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A dozen of the contenders for the Progressive Automotive X Prize were on hand in the “Making Green Cool Zone” at SEMA 2009 in Las Vegas. I’ll keep the text short — you know by now that this is a competition to create a buildable, drivable car that gets 100 MPGe with a $10 million purse — so you can peruse the cars below.
Nissan announced dates for its Nissan LEAF (did you know they capitalize that name? Me neither) Zero Emission Tour in the next few months. No test drives — the car on tour is a left-hand drive Japanese prototype — but if you’ve got questions about the car, or electric cars in general, I’m sure the Nissan reps would be happy to answer.
Most of the dates are on the alterna-fuel lovin’ West Coast, with stops in Detroit to rub it in and Tennessee, where Nissan has its U.S. headquarters.
The sked:
Southern California
Los Angeles: Nov. 13-17
Orange County: Nov. 18
San Diego: Nov. 19-21
Northern California
Berkeley/Walnut Creek: Nov. 23-24
San Francisco: Nov. 25-29
Santa Rosa: Dec. 1
Sacramento: Dec. 1
San Jose: Dec. 3-6
Pacific Northwest
Seattle: Dec. 8-12
Vancouver, Canada: Dec. 14-15
Portland, Ore.: Dec. 17-23
Southwest
Phoenix/Tucson: Dec. 30-Jan. 5
Las Vegas: Jan. 6
Midwest/East Coast
Detroit: Jan. 11-13
Knoxville/Chattanooga, Tenn.: Jan. 16
Middle Tennessee: Jan. 19-21
Washington, D.C.: Jan. 26-28
Raleigh, N.C.: Jan. 29
Orlando: Feb. 1-2
Texas
Houston: Feb. 5-6
New York
New York City: Feb. 9-14
You’ve seen pictures of the Chevy Volt — that thing has been unavoidable for nearly two years now. And it’s always shown in that distinctive space-age silver with a slight greenish sheen. It turns out that paint color is nameless, and Chevy wants you to come up with something clever.
The prize, should your clever paint name win, is to test drive a pre-production Chevy Volt in Los Angeles. Use your coffee breaks to come up with good ideas, then submit them by November 4. Three finalists will be announced on November 16, and the good people of the Internets will vote for the winner, who will be announced on December 1.
When the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show opens later this month, Mitsubishi will have 16 vehicles on display, including to new electric vehicle concepts. Of the remaining 14 Mitsubishis at the show, 10 are current production models that qualify for eco-tax deductions in Japan. That leaves four gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing vehicles.
But, to go back to the future, let’s take a look at the Mitsubishi PX-MiEV and i-MiEV Cargo:
Mitsubishi PX-MiEV
Mitsubishi i-MiEV Cargo
Images courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors.
Arcimoto of Eugene, Oregon, revealed its three-wheeled electric vehicle last week, called the Pulse. It may look like low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles of recent years, but this little guy can go a bit fast and a bit farther than many three-wheeled EVs.
The Arcimoto Pulse is a two-seater with a range of 50-100 miles, depending on terrain and speed, and a top speed of 55 mph. It can charge at a standard U.S. 110-volt outlet in six hours.
The car isn’t quite ready for the road yet, but Arcimoto is taking preorders. $500 will hold a place in line for a car that’s expected to come in under $20,000 when it rolls off the assembly line in Eugene in Fall 2010. If you take a look at the Pulse and decide it’s not for you, the company will refund $450 of the deposit. If it is for you, and you want to trick it all out with more power and a schmancy radio, they can do that, too.
The 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show was filled to the brim with electric cars, it seems, though it also seemed that only a few of those cars were destined for American shores. Case in point: the two new electric cars from India, the Reva NXR and NXG.
The Reva NXR will see production first, probably as soon as next year. It comes with either an expensive but range-extended lithium ion battery pack or a cheaper but shorter-distance bank of lead-acid batteries. With the li-ion battery, the NXR can hit 65 mph and travel as far as 100 miles; the price is a pretty reasonable $21,000 or so in Europe. The lead-acid version has a 50-mile range and a top speed of 50 mph, and a price tag around $14,000.
The Reva NXG will be a 2011 model, with a top speed of 80 mph and a range of up to 125 miles. No prices were reported yet, but he car will have a targa top to let in a little sunshine.
Renault successfully out-greened everyone else at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show last year, with the debuts of four electric cars in its booth. These vehicles are slated to start appearing as soon as 2011, though a gasoline version of the Fluence will be in European showrooms this fall. Here are all four electric Renaults in a nutshell:
Renault Twizy Z.E.
Renault Zoe Z.E.
Renault Fluence Z.E.
Renault Kangoo Z.E.
The Volkswagen L1 diesel hybrid concept created quite a stir at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show — which despite a slew of high-end exotics was more green than ever this year. Volkswagen says its one-liter concept car would be the most fuel-efficient car in the world. Actually, they say it is the most fuel-efficient car in the world, but I’ll withhold that title until the car leaves the “study” stage and reaches production.
The L1 is light, thanks to a carbon fiber body; compact like a VW Fox, and short, with a height similar to the low-slung Lamborghini Murcielago, according to Volkswagen. The hybrid has an electric motor and a teeny diesel-powered engine, plus start-stop technology for further fuel savings.
The VW L1 Concept by the numbers:
Jay Leno’s new nightly show will have a regular-ish feature called the”Green Car Challenge.” He’ll get guests like Drew Barrymore to take a turn on the track in an electric Ford Focus specially built for Leno. The drivers will try to out-drive each other for the best times of the season.
The idea is to show America that electric cars aren’t weird — they look just like the other cars in the mall parking lot, for better or worse — and they aren’t poky little puppies. They have a lot of torque, if mashing the pedal at stop lights is your thing, and their light weight can make them pretty zippy if they’re supplied with enough juice at the factory.
The car being used in the show will go on sale to the public in 2011, according to the New York Times. The one on the show has an extra battery for power, plus a roll cage and a five-point harness for safety.
Mercedes-Benz reported last week that several companies have partnered with the German government to set up a hydrogen infrastructure for electric cars with on-board fuel cells. The H2 Mobility initiative, as it’s called, will have a hydrogen fueling station network in place by 2011, they say.
Infrastructure has been a stumbling block for the clean-emissions hydrogen fuel vehicles. No one wants to buy a hydrogen-powered electric car if there’s no place to refuel it, but no one wants to install hydrogen fueling stations if there aren’t any cars to fill up. Germany has decided to end the stalemate by partnering with businesses like Daimler (Mercedes’ parent company) and Shell, plus the National Organization for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology to expand the hydrogen fueling network by 2011, with further expansion and the introduction of consumer-ready hydrogen-powered EVs in Germany by 2015.
In advance of its German debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Fisker announced that its Fisker Karma will have lower carbon dioxide emissions than any other production car on the street today. The company also released estimated fuel cost for the plug-in hybrid.
Here are the Fisker Karma numbers you need to know:
One of the many criticisms of GM in the past couple of years, as the U.S. auto industry crumbled under its own weight, was that it didn’t listen to what consumers wanted today and instead built and sold what buyers wanted a while back.
No more! GM has launched The Lab, a site where your feedback on its eco cars of the future is taken into account. Right now, the discussion is centered on two vehicles: the Bare Necessity Truck and Bare Necessity Car. It turns out the people want a no-frills, fuel-sipping platform that can be customized by the buyer.
