It looks like someone is finally threatening Toyota's hybrid mileage supremacy. Well, that is, unless you count the Honda Insight...which no one seems to.

VW has gone ahead and approved its Jetta diesel hybrid concept, hoping to turn the car into a legitimate Prius competitor. The car will likely be roomier and zippier than the Prius, both advantages coming from its use of diesel instead of gasoline.

Diesel, which contains more energy per gallon and also produces less CO₂, can improve mileage significantly on its own. Adding a hybrid component to the car really moves up mileage numbers. Unfortunately, diesels require advanced and expensive engines to keep pollutant emissions low. VW already charges $2,000 extra for its diesel models. Add onto that the cost of regenerative braking and a hybrid drive train and suddenly this car is looking out of range.

While the Prius manages to come in at a reasonable $25,000, it's likely that the Golf TDI is going to break $30k while being the sort of car people are used to paying a lot less for. Of course, there are no real numbers on price yet, but AutoBlogGreen has speculated that this high price is going to keep the cars confined to Europe, where emissions standards are higher and people are used to paying for diesels, at least for the first few years of the TDI hybrid's life.

Via AutoBlogGreen

Here's a sweet little new electric number from the UK for you automotive fans. It's the Lightning GT -- which has motors in the wheels and makes use of regenerative braking -- and you'll need to be over in the United Kingdom for now if you'd like to get yourself one.

The Lightning GT reportedly does 0-60 in four seconds and has 700+ rated bhp. This car, to get where it needs to go, uses "electronically controlled traction control which negates wheel spin and unbalance in the power being applied." The vehicle has no engine, instead offering drivers a "maintenance-free" engine with a few parts, control electronics, and special batteries.

The batteries are obviously the heart of the Lightning GT. The company says these batteries use "nano titanate materials instead of graphite which makes them far more thermally stable" and have a life expectancy of over 12 years. Charging time is said to be 10 minutes and the power delivered per unit weight and unit volume is "several times that of conventional Lithium-Ion batteries."

Also a factor in the design of these vehicle is "Hi-Pa Drive." It is described as "compact, energy-efficient, electric wheel motors" that "produce unrivalled levels of torque with internal heavy-duty tapered roller bearings that can withstand heavy radial loads for robust use."

[via Tuvie]

Solar water heaters are low tech. Basically, they're black pipes on panels. There's no nanotechnology, no monosilicon crystals, and no DC to