Velozzi, a Los Angeles, California based company, has unveiled their new SOLO crossover – a lightweight plug-in hybrid electric crossover with an on-board multi-fuel micro turbine battery charger. Confused? Yeah – so were we. Let’s try to make sense of it together.

Velozzi says that most of the plug-in hybrid electric-vehicles being built today are using the same type of construction as in the past – in terms of performance. “It is inconceivable and counter productive to manufacture efficient vehicles using antiquated types of construction,” says CEO Roberto Velozzi.

On the other hand, the SOLO brings Formula 1 technology to build a crossover that performs like a high-end exotic sedan. The SOLO is the first production car in the world to use a multi-fuel micro turbine battery charger to re-charge its lithium-ion batteries. While the SOLO is a true electric-car in nature, it can be recharged by either plugging it into an electric-grid or by its multi-fuel micro turbine battery charger. Some of the fuels that can be used with the Velozzi SOLO are gasoline, diesel, ethanol, methanol, butanol and biodiesel. Regenerative braking also helps improve the range.

Velozzi says that the driving experience will be similar to gasoline-powered vehicles. The SOLO can return a 100 mpg and go from 0 to 60 mpg in the 6 seconds with a top speed of 130 MPH.

Velozzi says that it setting up mass production of its cars by late 2011 – early 2012. It is also pursing government funding and investments to build its vehicles.

Source Egmcartech

BMW Chairman Norbert Reithofer has reportedly confirmed a new eco-friendly machine called the Megacity Vehicle as part of the automaker’s Project i. Beyond the name, details are sketchy. According to Reithofer, “Customers will have the choice between a fully electric drive and a high-efficiency combustion engine. Large-scale production could start in the first half of the next decade.”

We’re not entirely sure if that means the vehicle will be some sort of hybrid or if it will be offered with two separate powertrain options. We’re also wondering if the Megacity has anything to do with the rumored small car development with Fiat, which would supposedly spawn new city cars from both the German and the Italian automaker. BMW is also “pursuing a radical approach toward establishing a truly sustainable value chain-from development to production and sales,” said Reithofer.

Source Autoblog

Toyota revealed the Camry CNG Hybrid at the LA Auto Show, even though it withheld a press conference. The car gets better fuel efficiency than the last CNG by a margin of 50%.

Toyota isn’t holding a press conference at the LA Auto Show this year, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have anything to show.

The Prius purveyors have built a CNG-fueled Camry hybrid. According to Toyota spokesperson Jana Hartline, the purpose of the CNG hybrid is to demonstrate the versatility of Hybrid Synergy Drive. The car gets 50% better fuel efficiency than the last production CNG vehicle offered by Toyota, which was based on the 2000 Camry. Hartline explained Toyota has no immediate plans to produce either CNG or CNG hybrid vehicles, but the company is looking at all alternatives for the future.

Source Autoblog