Users who create a profile can log in and volunteer for focus groups, leave comments, and let GM know what you want in a greener car or truck (small diesel engine, anyone?) and what you’ll pay to get it.
The Mercedes BlueZERO E-CELL PLUS inches ever closer to the real world, according to the company’s latest press release. The concept appeared at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show as the electric-only BlueZERO E-CELL; engineers have been working on an extended-range version ever since.
The E-CELL PLUS combines a bank of lithium ion batteries and a gasoline-powered generator to extend the car’s range to about 375 miles. It can travel about 60 miles on electric power alone, where the electric-only E-CELL can go about 120 miles before needing a recharge.
The company said that in addition to its range of electric vehicles, it will produce a small batch of fuel cell vehicles in 2009. A small batch of the battery-only vehicles will follow in 2010. No word on when any of these cars might hit showrooms, or how much they might cost.
Image of the BlueZERO E-CELL PLUS courtesy of Daimler AG.
Automotive News, and industry publication, recently did a rundown of the upcoming cars from Japanese manufacturers. Here’s the latest in green cars from the Land of the Rising Sun (and Rising Fuel Economy):
Honda:
Infiniti:
Lexus:
Mitsubishi:
Nissan:
Scion:
Subaru:
Toyota:
Image of the I-MiEV by Kristen Hall-Geisler.
Smart has a couple bits of news this week. First, as of November 2009, the electric Smart Fortwo will have a lithium-ion battery pack from Tesla Motors on board. It’ll sit between the axles, so as not to compromise the already precious space inside the Fortwo, with the motor in the back, where it’s always been. The new battery gives it a range of about 70 miles, and will fully charge at a 220-volt socket overnight.
The electric Fortwo is currently being leased to “select markets,” as they say, in Europe and the U.S. for real-world testing. It’ll go on sale to anyone who wants one in 2012.
If you want 41 mpg in a gasoline car, plus a dash of je ne sais quoi, check out the new Smart Fortwo Highstyle, in chocolate brown with 12-spoke alloy wheels. The interior gets an upgrade to leather and fabric, and the car is available with start-stop technology to increase the gas mileage even more around town.
I wish I were a bookie, or knew how to put odds on events. Starting a betting pool on Tesla chairman Elon Musk’s plans for the company’s future would be fun. The company is seemingly doing pretty well, despite internal disputes, lawsuits, changes at the top, and who knows what all. Musk keeps on keeping on, though. Tesla’s got a deal with Daimler to help build electric smart cars, and Musk recently announced the addition of an SUV to Tesla’s future lineup and reiterated the company’s plans for an affordable sedan.
During an interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose last week, Musk said the sedan will sell for around $50,000, or half the current price of the Roadster, and be produced in much larger numbers. Like, 20,000 a year, compared to 1,000 for the Roadster this year. An electric SUV and a new, smaller, more affordable car will follow sometime in the future. But you can look for the Tesla S sedan in two years … or can you? Place your bets!
Image of the Tesla S courtesy of Tesla Motors.
Researchers at Keio University in Japan have built an eight-wheeled electric vehicle that can go 230 mph. It looks weird, kind of like the crazed cat-bus in “My Neighbor Totoro,” for all you anime fans, but it can do 0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds — as fast as a new Lotus Exige sports car. The Ellica, as the car is called, has an 80-hp electric motor in each wheel rather than one central motor.
What will Keio University do with all this electric power? Turn it into a public transportation project, of course. According to Popular Science, the school has signed a deal with Isuzu Motors and the local government to build a bus using the Ellica’s technology to shuttle passengers up to almost 100 miles per charge. The bus will likely be produced in 2011.
A couple of years ago, Volvo introduced the ReCharge hybrid electric concept; now, it’s taking the idea a step further by giving the little Volvo C30 hatchback an electric motor with a 130-mile range.
A plug-in electric Volvo C30 will debut at the Innovation for Life event just after the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, according to a report in Autocar. Unlike the ReCharge, the C30 won’t have four small electric motors at all four wheels. It will instead have a more conventional single-motor set up.
The New York Times Wheels blog said the car could maybe possibly be part of a small test fleet. Fingers crossed. I’ve driven the gasoline C30, and for a city car, it’s brilliant. Swap out the gas pump for an outlet, and I’ll be in line. I’ll start saving my pennies.
Image courtesy of Volvo Cars.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard any real news about the Chevy Volt, and now GM has captured our green imaginations by claiming that the extended-range electric car will get 230 mpg. Now the EPA, GM, and of course the blogosphere are saying that number may be too good to be true.
GM used the EPA’s new mileage model for electric cars to come up with that massive 230 mpg. There are two problems with this, though: The EPA hasn’t finalized the electric car methodology; and the Volt isn’t purely electronic. Though the first 40 miles are all electric, the Volt has a small engine that uses gasoline and acts as a generator for the electric motor. The engine never powers the car directly, but this is the kind of hiccup that has kept the EPA from giving its mileage equivalency methods the green light.
That doesn’t take into account the Volt’s carbon dioxide emissions, or if the driver is a pedal-smashing speed freak, or if the power comes from a wind farm or a coal plant, or any number of things. Before the EPA could say, “Hey, wait a minute … ” GM had whipped up a 230 logo with a smiling outlet and a green background.
The latest challenger in the electric vehicle ring made its debut on Sunday: the Nissan Leaf. At first glance, it’s got several things going for it:
Nissan’s goal is to make the Leaf an affordable, mass-market, all-electric vehicle. They plan on having these things hit the market — the real market, not the small-batch, lease-only test market — by 2012.
Toyota will release a mass-market plug-in Prius in 2010, with a price tag set at $47,000. The car will be able to charge at a 110-volt or 220-volt outlet, both of which are common in American households. Few details are available beyond this basic announcement that the cars are indeed on the way, and that Toyota will build 20,000-30,000, according to a Reuters report. The car will use lithium batteries and may be a direct competitor for the forthcoming Chevy Volt.
Mercedes-Benz has announced that it will build an electric car based on its SLS AMG super car, with electric motors at all four wheels replacing the V8 engine that would normally be under the hood.
Here are the specs:
The car is expected to arrive on roads in 2013, hopefully with a shorter charging time. At least we do know it will have those striking gullwing doors.
I’ve long said that the future of the automobile won’t rest on any one new technology. Volvo apparently took this to heart and threw several of the latest alternative-fuel technologies into one model, which could appear on the market as soon as 2012.
There were few details released, but here’s what we know about the first model to embody Volvo’s “Drive towards Zero” mission:
Photo of the concept Volvo hybrid courtesy of Volvo Cars.
The Internets are buzzing with a quote from an unnamed Honda spokesman who says the company is planning to produce a Honda Fit Hybrid as soon as the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The accelerated timetable for the hybrid model may be a response to the accelerated CAFE standards announced by the White House last month.
Honda will also produce the sporty CR-Z hybrid in 2010 — and that’s a definite. The Fit will follow, Honda says. The current Honda Fit already gets 27 mpg city, 33 mpg highway. John O’Dell, senior editor at Green Car Advisor, speculates that the Fit Hybrid could get fuel economy numbers somewhere around 50 mpg and a price tag in the neighborhood of $20,000.
Image of a gasoline Honda Fit by Kristen Hall-Geisler.
Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler has acquired a 10% stake in California EV upstart Tesla Motors. The two companies have been working together to develop a battery pack for Daimler’s future electrified Smart car, as Tesla chair Elon Musk announced in Detroit earlier this year.
