Hypermiling with your iPhone

In my case, I’ll actually be hypermiling with my iPod Touch. Not that it matters, I’m just saying.

Wired.com‘s Autopia blog posted a great article covering an iPhone app that came up with an excellent use for the accelerometer – a built-in dynamometer. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re really serious about hypermiling, this isn’t going to replace your Scangauge II or anything; it isn’t that accurate. It will, however, tell your average driver how they’re doing in terms of gas mileage and their carbon footprint.

A Hybrid in the Le Mans?

That’s got to be some sort of tabloid article, right? Nobody would dare pull something like that.

If you thought anything along the lines of the above sentences, YOU’RE WRONG! But at least it’s in a good way, you pessimistic little blog-troll.

French car company Peugeot will be entering a gas-electric hybrid into the Le Mans series next year. Want to see a picture? Okay!

Peugeot 908 HDi FAP "Hy"

Pretty sick, right? I know I’m drooling.

Chevrolet Volt: The Reveal

It’s out. Woohoo.

I’ve expressed my opinion on this before, but those were blurry spy photos. Chevrolet officially announced their upcoming Volt today. It is a 2011 model, and I’m hoping with all my might that they’ll put out a new model a couple years after that. Why, you ask? Well, just look below:

Having a middle-aged exec posing with the Volt actually makes it look better. That's sad.

This car isn’t ugly, exactly, but it’s definitely not what anyone was hoping for. This is exactly like when you meet some cool girl online, and she’s really into the environment and activism and all that jazz, and then she sends you a picture and she’s SMOKING HOT. Only thing is, when you finally get her to agree to a lunch date, she looks nothing like she did in that picture she sent. She’s not quite hideous, but she’s short, overweight, and reminds you of your dog (not that this situation ever happened to me).

That’s pretty much how I feel with the Volt. I was promised a supermodel (go check out the original concept) and I got… well, I got this.

Volt. The (almost) ugly chick.

I’m not saying I’d refuse to drive one if the keys were just handed to me, but I certainly won’t be buying one when they come out, either. Especially considering the price tag Chevrolet has been considering (40k, give or take). At least this way it’ll be way easier to just save my money.

The Volt is still a plug-in hybrid, which is great. It still goes a decent distance on battery power alone, and it stills gets great gas mileage when you are utilizing fossil fuels. It just doesn’t look good doing it. I’m all about reducing impact on the environment, but it’s as if everyone thinks we have to drive dumb looking cars in order to be green.

There have been some rumors of a Cadillac model using the Volt’s technology. I for one would love to see some sort of CTS variant plug-in hybrid. Heck, they might even make it look sexy. Here’s hoping.

Chevy Volt… Ugh

When Chevrolet first announced the Volt back in January of 2007, I was genuinely impressed. The concept looked good, and the internals promised to be even better. I was practically salivating over the idea of a hybrid designed to go 40 miles on electric power alone, equipped with a lithium-ion battery (presumably one that wouldn’t spontaneously combust) and the ability to recharge from a standard 110-volt outlet.