
AutoBlogGreen speculates that one likely
candidate is a hybrid version of the Honda Fit (pictured above). This
diminutive automobile would be able to provide great fuel efficiency based on
its compact design. And with a rumoured price of just $15,800 it would be one
of the most affordable hybrids on the planet. Such a move, it is hoped, would
mark the beginning of an affordable, entry-level hybrid market, one that both
cash-strapped citizens and environmentally conscious drivers are in dire need
of (the all electric market, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter).

This spiffy looking EV relies on a 200-kilowatt electric motor, backed by lithium-ion battery system. With 268 horsepower and the ability to go from zero to 60 in less than 5 seconds, Dodge maintains the latest trend from automakers; just because it doesn’t burn gas, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be able to burn through energy. Those stats mimic the Dodge Challenger SRT’s 6.1-litre V8 Hemi, putting the Circuit’s into the echelon of high-end sports car.
The Circuit is one of the projects to roll out of Chrysler’s ENVI department, which specializes in electrically driven vehicles, and has recently been dubbed golden-boy status as Chrysler looks to make the Circuit the first graduate from the ENVI department into commercial production.

Sporting a grinning grill that looks tailored for Herbie, the Peapod is part of a burgeoning field of Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles. Much like its 2nd cousin, the Segway, the Peapod is intended for short travels, such as cross campus jaunts, or a quick trip to the store. These short travels, once relegated to the bicycle, removes the unnecessary physical propulsion we all loath so much. Instead, this diminutive electrical wunderkind means you only have to get up five minutes before Spanish class as it will bolt you across campus at a top speed of 25 mph.

Students at the University of Saskatchewan have developed some relatively straightforward technology to jury rig a remote shutdown for your car using your cell phone. The technology is based on the same principals upon which an automobile’s heat sensor functions. In the case that your engine overheats the car will detect the temperature surge and decrease the automobiles speed, eventually rendering the entire contraption inert. The only difference is rather than your fluid levels being in control, you are.

Driving injuries could go down by a twenty-five percent and the air could be cleaner for it, if two transportation advisory bodies have their way with the implementation of speed limiters in the UK.
Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) utilizes satellite position and in-vehicle instruments to monitor a car’s speed and keep it in tune with the accompanying speed limit of the area. A feat accomplished either through autonomous braking or an in-car warning system that could then be overridden by the driver.
A requisite for such technology would be digital speed maps that consist of speed limits for any given road. Thus, the Commission for Integrated Transport and the Motorists’ Forum, who is pushing for the implementation of speed limiters, is urging both automakers and governments to get onboard with the project.
The purported benefits of such technology is stated to be increased safety, fuel consumption, and a reduction of pollution. The recommendation follows trials backed by the Department of Transportation in the UK.
Going green ain’t easy. Especially so if you’ve got $10,000+ tied up in a gas-guzzler. But imagine the sweet Xmas presents you could buy for your loved ones if your car got an extra, oh let’s say, 25mpg. Why, the difference could be that between a red sock stuffed with cotton balls and an actual Tickle-Me Elmo! But alas, you’re still making payments on that sporty [insert any North American automobile here] while the Johnsons are yukking it up in their Prius, with the latest animatronics to gyrate out of Sesame Street strapped into the car seat alongside them. If only there was a way to make the old new again…Enter: The Poulsen Hybrid.
This nifty bit of engineering ingenuity looks rather like an immobilizer boot strapped onto the wheels of your car (either both on the front or back, depending on front or rear-wheel drive). The ‘boots’ are in fact electric motors that are bolted onto the wheels, with an accompanying 4.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack (or lead acid, depending on the model) that gets stored in the host vehicle’s trunk. According to Jim Motavalli, writer for The Daily Green and recent visitor of the Bridgeport Magnetics Group’s hybrid-housing warehouse, “the motors do not drive the car, but kick in to provide a power boost between 15 and 60 miles per hour. [While] regenerative braking helps keep the batteries charged.” The design comes from Ulrik Poulsen (hence the Poulsen Hybrid), founder and CEO of Connecticut-based Bridgeport Magnetics Group.

OKI, the Japanese company behind the wildly big-brother-ish facial recognition software aimed squarely at the surveillance market, has come up with another bright idea: mobile phones that warn you that you're about to be hit by a car.
Tesla Motors and it's flagship car, the Tesla Roadster, both bear the name of Nikola Tesla. As a Gadget Addict, you may know who Tesla was, but it's possible you don't. He's the guy who invented Alternating Current (that stuff that comes from those wall-outlets to power all your stuff). Nikola Tesla also held a couple hundred patents, invented the first remotely controlled devices, hung with Mark Twain and was pretty sure he could broadcast electricity to everyone around the world for free. Sadly, while that last bit never came to pass, the type of electricity he invented would allow the twentieth century to unfold the way it did.