While Daimler is learning from Tesla’s lithium-ion know-how, including the development of battery packs and recharging systems, Tesla is taking advantage of the bigger, older company’s experience and supply chain to develop its own, supposedly less expensive Tesla Model S electric vehicle.
There are already 100 electric Smart cars testing in London. The results of this partnership with Tesla will produce 1,000 second-generation Smart EVs, which will be built at Smart HQ in France and used in pilot European programs.
And Mercedes fans, start saving up now. The company promises to introduce an electric M-B in 2010.
Image courtesy of Daimler AG.
Bentley, maker of high-end British cars, announced that all of its Continental models will be 85% recycleable (or 95% recoverable). This in addition to its promise to make its entire lineup FlexFuel compatible by 2012.
The company pointed out that it has also reduced gas, water, and electricity consumption by 25% over the past nine years while the number of cars that roll of the assembly line has grown by ten times in the same period.
It may be a moot point, though, this recyclability, as the company also pointed out that 70% of all Bentleys ever built are still on the road. Longevity and the low miles these cars usually rack up may be the greenest things about any large luxury car. That and the green it takes to buy one in the first place.
Photo by theignitionpoint.co.uk.
Several California counties, the state of Oregon, and now Seattle have hopped on the electric interstate idea by signing EV-charging infrastructure deals with Nissan. The car company plans to introduce its EV in limited numbers next year, and it wants to have recharging stations in place.
With San Diego and Seattle on board, the ends of Interstate 5 are pinned in place with EV charging agreements. Coverage along I-5’s length is spotty so far, though, so don’t plan a road trip in your Tesla just yet. Also, as John O’Dell reported on the Green Car Advisor blog, Seattle’s hydroelectric power source makes it the first utility in the world to be able to lay claim to the carbon-neutral crown.
Nissan’s EV has been making the rounds on the West Coast lately, with the technology tucked inside a Nissan Cube. The company won’t confirm that the final vehicle design will be based on the Cube, nor will it let journalists take a peek inside the battery pack. I assume details will be coming this fall as the first versions, suitable for real-world testing, become available.
The much-anticipated Tata Nano, the world’s least-expensive new car, has already made a splash in its native India, where 203,000 orders have already been placed.
According to the New York Times’ “Wheels” blog, the company is only capable of building 100,000 units in the first run of the Nano. Tata will draw the names of those lucky first hundred thou from the pool of applicants. Surprisingly, only 20% of the orders placed were for the least-expensive model. Half of the orders were for the Nano LX, which for $3,300 adds power front windows, a heater, fog lamps, and exclusive Sunshine Yellow paint.
Image courtesy of Tata.
Oregon-based HumanCar Inc. made some big announcements recently — including the fact that the company plans to build its HumanCar neighborhood electric vehicle and sell it to the public. The open-topped car may not seem too practical in rainy Oregon, but its lead-acid batteries can store energy to be used at home, should you need a little extra juice.
Where, you might ask, does the human come into play in the HumanCar? While the batteries can be charged at any standard 110-volt outlet, they can also be topped off by people power. The car seats up to four humans, and each seat has an oar-like handle. The occupants can “row” the car for a bit to generate energy that can be stored in the cells and used later.
The HumanCar NEV is limited to 35 mph, but the FM-4 is limited only by your good health. It’s powered solely by people.
There’s a rumor that Jaguar, which is owned now by Indian motor company Tata, will debut a plug-in hybrid version of its next-generation XJ four-door sedan. According to Autocar, a British magazine, the technology will be similar to the Chevy Volt (or Opel Ampera, if you’re in the European Union), with batteries that can be recharged by either plugging in or by a small, on-board, gasoline-powered engine.
Jaguar was granted a loan of more than 300 million pounds for developing green technology by the European Union. It’s worked with outside engineers on the PHEV project, including Lotus Engineering, to put the car into production by 2011. This dovetails with Jaguar’s plan to reduce its emissions by 25% by 2012.
In its latest round of investments, Fisker Automotive managed to get $85 million in venture capital for the development and manufacture of its plug-in hybrid vehicles. The company’s first production car, the 2010 Fisker Karma, is expected to roll out of the factory and onto the street in late 2009 with a price tag near $90,000 — before tax credits.
The wads and wads of cash come from Eco-Drive (Capital) Partners of New York, which is an investment consortium with members from the U.S. and Europe, and from early Fisker investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.
Company founder and CEO Henrik Fisker will take part in the Fortune Brainstorm Green Conference in Laguna Niguel, California, this week. The symposium will include keynote speaker President Bill Clinton and the “Future of Cars” panel, which is where Fisker will share his ideas on the autos to come, along with Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. and Ford CEO Alan Mulally.
Those few of you who joined me in watching “Arrested Development,” the short-lived sitcom on Fox a few years ago, will remember that magician Gob Bluth’s dorkiness was enhanced by his piloting a Segway around town. Well, GM and Segway apparently didn’t want the Gobs of the world to be alone any longer: they have teamed up to create a two-person Segway concept called the P.U.M.A.
Project P.U.M.A. stands for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, and it’s been all over the Internets lately. The two occupents of the vehicle are seated, rather than having to stand, and it’s capable of going 35 mph for about 35 miles, similar to many neighborhood electric vehicles.
Here are the P.U.M.A.’s dork credentials:
As this is an experimental vehicle, no price has been set, and this is likely not its final form (though it’s probably pretty close). GM and Segway hope to bring the P.U.M.A. to market in 2012. God help us.
Now that I have made my feelings clear on what is likely a breakthrough in both technology and heights of dorkitude, make your feelings known in the comments.
The Mitsubishi i MiEV may seem like an cute, innocent, egg-like electric vehicle, but recent events show that it has an iron will inside that adorable shape.
On March 27, Mitsubishi announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with one of the swankiest cities on Earth, Monaco. Beginning in late 2009, the company will provide a fleet of i MiEVs to Monaco’s post office, telecom office, and its famous hotels and casinos. The fleet will be testing the car’s “real-world” usability in Monaco, and will eventually include left-hand drive models. (All current i MiEVs are right-hand drive, since they’re built for the Japanese market.)
On April 6, Mitsubishi and Vancouver, B.C., signed an MoU for one car to be added to the city’s official fleet, and one to be added to the power company’s. The city — Canada’s first to participate in Mitsu’s program — could get more i MiEVs as they become available.
No city is safe from the pint-sized EV’s diabolical plans to clean up the atmosphere, not even my own Portland, Oregon. The State of Oregon signed an MoU with Mistubishi on April 10, while local power company PGE signed a Letter of Intent to test the i MiEV. The company is already working to establish a charging network in anticipation of mass-market electric cars.
These three test fleets are in addition to the i MiEV’s presence in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, California, and Europe. The car will actually go on sale for the first time — after obviously extensive on-street testing — in Japan this summer.
On Monday, Chrysler announced that A123 would supply the lithium-ion batteries for the forthcoming line of EVs from its ENVI division. There are five vehicles in the lineup, including a Lotus-based sports car and a minivan, but there’s no word yet on which one will be the bell of the EV debut ball next year.
One of the partnership’s selling points is that both companies are U.S.-based, making it easier for early adopters to buy American when it comes to alternative fuels. Of course, the viability of Chrysler will have an impact on whether any of the ENVI project can move forward, but forging this kind of alliance and promising to bring an EV to market by 2010 show chutzpah on Chrysler’s part.
