These cars are going to be rolled out according to specific regions. They will start with California and go on to the other states. Although this is just the beginning as more and more of these cars are going to be seen in the market. There are several hybrid cars that are in the making as well. This could be the kind that has electric power and can be operated using larger batteries as well. Manufacturers are designing new age cars to keep up with the demand from their customers. There are actually 27 hybrid cars in the market at the moment such as the BMW 7 series, the Mercedes S class, the Toyota Prius and Lexus LS.

German car makers are in the fore front of the making of hybrid cars and those with diesel ruining capacity so as to harm the environment as less as possible. So if you want to respect our environment, you should definitely buy one of these modern hybrid cars. To cut the costs you could purchase it in Germany yourself, but you’ll still need a good car insurance policy in your hometown!

The options when it comes to hybrid vans is that there aren’t any. There are currently no hybrid vans available on the market. One would have thought that vans would have been amongst the first vehicles to receive a hybrid engine since they tend to use the most fuel of any passenger vehicle. This is especially true of the minivan which is used almost exclusively by families. Minivans owners are the kind of people who are usually most sensitive to the price of fuel. It is strange that the manufacturers have not chosen to put a hybrid in a van.

The fact that there are no hybrid vans is made doubly strange by the fact that there are so many hybrid SUV’s. Vans and SUV’s normally have the same chassis and drive train it is usually just the body that is different. The fact that there are so many hybrid SUV’s available and no vans is hard to understand. If they are already building SUV’s with hybrid engines it is quite an easy matter for them to build vans with them as well.

Hybrid vans don’t appear to be too likely to appear on the market anytime soon as a van leasing option. The Toyota Estima is a hybrid van that the company has sold in Japan for a few years now. There is pressure on the company to make the van available in the United States but this seems unlikely to happen. There is a petition going around in an attempt to get Toyota to make the van available. In fact the opposite has happened and the van is no longer being sold in Japan. The reason for this isn’t clear but it isn’t a good sign for the hybrid van market. The only other hybrid van likely to come to market in the near future is a hybrid version of the Mercedes Sprinter. Mercedes are currently testing a hybrid version but when or if it comes to market remains to be seen.

The lack of a hybrid van on the market is hard to explain. There is clearly a demand for it as shown by the petition to have the Estima made available in the US. And it should be fairly easy for the manufacturers to build one since vans share much in common with SUV’s, of which there are many hybrids on the market. The only way a hybrid van is likely to come on the market is if it is made clear to the manufacturers that there is an overwhelming demand for them.

The i10 Electric is expected to be sale in Korea by 2010 and is powered by a 49kW electric motor depending on a 16kWh battery. This EV can go on a single charge for 99 miles and has a highway friendly speed of 81mph.

The i10 Electric will have a limited run with the first units going to government agencies, utility firms, and state corporations. Sales to the public will eventually come but the details and date have not yet been revealed by Hyundai.

The other vehicle which will be on spotlight will be the Hyundai ix-Metro which is a hybrid concept. The car will have an impressive 80g/km of carbon dioxide emission and is aiming for the sub-B segment of the European market. The vehicle will be powered by a three-cylinder engine with 1.3L displacement. The hybrid power plant will be coupled with a dual clutch six-speed gearbox. The ix-Metro was designed by another Korean based firm Global Design Team.

Hyundai will also feature other high technology vehicles during the auto show in Frankfurt. The list includes the hybrid plug-in Blue Will and the Elantra LPI.

It appears Hyundai is moving quick with the hybrid and EV technology. There maybe a clear cut plan how they want to perform in the advanced vehicle segment.

The hybrid engine in the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid is the same one used in the GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrids (which latter was voted the 2008 Green Car of the Year by the Green Car Journal). It’s a system that allows the Escalade to offer roughly the same fuel economy whether it’s on the open highway, or in stop-and-go city traffic.

Under the Hood

Specifically, the Escalade Hybrid has a 332-horsepower, 6.0-liter V8 engine that includes cylinder deactivation technology, allowing the engine to run on four cylinders in certain conditions. It’s mated to an electrically variable four-gear transmission and a 300-volt battery pack. It’s two-mode hybrid system allows the vehicle to accelerate on electric power alone from both cruising and full stop, with the gasoline engine kicking in to add supplementary power. As with most hybrids, the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid captures energy during braking, and stores it in the battery pack to be used later. Cadillac says this combination will allow the Escalade Hybrid to achieve city fuel economy of about 18 mpg, which isn’t terribly impressive for hybrid cars, though it is a significant improvement over the 12 mpg achieved by the gas-only version.

Where the Hybrid falls behind the gas-only Escalade is in towing. Properly equipped, the rear-wheel drive hybrid can pull up to 6,000 pounds and the four-wheel drive hybrid maxes out at 5,700 pounds, while the gas-only version can tow up to 7,700 pounds.

Inside the Escalade Hybrid

The interior of the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid is essentially the same as that of the regular version, with a few hybrid-specific features added. One of these is the additional gauge that monitors the vehicle’s efficiency.

The cabin provides seating for up to eight people in three rows – the second row is a bench, like the third, and comes in two colors, cashmere and ebony, with leather seats the standard. Cargo space behind the back row totals 16.9 cubic feet.

Safety features of the Escalade Hybrid are fairly standard, and include side-curtain airbags for all three rows, an electronic stability system, and anti-lock brakes.

Exterior View

The body of the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid has no appreciable differences from the gas-only version, unless you count the myriad Hybrid badges that appear on the C-Pillars, lift-gate, and front fenders. It comes standard with 22-inch chrome wheels, and a power lift-gate.

The MSRP of the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid ranges $73,135 to $87,435.

The three new vehicles will be under a new brand, the BlueMotion Technologies. The range of cars under the umbrella will primarily be products that have low carbon dioxide emissions and efficient fuel consumption.

The BlueMotion Technologies will represent evolving solutions and systems that are still on the works like regenerative braking, stop-start system, hybrid systems, and electric drives.

The Passat BlueMotion features a start-stop system that passes the Euro-5 standards. The power plant of the new gen Passat BlueMotion can output 109 horsepower and has a mileage of 48 mpg. This car features lightweight wheels made from flow-formed steel.

The Blue TDI will be the first of its kind launched by Volkswagen. This car is set to meet the Euro-6 standards that will take effect in 2014. The car is equipped with an SCR catalytic converter to minimize harmful emissions to 80mg/km. Production will be ramping up as early as March. The Blue TDUI has a 2.0L engine that has an output of 141 horsepower. Mileage is at 45 mpg.

The TSI Ecofuel is scheduled for roll out early of 2009. The 148 horsepower engine is equipped with turbo and supercharge. These enable it to zoom from 0 to 100 km.h in just 9.7 seconds. The engine is coupled with a 7-speed transmission. A 4.4 kilogram load of natural gas can bring the car 100 kilometers from the starting point.

For more Volkswagen car news – check out Volkswagen Talk!

I haven’t been able to find exact prices of this car yet but I’m sure it’ll be aggressive too.

A little more info about this Fisker Automotive Super Saloon Hybrid can be found on Wheeltronix.