These are the first official sketches of Mercedes-Benz's all-new Citan, which the German automaker describes as an 'urban delivery van'. The Citan will make its world premiere at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hannover this September and go on sale before the end of the year. In spite of the fact that Mercedes-Benz does not mention it in its press release, the automaker had previously revealed that the small van was developed in partnership with the Renault-Nissan alliance as part of their strategic collaboration, which includes several more projects such as the Twingo/Smart platform and powertrain cross-supply. 
The Citan broadens Mercedes-Benz's offerings in in the lower weight classes of the van market, which include the Vito (2.77 to 3.2 tons), Sprinter (3.0 to 5.0 tons) and Vario (6.0 to 8.2 tons). The German company said that the small van segment has picked up in sales these past couple of decades and has now grown to around 700,000 units in Europe alone. It added that it plans to gain a market share of four to five percent in this segment with the Citan, which equals to 28,000 to 35,000 units a year in Europe.
Infiniti has been trickling out information on the new sports car concept it plans to reveal at the 2012 Geneva Salon bit by bit these past couple of months. Today we learn that the electric sports car model will be called the "Emerge E". "The INFINITI EMERG-E will be the first car from the brand to have not only a range-extender drivetrain offering vivid performance with zero emissions capability but also one mounted in a mid-ship package for optimal handling," the company said in a short statement.
Approximately a year ago, Mercedes-Benz officially revealed plans to develop a fully-electric version of its SLS AMG supercar. Now, the German automaker has unveiled a prototype model of the car named "SLS AMG E-Cell".
On the E-Cell prototype, Stuttgart's engineers replaced the standard SLS AMG's 571HP 6.3-liter V8 petrol engine with four electric motors placed near the wheels effectively making it a four-wheel drive model. Mercedes notes that this solution substantially reduces the unsprung masses compared to wheel-hub motors.
The electric motors produce a combined output of 392kW or the equivalent of 526HP and a maximum torque of 880 Nm / 649 lb-ft, the latter available right from the start. One transmission per axle transmits the power.
Electric car partners Toyota Motor Corp. and Tesla Motors will develop battery-powered prototypes of the Japanese automaker's Toyota RAV4 and Lexus RX crossovers according to a news report from Businessweek citing "a person familiar with the matter". Toyota declined to confirm the models.
Earlier this month, a Tesla executive announced that the maker of the electric Roadster will deliver two EV prototypes to Toyota by the end of July, without providing any specific details about the cars.
With Tesla�s long anticipated Model S sedan still more than six months away, designers from all over the world have begun to speculate what will be next for the Silicon Valley-based automaker. 
One such design study is the Current by Maxim Ostapenko, a graduate of Pasadena, California�s Art Center College of Design.Essentially a four-door all-electric saloon car to compete with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series and Jaguar XF, the Tesla Current shares its design heritage with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz F800 Style and the Citroen Survolt concepts.
Daimler�s Car2go subsidiary has announced the introduction of the first all-electric carsharing fleet in North America. According to company, the plan calls for 300 zero-emission Smart ForTwo electric cars to arrive in the city of San Diego by the end of the year.
Last month, Nobuhiro �Monster� Tajima broke his own record at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a sub 10 minutes time in a 910-horsepower modified Suzuki SX4 racecar. Now, Nissan�s first all-electric car, the LEAF, has tackled the 156 turns of the �Race to the Clouds�. Naturally, �Monster� Tajima can rest assured that his record remains safe.That�s not to say that the LEAF driven by Chad Hord didn�t record a respectable time. After all, 14 minutes and 33 seconds with an average speed of 51.2 mph (82.4 km/h) is not to be laughed at for an EV that used just 46% of its charge to cover the demanding 12.42 miles (20 km) hill climb. Watch the LEAF climb the Pikes Peak after the jump.
Fisker is finally starting deliveries of its Karma luxury plug-in hybrid sedan later this month �and the lucky person to get the first car will be none other than Hollywood star Leonardo di Caprio (....the spicy female model featured in the firm's print advert is not included with the car). The company says it has already received 3,000 pre-orders with the waiting list reaching until early 2012. Other famous customers for the $100,000 hybrid sports sedan are former US Vice President Al Gore and former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Colin Powell.
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Chevrolet Volt, Electric Vehicles, Ford, Ford Fusion, Hybrids, LEXUS, Lexus CT 200h, Lincoln, Toyota Prius, VW, VW Touareg
The Union of Concerned Scientist, a non-profit science advocacy group in the U.S., has released its second annual Hybrid Scorecard. The organisation criticised hybrid car manufacturers for not delivering on the technology�s promise, for placing performance above fuel efficiency and environmental benefit and burdening hybrids with features that put them out of the price range of average Americans. A total of 34 hybrid vehicles from the 2011 to 2012 model year were tested for their fuel efficiency, environmental impact, value-for-money and their so-called �forced-feature premium�. The latter is features that don�t improve fuel efficiency but probably make the cars more appealing to money-conscious consumers.
Electric Vehicles, or EVs, are the future. Or so the automakers say. And they would be correct, if it wasn�t for a significant disadvantage over petrol or diesel powered models: their abysmal range which makes them suitable only for limited city use. Volvo is taking measures to solve this problem and make its EVs attractive to the public by adding an extra 1,000 km (621 miles) to their range. The solution, which has also been adopted by other models such as the Chevrolet Volt and the Audi A1 E-Tron concept, is the addition of a �range extender� internal combustion engine.