Photo of the Dodge Circuit EV at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show by Kristen Hall-Geisler.
On March 26, President Barack Obama pushed new fuel economy regulations for 2011 through the Department of Transportation. The regulations give some teeth to an initiative begun by the Bush administration to reduce emissions and our dependence on foreign oil.
The new standards were drafted quickly to give automakers time to retool production lines to meet the requirements. The 2011 model year was targeted so that the accelerated standards could be implemented quickly while not affecting the aggressive plans Obama has for future fuel economy and emissions standards.
Here’s how the mpgs will play out in 2011:
These are small increases — smaller even than in the Bush proposal — that are expected to be met with little drama by embattled U.S. auto makers. Keep an eye on California, though, as it’s allowed to set its own fuel economy standards in the next few months, along with any other state that should fancy cleaner air and less time at the gas station.
GM unveiled the European version of the Chevy Volt at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show — the Opel Ampera. The two cars are identical where it counts: they use the same chassis and Voltec extended-range electric vehicle drive system. But the skin they wear is quite different, and not surprisingly, the Euro version has more style.
Following the GM press release’s Euro style, the car can travel on electricity only for 60 km. After that, a small on-board engine acts as a generator to recharge the batteries and give the Ampera another 500 km of driving range. (That’s 37 miles on battery power, and about 300 miles of generator-extended driving on this side of the pond.)
GM says the Ampera will debut in dealerships in 2011, as the Continent’s first EREV. The Chevy Volt will be in U.S. showrooms at about the same time; its production is scheduled to begin in late 2010 at the company’s plant in Flint, Michigan.
Images above courtesy of GM. The Ampere is on the left, at its debut with Opel VP Alain Visser, and the Volt is on the right.
Nissan North America wants to put fast food to good use — by starting a nationwide EV charging network in their parking lots. (Seems like Sweden is leading the way here.) The way Nissan figures, 30 minutes on a commercial charger (rather than you 110V outlets at home) could give batteries up to an 80% charge. That’s about the time it takes to order, take a seat, get your food, scarf it down, and make a quick trip to the rest room before continuing on your merry, electrified way.
Customers would pay for the electricity at the curbside charger with a credit card. Drivers who need to top off for free might be able to do so at Nissan dealerships. The company is asking its sellers to install recharging stations as a courtesy for drivers just passing through.
Why does Nissan care so much? Well, they’ve got plans to get a five-seat EV sedan with a 100-mile range into showrooms by 2012. Without an easy-to-use infrastructure, the venture may be dead in the water. The company hopes the charging network will expand to workplace parking and shopping center parking, like malls and movie theaters. Maybe theaters could bring back the double feature so movie-goers can get a full charge.
The Bentley Continental Supersports edition will debut at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show in March. And though it’s the fastest, most bad-ass Bentley ever built, it’s laying claims to green fame as well. The Continental Supersports will be a FlexFuel vehicle.
As part of Bentley’s commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 15% across the range of its cars, the Continental Supersports will be able to run on E85, gasoline, or a combination of the two. The company claims that this reduces “well-to-wheel” emissions by 70%. (By well-to-wheel, they mean from the moment the fuel is sourced to its refinement and delivery to when it burns in the combustion engine and releases emissions from the tailpipe.)
Bentley is basing its green claims on the hope that second-generation biofuels from 100% renewable sources like crop waste will become widely available by the time the Continental Supersports concept becomes a real, live car.
And, you know, it’s got a W12 engine that kicks out 621 bhp and has a 204-mph top speed. If you’re into that kind of thing.
At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show in January, Chrysler showcased its ENVI-program EVs, including the electric-orange Dodge Circuit. No definite dates were set for any of the range-extended electric vehicles, but buzz was high and Chrysler seemed close to ready to put at least one of them into production.
Last week, Chrysler and GM were required to file their restructuring plans with the government to receive the next round of cash. GreenCarReports.com found buried on page 135 a mention of an “EV roadster” to be produced in 2010 for the 2011 model year. The site extrapolates from this one word that the first EV from the embattled company won’t be the Lotus-bodied number they’ve parading all over town, but instead an open-topped car based on the 2007 Dodge Demon concept.
Of course, the “roadster” thing could have been a mistake, or just a typo. Really, though, if they can bring in an EV sports car at a decent price, would you care if it was a hard-top Lotus-derived body or a drop-top Miata-style mini monster?
Demon image courtesy of Chrysler. Circuit image by Kristen Hall-Geisler.
Mitsubishi will reveal two electric vehicle prototypes at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show in March: the Prototype i MiEV and the i MiEV Sport Air concept.
The first car will introduce features that inch the little EV closer to Euro-spec readiness, including left-hand drive. All of the electric Mitsubishis on the road right now in their first phase of testing are Japanese-spec right-hand models, even the few in the U.S. The potato-bug of a car gets a wider stance and longer overhangs for Europe as well.
The i MiEV Sport Air concept is expected to have a more powerful electric motor and a solid driving feel, due to the weight of the in-floor battery packs. It also will feature a “clear cutaway” top, which in Mitsubishi’s sketches looks like a sweep of glass from the windshield to the rear window.
Images courtesy of Mitsubishi.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk blogged last week about the latest member of his electric vehicle family: the Tesla Model S, a four-door sedan. The company has its collective fingers crossed that the U.S. Department of Energy will approve its $350 million loan to work on the new family-friendly car; if it all works out, production could begin in 2011.
Musk had a slew of good news to report, in addition to the high hopes he has for the Model S:
Ford announced last December that it would have an EV on the market in 2010, and we now know that this EV will be the light-duty delivery van called the Transit Connect.
The gasoline version of the van hits North America this year, with a sticker price of $21,475; there’s been no word on how the battery-electric vehicle version of the Transit Connect will compare, price-wise. The same van will be available worldwide, part of the company’s “One Ford” initiative to stop making thirty versions of one model for different markets around the globe.
The electric powertrain will come from Smith Electric Vehicles, the European leader in converting commercial vehicles to battery power. The little van that could is expected to have a range of up to 100 miles per charge, and to cater to stop-and-go delivery driving situations.
Image of the gasoline-powered 2010 Ford Transit Connect at the 2009 Chicago auto show courtesy of Ford.
The Zap Alias three-wheeled EV, which made its debut at the North American Auto Dealers show in New Orleans last month, has been accepted as an X Prize competitor, along with nearly 40 other teams of alternative-fuel vehicle builders.
The winner of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize will meet several criteria:
In a nutshell, these high-efficiency cars have to work and real people have to be able to buy them.
The Zap Alias, a two-seater electric vehicle, is competing in the “alternative” class. It requires two seats (check) and a 100-mile range, which Zap says the Alias will be able to do. The alternative class encourages new designs, which Zap took to heart when coming up with the three-wheeled Alias. It’s more than a motorcycle, but not quite a full-fledged car, with an other-worldly, sci-fi flair. Which may be just the ticket for the $1 million prize purse.
If you’re into the Alias and want one regardless of its chances at the X Prize, Zap is taking deposits of $1000 for the car. There will be a limited number of Signature Series examples sold in 2009.
Check out the 30-second video to get a glimpse of the Alias.
Thanks to Nissan’s pulling out of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, Chinese auto manufacturer BYD (”Build Your Dreams”) got its chance to shine. Last year, BYD was relegated to the basement of the Cobo Center; this year, they were upstairs, between Subaru and fellow Chinese auto maker Brilliance, where the overhead lights could gleam off the company’s hybrid cars.
