Hasta La Gadget!

In a time where automakers are struggling to stay afloat, Honda is actually increasing its production of hybrids like the brand new Insight in order to meet demand, the New York Times reports.

Originally, Honda planned to sell 100,000 new Insights in America over the next year, with an additional 60,000 slated for Japan, but the “response has been overwhelming,” said Hiroshi Kobayashi, deputy chief operating officer for Honda’s domestic operations. “We will have to increase production plans,” he said, though he declined to give new numbers. The new Insight isn’t quite as thrifty as the Prius, averaging 41 mpg on the EPA cycle, but it’s reported to have a sportier demeanor at the wheel than Toyota’s hybrid icon.

Honda hasn’t announced pricing for the new Insight. But it’s widely expected to come in at around the $20,000 mark, or about $4,000 less than the base cost of the 3rd generation Prius, also due this Spring. Even so, Honda is likely to report its first quarterly loss in 15 years this quarter—similar to what dozens of other automakers have been up against lately.

The 2010 Lexus RX 350 and Lexus RX 450h Hybrid now have a cockpit controller like BMW’s iDrive–but the Lexus Remote Touch controller is drop-dead simple to use. Remote Touch is the technology highlight of the third generation of Lexus’ midsize luxury SUV, along with an impressive Bluetooth system, iPod integration, improved navigation, and a hybrid version that will account for one in five RX sales.

Lexus’ Remote Touch replaces the previous-generation touchscreen display and uses a force-feedback joystick rather than the control wheel employed by BMW (iDrive), Audi (MMI), Mercedes-Benz (Comand), as well as Honda/Acura, Hyundai, and Infiniti. Force feedback means that when the joystick pointer nears an object on the 8-inch onscreen LCD, the pointer snaps to the selection.

Remote Touch is idiot-proof. The controller has a big palmrest with a short, joystick-like control pad at the front. (It looks like you’re pushing around a squarish, leather-capped mushroom more than a tall joystick stalk.) Push to slide the pointer where you want to go, press the Select button on the left or right side of the palm rest, then push/slide and click again to fine-tune your selection. Even as BMW’s latest iDrive on the 3 Series and 7 Series has become comparatively simple to use, Remote Touch is simpler still for navigating the screen.

One day the kinetic energy recovery system or KERS — an advance hybrid technology that captures breaking energy and converts it into on-demand engine boost — will be as common as windshield wipers. But for now we must settle for this kick-ass demo of KERS in its current application: Formula 1. Thanks to Edmunds, we can see the system in action as Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel narrates a scorching 3-D speed ride in one of the latest RB-series super racers. You can also learn more about KERS and its passenger car future here.

Volkswagen has had a thriving diesel-powered product lineup for years, culminating the company’s latest Jetta TDI Clean Diesel, which gets 40 mpg on the highway and (unlike diesels past) is legal to be sold in all 50 states. Now the company has announced the Touareg BlueMotion Hybrid, an SUV for the 2010 model year, according to Autoblog.

The report said that the Touareg BlueMotion Hybrid will harness a 38 kW electric motor and 288-volt nickel metal hydride battery pack to supplement the car’s main engine, a supercharged 3.0L TSI V6 engine shared with the Audi S4 along with a new eight-speed automatic transmission. VW is claiming a 26 mpg average for the SUV, a 25 percent improvement over the gas-powered version.

There are some things a global economic recession can’t stop, virtues like hope and American traditions like badge engineering. While GM’s financial status may not give us much reason to hold that former virtue, it is at least continuing that latter tradition, announcing a deal that will see our Volt sold abroad as the Ampera. The news came with the above teaser shot, which shows Chevy’s bow tie logo replaced by Opel’s appropriately electrified Z, flanked by some rather more dashing headlights and bumper creases. The overall silhouette, however, looks much the same, and the Euro version is rated for 60 kilometers of petrol-free motoring, which roughly matches our 40 miles worth. No word on whether Europeans will be seeing theirs the same time we finally get to buy ours, nor whether it will feature Dr. Who sound effects instead of the Star Trek ones we’ll get.

Filed under: Transportation

Chevy’s Volt gets a lightning rebadge to become the Opel Ampera for Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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