Autoblog

Up until now, the Fisker Karma hasn't really been much more than a pretty face to go along with a promise. That changes today, thanks to a spy photographer who was lucky enough to catch the upcoming plug-in hybrid sedan out testing in California. Lawsuits often seem to have a dampening effect on enthusiasm, so it's good to see the Karma out and about. We can clearly see that the body is the same shape as what we all saw at its introduction earlier this year in Detroit. What we don't know yet is what's powering those shapely curves down the road. The first inclination from Autocar is that a Volkswagen 1.4-liter four-banger will provide power to the lithium ion batteries via a generator, but we really can't be sure what's being tested. Still, given the amount of electric know-how that Quantum Technologies, the electric powertrain supplier to Fisker, already has, we wouldn't be too surprised if something close to final-spec components were being run through their paces.

UPDATE: For what it's worth, these photos were not captured by a photographer hiding in the bushes. They were apparently actually put out by Fisker's Beverly Hills PR agency Rogers & Cowan. We still don't know anything about the mechanicals of the car in question, only that Fisker is trying to generate some buzz.

[Source: Autocar via AutoblogGreen, Autoweek]

Man, the dangers of the new automotive world: confusing ethanol for biodiesel and kids hitting the silent Prius. Over in London, a new electric taxi is not going to be worth it to 60 percent of the cab drivers who need more oomph than the 100-mile range the batteries can provide. Still, that means 40 percent could use it. Sweet.

• We're telling you for the last time, ethanol is not biodiesel
• Minnesota boy rides bike into Prius he didn't hear
• Stillborn: French gas stations chain stops selling E85
• Audi and Sanyo developing hybrids together
• Battery-powered 1994 minivan cost $6,000, runs 20-25 miles
• Altairnano still in the game for Phoenix Motorcars
• Toyota gives $400,000 to UC Santa Barbara to fund eco fellowships
• Ford is the first carmaker to join the Climate Registry
• Volkswagen TSI engine wins its category again for Engine of the Year
• TX4E electric taxi will only appeal to some London cabbies
• Ten new public electron dispensers pop up in London
• Volvo shows off new FlexiFuel range, including V70 police car
• Fiat to introduce natural gas fueled Palio in India
• South Dakota lawmaker wants cellulosic ethanol to count towards RFS
• Venture funds flowing into Firefly for advanced batteries
• Prius wins JD Power award for highest consumer satisfaction in U.K.
• Altairnano releases 1st Q earning report, holds conference call

WHY USE BATTERIES IF FLYWHEELS WILL DO?

Formula One could be on to something big. Next year all teams will be allowed to capture the energy that their cars produce under braking, and then re-use that energy at opportune moments, like passing on a straight.

It's really a hybrid system, but they don't call it that. They call it a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).

The best part of the new regulations is that they do not specify what kind of regenerative energy system the teams have to use. It seems pretty likely that Toyota and Honda will go with a battery-electric hybrid system, since that's the kind of technology they sell in their showrooms. But Formula One is also going to become the testing grounds for a completely different kind of hybrid system that does not use batteries.

John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers. Follow the jump to continue reading this week's editorial.

Click on the image above for our Toyota Prius gallery

When an eight-year-old boy on a bicycle gets hit by a car while riding in the middle of the street, the blame often points directly at the youth. However, if the car in question just happens to be a quiet hybrid-electric... there just may be reason to accuse the vehicle.

Last weekend, a youthful Owen Erickson was riding his two-wheeler with a friend when he was struck by a Toyota Prius and tossed onto the hood of the popular hybrid. Thankfully, he was unhurt. His mother, however, was quick to place some of the blame on the "totally silent" Prius, claiming her son never heard it coming. As a scapegoat, the hybrid-electric vehicle is taking more than its fair share of heat. Two years ago, we blogged about the silent danger of hybrids. Earlier this year, Maryland launched a study, and passed legislation aimed at vehicle noise levels (more specifically, the "lack of" audible decibels), citing a legitimate concern for the blind. Just last month, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives to study whether or not a "minimum sound level" needs to be established for these highly-efficient silent runners.

