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Consumer auto shows are great places for car shoppers to go to gauge what products are available or will soon hit the market. These shows, held in metropolitan areas across the country, also feature numerous concept vehicles from various manufacturers. Concept vehicles often don’t come to the market as shown, but its styling cues, engineering features and technological enhancements oftentimes do.
Concept  PHEV

At major auto shows across the country, Swedish automaker Volvo is making its presence known. This company, known for its innovative safety measures and forward-thinking engineering, is currently displaying the Volvo XC60 Plug-in Hybrid Concept, an all-wheel-drive crossover SUV that may change the way you look at hybrids and plug-in vehicles. Read on for details about this progressive product.

Volvo is touting the XC60 PHEV concept as three cars in one. That claim seems plausible as this CUV is designed to operate in three driving modes via buttons for Pure, Hybrid or Power located on the instrument panel. Each mode offers distinct advantages and can be selected to sync with your driving conditions.

Drive Modes

When operated in “Pure” mode the XC60 is powered chiefly by its electric motor as much as it is possible. As such, the CUV’s electric-only operational range is for up to 35 miles with absolutely no tailpipe emissions in urban driving.

The default “Hybrid” mode automatically kicks in whenever the CUV is started. Both the gasoline engine and electric motor are at work, providing the best mix of gas and electric driving. EPA numbers are not yet available, but according to the European certification driving cycle this vehicle gets the fuel economy equivalent of over 100 mpg. Look for closer to 50 mpg when this vehicle is taken on a long trip — its total cruising range is thus extended to 600 miles.

The third choice is the CUV’s “Power” mode, which provides unbridled power when needed. Under this arrangement, the gas engine shoulders the brunt of the work and this capable powerplant has the goods to show for it, delivering 280 horsepower and 280 foot-pounds of torque. The electric motor is no slouch too as it makes 70 hp and 148 foot-pounds of torque. Need to get on the highway fast? This CUV does it in style, accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.8 seconds.

Turbocharged Four

What may surprise Volvo enthusiasts the most is that the gas engine found underneath this concept’s hood is a turbocharged four cylinder engine. No V-6 power is needed — this engine has been optimized to deliver the most power from the fewest number of cylinders.

The Volvo XC60 PHEV has been designed to plug-in to a standard household outlet for recharging. With a standard 110-volt outlet, recharging should be accomplished in 7.5 hours. For faster recharges, a 220-volt outlet cuts that down to just 3.5 hours.

Market Plans

Will the XC60 PHEV come to market? It is expected to and should arrive in American showrooms by 2014. When it does hit the market, crossover fans may find this CUV too hard to resist — a five-passenger model that is fuel efficient and minimizes its emissions output.

Many people approach Car Rental as a lowest-price-possible contest rather than to concentrate on the value of the deal they eventually would get, in terms of what type of car, what’s included (air conditioning, automatic gear shift etc’) as well as what type of service they are buying.

The thing is, Car Rental market is very competitive one and rates differences for comparable quality and service are relatively small, sometimes as small as $10 to $20. These minuet price differences are going to vanish in the wind when you consider the long lines and lost time at the cheapest renter counter, drop charges for remote destinations, late return fines, and gasoline inflated rates as well as other service charges you didn’t think about when you shopped for the “best deal”.

Don’t get us wrong, we don’t like to pay higher prices more than you do. We do recommend to shop around and check the various rates available, especially when it’s so easy to do it via the Internet at comparison sites.

All we say here you need to consider other things beside the price and when you compare please make sure you compare apples to apples and not apples to pears.

Things to consider when ordering a rented a car

Who is using the car, are you by yourself on a business trip or you are traveling with the whole family? How much luggage are you going to have, does the car you are thinking about is big enough to have you all plus all your hand luggage and big suitcases? If not, consider to change to a mini van or a car with extra large trunk.

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Bringing a dog along for the ride while running errands can be fun initially for both dog and owner, but despite this fact, there are certain things that owners need to keep in mind when they take pets with them in the car. The main problem with taking a dog with you to perform errands is the fact that you will likely need to leave the dog in the car when you run into a store. Leaving a dog in a car, even for a short amount of time, can be deadly depending on the weather outside.

Facts about Pets and Hot Cars

There are a number of things that many pet owners are unaware of when it comes to leaving their animals in the car. Some things that are vital to keep in mind when making the decision of whether or not to bring your dog along with you on short trips include:

A dog can fall victim to heatstroke or suffocation in minutes if left in the car on a hot day
The temperature in a car is much hotter than the outside temperature. This can be confusing for owners who feel that it is safe to leave their dogs unattended because the weather does not appear to be that hot. For instance, on a day in which the outside temperature is 78 degrees, the inside temperature of a car parked in the shade is likely closer to 90.
Rolling down the window in a car is not sufficient when it comes to actually protecting an animal. While cracking a window does help, it only does so minimally.

When considering whether or not it is safe to leave a dog in a car, if the day is even slightly hot, it is better to err on the side of caution.

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Due to the rising cost of fuel and the environmental damage it causes to our planet, many car owners or buyers are looking for an alternative way to save money. Let’s face it, fuel supply is finite and the prices of gas is only going to rise higher and higher. That is where a hybrid car has its advantages

Hybrid cars have been gaining in popularity in recent years. With lower cost of production and new hybrid car technology being developed, owning a hybrid car is becoming affordable to everyone.

Hybrid Cars Saves Gas

The obvious advantage of using hybrid cars is that it saves gas. Combining the cleaner energy of an electric motor with the long range capacity of a gasoline engine allows a hybrid car to save as much as 30 miles a gallon. One feature of hybrid cars is that the gasoline engine is shut off automatically when the car stops. This also helps in saving fuel. That is also the reason why hybrid cars are so quiet why it is stationary. The gasoline engine is automatically turned on when you step on the accelerator pedal.

Hybrid Cars Are Environment Friendly

Hybrid cars emit lower toxic emissions compared to conventional gasoline-powered cars due to less gasoline being burned. It is environmentally friendly, causes less pollution and releases less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If you do not know, carbon dioxide is one of the primary reasons for rising global warming. For example, the Toyota Prius can reduce tailpipe emissions by up to ninety percent and the greenhouse gas emissions by as much as fifty percent.