With a blast of music from the loudspeakers and a substantial investment from Warren Buffet, BYD is setting itself up to take on Toyota, Honda, Ford, and everyone else with a horse in the hybrid race. BYD began in 1995 as a battery producer, so building the car around the power system was a cinch. Like most other manufacturers with a new technology to sell, BYD brought a cutaway car to showcase its dual-mode hybrid system.
BYD’s first car, the F3DM, went on sale in China in December 2008. The company plans to bring its cars to the U.S. by 2011, and eventually to build them here, too. The next BYD car to reach showrooms will be a “family-sized” sedan, also dual-mode, called the F6DM. Both dual-mode cars have a 1-liter gasoline engine, an EV range of 68 miles, and a not-too-shabby 0-60 time of 10.5 seconds.
The BYD e6 is an all-electric vehicle with a 250-mile range and a 0-60 time of 8 seconds. It also features a “quick-charge” capacity that can restore 50% of its power in 10 minutes.
In all its cars, BYD promises safety, quality, affordability, and environmental responsibility. It’ll be interesting to see how they fare against the IIHS crash tests and EPA mileage machines.
Chrysler, one of the not-so-Big Three, brought several cars from its ENVI extended-range electric car program to the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, including a Lotus-designed sports car and an electric concept car.
Lots of companies had new green technologies to show off, though, (except for Ford, which only brought a slide presentation of its plans to build electric cars in the future). Chrysler set itself apart by thanking the government and the American people at its press conference for the bailout money and acknowledging that it had a new responsiblity to consumers who had granted them the loan “just in time.”
Part of this responsibility, in Chrysler’s view, is to build cars that answer our energy and creature-comfort needs. It’s working on it. The company owns GEM, the golf-cart-like NEV company, and it brought three ENVI electric vehicles, including two Jeeps and minivan with a 40-mile electric range.
But it was the ENVI concept cars that stood out. Here’s the skinny on these new EVs:
Dodge Circuit
Chrysler 200C
I mentioned that the Mitsubishi iMiEV was one of the most popular cars to test drive on the basement track at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. The other was GM’s Chevy Equinox SUV powered by hydrogen fuel cells. I waited my for turn at the wheel and did a few 10-mph laps with a GM rep in the passenger seat to fill me in on the technology.
The most notable thing was that the hydrogen-powered motor was as quiet as an EV, and drove like an EV, since it basically is an EV being powered by hydrogen rather than energy stored in, say, lead-acid batteries. GM has a fleet of these Equinox SUVs on the roads right now, and customers have asked engineers to leave in the “whine” on acceleration, rather than making the vehicle perfectly silent.
Though I couldn’t test it on the 700 feet of impromptu track inside the Cobo Center, the Equinox can do 0-60 in about 12 seconds, which is similar to a Prius. The hydrogen fuel generates zero emissions, and the current generation of the technology operates without any issues from -5 degrees Fahrenheit to 113 degrees. The next generation should be usable in “normal car range,” from -40 to 130 degrees.
GM has the largest fuel cell fleet in the world being tested by consumers right now. What we need is enough solid information from GM and its testers to break the chicken-or-the-egg fuel cell impasse that we’re at now: no one wants to build the cars without fueling stations in place, and no one wants to install the fueling stations without the cars.
Image courtesy of GM.
After a couple manufacturers pulled out of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show at the last minute and the floorplan was rejiggered, there was a large, empty space leftover in the basement of the Cobo Center. What to do with it? I know! Let’s bring in trees, tulips, and shrubberies, and have alternative-fuel vehicles available for test drives!
And so I found myself in line late in the afternoon, waiting to drive the Mitsubishi iMiev. Mitsu didn’t have a booth at the show, so I didn’t think I’d get to see this little EV in person. I was happy to be wrong. It was one of the most popular vehicles to test at the show, as most of the other vehicles were new hybrid models like the Cadillac Escalade. We’ve all driven a hybrid by now, right? Journalists are so jaded.
I lugged my press-kit-filled tote bag to the driver’s side, only to find it wasn’t the driver’s side. The car isn’t manufacturered for use in the States, so it’s right-hand-drive, Japan-style. Luckily, the car is tiny, so I didn’t have far to walk to correct my mistake. Mitsubishi PR guy Moe took the passenger seat to ride along with me and answer my questions. Moe is a fairly tall guy, and he didn’t look too uncomfortable inside the car. I’m only 5′ 4″, and I fit behind the wheel just fine.
We tootled about the smooth cement track for three or four laps. Moe pointed out that there is an Economy mode that slows the starts and is 13% more efficient than regular Drive, and a Boost mode for getting up hills that makes use of regenerated braking power. The little iMiev isn’t fast by anyone’s standards, but it was hard to gauge its usefulness in the real world when I was confined to 700 feet of basement track and a maximum 10 mph.
Moe said the iMiev project started in 2004, and that a fleet of the cars is being tested worldwide, with the U.S. being a proving ground for cold-weather use. He said he’s driven the iMiev on the highway without fearing for his life or being blown all over the road. The batteries help give the little car some weight, he said; he found the gasoline-powered version of the car scarier than the EV on the highway.
The interior was pretty Spartan, with few bells and whistles. But the rear seats can fold down for extra cargo space, which is nice as long as whatever you’re loading in the back is large and airy, like, say, a balloon bouquet. Anything heavier is going to have a noticeable effect on the little motor’s get-up-and-go.
Image by me. Moe is in the passenger seat on the far side of the car.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced today at the 2009 Detroit auto show that the company will supply the batteries for the forthcoming Smart electric vehicle. Musk had just gotten the go-ahead from Smart parent company and Tesla partner Daimler this morning to make the announcement at the press conference this afternoon — the last auto manufacturer’s press conference of the show.
Musk said Daimler felt Tesla had the best engineering and technology, and so chose the small Silicon Valley electric car maker to supply the batteries for its Smart microcar. The Smart EV will use the same batteries as the Tesla Roadster, but in a smaller pack.
Musk also mentioned that his goal is to bring EVs to the masses, something that could be done through this partnership with Daimler. While the technology is expensive, it goes into expensive cars like the Tesla Roadster (which sells for upwards of $100k and is sold out through November 2009). By working with a large car maker to build EVs in volume, Musk hopes to lower the costs and partner with Daimler to build tens of thousands of cars, instead of the 1500 Roadsters Tesla hopes to build this year.
Tesla likes this partnership model so much that Musk says it’s looking for more deals of the same kind. “The notion of Silicon Valley versus Detroit is completely untrue,” he said.
I’ve attended about a half-dozen press conference at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit today — enough to give you an idea of what’s to come. I’ll have pictures and in-depth information on the models mentioned here in the next day or two.
GM: To emphasize the company’s commitment to greener powertrain technology, the Volt led the GM parade. The much-hyped range-extended electric vehicle should be market-ready by the end of 2010. The Chevy Beat microcar concept will be produced worldwide as the Chevy Spark in 2011. The surprise of the conference was the all-electric Cadillac Converj concept (nice spelling, eh?) It’s based on the Voltech system, as the company is calling it, and should have a 40-mile range.
Lexus: Toyota’s luxury arm debuted a dedicated hybrid, the HS 250 h. The “entry-level luxury vehicle” has plant-based eco-plastics, according to Lexus, throughout the interior, which is 30% recyclable. The car overall is 85% recyclable, including the batteries. It’ll be on sale in late summer 2009, but no price was announced yet.
