Plug-in Prius demoed today in London

 

 Here's a piece from one of my old favorites, Engadget:

If you've been hoping to get your hands around the wheel of one of those eco-friendly plug-in Priuses (Priuii?), maybe it's time to bite the bullet and finally move to the UK... just like you've been telling all your friends you're going to do one of these days. According to a report, Toyota is gearing up for the first trials of the ultra-high-MPG car starting tomorrow at an event in London's Hyde Park. An invite mailed to select members of the media (British media, we assume) states: "the purpose of our UK trial is to evaluate not only vehicle performance, but also the electrical infrastructure required, as well as driver behaviour and expectations. The results will play a key role in preparing for the future commercialisation of Plug-in Hybrid technology." So if you've ever wanted to watch one of these planet-huggers race silently around a British landmark, here's your chance.

Chevy Volt ready for its big screen debut as an Autobot!

Out in Long Beach, California, they are shooting footage for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Besides Ironhide, the GMC Topkick C6500 that gets about 6 mpg was a welcome addition from Chevy, the Volt.

It's not that far from the original concept seen in this video. A poll on the site gm-volt.com shows that 65% actually prefer the production version over the concept version.

The cool thing about the Volt is that it's a plug-in hybrid that goes up to 40 miles on a charge (half the range of the EV1), but also has a "range extender", which is basically a small combustion engine used to generate a charge for the batteries bringing it's distance to 360 miles per fill up. We're not expected to see it until the end of 2009. Expect 10,000 units for 2010 and upwards of 60,000 units for 2011! The price tag is a moving target, but I'd be willing to bet it will settle at $38,995 when it's all said and done.

Here's the original video. About halfway though is where the Volt shows up. She looks pretty roadworthy.

Smart to bring the electric version in 2010

Treehugger got "first dibs" on this story that reveals the 2010 Electric Smart. It's a move that we should have seen a long time ago, but with technology moving so fast I can understand the reason for the hold up. No one wants to be financially committed to a technology when a newer, better and cheaper technology is right around the corner. The only thing hold ME up is the reported $30,000 price tag! Maybe I'd better wait for the Yo Smart electric.

Tom Hanks touts his E-Box

This video is from a year ago, but it shows how stoked Tom Hanks is with his E-Box electric car. It's essentially a Scion with a battery in place of an engine. Seems to have pretty good specs with a minimum 100 mpc (miles per charge) and all the comforts of a good ol' car.

Tom talked about it more with Dave Letterman back in 2007 (Video). Here's a press release with all the specs on the E-Box. The only real down side for most of us is the near $80,000 price tag. Ouch! Of course the more that sell to celebs at high dollar help to make them affordable in the future for people like me. You go Tom!