Detroit Auto Show: Toyota Reveals New Honda Ridgeline, Calls it the A-BAT Concept Hybrid Truck [Detroit Auto Show]

Detroit Auto Show: Toyota Reveals New Honda Ridgeline, Calls it the A-BAT Concept Hybrid Truck [Detroit Auto Show]

This is it -- whatever 'it' is. Actually 'it' is Toyota's newest concept they'll be bringing to the Detroit Auto Show in two weeks, the A-BAT Concept Pickup Truck. And A-BAT is more than just a winged rat, it's actually, as we're told by our friends at PickupTruck.com, an acronym for 'Advanced Breakthrough Aero Truck.' That's a name that has us kinda scratching our heads. How did Toyota name a concept vehicle a 'breakthrough' when it looks like the love child of some sort of menage-a-truck involving the Honda Ridgeline, the Chevy Avalanche and the Toyota Prius. Yeah, you heard us -- the Toyota Prius -- you know, for that tint of green. But despite what appears to our eyes as the obvious Ridgeline-esque styling, Toyota claims the look of this unibody-platformed concept truck is unique -- based on 'the 'trapezoid' silhouette from the side profile of the Toyota Prius.' But don't think for a moment this concept is all car and no truck. The A-BAT's able to shed the five-person crew-cab-like set-up with a tiny four-foot bed and transform itself into a two-seat 'El Camino' configuration with a full eight-foot bed. The transformation's accomplished by dropping both the liftgate and the 'midgate' ( that sound you hear is Chevrolet's legal team opening up their briefcases in unison) on either end of the mini-bed.


But wait, there's more -- as we alluded to earlier, this concept's got some green going on under the hood by way of a hybrid synergy drive. So if Toyota ever builds this new-fangled El Cam, you can head to Home Depot to buy lumber for the deck of your cookie-cutter McMansion and make a statement about saving the environment all at once. But we do give Toyota some credit for aggressively going after a market they've targeted. Full press release after the jump.

(Via Jalopnik.)

New Tesla CEO Ze'ev Drori finally speaks

New Tesla CEO Ze'ev Drori finally speaks

The new CEO and President of Tesla Motors Ze'ev Drori has been pretty quiet since he came on board recently, at least publicly. He did participate with Elon Musk in the recent conference call with customers and he has undoubtedly made his presence felt inside the walls at San Carlos. Now, anyone can hear what Drori has to say: he's just posted his first entry on the Tesla blog picking up where Elon Musk left off last week. Drori gives some further details on the situation with the Roadster's transmission. The one speed unit that will be used for early production cars will mainly impact the acceleration with 0-60 times going from 4 seconds to a still-spritely 5.7 seconds. There's also some discussion about the range of the Roadster. After the recent revelation that an error was made in the test procedure, Drori explains that the dynamometer at the test lab was incorrectly calibrated. After a retest, the official range is 221 miles but real world numbers range from 165 miles in aggressive highway running to 267 miles in lower speed urban commuting.

(Via AutoblogGreen.)

Subaru R1e electric vehicle ready for sale early

Subaru R1e electric vehicle ready for sale early

Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), has announced that the R1e electric vehicle will begin silently rolling off dealer lots come 2009, which is a year ahead of schedule. With lithium-ion batteries developed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the R1e will have a 50-mile range and a 62-MPH top speed. While the 'range isn't too impressive -- although plenty for typical urban commuting, and it will certainly increase -- the car can be 80-percent recharged in just 8 minutes.

Prices haven't been released for the 2009 launch, but FHI says that by 2012 or 2013, it expects to be able to sell the car for around $17,500. A couple more years of mass production of the battery should allow for a price drop to about $13,100. Initially, FHI only plans to sell 100 of the cars annually, which is only 60 more than are being tested on roads right now and sounds rather conservative to us. Nevertheless, for those of you in Japan, your electric future is nearly here.

(Via Autoblog.)