Ford: Ford was all about its new EcoBoost engine, which is an option for the Flex right now and will be available on 90% of Ford vehicles by 2013. Bill Ford Jr. announced plans to bring four new high-mileage battery vehicles to the market by 2012, declaring it “not a test program,” but a business strategy.
Chrysler: Chrysler execs were grateful for the government bailout and weren’t afraid to show it. They brought their GEM low-power electric vehicles, plus the three ENVI electric prototypes they debuted in 2008. They also brought the new Patriot EV (the second Jeep to get the EV treatment) and the Chrysler 200c EV concept, which is packed with more hi-tech bits than an iPhone.
Bentley: The high-luxury car maker made available its corporate plans to move to flex fuels in its massive sedans and convertibles. It also announced a new biofuel car that would debut in Geneva this March. Oh, and they brought champagne. Yum.
Mini: Mini brought its E electric car and talked about its program to get a fleet of 500 test cars in Los Angeles and New York City, and it debuted a new convertible that is more fuel efficient and emits less carbon dioxide than the previous model.
That’s all for now. More press conferences tomorrow, including a new plug-in hybrid sports car concept from Fisker.
With nine manufacturers out of the picture, I think it’s safe to say we shouldn’t expect much from the 2009 North American International Auto Show, which opens to the press January 11.
While Good Green Cars readers might not mind that Ferrari has pulled out of the Detroit show, you might find it interesting that Nissan/Infiniti has also decided not to bring any cars, and has even asked local dealers not to put up a display. The manufacturer has a hybrid program and plans to introduce electric cars to Oregon in the near-ish future. I was hoping to see those EVs, at least in prototype form, in Detroit this year. I also don’t see Mitsubishi on the press conference schedule, which means no up-close-and-personal time with the adorable iMiev.
What we can expect to see are the new Ford Fusion hybrid, the new Honda Insight, and the new Toyota Prius, all of which have a bunch of buzz surrounding them. Ford is also expected to talk about — but not have on hand — the new EVs it plans to build. I’m sure Chevy will be bringing the latest incarnation of the 2011 Volt PHEV, and that Chrysler will have its lineup of potential EVs on display.
Keep this blog bookmarked for the next week or so, as I report firsthand on the green goings-on in Detroit.
After hiring out its design arm to create chassis for Tesla and Chrysler’s electric vehicles, Lotus has hinted that it may throw its own hat in the EV ring. The Financial Times reported — and Edmunds.com’s Inside Line passed it along — that Lotus CEO Michael Kimberley said there may be an electric Lotus “shortly.”
According to the Edmunds blog post, “shortly” may be as soon as the Geneva auto show in March. The concept EV wouldn’t be fully functional, but it would give potential buyers an idea of what a 300-mile-range EV from the British sports car manufacturer might look like.
Looking at Lotus’s current lineup, I think we can assume it’ll be along similar curvy lines. And the company already has a tradition of model names that start with E (Elise, Elite, Evora, Europa … ), so coming up with a clever EV name should be a snap.
Image provided by Lotus Designs, from its 2009 calendar. As far as Good Green Cars knows, it’s not the EV Lotus is talking about, but, you know, it could be.
Finally — a good look at the coming 2010 Toyota Prius. Not just a taillight or a window switch, but a good, slow pan around the whole car while jazzy piano music plays (”Something’s Coming” by Leonard Bernstein, naturally) and the Blue Man Group plays with a boomerang.
The BMG gets inside the car, too, and plays with the tech features, like iPod integration and the futuristic dashboard readouts, which look like they were designed by Tony Stark. That’s “Iron Man” to the less geeky of you.
The video is about three and half minutes long, the perfect length for a Friday afternoon snack break. The car is set to debut at the Detroit auto show, and I’ll be there, blogging like crazy. Come back in about ten days to see what this sucker looks like in the metal.
Oregon Public Broadcasting’s call-in show, “Think Out Loud,” was about the future of the automotive industry this morning. The program focused on the state of Oregon, and most of the guests and callers were from the state, but the show had a lot to say about where personal transportation is headed in the next decade for the entire U.S.
The show, which aired Monday, December 1, was called “A Sustainable Auto Industry.” Guests included John Viera, Director of Ford Sustainable Business Strategies; Mark Perry, Director of Product Planning for Nissan North America; a representative from Governor Kulongoski’s office; and an assistant professor at Oregon State University’s College of Business. So they had their bases covered.
Highlights of the show (though you should listen to the whole thing):
A lot of basic alternative-fuel questions were answered, like shifting emissions from the tailpipe to the smokestack, and the recyclability of electric-vehicle batteries. It’s a good listen for newbies and alt-vehicle veterans alike.
While the Americal Le Mans Series has already had a green race-within-a-race for alternative-fuel vehicles, NASCAR is taking baby steps toward eco-friendliness. The final race of the season on Sunday, November 16, had the series’ first-ever hybrid pace car, a 2010 Ford Fusion.
NASCAR isn’t going all tree-hugger on anybody, but it is trying to reduce its carbon footprint, according to a report on NASCAR.com. Organizers also hope the mere presence of a hybrid on the track will help crack the alternative-fuel ice with the sport’s fans, who tend to favor high horsepower and big trucks. But in a year of volatile gas prices and growing green awareness, even die-hard speed freaks can see the advantages in a higher-mpg vehicle.
The hybrid version of the Fusion, and its nearly identical twin the Mercury Sable, will be available to consumers in spring of next year. The official unveiling of the car will happen at the L.A. Auto Show, November 21-30.
Image courtesy of NASCAR.com.
If you’ve been considering an alternative-fuel vehicle for your next car but were wondering where on earth to fill up, look no further than the U.S. Department of Energy. That’s right — the DoE has put together a handy web site where you can search for refueling stations for just about any kind of fuel except regular, ol’ gasoline:
It should surprise no one that California leads the way in most types of alternative fuel stations. E85 is huge in the Midwest, which is another no-brainer, but biodiesel is big in Georgia and the Carolinas, which I did not know. Texas has hundreds of propane filling stations, as anyone who watches “King of the Hill” would probably guess.
There is a ton of information on the Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center, and it will be a valuable resource as more alternative-fueled cars come to market in the next four years or so. Bookmark it now, folks, and tell all your friends who love green cars.
LiveEarth and Zimride have teamed up over on Facebook to make it easy for the carless to find a ride to the voting booth. Cleverly called Carpool to the Polls, Facebook users just need to push the big green button at the bottom of the screen that says, um, “Carpool to the Polls.” They’ve really make it simple, folks.
Just under that big green button is a gray button that will help you find your polling station. Next to the green button is another green button for arranging a carpool anywhere else for any old errand that needs to be run.
This election is important for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggies this cycle involves sustainable energy sources and alternative fuels. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, but it wasn’t the Barack Obama crowds shouting, “Drill, baby, drill.” I’m just saying.
So if you need an extra kick in the pants to get to the polls, sign up for a carpool. It’s greener than driving yourself, and you’re more likely to fulfill your commitment as a voter if you know someone is waiting for you at the curb, honking her horn, to take you to the voting booth.
Portland, Oregon, gets a lot of credit for sustainability and forward thinking, but it’s not the only place looking to an EV-powered future. Oregon City, a suburb south of Portland, unveiled its new curbside charging station October 28 by plugging in a converted electric Fiat owned by resident Mark Mongillo. The idea is to get a jump start, if you will, on the infrastructure required for the EVs and plug-in hybrids that manufacturers are promising for the near-ish future.
