Honda has a Hybrid Automotive Engine That Uses Less Rare Earth Metals

Honda pledged to reduce its use of rare earth metals a decade ago, and the automaker took another step towards that goal this week. It unveiled its new hybrid motor that was co-developed alongside Daido Steel, another Japan-based company. The new motor doesn't use heavy rare earth metals like dysprosium and terbium, instead relying on magnets from Daido Steel that cost 10 percent less and weigh 8 percent lighter than the previous components. In fact, the automaker is the first to develop a hybrid motor that doesn't use the heavy metals. Honda says the new engines will reduce its reliance on the pricey rare earth metals that are primarily supplied by China.

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Ford to Invest $4.5 Billion in Hybrid & Electric Vehicles to Bring to Market by 2020 (and compete with Uber)

Ford Motor Co will develop 13 new hybrid and electric vehicles by 2020, announcing on Thursday plans to invest $4.5 billion in the programme that aims to make 40% of the company’s fleet electric or hybrid, up form 13% today.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields also said the company will attempt to compete in the ride hailing industry, with the likes of Uber.

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Where's the self driving capability, Mr Fields?

Silicon Valley Startup Aims to Make Trucks into Hybrids

Ian Wright designed what may be one of the coolest street-legal cars of all time: the electric X1 looked like a Formula 1 racecar and went from zero to 60 in a breathtaking 2.9 seconds. Now, though, all Wright wants to talk about is trucks, especially the workaday delivery trucks and garbage trucks that ply city streets.

Why the excitement? Wright is the founder of Wrightspeed, a San Jose, CA-based startup that’s designed electric powertrains for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. “Garbage trucks are the perfect driving cycle for us: they get two or three miles per gallon, drive 130 miles a day with 1,000 hard stops that chew on the brakes. They’re just perfect,” he says.

Wright was among the founders of Tesla Motors. But despite his background in working on luxury performance cars, he’s come around to thinking that the biggest opportunity for electric vehicle disruption is where most of the fuel is burned—that is, big trucks. Cars may go through a few hundred gallons of gas a year but a commercial truck will burn through thousands of gallons or more. That means there’s a better financial incentive in terms of fuel savings to go electric.

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Cadillac's ELR: Tesla Model S Competitor Derived From the Volt

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Will the Chinese Resurrect Fisker Automotive?

The U.S. Department of Energy will consider bids to purchase Fisker Automotive's government loan on Friday in what could be the start of a lengthy and expensive process to revive the dormant green-car startup.

Fisker, which has not built a car in about 15 months, does not have enough money to pay millions in outstanding bills. The company laid off most of its employees in April after running short of cash, a month after co-founder and executive chairman Henrik Fisker resigned.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said last month that it planned the auction after "exhausting any realistic possibility" that it could recoup the entire $168 million still owed by Fisker.

Bids to buy Fisker's DOE loan were due October 7 and an auction is still planned for Friday, despite a U.S. government shutdown that began 10 days ago.

Prospective bidders had to offer at least $30 million to qualify, with 10 percent down due with the bid, two people with knowledge of the process said on Thursday.

But restarting the company will cost considerably more. A reinstatement of Fisker's original plan to build several models could cost up to half a billion dollars, according to people familiar with the company's finances.

The sources declined to be named because details are confidential. The Energy Department declined to comment on the details of the bidding process. Fisker and its restructuring firm Kirkland & Ellis could not be immediately reached for comment.

U.S. officials could select a winner as soon as next week. DOE and the winner will then pin down the final details of the note sale. A public announcement may come later this month.

DOE extended a $529 million loan to Fisker in 2009 under a U.S. program to promote green vehicles. But after Fisker missed performance targets, DOE froze its credit line in June 2011 after Fisker drew down $192 million.

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At least three groups have sought to buy Fisker this year, including German investment group Fritz Nols AG. Fritz Nols was among those who submitted a formal bid to buy the DOE loan this week, two of the sources said. The firm declined to comment.

A team that includes Chinese auto supplier Wanxiang Group and former General Motors Co executive Bob Lutz also submitted a bid this week, one person familiar with the matter said. Pin Ni, head of Wanxiang's U.S. division, declined to comment. Lutz could not be reached for comment. This group previously tried to buy the automaker for $20 million.

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Previously, another group led by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li proposed buying Fisker's government loan for between $25 million and $30 million.

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First Drive of the BMW 8I Sports Hybrid

Is FIsker Automotive Toast?

Fisker Automotive, maker of the plug-in hybrid Fisker Karma luxury car, has laid off 75% of its workforce, keeping only a small core group of executives, the company said Friday.