The weirdly-named Cee’d is probably Kia’s best car right now. Even weirder is that Kia’s GCC dealers, in all their wisdom, chose to launch the Mohave as quickly as possibly here instead of the Cee’d. The hatchback has been selling elsewhere for a while now, and Kia has now developed a hybrid version, as is all the rage right now. It will be displayed at the 2008 Paris Auto Show.
Lotus, the company that pimps out their engineering expertise to the highest bidder, has done it again. They’ve handed over their Lotus Europa to Chrysler, and the result is the Dodge EV, a sports car that looks exactly like its Lotus counterpart, but comes with a hybrid-electric engine. Alongside the Dodge EV, Chrysler has also introduced near-production hybrid versions of the Jeep Wrangler and the Chrysler Grand Voyager.
Saab is going to show a soft-top version of an earlier concept car at the 2008 Paris Auto Show. Dubbed the Saab 9-X Air BioHybrid Concept, it offers a look as the future of Swedish car design.
Petrol-electric hybrid cars have caught on the West, thanks to high fuel prices. Mercedes-Benz has just revealed their first ever hybrid model, dubbed the S 400 BlueHYBRID.
To celebrate 100 years of General Motors as a company, the electric 2011 Chevrolet Volt was finally revealed. Though the technology under the skin is not ready yet, this will be how the production version of the car will look when it finally reaches showrooms.
Indian conglomerate Tata, makers of the controversial Nano and owners of two British marques, has introduced an all-electric version of their Indian-market Indica V2 hatchback. The kicker is that this Indica EV will be ready for production by 2009.
If you keep track of the American car market, you’ll know that the four-door Toyota Prius is a seriously popular car there, since its launch a decade ago. Being a hybrid, it runs on a petrol engine which shuts off to use electric power as much as possible, and it generates this electric power simply from energy released during braking. Honda also had its own hybrid car a decade ago, called the Insight, which was cancelled by 2006 since it was a two-door hatchback and wasn’t as popular. Now Honda has revived the Insight nameplate for their latest hybrid,
While it was all but ignored at the 2007 Dubai Motor Show, the Chevrolet Volt has been doing rounds of international auto shows in concept form, and is set for release in 2010. As brash as the deadline is, the Volt is a game-changing car, designed to run purely on electricity from on-board lithium-ion batteries for up to 64 km, enough for commuting to work, while charging the batteries overnight every day. Also, with the use of a small petrol engine driving a generator to resupply the batteries, the Volt’s range is potentially increased to 580 km on the highway.
Honda is displaying the OSM concept sports car at the ongoing British Auto Show. OSM stands for “Open Study Model,” and it is supposed to be an idea for a low-emissions roadster.
I figured I should go over Dubai’s heavily-hyped hybrid taxis a bit more, considering the general media is happy just reprinting press releases. Operated by the much-loved Road & Transport Authority (RTA), the cars — five Chevy Malibu Hybrids and five Chevy Tahoes Hybrids — are beginning their one-year trial to see if they survive the Middle Eastern heat and whether they actually save any fuel in this publicity stunt.