We obviously haven't "heard" the end of this hybrid-electric argument as it begins to gain momentum around the country. Whether future Prius models are equipped with blaring sirens or not, we do know that Moms will still need to teach their children to not play in the middle of the street. Thanks for the tip, Tyler!

[Source: KARE 11]

How's this for an idea: add a plug-in hybrid conversion kit to the outside of your car. Sound good? It's called the Poulsen hybrid and it's in the running for the Auto X Prize. Other cool news from the battery-powered vehicle world is more info about the electric Triac, which also might come in truck form. We'll need these options if the predicted $200 oil "Super Spike" happens in the next six months. Shudder.

• 20,000 people express email interest in buying a Chevy Volt
• Who else thinks the Poulsen hybrid is the sleeper team to win the X Prize?
• More details on the electric Triac emerge + new truck?
• $200 oil "Super Spike" within 6 months?
• Earthrace update: biodiesel flood not too much a problem in Atlantic crossing
• New Ford 6 speed automatic bumps Escape mileage 4-6 percent
• Fiat replaces water with special wax
• Ford wins brownfield revitalization award for Fairlane Green
• Tesla's European lessons
• Electric vehicle company RTEV focusing on battery-powered ATVs
• Are Hypermilers a menace on the road?
• Hybrids could get a boost in China with tax changes
• Chrysler must be happy to keep holding onto GEM
• A123 Systems gets $12.5 million PHEV battery deal from USABC
• Ann Arbor, MI kicks off 4th annual Curb Your Car Month
• Mascoma scores another $10m, this time from Marathon Oil
• German transmission builder ZF producing hybrid motors for Mercedes
• Chelsea Sexton gets a biodiesel-powered makeover
• Greenpeace: Carbon capture is not going to save our climate

The Naturmobil is here. What is the Naturmobil (previously known as the Naturcar)? Why, it's a hybrid vehicle with some real horsepower. As in, it has a horse inside. The lengths some people will go... On the more normal side of the coin, the good news for American TDI fans, the first new VW Jetta TDIs are now on the way to dealers stateside. And Chrysler's plan to sell more cars by offering a gas price guarantee sure got people's attention - just not the kind everybody wants.

• First new VW Jetta TDIs now in transit to U.S. dealers
• Iranian engineer creates 1hp bio-fuel powered hybrid, the Naturmobil
• Pininfarina to unveil its electric car this Autumn
• Phoenix Motorcars to use Electrovaya batteries?
• Iowa's doing that cheap E85 thang again
• China's ethanol market expected to double
• Didn't take long: Chrysler's $2.99 gas guarantee draws critics
• Ethanol powered chopper from Cadillac to be shown in LA
• Clean Green Cars suggests partnership for a sensible Congestion Charge
• Peterbilt unveils new hydraulic hybrid garbage truck
• Aspen, CO police audition Toyota Highlander Hybrid patrol car
• Chrysler thinks $2.99/gallon is good, guarantees it to new buyers for 3 years
• Hyundai to get half of MPG improvement from powertrains
• Big luxury SUVs are "bulldozers" against the earth with biodiesel
• Odysseus: a Z-shaped solar aircraft, built for DARPA
• Coke, bottlers growing hybrid fleets
• More information on GM's new light duty diesel V-8
• Collected for your ease of use: 104 eco-driving tips
• PSA goes further in downsizing engines
• Angus MacKenzie loves diesels!

Trying to choose a crossover hybrid? You have two choices: the Saturn Vue or the Ford Escape. AutoblogGreen has taken a look at both of these and you can read the reviews by clicking on the names of the CUVs above. Meanwhile, the gas tax holiday debate continues. Oh, and what's one alternative to high gas prices in India? Camels.

