Pininfarina Cambiano Concept is a Classic GT Coupe on One Side, a Saloon on the Other

The first official photos of Pininfarina's Cambiano concept car are out in the open ahead of its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show thanks to the folks over at Italian car magazine Quattroruote.

When Pininfarina first announced the Cambiano, it made word of a sedan model but the teaser pictures that followed clearly showed a two-door coupe. As it turns out, the Cambiano study is both a coupe and a sports sedan.

To elaborate, on the driver's side, the concept has one large door while on the passenger's side Pininfarina opted for a suicide door solution and also eliminated the center pillar to afford better entry and exit to all seating positions.

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Infiniti's Sexy-Looking Emerg-E Supercar Breaks Cover, See the First Official Photos

If you weren't content with the patent images of Infiniti's new supercar concept that we showed you earlier this month, you'll be happy to know that the first official pictures of the study…emerged on the internet today, less than two weeks before its public debut at the 82nd Geneva International Auto Salon.

We will admit that we weren't exactly wowed by the patent renderings, but our opinion change after we laid eyes on the real photos of Infiniti Emerg-E concept.

The Japanese premium brand's study is an impressive looking supercar with what we could even dare to describe as an Italian finesse in its styling. Of course, you'll find Infiniti's latest styling cues such as the pinched rear quarter window and the bulbous front grille, but it all works out nicely.

Infiniti has said that the Emerg-E will be propelled by a mid-mounted range-extender drivetrain comprising an electric motor and an internal combustion engine.

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2012 Chevrolet Volt with Low Emissions Package Granted Access to California's HOV Lanes

In order to encourage carpooling and decrease traffic congestion, the State of California came up with the idea of creating the so-called High Occupancy Vehicle lanes or HOV for short, which could only be used by cars with two or more occupants.

Last July, however, the Golden State altered the regulations allowing single-passenger vehicles to use them as well, provided they were all-electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells or natural gas.

Despite being a hybrid, the Volt was excluded from the list specifying the vehicles allowed to use the HOV lanes, which span more than 1,400 miles and reduce driving time by an average of 36 minutes each day, because of its emissions.

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High Prices and Limited Range Keep U.S. Buyers Away from Electric Cars

Reports of the death of the internal combustion engine have been greatly exaggerated. In 2011, hybrids and EVs like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy’s Volt made many headlines, though not always for the reasons the automakers would prefer.

The truth is that, despite all the publicity and the tax incentives, sales so far have been abysmal with Edmunds reporting that hybrids account for just 2.46 of the market and electric cars not even reaching one percent.

There are many reasons why new car buyers are not willing to shell out a lot of cash for zero-emissions vehicles. First of all, they are expensive and the gains from fuel costs come in the long-term, while the sticker price is immediately visible and clearly understood by everyone.

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Romanian Team Dreams up a 6-Seater Modular Hybrid Concept Called SCI hyMod

We have a long way to go before the world adopts electric vehicles as the primary mode of transportation - if it does, that is, as we may see different technologies taking over down the road, but for now, both the industry and governments around the globe are making moves to promote their use with the masses.

And while mainstream consumers remain hesitant to accept electric vehicles, many people believe that they could at least provide a viable solution in certain segments.

A team from Romania consisting of automotive journalist Dan Scarlat, designer Marian Cilibeanu and engineer Cristian Ionescu, came up with an idea to create a modular hybrid concept vehicle called the SCI hyMod.

In theory, the vehicle would allow the driver to choose between two different propulsion systems, depending on his or her needs.

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Man Proves to Newt Gingrich that You Can Put a Gun Rack in a Chevy Volt

It's amazing how fast people react these days. While campaigning in Suwanee, Georgia, a couple of days ago, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama on his plans to increase subsidies for alternative fuel-powered cars.

Gingrich started by making fun of the green car lobby. "How dare we go out and drive vehicles bigger than their bicycles!" said the former House Speaker before he aimed his guns on the Chevrolet Volt.

"You know the Volt is an interesting experimental car," said Gingrich. "The average family that buys it earns $170,000 a year. This is Obama's idea of populism. And in this new budget he wants to increase the amount given to every Volt buyer to $10,000. Which is an amount which a lot of people would by a decent second-hand car, but it wouldn't be an 'Obama' car."

