked about this with the Nissan Altima (and Sentra, and Versa), as well as other vehicles. Now, it’s the Toyota’s turn.
I got my grubby mitts on a Corolla Hybrid and put it through its paces around Chicago. I’ve been critical of the car before – the last-generation model’s steering felt like it was constantly out to lunch, and the seating position was uncomfortable, especially for a tall, beer-gutted dude like me.
These flaws might’ve been acceptable if the car didn’t also feel downmarket, even accounting for its price point. Honda, Hyundai, and others were offering compact sedans that were even with (or better) than the Corolla for similar money.
Toyota took a step in the right direction with the Corolla hatch, but did the sedan follow? Well, sort of.
Incentivised From the Start: Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Aims to Persuade
In the midsize sedan war, the Hyundai Sonata is like Japanese forces in the Pacific — slowly losing ground as powerful enemies amass an ever larger share of the territory. When faced with the name recognition and brand appeal of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, maintaining your position means throwing everything you have into the fight.
Into that battle came the radically restyled 2020 Hyundai Sonata, joined imminently by the Sonata Hybrid — a sedan that gets up to 52 mpg on the combined cycle. Hyundai has apparently decided that money talks, and that the new hybrid will ride into battle waving cash at local townfolk.
2021 BMW 5 Series: Electrification Soaks Deeper Into the 'I've Succeeded' Bimmer
Refreshed and technologically updated, the BMW 5 Series maintains a familiar powertrain lineup for 2021, albeit with a few adjustments that reflect the company’s environmental proclamations.
Just because buyers choose green doesn’t mean they shun horsepower, and just because buyers are willing to add some electrification to their life, doesn’t mean they want to feel it.
Toyota to Chrysler: Two Can Play This Game
It seems that Chrysler’s Pacifica won’t be the only available hybrid minivan for long.
While the Ontario-built model, which challenges Toyota’s Sienna by adding all-wheel drive for 2021, remains the only hybrid people mover in the segment, it’s possible the Sienna might soon become the only AWD HEV minivan.
Happy 20th, Toyota Prius
Back when your author was the (soon to be not) proud owner of a 93-horsepower Plymouth, Toyota was prepping the American populace for a new kind of driving experience. A futuristic one, and a thrifty one, to boot. Two decades ago, it debuted a model that first appeared in its home country three years earlier: the Prius.
Eighty trillion jokes later, and after selling more than 1.9 million of the things to U.S. consumers, Toyota is marking the Prius’ 20th anniversary in this country with a limited run of special edition models. And they happen to look better than the stock Prius.
Its Best Days Behind It, Toyota Prius Prepares to Mark an Anniversary
It’s the Toyota Prius’ party and it can cry if it wants to. Two decades after its North American debut, the Prius is reportedly set to mark the occasion with a special edition. Whether or not the new reigning champ of the hybrid scene, the Prius’s own RAV4 Hybrid stablemate, is invited to the bash remains unknown.
Yes, the Prius has come a long way since its 2001 introduction, but time can either solidify a front-runner’s position or see it fall behind the pack, overtaken by changing trends. The Prius falls into the latter category.
U.S. Trademarks Show Hybrid, PHEV Bound for Next-gen Lexus NX
Overseas trademark applications are nice, but the significant differences between those markets and our own often make such appearances a harbinger of not much. Europe is far more likely to go green, while American buyers, depending on state, don’t see nearly as much punishment for choosing the least efficient models.
Less taxation and far cheaper fuel conspire with geographical and cultural realities to make green cars a tough sell stateside, even a decade after things really kicked off in earnest.
Which is why the recent appearance of a plug-in hybrid in trademark filings an ocean away were worthy of interest, but no guarantee of U.S. availability. Until now.
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