Hybrid Gas Electric Vehicles

New York City's famed yellow taxicabs will go green within five years under a plan that could serve as a model for other large cities, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced. The mayor said 1,000 hybrid taxis -- powered by gasoline and batteries -- would be introduced by October 2008, and that hybrids would gradually replace the rest of the city's 13,000 cabs by 2012.

Gas prices got you down? Is the proliferation of car and truck models out there making it hard to find something that fits both your transportation and fuel-efficiency needs? The nation's largest chain of new-car dealerships wants to help. And boost its sales as a result, of course. Beginning this week, all 271 AutoNation Inc.

Hybrid sales are booming, but Honda Motor Co. is pulling the plug on the gasoline-electric version of its Accord sedan. Honda said Monday that the Accord hybrid would be discontinued after the 2007 model year, the victim of a high sticker price and unremarkable gas mileage. "The reason it didn't sell is because the price premium wasn't justified by the gas mileage," said Jesse Toprak, an analyst with automotive website Edmunds.com.

General Motors Corp. has awarded two contracts to companies that will help speed development of its plug-in electric car called the Chevrolet Volt, GM Chairman Rick Wagoner said. Wagoner also said at GM's annual shareholder meeting that the company would introduce four hybrid models this year.

Pretty soon, if you Google "hybrid car," one of the search results may be Google. Google Inc. on Monday unveiled a program to speed up the development of so-called plug-in hybrids, which can run for limited periods on electric power and deliver significantly better fuel economy than the Toyota Prius and other hybrid vehicles. The search-engine giant's philanthropic arm, Google.

As yet another tale of celebrity spawn gone wild, the arrest Wednesday of Albert Gore III -- son of the former vice president -- on suspicion of drug possession was routine except for one rather mind-blowing detail: Gore was clocked in a blue Toyota Prius hybrid traveling on the southbound 5 Freeway in Orange County in excess of 100 mph. "One hundred and five, actually," said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino. "I think it's slightly downhill there."

Southern California Edison Co. and Ford Motor Co. are expected to announce a partnership today that will include a multimillion-dollar test of plug-in hybrids. Plug-ins are envisioned as the next-generation development of the current crop of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius. Equipped with more powerful batteries that could be recharged overnight, plug-ins are designed to run for significant periods on electricity alone -- greatly increasing their fuel economy.

The widespread use of plug-in hybrid vehicles -- which could be driven up to 40 miles on electric power alone -- would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States without overloading the nation's power grid, according to a new study. The upbeat news for plug-ins, seen by many as the next big step in environmentally friendly automotive technology, came with two caveats.

Toyota Motor Corp., the leading seller of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in the U.S., is moving closer to bringing a plug-in version of its popular Prius to market. The automaker said Wednesday that it was teaming up with two California universities to test so-called plug-in versions of the Prius, cars that would be capable of traveling farther and faster than current models on electricity alone.

Yet another environmentally friendly automobile is headed your way -- if you have a spare $80,000 or so. Irvine-based car designer Henrik Fisker just announced plans to unveil a plug-in hybrid at the Detroit auto show in January and to have his high-performance gasoline-electric sedans ready for sale in the U.S. within 18 months. If Fisker's hybrid is too rich for your blood, and you're patient, no worries.