With the hybrid and electric vehicle revolution underway, what will be the next step for commuters who want to help the environment?

Engineers at the University of Technology Sydney may have the answer with their plug-in Toyota Prius capable of returning energy to the mains grid.

The ‘Switch’ prototype Prius adds an additional lithium iron phosphate battery [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Ford has announced it is another step closer to production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Ford America, in conjunction with supplier Johnson Controls-Saft, has announced plans to build its first Lithium-ion battery facility in Holland, Michigan.

The partnership with Johnson Controls-Saft will see an advanced Lithium-ion battery system developed for the company’s first commercial plug-in vehicles, [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

To give a leg-up to the green car industry, the UK government is proposing financial incentives for buyers of new electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The move by the UK government is similar to the tax benefits offered to buyers of small-capacity ‘kei’ cars - with engine capacities no larger than 660cc - in Japan.

Under the [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

The first version is still yet to go on sale, but engineers at General Motors are already hard at work developing the second and third generations of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.

With the first Volt still over twelve months away, GM has decided to start work on successive generations of the car in an attempt [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Toyota has joined forced with EDF Energy in France to test its plug-in hybrid vehicles, as part of an effort to expand the project already underway in the UK and Japan.

Toyota has deftly positioned itself as the number one authority on hybrid vehicles, but with the Honda Insight and others also making headway, the Japanese giant [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More