Hybrids

The annual SEMA show in Las Vegas is the place to go for accessories for customizing cars to your heart’s content. For as long as I can remember the extreme cars on display at the show have been over-the-top muscle cars, hot rods, and just about anything else you can pack a blown V8 into.

With just 918 cars ever built, the Porsche 918 Spyder is quite a rare breed. You’re lucky if you see just one of these impressive hybrid hypercars on the road, so the idea of 19 of them gathering together in the same place is really something special.

A while back, I had the opportunity to drive the latest-generation Lexus RX series, and thought it was a dramatic upgrade from the prior generation. But the one variant I didn’t spend meaningful time with was the hybrid model, the RX 450h.

Toyota has a new base model Prius that helps take some of the sting out of the price. The Prius One is a new trim level that is now the base model, and carries a $1210 price reduction compared to the previous base model called the Prius Two.

If you’ve followed my writing and reviews, you’ll know I’m not a big hybrid guy. Generally speaking, I’ve found them sloth-like and pretty unenjoyable to drive. Likewise, crossovers generally leave me feeling uninspired and unimpressed. Enough with the generalizations, especially after the week I spent with the 2017 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.

Ford today announced that it’s working on several new electric and gas-electric hybrid vehicles, including an F-150 hybrid, a Transit Custom plug-in hybrid, an all-electric small SUV, and shock of all shocks, a Mustang hybrid. The company says that the new Mustang hybrid will debut in 2020, and will deliver V8 equivalent horsepower, along with even more low-end torque than the current 5.0.

The Accord Hybrid is back, and better than ever. To account for a change in production, the best-selling sedan in America didn’t come as a hybrid last year. This Accord is now produced overseas in Japan rather than Ohio like all the other Accords.

Are you a multimillionaire? Did you miss out on the limited batch of hypercars produced by McLaren, Ferrari, and Porsche? Well today is your lucky day, because examples of all three of these high-tech hybrids are available on eBay at this very moment.

Rumors are flying that Mercedes-AMG is set to build a new version of its vaunted SLR sports car. There are two different stories making the rounds, with one suggesting a front-engine car with a turbo V6 and hybrid power combining for 650 PS. 

The Porsche 918 Spyder is already sold out and will hit the end of limited production run in April 2015. That means unless you own one of the 918 cars, you’re out of luck. So you know what that means.

BMW has quietly unveiled a car that may signal a future direction for the company’s future hybrid vehicles. During an event held in Miramas, France, the German automaker discussed the company’s investment in plug-in hybrid tech and also showed off the impressive 5 Series GT concept that pushes out a combined 670 horsepower. 

Joining the all-new XC90, the flagship of the Volvo product range, the Swedish automaker has just unveiled the details of the plug-in hybrid version of the SUV, the XC90 T8. Calling it the world’s most powerful and cleanest SUV, Volvo is positioning the vehicle as an uncompromising mix of performance, driving, and efficiency.

Slated for a debut at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi next week, the Ferrari FXX K is a specialized vehicle built for Ferrari’s research and development program. With underpinnings of the vaunted LaFerrari, the FXX K is a visionary model built specifically to see how far Ferrari could push its track performance in a hybrid.

The Ferrari LaFerrari XX is thus far the only rumored track version of the amazing LeFerrari 964 horsepower hybrid supercar. No one has caught a glimpse of the new car at this point, but Motorionline designer Daniele Pelligra put together some incredible digital renderings of what the car might look like based on the LaFerrari, the Ferrari LMP1 racer (a car also based on the LeFerrari), and a few spy shots of the LeFerrari XX on the track.

With the LA Auto Show a couple of weeks away, Mercedes-Benz has let the cat out of the bag on a concept car dubbed the “G-Code.” While it’s not designed to be indicative of any specific upcoming models, the Mercedes-Benz G-Code is a showcase of potential technology and design elements for future vehicles.