Volkswagen to build 270 mpg XL1
The XL1's showstopping 270 miles per U.S. gallon (or about 0.87 L/100 km) rating is achieved via groundbreaking aerodynamics, the use of lightweight materials and a gas-electric, plug-in hybrid powerplant that marries an 800 cc two-cylinder diesel engine and an electric motor rated for a combined 74 horsepower. Yet, VW says the XL1 needs just 8.3 hp to drive steadily at 100 km/h. 
Confirmed for Europe, VW hasn't said if the XL1 will come to North America. 
I think the Italian automaker doesn't quite understand the concept of 'lowering the carbon footprint'.
Fastest Ferrari ever unveiled, and it's a hybrid
Ferrari unveiled today at the Geneva Motor Show the replacement for the Enzo, a nearly 1000 hp. gas-electric hybrid dubbed LaFerrari.
The 499 buyers of the limited-edition supercar will get what Ferrari says is its fastest car ever: 0-62 mph in less than 3 seconds, 0-124 in less than 7 seconds, 0-186 mph in 15 seconds.
Ferrari did not disclose the price, expected well north of $1 million, but Sergio Marchionne, CEO of parent Fiat, has said it already is sold out.
Saw this article, and thought it'd be perfect for this thread.
Rennholz Vehicle Concept :: Powered by Bosch (Cordless Drill)
Back to the garden now - see ya all later. 
In Amsterdam there are electric "filling stations" by roadways. The cars that use them carry around a cord wit a HUGE electric plug.
I got to ride in a Tesla the other day. It was very cool - so quiet!
I drove an electric Golf in Germany, and was quite impressed with its performance.
I think the Italian automaker doesn't quite understand the concept of 'lowering the carbon footprint'.
Fastest Ferrari ever unveiled, and it's a hybrid
Ferrari unveiled today at the Geneva Motor Show the replacement for the Enzo, a nearly 1000 hp. gas-electric hybrid dubbed LaFerrari.
The 499 buyers of the limited-edition supercar will get what Ferrari says is its fastest car ever: 0-62 mph in less than 3 seconds, 0-124 in less than 7 seconds, 0-186 mph in 15 seconds.
Ferrari did not disclose the price, expected well north of $1 million, but Sergio Marchionne, CEO of parent Fiat, has said it already is sold out.
Actually FIAT does get it. It's a leader in small engine technology, and their electric 500 is more than just a novelty, and is competitive with rival electric vehicles of it's class.
I've been having an on again/off again debate with an engineering friend regarding the environmental benefits (or lack thereof) of electric cars and he just sent me this.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/unclean-at-any-speed
[b]Unclean at Any SpeedElectric cars don’t solve the automobile’s environmental problems[/b][i]snip ...[/i]
The idea of electrifying automobiles to get around their environmental shortcomings isn’t new. Twenty years ago, I myself built a hybrid electric car that could be plugged in or run on natural gas. It wasn’t very fast, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t safe. But I was convinced that cars like mine would help reduce both pollution and fossil-fuel dependence.
I was wrong.
I’ve come to this conclusion after many years of studying environmental issues more deeply and taking note of some important questions we need to ask ourselves as concerned citizens. Mine is an unpopular stance, to be sure. The suggestive power of electric cars is a persuasive force—so persuasive that answering the seemingly simple question “Are electric cars indeed green?” quickly gets complicated.
As with most anything else, the answer depends on whom you ask. Dozens of think tanks and scientific organizations have ventured conclusions about the environmental friendliness of electric vehicles. Most are supportive, but a few are critical. For instance, Richard Pike of the Royal Society of Chemistryprovocatively determined that electric cars, if widely adopted, stood to lower Britain’s carbon dioxide emissions by just 2 percent, given the U.K.’s electricity sources. Last year, a U.S. Congressional Budget Office study found that electric car subsidies “will result in little or no reduction in the total gasoline use and greenhouse-gas emissions of the nation’s vehicle fleet over the next several years.”
Others are more supportive, including the Union of Concerned Scientists. Its 2012 report [PDF] on the issue, titled “State of Charge,” notes that charging electric cars yields less CO2 than even the most efficient gasoline vehicles. The report’s senior editor, engineer Don Anair, concludes: “We are at a good point to clean up the grid and move to electric vehicles.”
[i]snip ...[/i]
So how do you gauge the environmental effects of electric cars when the experts writing about them all seem to be unquestioned car enthusiasts? It’s tough. Another impediment to evaluating electric cars is that it’s difficult to compare the various vehicle-fueling options. It’s relatively easy to calculate the amount of energy required to charge a vehicle’s battery. It isn’t so straightforward, however, to compare a battery that’s been charged by electricity from a natural-gas-fired power plant with one that’s been charged using nuclear power. Natural gas requires burning, it produces CO2, and it often demands environmentally problematic methods to release it from the ground. Nuclear power yields hard-to-store wastes as well as proliferation and fallout risks. There’s no clear-cut way to compare those impacts. Focusing only on greenhouse gases, however important, misses much of the picture.
[i]snip ...[/i]
... most electric-car assessments analyze only the charging of the car. This is an important factor indeed. But a more rigorous analysis would consider the environmental impacts over the vehicle’s entire life cycle, from its construction through its operation and on to its eventual retirement at the junkyard.
One study attempted to paint a complete picture. Published by the National Academies in 2010 and overseen by two dozen of the United States’ leading scientists, it is perhaps the most comprehensive account of electric-car effects to date. Its findings are sobering.
[i]snip ...[/i]
It’s worth noting that this investigation was commissioned by the U.S. Congress and therefore funded entirely with public, not corporate, money. As with many earlier studies, it found that operating an electric car was less damaging than refueling a gasoline-powered one. It isn’t that simple, however, according to Maureen Cropper, the report committee’s vice chair and a professor of economics at the University of Maryland. “Whether we are talking about a conventional gasoline-powered automobile, an electric vehicle, or a hybrid, most of the damages are actually coming from stages other than just the driving of the vehicle,” she points out.
[i]etc ...[/i]
