Gasoline prices in parts of Europe are currently at $9 a gallon. I think it's safe to say that if those prices were ever to reach the United States, it would feel like the sky fell on our heads. With prices that astronomical, you would think that the streets of Europe would be littered with Toyota Priuses, Honda Insights and Chevrolet Volts. However, instead of embracing Hybrids, the Europeans have turned to an old automotive friend, the Diesel engine.

TRW has unveiled a new concept in airbags, the "roof airbag." No, it's not an airbag intended to keep you in your seat during a rollover, though it does inflate from the roof of the car. It's simply a place to put the front-impact airbag somewhere other than the dash. And it's not just a concept but will, says TRW, be coming in at least one future model a major European car manufacturer's cars.

"A conservative estimate is that we have an amount of electricity unused at night that’s equal to the output of 65 to 70 nuclear power plants between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.," Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) stated before the Senate Energy and National Resources Committee. “I suspect that’s probably our greatest unused resource in the United States. If we were to use that to plug in cars and trucks at night, we could electrify 43 percent of our cars and trucks without building one new power plant.”

Electric carmaker Tesla Motors has announced a partnership with UK hotels and tourist sites to install High Power Charging (HPC) stations, comprised of ten EV power outlets throughout Great Britain. A Tesla Roadster will be the first modern electric vehicle to cross Great Britain in a historic road trip May 21.

Hansjorg von Gemmingen, who bought the 83rd Tesla Roadster sold in Europe, has crossed the 100,000-kilometer, zero-emissions threshold - the greatest distance traveled by any Tesla vehicle to date. Von Gemmingen drives it daily, charging nightly with just a standard household outlet, proving the electric Roadster functions as a daily commuter while not looking like an ordinary car at all.

GM announced today that its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, 4 miles north of its headquarters, would close four weeks this June for upgrades, including new tooling, conveyers and other equipment, in preparation for an increase in production of the increasingly popular Chevy Volt by 33 percent over original plans.

When completed during 2013, the General Motors electric motor plant near Baltimore will be the first facility of a major U.S. automaker focused on making the critical components for electric vehicles. Further a solar array will provide up to nine percent of the power needed for the existing two-mode hybrid and heavy-duty transmission building.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) today announced that the BMW Group has selected it as the preferred provider of electric vehicle charging equipment, accessories and installation services supporting the introduction of the all-electric BMW ActiveE.

For the second time in less than three months, Toyota has issued a recall for tire press monitor system problems and like the one we brought you in March, this new Toyota recall pertains to select Tundra pickups.

We can’t recall ever bursting into song at the sight of the ubiquitous Honda Civic, but that’s what the manufacturer is looking for as they launch the ninth generation of the urban runabout with a songwriting competition on Facebook. Those inspired by the Honda car for the common man have until June 5 to submit their compositions.

In events that didn’t even exist before 2009, the results of electric motorcycle racing are rapidly catching up to their combustion-based counterparts. The kickoff to the 2011 TTXGP North American Championship Series May 15 was won by a Brammo Empulse RR setting the fastest lap speed ever for an electric motorcycle at Infineon Raceway.

Car companies do a fairly good job in marketing their automobiles via Facebook. In fact KIA Soul has a very engaging Facebook page. This is probably why one KIA fan from UK envies the U.S. version of the Soul fan page.

When the 2012Chevrolet Impala hits the market later this year, it will be powered by the 3.6L V6 originally found in the Chevrolet Camaro – packing 302 horsepower and 252lb-ft of torque.

For 2012, the Chevrolet Camaro's V-6 will not have--times two--a cast iron exhaust manifold, six bolts, a gasket and a heat shield and three more bolts and as a result will be lighter, make more horsepower and have reduced emissions. It's largely due to combining the exhaust manifold with the cylinder head into a single aluminum casting.