The charging station, which was built by Shorepower Technologies of Portland, is one of four that have been installed in the region by Portland General Electric. It can charge up to four electric cars at once using 120-volt plugs, like what we have in our homes. At that rate, it would take about four hours for a full battery charge. Most people parking curbside would likely “top off” their batteries while shopping or sipping coffee.
After the unveiling of the seven-foot-tall station, Mongillo plugged in his Fiamp to charge. Nothing happened. Nothing noticeable, anyway. The crowd seemed to expect noise or a light to turn on or something, but plugging in an EV isn’t that showy. Mongillo said, “That’s it. It’s working,” and the small crowd applauded.
Details on the Shorepower stations:
In my capacity as an automotive journalist, I have driven the Mini Cooper before. Several times, as a matter of fact. But when the red 2008 Mini with black stripes was delivered on Friday, I had a mission in mind. I was going to put its EPA fuel economy estimates to the test.
The Mini Cooper in my possession for a few days had a standard 1.6-liter, 16-valve, 4-cylinder engine that could turn out 118 hp. It may not sound like much, but in a car this small, it’s enough. It also had a six-speed manual transmission, which would help in the mpg department. The test car did have sport suspension and 16-inch wheels, rather than the regular 15-inchers, but I didn’t think that would affect the fuel economy much. The EPA estimated 28 mpg in the city and 37 mpg on the highway.
The morning the Mini Cooper appeared in my driveway, I was already late for lunch. I grabbed the keys, reset the mpg counter, threw the car in reverse, and tore off in the direction of the restaurant where I would meet a few friends. I did not drive responsibly. Safety was, as always, my priority, but speed came in a close second. I was surprised, on reaching the restaurant a few miles away, that I had still averaged over 32 mpg, even driving like a jerk.
Over the next few days, I drove in a much more sane way around Portland. Lots of in-town driving, some freeway, some stop-and-go traffic at 5:30. It never dipped below 30 mpg. As you can see, after five days of normal driving, I averaged 33.7 mpg. This is above the EPA’s combined rating for the Mini Cooper of 32 mpg.
I have to give the car back, and it’ll be a while before I get another. BMW, which owns the Mini brand, is pulling back on its press loaners for now. In the meantime, we can all look forward to those precious few electric Mini E models coming to the States for real-world testing.
This car was provided for review by the manufacturer at no cost to the reviewer.
If you love the safe feeling of driving a Volvo but not the around-town gas mileage (16 mpg in an S80!), do the Swedes have good news for you. Volvo announced at the Paris auto show, where green was king, that it would introduce start-stop technology in some of its 2009 models, with diesel hybrids to appear in 2012 and plug-in hybrids to come sometime soon after that.
The smaller C30, S40, and V50 will get the start-stop treatment first. This relatively uncomplicated technology shuts off the engine when it’s not under load, at stop lights, say, and starts it back up when you’re ready to get moving. Start-stop will make its way into the rest of Volvo’s lineup in the future.
Diesel hybrid systems will be used in the company’s larger vehicles, like SUVs, wagons, and the big sedans. The Volvo setup will have a 5-cylinder turbodiesel engine to drive the front wheels and an electric motor to power the rear wheels. At low speeds, the electric motor will be able to do all the necessary work.
Automotive News mentioned that electric motors and diesel engines have the same shortcoming, namely a lack of horsepower at high rpm. Volvo execs say that they’re more interested in reducing CO2 emissions, and this is the best way for them to do that. I doubt many people were buying Volvo wagons for their sportiness, anyway.
The Honda Insight, called “the Prius fighter” all over the blogosphere, was officially unveiled at the Paris auto show in early October. Honda president Takeo Fukui took the opportunity to run down a few details of the car, like power and price, at the event.
Here’s a quick comparison of the two mass-market hybrids, one already popular in the U.S. and one prepping for the fight. Keep in mind that Toyota’s got a redesigned Prius up its sleeve for 2010, and it’s predicted to have better mileage and a bigger gasoline engine.
2009 Honda Insight
2009 Toyota Prius
[Sources: Automotive News (subscription required), Edmunds.com, FuelEconomy.gov, Toyota.com]
Image courtesy of Honda.
One of the most talked-about unveilings at the Paris auto show this month was the all-electric version of the Smart car, called the Smart ED. (That stands for Electric Drive, not the subject of those old Bob Dole commercials.) Parent company Daimler says the cars will go into production in late 2009 for delivery to “selected customers.”
Daimler leased 100 early versions of an electric Smart to Londoners earlier this year to get real-world experience with plug-in vehicles. The second phase of testing, announced last month, will take place in Berlin with another 100 cars.
The updated version seen in Paris at the auto show will have a 90-mile range, which is twice as far as the current crop of neighborhood electric vehicles will go on one charge. No word on if or when the Smart ED will show up at U.S. dealerships.
Now that the new 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid has made its Paris debut, like any model worth her skinny jeans would do, the company has launched two new online outlets for the car.
“Latest Insight” is a blog that follows the car from debut to dealership. The design seems to be final with only the manufacturing step left to go, so I’m not sure what “journey” the bloggers at Honda will be following. You can count on posts and pics from every event and auto show the car graces, though.
Honda also launched a mini site, “Words of Hybrid,”* that showcases all of its hybrid vehicles, including the original Insight and the forthcoming CR-Z. There’s a link at the bottom of the list for a Jazz Hybrid that can’t be clicked. (The Jazz is the name of the Fit in Europe and the Middle East.) U.K. site What Car says the hybrid Jazz could reach the European market by 2010.
*You can also reach the Honda mini site by visiting Honda’s world hybrid site and clicking “Launch.”
Spooky photo of the Insight courtesy of Honda.
Legendary design firm Pininfarina has brought its own little EV to the Paris auto show this year, the B Zero. Actually, the model name is written B0, but the company has helpfully let us know that it’s pronounced “B Zero.” Presumably, they don’t want us Americans running around calling it the “BO.”
The B0 will roll off the production line in late 2009 as a 2010 model, the Italian company says. The mass-produced car is a collaboration between Pininfarina and Bollore, who will provide the powerplant. The proprietary system will use batteries and supercapacitors to propel the B0 about 150 miles per charge, with a top speed of 80 mph.
If zero emissions and a high-tech lithium polymer battery aren’t enough to float your eco-warrior boat, the car also has solar panels on its roof and even a few on its tiny hood. Right now, the panels will be able to run “some of its equipment,” according to Pininfarina. I assume this means they provide enough power for creature comforts like the radio and maybe air conditioning.
Hyundai’s got the blues. Two of them, to be exact. Like Mercedes-Benz, the Korean manufacturer has apparently tired of everything being green and branded its eco-conscious automotive efforts blue, as in the i20 blue and Santa Fe blue Hybrid, both of which debuted at the Paris auto show in early October.
The “blue” designation doesn’t mean hybrid; it means aerodynamic, efficiency, and weight measures have been taken to lower the car’s environmental impact. In the case of the i20, Hyundai took the following steps to lighten its footprint:
All this adds up to 15% lower carbon dioxide emissions and a 15% improvement in fuel efficiency (from 55 mpg to 63 mpg).
The Santa Fe blue, meanwhile, has a 2.4-liter engine mated to a 6-speed transmission and a 30 kW electric motor and a lithium polymer battery. The company says that this parallel hybrid architecture, as they call it, will be the basis for all Hyundai’s hybrids in the future. In the Santa Fe, the system returns 38 mpg. As part of the new blue lineup, it also incorporates many of the features, such as ISG start-stop, found in the i20 blue.