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U.S. Government wants to Increase Clean Car Federal Tax Credits to $10,000

President Barack Obama is determined to make cars in the U.S. as clean as possible. After reaching an agreement with major manufacturers about the 54.5 mpg CAFE target set for 2025, he now plans to increase the federal income tax credit for alternative fuel-powered cars.

The proposal, which is included in the 2013 budget, raises the maximum credit by as much as US$2,500 for certain plug-in models. Currently, the maximum tax credit is US$7,500.

Under the provision, vehicles with a MSRP of US$45,000 and above would received up to US$7,500, while models below that price would be eligible for the full US$10,000 credit.

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Saab 9-3 gets Another Chance in Life in China as an All-Electric Model from BAIC

We have been critical of the clones produced by Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC for short) such as its Mercedes B-Class doppelganger called the BC301Z, but the Saab 9-3 sedan pictured above is actually legit.

You see, GM sold the intellectual rights for Saab's older generation 9-5 and 9-3s along with select powertrain technology and tooling equipment to China's BAIC for US$200 million back in 2009, when it still owned the Swedish carmaker.

BAIC's subsidiary Beijing Auto Works (BAW) had previewed its own versions of the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 sedans with two separate concepts called the C60 and C71 respectively, during the 2010 Beijing Auto Show.

For its next move, BAIC is finishing work on a pure-electric model based on the Saab 9-3. Codenamed the Q60FB-C1, it will likely make its first public outing at the upcoming 2012 Beijing Auto Show in April.

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Was ist Das? Can you Help us Identify this Mystery Electric Sports Coupe?

Occasionally, our spy photographers stumble upon a prototype test vehicle that neither they nor we can identify. This happened today when one of our scoopsters sent us these shots of a mysterious small model with a coupe-like shape.

For what its worth, the prototype model was snagged testing in the northern parts of Europe.

The only piece of information we have on the black test car comes from the bright yellow decals on the sides and the rear hatch that reads "Elektrofahrzeug" (try saying that fast), which is German from "Electric Vehicle".

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SCOOP: New Photos Reveal Production BMW i8 Hybrid Sports Coupe's Scissor Doors

Up until now, we weren't sure if BMW would keep the supercar-like scissor doors seen on the original Vision EfficientDynamics concept and the evolved i8 study on the production model as the company's engineers avoided opening up the car in front of our scoop photographers.

However, being the diligent spy shooters that they are, they managed to snag the first pictures of the final production prototype with the passenger-side door wide open, and as you can see from the pictures, the i8 will indeed keep the concept's swiveling doors fixed to the A-pillars.

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Infiniti's Emerg-E Pure Electric Supercar Concept Uncovered in Patent Designs

Looks like we won't have to wait for Infiniti to stop the teasing and drop the full blown pictures of its all-new Emerg-E sports car concept to get out first view of the electric-powered model after all as the patent designs made their way onto the internet today.

Though rough around the edges and lacking certain details such as the wheel designs, the greyscale computer generated images outline the shape of the Japanese carmaker's concept for a high-end performance model with the unique characteristic of featuring a range-extender drivetrain mounted in a mid-ship position.

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SCOOP: BMW i8 Hybrid Sports Coupe Poses on Film for us

BMW aims to establish itself as a manufacturer of premium green vehicles through its new "i" sub-brand starting with the i3 hatchback in pure EV and extended-range EV flavors in 2013 and shortly after the i8 hybrid sports car, which is obviously the more interesting proposal of the two.

Following up on the spy pictures of the camouflaged production version of the i8 that we showed earlier in the week, our scoopsters also snagged a video of the test car quietly (perhaps too quietly for a BMW coupe) running around on the snow which you can watch after the break.

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Tesla Unveils New Model X CUV with Falcon Wings and Seating for Seven

The electric carmaker named after one of the most original and greatest inventors and thinkers of all time introduced a brand new CUV called the Model X, which is based on the running gear and chassis of the Model S sedan.

Tesla says its latest creation fuses the utility of MPVs with the style of SUVs offering an available all-wheel drive option and seating for seven in three rows of seats.

