Filed under: Transportation

We’re guessing some nasty memos have been getting passed around at Hummer headquarters lately since consumers have been going ga-ga over fuel efficient vehicles. Something along those lines may explain a concept vehicle introduced by the company at this year’s Detroit Auto Show: a smaller, lighter, and E85-capable new SUV dubbed the Hummer HX. GM CEO Rick Wagoner lauded the domestically-produced ethanol-based fuel used in the new design, which rings a number of Halo bells, not unlike the Jeep Renegade concept we’ve seen recently. The sport-utility rocks a slew of unique features, including an armored underbelly, customizable LED displays, removable fender flares and roof, and lack of a radio or CD player (it’s only got an iPod dock). Of course, the car is just for show right now — but maybe it’s a sign that the age of fuel-guzzling Hummers is coming to a close… nah, probably not.

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Filed under: Transportation

According to reports, roost-ruling, green automaker Toyota has confirmed plans to launch a plug-in hybrid by 2010. Our man in Japan Katsuaki Watanabe (company president) dropped the bombshell at this year’s Detroit Auto Show while detailing the automaker’s plans for tackling environmental concerns. Apparently, the new lithium-ion-equipped vehicles will first be made available to Toyota’s commercial customers — such as government agencies. Watanabe gave no indication of when a general consumer rollout would occur. The vehicle, which is a modified version of the ultra-popular Prius, is capable of achieving fuel efficiency of 99.9 miles-per-gallon in EV mode, though it can only sustain pure battery power for about seven miles. The announcement will no doubt come as a total bummer to GM, which has plans to sell its own plug-in, the Volt, around the same time — though the Chevy vehicle is said to be able to make trips of up to 40 miles on a six-hour charge. It’s about time we saw some healthy competition in the green-auto-game — let’s just hope consumers reap the benefits.

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