If you are a GM diehard or a Chevy Volt fanboy, I suggest you cover your ears and start humming loudly to yourselves. CNN Money recently featured an article from Fortune magazine�s Motorworld declaring the upcoming Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid a better buy and a better car than Chevy�s range-extended electric vehicle. Shock, gasp, horror, blasphemy etc. To quote Motorworld senior editor Alex Taylor III: �[The Prius Plug-in is] more efficient and less expensive than the Volt, and Toyota actually stands the possibility of making a profit on it -- something General Motors concedes it can't do with the Volt.�
Only a week after we brought you spy shots of Peugeot�s high-riding 508 SW, and the French carmaker released the first official photos of the production model that will carry the RXH moniker, ahead of its world premiere at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in September of 2011. 
The new nameplate isn�t the only thing that differentiates Peugeot�s new crossover from the rest of the brand�s Outdoor models as the 508 RXH comes with all-wheel drive, courtesy of the Hybrid4 diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain.
Hybrid and electric cars are good for the environment because of they either emit extremely low or even no emissions at all. However, there seems to be a problem: they are also too quiet. And it�s not just a problem for car lovers who will miss the sound of the engine revving, but mostly for pedestrians who will not hear an oncoming, completely silent vehicle and face the risk of an accident. Therefore, the US NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has published a notice that, if implemented, will require by law all electric and hybrid vehicles to emit a noise that will warn pedestrians of their presence. This comes after a study in October 2009, which reported that a greater percentage of hybrids were involved in accidents with pedestrians than vehicles with normal combustion engines.
I really wish industrial designers would leave the engineering to, you know, engineers. Nothing irks me than a designer trying his or her hand at conjuring up some magical, black box powerplant for their vehicle design studies. Take Amarpreet Gill for instance, a Leicester-based designer and the brains behind the blandly named Bristol Car Concept. Using a combination of piezoelectric �threads� as well as photovoltaic paint and glass, the Bristol Car Concept �harvests energy from the surrounding environment, rewarding the consumer with the gift of free energy�.
As we all know, Jay Leno is a car fanatic. So when he had the chance to visit the AMG division of Mercedes-Benz at Affalterbach and drive two of its most exclusive models in its test track, he couldn�t resist. The Chairman of Mercedes-AMG GmbH himself, Ola Kallenius, accompanied Leno on his factory tour.
After the sporty DeZir rear-wheel drive coupe, the funky Captur three-door crossover and more recently, the practical R-Space minivan, Renault is ready to share its latest concept model with the Frendzy, which was unveiled today ahead of its world premiere at the 64th Frankfurt Motor Show later this fall. The Frendzy is a fresh take on the small van segment where Renault is currently represented by the Kangoo series that is available in both leisure and commercial versions.
So the all-electric Ford Focus EV is landing stateside in late 2011 to snub its nose at the likes of the Nissan LEAF and Mitsubishi i MiEV with its utterly conventional name that�s not even an acronym. 
Now Ford is asking its most important shareholders (the general public) what the Focus EV should sound like, as there are members of the world community that think silent cars are a danger to the blind and the deaf.
The battle for supremacy in the electric car category has begun �even though at present there are only two prime contestants. According to Bloomberg, the Nissan LEAF sold 3,875 cars the first half of the year, compared to 2,745 of GM�s Volt over the same period. From January through May, the Volt was only 17 cars behind the Leaf, but in the following month, sales of the Volt plunged to just 561 cars, while those of the LEAF took off with a record 1,708 units, giving Nissan�s EV the lead. The LEAF costs $33,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, while the Volt costs $41,000 before government incentives.
The electric car war rages on and the latest entrant is Mitsubishi�s new model year version of the i-MiEV that was revealed today in Japan. The most important changes that Mitsubishi made to its all-electric city car is the introduction of a new lower-cost base model and improvements to the standard version in order to extend its driving range. The new budget model is called the �M� and its price comes down to 2.6 million Yen (US$32,070 -�22,170) or 1,880,000 Yen (US$23,190 - �16,040) after Japanese government subsidies. It is powered by an electric motor producing 41-horses and has a reduced driving range of 120 kilometers (75 miles).
French racing firm Exagon Motors is continuing the development of its Furtive e-GT, a new all-electric sports coupe that we first laid eyes on at last year�s Paris Motor Show. 
The company recently showed off a validation prototype at the Magny Cours racing circuit in France with Nicolas Prost, who is the oldest son of four-time Formula One World Drivers' champion Alain Prost, sitting behind the steering wheel of the 2+2 model. The Furtive e-GT is scheduled to go on sale in late 2012 with the company planning to build around 100 cars per year. The 2+2 seater coupe will be offered in two flavors, a standard model powered exclusively by two electric motors and a more sophisticated version equipped with an internal combustion engine range extender that works in a similar way to the powertrain system found on GM�s Chevrolet Volt.
The Citan broadens Mercedes-Benz's offerings in in the lower weight classes of the van market, which include the Vito (2.77 to 3.2 tons), Sprinter (3.0 to 5.0 tons) and Vario (6.0 to 8.2 tons). 
