Japan

Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima owns Pikes Peak, having summited quicker than anyone else these past six years. As we told you a little while back, his 2012 ascent will take place in a battery-powered racer for Team APEV (Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles). That car, the Monster Sport ...

Honda is jumping into the personal-mobility vehicle market associated with the Segway, and the Japanese automaker even has a cute name for the device. Honda will start demonstration tests for its UNI-CUB vehicle in June of 2012 with Japan's National Museum of Emerging Science and ...

Mazda recently may have made the coolest car commercial in history by backing its pitch for SkyActiv technology with Bo Diddley's "Road Runner" (see here), so we're leaning toward forgiving them for this one. The Japanese automaker, as part of the international marketing launch of its CX-5 ...

The supply of rare earth metals used in the manufacture of nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries and permanent magnet motors that are found in most hybrids has been somewhat uncertain the past few years, what with China's lock on the supply and its recent policy of limiting exports. While there ...

Most people who follow the auto industry know that diesels are popular in Europe – and more and more so in the U.S. – but it appears Mazda underestimated how many people in Japan want an oil burner. According to the Nikkei, Mazda expected to sell just 1,000 CX-5s a month in Japan, but ...

Earlier this year, Honda unveiled a concept version of its Acura NSX at the Detroit Auto Show. Now, the Japanese automaker appears to be taking a speedy approach to hybrid sales in China similar to that mid-engined sports car. Honda is planning to launch at least four hybrids in China under both ...

For those of you who struggled with high school chemistry, this one's a doozy. Honda has opened up a hydrogen station in Saitama, Japan that converts sunlight into hydrogen that may be used to power fuel-cell electric vehicles such as the Honda FCX Clarity. The station, which uses both juice ...

With plans to bring an electric vehicle to market by 2014, Sim-Drive is closing in on a final design for its aerodynamic, in-wheel-motored passenger car. Looking a little less Star Wars-inspired than the previous SIM-LEI prototype, the new SIM-WIL has now been revealed and is said to have a ...

Electric vehicle owners like to think of themselves as green, but that color may be taking on a more glowing, radioactive hue in Japan. The ecologically friendly reputation of electric cars in Japan is taking a hit since last year's meltdowns of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant have ...

The future of Saab could be electric! If it has a future, that is. The Swedish firm famously filed for bankruptcy last December and since then, the saga to save the company has turned into a struggle to revive it. One of the biggest obstacles, it seems, is General Motor's unwillingness to allow ...