So what’s it like driving a gas-electric Mercedes Benz that costs as much as four Toyota Prius hybrids? Pretty sweet, actually. Popular Mechanics spent some time behind the wheel of the new S 400 Hybrid and walked away impressed. The car is noteworthy for being the first hybrid Benz and the first production hybrid to use a lithium ion battery.   Mercedes outfitted an extensively modified S 350 (not available in the states) with a 20 horsepower electric motor mounted between the

The muscle cars that fueled automotive passion in the 1960s were wildly popular because high performance is both fun and addicting. What if a car company could capture those same emotions and sensations in a package that makes no excuses for its environmental impact ... a vehicle that doesn't sacrifice performance for green credentials that literally screams, "drive me?" Meet Chrysler's latest concept vehicle, the Dodge ZEO. ZEO stands for Zero Emissions Operation. Where premium gasoline once

If you hang around long enough, there’s a pretty good likelihood that ideas will resurface in new and interesting ways. Such is the case at Genovation Cars of Rockville, Maryland (www.genovationcars.com). Under the direction of founder, president, and CEO Andrew Saul, Genovation Cars aims to give new life to pre-owned 2000-2004 Ford Focus sedans, wagons, and hatchbacks, doing away with their internal combustion powertrains and replacing them with electric drive components. The conversion, called the

Last week, we heard a report that Toyota had received 75,000 pre-orders for the new third-generation Prius. Today, the day that the new iconic hybrid goes on sale in its home country, Toyota says that the number is actually 80,000. Not bad for a new car in this time of economic questions. Having a popular hybrid at a time like this certainly is not a bad thing for an auto company. Of course, selling the car at a lower price than originally expected (thank you, Honda Insight) and $3,000 less than the previous generation model helps make it attractive to

For the past few months, we've been running a weekly series on TuningTruckGreen called Greenlings. Now that the archive has been built up a bit, it's time to formally introduce the series to you, explain what it's about and invite you to help us out. The idea behind Greenlings is to step aside from the daily news rush and investigate an alternative-fueled car/envirnomental issue that maybe isn't totally obvious for someone who isn't as into the green scene as we are. For example, we recently asked "Can I run a car on natural gas?" and

Daimler Truck North America's Freightliner division has collaborated with Eaton to produce the first hybrid truck for hazardous material transport. The first Freightliner Business Class M2e is going to propane distribution company Pennington Gas Service. Freightliner has been offering the Eaton hybrid system for other applications for some time and gas company owner Keith Pennington wanted a more environmentally friendly alternative for his fleet. The hybrid system developed by Eaton is a parallel type that adds electric drive and regenerative braking to

British company Controlled Power Technologies (CPT) has announced the development of a belt-driven Integrated Starter Generator (B-ISG) that provides stop-start functionality. CPT claims that it suited for both gasoline and diesel engines, up to 3 and 2.5 liters respectively. CPT's SpeedStart device uses a liquid cooled switched reluctance (SR) electrical machine, coupled to power electronics, and is contained in a single housing. The unit is sold as a "very robust production-ready plug-and-play component." It also uses regenerative braking to recharge the car's battery. While

Want to know more about the solar moonroof option that's available on the latest third-generation Toyota Prius for 2010? Read on. According to Tech-On from Nikkei newspaper in Japan, the actual polycrystalline Si cells used by the automaker are supplied by Kyocera and are arranged in six columns and six rows. These 36 cells are about 16.5-percent efficient and reportedly generate over 50 watts of power, which is sufficient to directly power an electric fan that helps keep the cabin cool when the car isn't running. Toyota's first design apparently sent power to a