The GS 450h will still follow the same pricing as the sibling it replaces but the RX450h will use a revised pricing which is now $485 higher fr the all wheel drive units and $675 for the front wheel drive models.

The RX 450h will feature the Hybrid Drive setup which utilizes the V6 with 3.5L displacement and two electric motors for the FWD units and the same engine plus three electric motors for the all wheel drive unit. The setup gives you a crossover that has a powerful V6 with a better fuel mileage.

According to the car manufacturer, the front wheel drive RX 450h has an estimated fuel efficiency of 28 miles per gallon on the highway and 32 mpg for city driving, or a combined fuel rating of 30 mpg. If you opt for the all wheel drive RX 450h, the efficiency hits 30 mpg on the city streets while going 28 mpg on the highway or a 29 mpg combined fuel rating.

If you think the hybrid sedan will suit you more, the GS 450h of Lexus will have a sticker price starting at $58,950 inclusive of destination charge. The power output of the hybrid sedan goes down a bit to 338 horsepower compared to 340HP of the older sibling it replaces but the fuel economy gains some good grounds.

The 2013 GS 450h goes for 29 miles per gallon on city driving and 34 mpg while on the highway or a combined rating of 31 mpg. These numbers makes it the most efficient ride in its class today. It is also tagged as a SULEV or a Super Low Emissions Vehicle.

The older version of the GS 450h had a mileage of 22 mpg and 25 mpg on city and highway driving, respectively. Comparing the fuel efficiency, the new brood of GS is about 32% better in terms of fuel efficiency on city streets and about 36% more efficient while cruising on the highway.

Next month, at the Chicago Auto Show, VW will be unveiling the eco-friendly Beetle. This will not be just a concept car but a retro styled VW Beetle with a TDI engine.

The carmaker sold cars with diesel engines before. For the New Beetle which was launched back in 1998, there were engine options running on diesel sold in several markets. There was even a diesel VW Beetle in the United States from 1999 thru 2006.

VW though dropped the turbodiesel option after the 2006 M.Y. After failing to meet strict regulations on emissions. So if you are a VW fan and a diesel fan, the come back of the Beetle with TDI engine is a very good news.

The return of the diesel dependent Beetle to the US though will be the roll out of a leaner, more powerful, and cleaner VW.

The specifics about the car has not yet been released by the car manufacturer but experts are assuming that this will be the same powerplant that gives a great fuel mileage to the 2012 Passat, 2012 Jetta, and the 2012 Golf.

Most likely the 2013 Beetle TD will have a 6-speed Direct Shift transmission and a 6-speed manual gearbox just like the current Golf TDI model.

We are sure VW will release more details as the Chicago Auto Show nears. We will update you by then.

The IIHS ratings are very important as it has been the basis of most car buyers, in addition to the ratings from the NHTSA or National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in recent years.

The title though only applies to Fiat 500 units which rolled out of the factories after July 2011. These Fiat 500 mini cars have received the modifications needed to make rear and frontal collisions a lot safer.

It is very rare for subcompacts to become the top pic for safety but the Ford Fiesta 2011 has also done it. To be considered as the safest car, the vehicle must receive the rating “good” for front, rear, side, and rollover road accident simulation tests. The vehicle must also have an stability control system in place but this is already a federal requirement since September of this year.

The test for front crashworthiness simulates an accident happening at 40 mph. You might be familiar with how this looks like as this has been shown on television and videos over the net on how the dummies with seat belts are affected by the collision.

The side crash test subject the car into a 31 mph ramming just like what happens when a mishap happens at an intersection when a driver ignores a red light.

The rear collision is simulated at 20 mph, and the crush test subjects the roof of the vehicle to four times its weight which what happens when the car rolls over violently.

To answer the rumors that were spreading all over the Internet, the marketing manager for Ford’s electric cars, David Finnegan, issued an email that was first published in their website.

According to Finnegan’s email, the company would focus on the California and New York markets during the first phase of their production. The Ford dealers in these areas would be the first ones to schedule the retail orders. Likewise, they will be the first two markets to receive the Focus Electric car. In the spring of 2012, the rest of the markets will follow through including Durham.

The American company already made an official statement answering to the rumors by stating that there would be no delays with the launch of the 2012 Focus Electric. The official Ford statement said that the California and New York markets getting the first taste of the new cars is part of their plan.
Moreover, the statement said that the initial delivery schedule for the 2012 Focus Electric towards the end of this year would push through.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nissan Leaf is the first mass-produced battery-electric car. Since the car is obviously emission free, it’s good for the environment. So maybe that’s where the polar bear, which is obviously threatened by the whole global warming issue, sets in. It has also been reported that Nissan Leaf is a cinch to drive, making you feel warm, comfortable, and maybe a little bit fuzzy. Thus, the polar bear again.

In the Nissan Leaf TVC, we see a massive polar bear making its way from the melting Arctic to the suburbs where a Nissan Leaf owner is preparing to drive off to work. The polar bear reaches to the man and gives him a big, warm, and fuzzy hug.

Like all controversial TVC, Nissan Leaf’s Polar Bear ad received conflicting reviews from experts on the field. The other side praise it, the other side bantered it vehemently.

Anyway, the 2013 Nissan Leaf will be launched in showrooms in selected areas later this year including Smyrna, Tennessee. With a new voice, that of Robert Downey, Jr. and a new tag line—Innovation for all—let’s hope that the Polar Bear along with other help the carmaker reach its target sales this year.

