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Honda CR-V spot delights with 'impossible' illusions

Mind-blowing car commercials that employ optical illusions and jaw-clenching stunts instead of computer animation are becoming the norm these days, and everybody from Volvo Trucks to Forza Motorsport 5/McLaren are regular contributors to the growing trend. Honda joins the crowd in its latest European commercial for the CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC Diesel, and uses well-placed props and well-drawn imagery to trick viewers into seeing the "impossible."
The old-fashioned optical illusion is alive and well in Honda's "An Impossible, Made Possible" spot, so go ahead and watch it and the making-of video below.

Alonso pins McLaren's woes squarely on Honda's shoulders

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Fernando Alonso spent more time on the tennis court than driving his ailing McLaren on Friday, with his tilt at the Indy 500 looking ever more inviting after another dark day on the Formula One racetrack. Alonso's home fans had barely settled in their seats for practice at the Spanish Grand Prix before his car's Honda engine blew in a mess of smoke and oil. Liquid then poured out of the car as it was tipped up by a recovery crane. Having failed to start in Russia two weeks ago due to an engine failure on the formation lap, Alonso departed the Barcelona circuit after a few choice words and later posted a picture on Instagram of himself playing tennis. "The engine was not good enough. We came out of the pitlane and there was a hole in the engine, and the oil was streaming out. It blew up after 400 meters," Alonso told reporters after returning for the second 90-minute practice session. He was last on the timesheets and reported that the engine was even slower. If the tennis photo looked like a dig at Honda, accompanied with the seemingly sarcastic comment "keeping the body active", he said that had not been his intention. "I have very little time in these weeks, with traveling, with planes," said the 35-year-old, who will go straight from Barcelona to Indianapolis on Sunday night to prepare for his debut in the 500 on May 28. "So when I discovered that I had two hours free, instead of being on the sofa and watching television, I went for some training. My dedication is still 100 percent to my fitness and my preparation. "It wasn't humor to go outside the circuit to play tennis, it was preparation. People got it wrong. I went out to have some fun and escape the circuit." McLaren, the second most successful team in Formula One history in terms of race wins, have yet to score a point in four rounds of this year's championship and are last in the standings. Honda's Formula One reputation, after two seasons of unreliability and poor performance, is meanwhile being dragged deeper into the mud. Alonso is out of contract at the end of the season and has said his future whereabouts would depend on who could offer him a winning car. "It's not my reputation, it's theirs (Honda's) – and it's their money, and their image," he said. "I try to drive as fast as I can but it's a much bigger problem for them." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by John Stonestreet) Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.

The greenest cars of 2024: Vehicles that use the least fuel and cost less to operate

All-electric vehicles may make headlines for environmental friendliness and fuel efficiency, but the “greenest” car in America in 2024 has a gasoline engine. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's annual GreenerCars ratings of the most environmentally friendly cars, the latest Toyota Prius Prime SE plug-in hybrid tops the list of greenest cars, although it's something of an anomaly, because battery-electric EVs follow it in spots two to five. Of the top 10 vehicles in the ratings, six are electric and four are hybrids: Rank Make & Model Powertrain Green Score MSRP Estimated Annual Fuel Cost* 1 Toyota Prius Prime SE PHEV 71 $32,975 $529 2 Lexus RZ 300e EV 67 $55,150 $651 3 Mini Cooper SE EV 67 $30,900 $747 4 Nissan Leaf EV 66 $28,140 $741 5 Toyota bZ4X EV 66 $43,070 $689 6 Toyota RAV4 Prime PHEV 64 $43,690 $741 7 Hyundai Elantra Blue Gas Hybrid 64 $26,250 $864 8 Hyundai Kona Electric EV 63 $34,050 $695 9 Toyota Camry LE Gas Hybrid 63 $28,855 $907 10 Kia EV6 EV 63 $43,975 $689 11 Toyota Corolla Gas Hybrid 62 $23,500 $944 12 Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV 62 $41,650 $737 *ACEEE analysis using EIA data of annual cost—from gasoline, electricity, or a combination—of driving 15,000 miles The ACEEE also compiled two other vehicle rankings: the so-called “Greener Choices” and the “Meanest List.” The Greener Choices list includes a variety of high-scoring conventional vehicles, and the Meanest List identifies the worst-performing mass-market models. Finishing first in the “greener” list — which the organization says is about cars “available nationwide with among the lowest environmental impacts” — is the Honda Accord Hybrid. As far as the “worst-performing mass market” vehicle, that dubious distinction goes to the $184,000 Mercedes-Benz AMG G63. “ItÂ’s important for automakers to keep expanding affordable EV options rapidly so that the benefits of EVs are available to drivers across a wider spectrum of incomes as we transition away from cars that burn gasoline,” said Peter Huether, ACEEEÂ’s senior transportation research associate and lead researcher for the GreenerCars rankings. “For drivers whose needs are not met by todayÂ’s charging infrastructure, many efficient and affordable hybrid options are available.” Just over half the cars on the 2024 Greenest List start at under $35,000, including four EVs and three gas hybrids.