hybrid

2013 Ford C-Max Energi Plug-In Hybrid First Drive

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With California the most important domestic market for electrified vehicles, it came as no surprise that Ford chose San Francisco and the Northern California coastline as the backdrop for the C-Max Energi Plug-In Hybrid media drive.

The crossover-esque C-Max has been available in Europe since 2003 and comes to our shores for the first time. The C-Max rides on the Focus platform. It’s only available in America in hybrid or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) form.

The standard C-Max hybrid is rated at 47 city / 47 highway miles per gallon (MPG). The C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid uses a larger lithium ion battery to deliver up to 21 miles of pure electric driving, at speeds up to 85 miles per hour, before it switches to conventional hybrid mode.

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2013 VW Jetta Hybrid First Drive

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I can hear what you’re thinking … Volkswagen, selling a hybrid sedan?

Aren’t VW’s fuel-efficient TDIs the best-selling passenger car diesels in America?

Indeed they are, but VW faced a dilemma.

The typical Toyota Prius owner, they say, rarely considers buying a diesel.

So Volkswagen decided to build a hybrid of their own. A very different hybrid. One with a turbocharged engine. Marketed to folks that love to drive.

Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid at the Gas Pump Museum in New Mexico

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VW Sets Land Speed Record with Jetta Hybrid

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Think all hybrid cars are slow? Think again. Volkswagen has set a production car land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah with a modified 2013 Jetta Hybrid averaging 186.313 MPH over two runs on October 5th.

The Jetta Hybrid’s record-setting effort in the Southern California Timing Association’s (SCTA) H/PS class topped a 185.394 MPH run made in August. (The H/PS class covers production cars using 1.5 liter forced induction engines.) While modifications were limited by class rules, horsepower output was significantly enhanced.

Record-setting 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid at the Bonneville Salt Flats

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The Chevy Malibu Eco’s MPG Rating: Is it High Enough?

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Chevrolet took a gamble by rolling out the fuel economy focused 2013 Malibu Eco before the other Malibu models. In the eyes of some in the media horde, it was bad bet. All it took was a biased piece by an old-school automotive journalist – a long-time employee of a bastion of conventional media – to set the lemming fish marching. With post quotas to fill, they quickly piled on, throwing numbers into the fray. As if that would turn a subjective editorial into fact.

To this I say, how many hours did you spend in both the 2013 Malibu Eco and its predecessor, the Malibu Hybrid? I spent plenty in both cars, along with the 2010 Malibu LT. And I spent plenty of my own hard-earned cash on the gasoline for our extensive road tests. No expense accounts here.

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2012 Toyota Prius C Review

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MPG-o-Matic 2012 Toyota Prius C Review Summary:

The 2012 Toyota Prius C is known in other countries as the Yaris Hybrid. Toyota chose to capitalize on the strong cachet of the Prius brand in the United States, by dropping the Yaris nameplate. Whatever you call this pint-size five-door, it’s the most fuel stingy four-passenger vehicle sold in America, when measured dollar-for-dollar. (The Prius C starts at $18,950, while the full-scale 3rd Gen Prius starts at $24,000.) If you have plenty of road to cover, with much of it at lower speeds and in traffic, the Prius C will slash your fuel bill by a considerable amount … even more so if you make the effort to drive it properly.

The 2012 Prius C is powered by a Hybrid Synergy Drive System that incorporates a 1.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine and a permanent magnet AC synchronous electric motor that produces a net 99 horsepower (HP) and 125 foot pounds of torque. The Prius C is front-wheel-drive (FWD) and uses an electronically controlled Continuously Variable Transmission (ECVT).

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