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All-New Mitsubishi Outlander Breaks Cover, Lineup will Include a Plug-in Hybrid Variant

Just a little over two months after Mitsubishi teased the new Outlander with the second iteration of its Concept PX-MiEV at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, the Japanese company lifted the wraps off the production model that will make its world premiere at the forthcoming Geneva Motor Show in early March.

Even though we only get a single picture from Mitsubishi, it's easy to see that the all-new Outlander is almost a carbon copy of the PX-MiEV II right down to the design of the alloy wheels.

This doesn't mean that there aren't differences over the study but that they are limited to details such as the conventional headlamp units, exterior mirrors and door handles while Mitsubishi also added a pair of fog lamps up front.

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Fisker Forced to Halt Work on Delaware Factory After U.S. Blocks Loan

Making yet another pun with Fisker and its Karma is easy. After all, the California based carmaker has faced several problems with its extended-range hybrid luxury sedan over the past couple of years. However, its latest issue is quite serious.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has frozen Fisker’s access to the federal loan it was awarded for engineering of the Karma (US$169 million) and production of the midsize Nina sedan (US$359 million), which will be priced much lower than the $100K Karma.

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Mercedes-Benz Sketches New Citan Deliver Van Co-Developed with Renault-Nissan

These are the first official sketches of Mercedes-Benz's all-new Citan, which the German automaker describes as an 'urban delivery van'. The Citan will make its world premiere at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hannover this September and go on sale before the end of the year.

In spite of the fact that Mercedes-Benz does not mention it in its press release, the automaker had previously revealed that the small van was developed in partnership with the Renault-Nissan alliance as part of their strategic collaboration, which includes several more projects such as the Twingo/Smart platform and powertrain cross-supply.

The Citan broadens Mercedes-Benz's offerings in in the lower weight classes of the van market, which include the Vito (2.77 to 3.2 tons), Sprinter (3.0 to 5.0 tons) and Vario (6.0 to 8.2 tons).

The German company said that the small van segment has picked up in sales these past couple of decades and has now grown to around 700,000 units in Europe alone. It added that it plans to gain a market share of four to five percent in this segment with the Citan, which equals to 28,000 to 35,000 units a year in Europe.

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Infiniti Names its Geneva Motor Show Sports Car Concept "Emerg-E"

Infiniti has been trickling out information on the new sports car concept it plans to reveal at the 2012 Geneva Salon bit by bit these past couple of months. Today we learn that the electric sports car model will be called the "Emerg-E".

"The INFINITI EMERG-E will be the first car from the brand to have not only a range-extender drivetrain offering vivid performance with zero emissions capability but also one mounted in a mid-ship package for optimal handling," the company said in a short statement.

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Spy Shots: BMW i3 Hatch Captured Out on the Move Again

One of BMW's most innovative projects is slowly taking its production form as evidenced by these fresh scoop photos of the i3 undergoing winter tests in Germany.

Previewed by the i3 concept study, the small hatchback will be the first member of BMW's new "i" sub-brand, which was created for models fitted with alternative drive trains, such as electric motors and hybrids. The i3 will go on sale in 2013 followed shortly after by the i8 hybrid sports coupe.

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Smart Fortwo gets a Fresh Look for 2012, will Debut at the Geneva Motor Show

The Smart Fortwo city car is entering the 2012 model year with some subtle styling revisions, most of which were previewed on the third-generation ForTwo Electric displayed at last year's Frankfurt Motor Show.

On the outside, the 2012 Fortwo gets a larger radiator grille with an integrated "Smart" logo along with a new bumper design, optionally available horizontally arranged LED daytime driving lights, and modified side skirts and rear aprons.

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California wants 1.4 Million Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2025; Manufacturers Agree, Dealers Object

The state of California has been at the forefront of the nation’s regulations when it comes to reducing emissions since the 1970s. And now it has taken another step in this direction by approving the Advanced Clean Car program.

It is a set of regulations that aims to reduce emissions and, among other things, requires 15.4 percent of all new vehicles that will be sold by 2025 to be all-electric, plug-in hybrids or powered by fuel cells.

By implementing this program, California regulators wish to reduce passenger vehicles emissions by 34 percent between 2014 and 2015, and overall smog-forming emissions by 75 percent. It’s a goal similar to the federal standards proposed by President Obama.

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