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2010 Jaguar X Sort: Luxury For The Commoner

Costs for high selling luxury cars can easily prime $50,000 when taxes, destination fees, and dealer prep charges are factored in. Usually, this isn’t a problem because the customer who purchases a automobile of this renown can afford the large value tag. Nonetheless, automakers have discovered that there’s a market for “entry level” luxurious [...]

Audi A4: From Passat And Again

Typically an automaker will introduce a vehicle based upon the platform of a “lesser” model. Typically, this plan is employed when prices should be lower to realize actual savings. The idea is that the shared platform might be tweaked enough to differentiate the upscale mannequin from the strange one. Add in leather, a taut suspension, [...]

Peugeot 3008 hybrid 4: Diesel hybrids versus gas hybrids

2011 Peugeot 3008 hybrid 4 diesel crossover
Despite better fuel economy, especially in highway driving, diesel vehicles will probably never achieve the kind of penetration achieved in Europe in the US according to most experts. However, could diesel hybrids change that prediction?
Moreover, might the ability to fuel with biodiesel, for instance, make the upcoming Peugeot 3008 [...]

Lincoln Kills the ‘Hybrid Premium’

One big gripe people have about hybrids is they cost a few grand more than similar conventional models. It’s the so-called hybrid premium, and critics say you’ll have to drive a gazillion miles to recoup it in saved fuel. The Lincoln MKZ Hybrid tosses that argument on its head.
The gas-electric luxury sedan will have the [...]

It’s Official: Cost of Hybridization is Zero

Unleaded gasoline: $2.67 per gallon. Extra cost to cut fuel consumption with hybrid technology: priceless.

For Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln upscale division, however, the definition of "priceless" means "no cost." Lincoln announced today that the price of its 2011 MKZ Hybrid is the same as a standard MKZ with a conventional V6: $35,180.

Pricing the hybrid MKZ identically to the standard version is a significant and potentially game-changing ploy that may put Lincoln on the map with hybrid enthusiasts and surely will cause competing automakers' marketers to watch customer response. And Lincoln's gambit also will test – for good and bad – the limits of hybrid-technology upcharge.

Do auto makers have to become battery makers?

Can automakers afford lithium?
Today, lithium is already available on the high end of the luxury hybrid market. Soon, however, lithium battery packs will be available in many other hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.
Still, can automakers derive a profit from lithium-powered vehicles?
Certainly on the high end, automakers are very capable of deriving profits from battery-powered [...]

The Hybrid Inventor Who Sued Toyota – And Won

Alex Severinsky is a Soviet engineer and emigrant to the United States who once developed antitank-warfare instrumentation. In 1994, he patented a system for powering gas-electric hybrid automobiles. Toyota has been using his system since 1997 without permission or payment.
Until now.
Toyota Motor Corp. has settled a patent-infringement case that has dragged on for six years. [...]

Vibrating Seat Warns Of Imminent Danger

Automakers go to great lengths to make riding in their cars comfortable. But if Yale University researchers have their way, cars will introduce a bit of discomfort to warn you of impending danger.
John Morrell, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, fitted a car seat with small cams and vibrating motors to provide a tactile warning [...]