Car online magazine

VANCOUVER (CP) _ High-performance car lovers who worry that a future filled with Earth-friendly hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles condemns them to life driving glorified golf carts need not fret.

Al Gore III, the son of the former American vice-president who police allegedly clocked going 169 kilometres an hour on a California highway in a Toyota Prius in July, isn’t the only one pushing the performance envelope of hybrids and other alternative powertrains.

Toyota, Ford and General Motors are among carmakers that have been extending the limits of green automotive technology.

Read More

DETROIT (AP) _ Hybrid vehicles are on track to achieve record U.S. sales this year despite signs consumer interest in hybrids is waning, an auto information company said Thursday.

An estimated 187,000 hybrids were sold in the first six months of 2007, accounting for 2.3 per cent of all new vehicle sales, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Although a slowdown is expected in the second half of the year, J.D. Power is forecasting total sales of 345,000 hybrids for 2007, a 35 per cent increase from 2006 when the current record of 256,000 hybrids were sold.

The Toyota Prius continues to be the best-selling hybrid model, accounting for just more than half of all hybrids sold. J.D. Power said Prius sales got a boost this year from incentives of up to US$2,000 per vehicle, which helped offset a decrease in federal tax breaks for Toyota and Lexus hybrids. Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday that Prius sales were up 85 per cent in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period a year ago.

Read More