After a quick breathalyzer test at 11:30 am, we were granted access for a spin in Ford’s upcoming escape. Overall, we came away impressed with the drive but curious about the plug-in’s price will be set at for the 2012 model year. Will it be higher than the seemingly inferior Chevy Volt? Ford’s being tight lipped ’bout it probably while it surveys the every-increasing plug-in market. After driving it around the basement of the Cobo Arena, we can tell you that it’s a hell of a ride. Smooth and super-duper quiet. Well done, Ford. Well done. Video after the break. → Read More
Honda recently unveiled the second generation Honda Insight and we spend sometime with the Prius-look alike. The interior has a futuristic look that you know was done on a budget thanks to the cheap plastic. The dash cluster is not only fun, but functional, with the tach center located and the speedo housed alone above the main instruments. The radio and HVAC controls continues the plastic and functional feel but keep in mind this hybrid has a EPA mileage estimates of 40 mpg city, 43 highway, and 41 combined for less than the Prius so high-quality material probably wasn’t a top priority. Photo gallery after the jump. → Read More
Plug-in electric vehicles might, one day, be a big hit but the Poulsen Hybrid kit will allow compact car owners a piece of the action early. The upgrade works by incorporating two electric motors on each of the drive shaft-equipped wheels in a moon rover-type fashion. (FWD or RWD compatible) These motors do not drive the wheels entirely but rather provides an extra gas saving boost while traveling between 15 and 60mph. The makers claim that a previously 30 mpg car transforms into a 50 mpgcar with the kit installed. Interested? The $4,550 kit gets you lead acid batteries or $8,600 for the lithium ion edition. → Read More
Let’s say that Congress refuses to give some of that bailout money to Detroit—does that effectively kill off electric cars like the Chevy Volt? That depends on who you’re talking to. → Read More
The Chevy Volt, Detroit’s answer to the Toyota Prius, just became a lot more advantageous, tax-wise. That is, of course, provided you can afford the $40,000 price in the first place. Tucked in that bailout package that Congress passed last week is a $4,000 tax credit for cars that have a 4 kWh (or greater) battery. Right now, the only car that meets that is the Volt. Such tax credits top out at $7,500. Not everyone has reacted positively to the news. Some see it as pork—Washington trying to bail out Detroit—and others don’t see how this benefits the average citizen. You’re talking about a $40,000 car (which isn’t exactly cheap) that saves you X amount per year on gasoline. (X amount depends on where you live.) Wouldn’t a less expensive hybrid be more cost effective for the average person? And I totally love how one of the commenters from Daily Tech’s post is all, “$7,500 to drive a Chevy? Not enough.” Not that I’ve ever driven a Chevy, but the cynicism made me snicker. → Read More
Working off of the post from earlier today concerning Lotus adding artificial engine noise to hybrid cars in the name of safety, we thought we might see how a few alternatives might work instead of the boring artificial car engine sound. → Read More
Some non-iPhone-related news for you! If you’ve ever used fluorescent bulbs, you know that they take a while to reach full brightness. This can be a bad thing in certain situations, like bathrooms. Sometimes you need the light fast and don’t want to wait around for it. Well, Panasonic came to the rescue with its announcement of the Pa-Look Fluorescent bulbs. The new bulb is a hybrid and provides instant bulb brightness. The way it works is simple, a Quick Lamp(i.e. a normal bulb) is in the center of the fluorescent coil and comes on right away. Then once the coil reaches full brightness, the “Quick Lamp” shuts off. This way you can still have the energy savings, without sacrificing that satisfying “instant-on” feel. If the two lamps differ very much in color temperature, though, it could be weird. → Read More
[photopress:scaled.IMG_1282.JPG,full,pp_image] Fans of the solar powered Solio chargers will be pleased to note that the new Magnesium model will now power your laptops iPods and other low-power goodies and the Hybrid has a dual charging method which includes solar and wall power. The Magnesium costs $199 and the Hybrid costs $79.99. You may now go back to your granola-making, hippie. [photopress:scaled.IMG_1284.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1285.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1283.JPG,thumb,pp_image] Product Page → Read More
It was bound to happen: the major studios are releasing videos in both formats and just letting the market shake things out — mostly in the direction of hybrid players. Ultimately, I think the question will become moot but until then, folks like Warner Bros (I Am Legend) and Universal (Charlie Wilson’s War) will release in both formats. I think the biggest decider will be Toshiba’s move to sell HD DVD players for $149, a little more than the Coby DVD players you can get at Wal-Mart. Seed the market with those and Sony — or someone like HUMAX — will concede and release hybrids at about $200 and we’ll never have to think about this ever again. Publishers say screw it, choose both in HD DVD vs Blu-ray war [Blorge] → Read More
Tesla motors, the company that gave us Roadster and EV1 super-fast all-electric cars, is planning a gas-electric hybrid soon. The car, called the Whitestar, should cost between $50,000 and $70,000 and will also come in an all-electric version. The car, called a REV (Range-extended Vehicle) will go considerably farther on one charge than the 150-200 mile range of the all-electric models. Tesla to make gas-electric car [News.com.com.com] → Read More
I use both OSX (Tiger, thank you) and Windows (XP, thank you) but that doesn’t mean I’m simply indecisive. There are some things each OS does better, and one of the things OSX has going for it is its for the most part excellent UI. If you don’t have the motivation or, more likely, the scrilla to switch over to a Mac, maybe these programs will help put a shine on Windows’ rougher interface. Check ‘em out below. → Read More
All seven of Helio’s EV-DO/WiFi hybrid PCMCIA card users are SOL. That’s a lot of acronyms that mean users of the wireless data cards that seamlessly switch from Helio’s high-speed data network to WiFi hotspots will have their service discontinued on May 8. We’re sad to see this go, as it was one of the more innovative plans Helio, our favorite MVNO, has come up with. While being a virtual network is hard, it gave Helio a distinction, which is now gone. Those paid through May 7 are welcome to keep their cards, those paid from the 8th and forward will be issued refunds or credits. Sorry, kids. I hate bringing you the bad news. Helio to Shut Down Hybrid [PhoneScoop] → Read More
Samsung has something interesting in the MH80-series laptop hard drives. As the industry starts turning its eyes towards NAND-based flash drives for portables instead of standard disc-based drives, Samsung has developed a hybrid that couples an 80-, 120-, or 160-GB standard hard disk with 128- to 256-MB NAND RAM in one physical drive. The flash-RAM portion acts as a super-buffer for read/write tasks; as information is pulled from the physical disc, it’s stored in the NAND, where it can be accessed without the physical discs need to spin constantly. Because the on-drive transfer is near instant, the NAND acts as a low-power, fast place for required information to “stand by” to be accessed, meaning the physical discs can be put to rest, saving precious battery power. This next-step in drive evolution is meant to work with Microsoft’s ReadyDrive, a little-used component of Vista that makes for rapid booting and shutdown. The drive should give performance increases to any laptop, though, no matter what operating system it’s running, and should be available early summer for not much more than what drives sell for now. → Read More