• In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Saturn Vue hybrid
• High gas prices spur demand for camels in India
• Gas tax debate continues unabated, Hillary tries to defend herself
• Tender Scarlette gets her sales groove on
• Audi chief: Electric car in 5 - 10 years
• Daimler fuel cell buses turn over 2 millionth kilometer
• Ohio refuses to license electric 3-wheelers
• Continental announces new piezo injector that makes diesels even cleaner
• New $100 million X-Prizes created to spur development of clean energy
• Toyota Camry Hybrid production in Australia now likely
• 99 g/km CO₂ Fiesta coming "soon" to Europe
• Blue Sun Biodiesel moves headquarters to LEED certified building
• Mexican crude oil supplies to U.S. to be cut back by 184,000 bpd
• Urban cabs, hybrid pedal power rickshaws, arrive in Paris
• Ford wonders what a modern-day Model T might be like (hint, it's an EV)
• Toyota Prius price climbs $400, other Toyota/Lexus models see similar increases
• EV race day at Tsukuba circuit in Japan
• Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel to be shown at Eden Sexy Green Car Show
• Satellite-based road tax in the Netherlands in 2011
• VIDEO: Jason's big Tesla adventure
• Ludacris And Tommy Lee hawk greasy food to make biofuels
• Speed-control radars blown up in France
• Wheat being touted in western Canada for ethanol

Click above for more high-res images of the Tesla Roadster

The Tesla Roadster is like the gorgeous girlfriend that loves football, tunes a hotrod in her spare time, and doesn't believe in celebrating anniversaries and birthdays. The Roadster is a beautiful car, it runs on exhaust-free plug power, and it's already primed for more power. A Norwegian specialty car importer is quoting the Euro Tesla's power at or over 300 hp, with a 13,000 rpm redline and a single speed transmission.

Our man Sam tells us that the above is likely to come courtesy of drivetrain 1.5, which will be available later in the Tesla's production run. The revised gearbox drops a gear, adds an upgraded power electronics module, and provides better cooling. It seems the hype machine that is the Tesla Roadster is beginning to heat up, and more power will only make us want the green little drop-top more.


[Source: Autoblog Green]

Audi has been quietly going about the business of preparing its lineup for a green future, with cleaner and more efficient diesels in Europe, and oil-burners scheduled for the US in the near future. While the German automaker realizes diesel will be big in the next 10 years, it's also planning for life without emissions. Audi exec Rupert Stadler says the four-ringed automaker is primed to offer an electric vehicle in the next five to ten years. Meanwhile, Audi's German competition has been talking up its green position, but Stadler points out that the Volkswagen-owned brand has more research resources to exercise its options.

With the emissions belt being tightened both here in the US and in Europe, every automaker is going to have to make huge changes to its vehicles to stay in the game, and Audi is no different. We're going to be the big winners during these changing times, and while a battery-powered R8 won't sound as good as its petrol-powered twin, we like the idea of plugging in our sports car instead of filling it with gas every few days.

[Source: Reuters]

The first Tesla Motors store has a party, GM might be working on the second E-Flex vehicle already, and Aptera is busy crushing cars. In short, a busy time if you're a car company trying to get some eco-friendly wheels to market. Here's the weekend that was on AutoblogGreen:

• GM already working on second E-Flex vehicle for Opel (and Saturn?)
• What will Ken Livingstone's defeat mean for London Congestion charge?
• Aptera crushing lots of its cars
• GM CEO Wagoner declares that EVs must be affordable to the masses
• Hybrid sales at GM looking slightly less barren in April
• VIDEO: Tesla Motors store-opening party
• Jason Calacanis borrows Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster
• Nissan to trial "sexy" electric cars in London and California by 2010?
• Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium introduces light-electric vehicle
• New hints that all-electric BMW iSetta is on the way
• VIDEO: Take a guided tour of the Aptera factory
• Does Simon Cowell own the least eco-friendly fleet of cars in the world?
• It's Friday: Lucky guy trades cucumbers for a Fiat
• Penny-pinching Seth Green happy with his Prius purchase

More headlines after the jump.