The Cygnet, a retrimmed and rebadged Toyota iQ of Aston Martin, will have a vital role as the car manufacturer tries to meet the stricter regulations on emissions.

The EU has come up with the standards for the allowable carbon dioxide average of vehicle fleets of carmakers. The Aston Martin Cygnet will allow the company to survive in their key European markets without having to alter the engineering of their range of sports cars nor do they have to go for a V8 instead of their V12s.

The Cygnet powered by a 1.3L 96 bhp engine will cut the CO2 emissions average of Aston Martin into half with an average of around 115g/km.

The European Union’s rule will take effect by 2012 and will have different stages spread into four years. Come 2012, 65% of a carmaker’s fleet must meet the set standards while moving forward to 100% by 2015.

Small-volume manufacturers like Bentley and Aston Martin which only has between 1,000 units to 10,000 units rolling out of their factories every year can go for two options. They can compute the CO2 emission average with the production of the bigger group which they belong to or like Aston Martin, which is not part of a bigger group, can stand alone.

EU will allow Aston to have a lower target than the set 130 g/km. The car manufacturer needs to negotiate with the EU. With the current aim of selling around 1500 Cygnets every year, Aston Martin might actually meet the goals but if the car industry rebounds increasing the number of sales to around 3,000 units, this will push them to do something about their other models.

These companies include Hyundai Motor, which is South Korea’s top electric vehicle seller; CT&T, another Korean electric vehicle manufacturer; Chan’an Automobile Group which is China’s third largest automobile manufacturer; Eaton Corp. which is an American components maker for commercial vehicles; and US car manufacturer General Motors.

Peter Bahnsuk Kim, the vice chairman of the South Korean company, stated the LG is anticipating the move of four more companies to get them as the primary supplier of batteries for their electric vehicles. By July of this year, LG Chem will also start the construction of an electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan, USA. This plant will be used to mass produce EV batteries which should meet the anticipated demand by 2012.

For Volvo, this deal reinstates the success of their electrification strategies. They plan to introduce a plug-in hybrid in 2012, and they’re also currently evaluating the viability of a fully-electric battery-powered vehicle.

South Korean Media also reported that the battery pack which will be provided by LG to Volvo will include battery management systems. With the leading European car manufacturer signing up with LG, the South Korean company establishes its niche in powering electronic vehicles globally.

The idea behind hydrogen as an alternative car fuel is actually not a complicated one. The basis of this alternative fuel is the fact that if hydrogen and oxygen come into contact with each other then a reaction occurs that results in heat, electricity, electrical charge and water. In order for a car to be powered with hydrogen, a fuel cell is required and this functions just as a battery would and supplies the power when it is needed.

The greatest advantage of hydrogen fuel is that it is extremely clean, because the only byproducts are water and heat. The efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells are also very high and already average around 50%, which is more than double of what a fossil fuel powered engine manages. The sources needed to run hydrogen powered vehicles are readily available and sustainable which means that once this technology becomes standard, it most likely will be a very low cost fuel.

It is possible to modify regular combustion engines so that hydrogen fuel can be used, however, there are still not many available sources for this fuel type and what can be found is still to expensive, which is one of the biggest disadvantages of Hydrogen. This is only because hydrogen powered cars are not yet mainstream. That should change in the near future, though.

Americans may just soon get a chance to get themselves behind the wheels of small premium cars like the Audi A1 minicar which is scheduled to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.

The Audi A1 have been previewed before in several auto shows the past years and we can say that the A1 is very similar to the MINI Cooper looking at the premium, small segment.

The A1 is expected to have a range of powertrains from 1.2 to 1.6L and may come as a convertible and a 3-door or 5-door hatchback.

The small premium car market has been doing very well in Europe. In the United States, premium and small might not really blend well. The North American market has a tendency to equate size with value and buying smaller vehicles is not how the consumers do business. Audi thinks this way of thinking can be change and they believe that their small cars have a market to supply in the U.S.

The carmaker is looking into the segment of buyers who are young, mobile, and urban. Audi believes this population is big enough to sell 80,000 units around on the globe on A1’s first year.

The numbers might be a hard target to hit but it is not impossible. Back in 2008, MINI Cars was close to selling 60,000 cars in the US during the first half of the year. In 2009, the MINI was able to sell 45,000 cars.

The MINI though has a loyalty factor and that’s what Audi needs to compete with if it wants to reach its goals and compete with BMW in the small car segment.

The ActiveHybrid X6 is the most powerful hybrid vehicle on the planet today. The hybrid boasts of 485 horsepower and an amazing torque of 575 ft-lb. The figures come as a combo of a 407hp V8 twin turbocharged 4.4L engine and a electric motors with 91 and 86hp.

We are not here to tell you about the specs of the hybrid but give you a glimpse of how it performs:

Performance

The ActiveHybrid X6 zooms from 0 to 62 miles per hour in just 5.6 seconds. This is at par with the xDrive 50i. The transmission of the vehicle worked like any other automatic transmission with the engine reacting well with the shifting and throttle very well.

If you will depend only on the battery pack, the vehicle can run for 1.6 miles and cruise at 37 mph.

Fuel Efficiency

During a test drive on mixed road conditions, the ActiveHybrid X6 averaged 20.4 miles. This performs better than any other BMW X6 running with a V8 coupled with six-speed transmission. Cruising on the freeway plotted 21 mpg. The overall efficiency is 20% better than any other X6 in BMW’s fleet.

Other factors like the looks, handling, and other accessories get two thumbs up. BMW succeeded in making a BMW hybrid that is non-hybrid.