Fuel-efficient small cars like the Smart ForTwo and EVs like the Zap Xebra have a built-in cuteness due to their diminutive size. But the 2009 GEM Peapod acutally made me say, out loud, “Oh! They’re adorable.”
Like the Xebra, the Peapod is a neighborhood-electric vehicle, or NEV, so it can’t do highway speeds or ferry your family to Yellowstone for vacation (unless you live less than 30 miles from Yellowstone and have a very small family). Surprisingly, the Peapod is longer and taller than the Smart ForTwo, and even has rear seats. But the NEV’s top speed is 25 mph, where the gasoline-powered ForTwo can do a highway-capable 90 mph.
The Peapod comes from those eco-innovation lovers over at Chrysler’s ENVI outfit, the same folks who brought us the Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge EV designs in late September. The design of the latest little EV is completely new, unlike, say, the Jeep or the Town and Country minivan EVs, and features a lot of glass and a shape straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I’ve blogged about GEM before, back in the dark ages of EVs (early 2008). With the advent of the Peapod, though, the decade-old, North Dakota-based subsidiary of Chrysler got a new-ish name, GreenEcoMobility. Whatever they call themselves, this is a big improvement over GEM’s glorified golfcarts of old. And by old, I mean six months ago.
October 4 is opening day at Mondial de l’Automobile, or the Paris Auto Show to most Americans. Europe has long had more small cars that get better gas mileage than what we can buy in the U.S., and a wider array of clean diesel cars. We can certainly expect to see more of these kinds of autos in Paris this year; the difference is that now we want them, too.
Here’s a list of debuts and concepts to look for at Mondial de l’Automobile as the reports start filling the blogosphere next month.
Debuts
Concepts
Chrysler unveiled three EVs this week, one from each of its divisions. There’s a Jeep SUV EV, a Chrysler minivan EV, and a Dodge sports car EV, all slated to go on sale in the U.S. in 2010 as 2011 models. If the automaker can hit that mark, Chrysler’s EVs will beat the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt to market. I bet that fact didn’t escape Chrysler execs.
Chrysler’s EV development team, ENVI, promises that these vehicles will allow drivers to go about their merry way without making major changes to their driving style. The Jeep, for instance, will be a body-on-frame four-wheel-drive vehicle, while the sporty Dodge will be rear-wheel drive.
The vehicles don’t have names yet, but Chrysler has published specs:
Dodge EV:
Jeep EV:
Chrysler EV:
Photo courtesy of Chrysler LLC.
A little humor for your Monday — GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, who’s been touring the country touting the Volt for what seems like decades, was a guest on a recent episode of the Colbert Report (winner of several Emmys last night, by the way).
Host Stephen Colbert grilled Lutz on global warming, man-talk, and 40-mile extension cords, and Lutz mostly held his own. Except, that is, on the global warming question. This is the man who declared global warming to be a “crock of sh*t” in February, but he’s also the man charged with convincing people that GM is looking forward and the Volt is a good idea. Colbert left Lutz hanging a bit when he asked why GM didn’t just call the car the Chevy Gore.
Lutz made his appearance the day after GM’s 100th birthday celebration and the official unveiling of the probable production design of the Volt, and a week after the images of the Volt design leaked to the web. Lutz himself is a speed and power man, and the “adequate” performance of the Volt seems to pain him a bit. He was a good sport about the whole thing, but what would you expect from, as Colbert calls him, a master of the universe?
Franklin, Kentucky, will be the home of new venture Integrity Automotive, which will build the Zap Alias, among other vehicles. The first shovelfuls of dirt were lifted last Friday, and the first cars are expected to roll off the assembly line in a year. Zap brought a protype of the space-age-looking Alias to the groundbreaking.
The 200-acre site is being prepped for a 1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility that will employ 1000 people and produce electric vehicles for Zap’s global distribution. Currently, most of Zap’s electric vehicles, including the popular little Xebra neighborhood electric vehicle, are built in China. Kentucky put together $48 million in incentives to lure Zap to bring jobs to their state instead of farming them out to Asia, and the city of Franklin has pledged $76 million in industrial revenue bonds. Kentucky’s governor, Steve Beshear, also signed an executive order to expand the use of EVs in the state.
The plant is a joint venture between Integrity Manufacturing, one of Kentucky’s fastest-growing businesses, and Zap. The EV builder has had a shaky reputation in the past for following through on its promises, so let’s hope they see this one all the way through.
Today, September 16, 2008, is GM’s 100th birthday, and they’re celebrating over at GMnext with videos, events, podcasts, and more. At 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the site will host a Future of Transportation Roundtable that should be intriguing, as speakers include members of industry, media, academia, and government. I’m betting (or hoping) they talk about the death spiral of the oil industry and the opportunities for new fuels and clean energy sources.
GM Next Day, as the company is calling it, will also have a global broadcast at 8 a.m. Eastern (I will not be getting up at five out here on the West Coast to listen in, so you’ll have to fill me in using the comments), followed by a series of live chats with executives, including Vice Chairman of Global Product Development, and leader of his own automotive cult of personality, Bob Lutz.
Oh, and don’t forget — today is the official unveiling of the production Volt design, though you’ve probably already seen the slew of photos leaked to the web last week.
Unofficial official image of Lutz and the Volt from Autobloggreen.com.
We Americans have it pretty good — freedom of speech, religion, and the press; pursuit of happiness; pulled-pork sandwiches — but not when it comes to green cars. Here’s a rundown of the latest models we want, but can’t have:
After giving us coy pictures of front corners and rear decks of the design concept, GM says they will unveil the Chevy Volt in all its production-trim glory at the company’s 100th birthday party September 16. Preproduction models will be built in 2009, with sales of the real deal expected to begin in 2010.
GM chair Bob Lutz told Automotive News Europe that the production Volt will be the “next generation global compact architecture.” For those who don’t speak Auto Industry as a first language, that means the U.S. version of the Volt will use many of the same underpinnings as GM’s upcoming world-market offerings. For examples of this design, keep an eye out for the Opel Astra and Chevy Cruze at the Paris auto show this year.
Meanwhile, according to Motor Trend, GM and the EPA are debating whether the Volt is a hybrid or an electric vehicle. The outcome will decide how fuel-economy numbers will be calculated. The car has an electric motor with a combustion engine that acts as a range extender when the batteries run out.
GM wants the car to pass the EPA’s tests using the electric motor 85% of the time, which would give it a rating of 100 mpg or more. The EPA wants the Volt to pass the tests with its batteries near full charge at the end, which would require the gasoline-powered engine to run most of the time. This calculation would drop the fuel economy to about 48 mpg. When fuel economy is your sales tool, a Prius-like 48 mpg might hurt sales of the $40,000-plus Volt.
Tesla Motors, the fine folks who brought us the all-electric Roadster sports car, are working on a five-passenger sedan called the S. The company plans on bringing the car to market in 2010, after its California manufacturing plant is complete.
While the Roadster was based on a Lotus platform, the S will be completely developed in-house. It will also be a bit cheaper than the $100k Roadster, since its body will be formed from aluminum rather than carbon fiber. According to Autocar, a U.K. site, there will be three models of the S available: a 160-mile range for $60,000; a 220-mile range for $68,000; and a future 300-mile range version that hasn’t had a price pinned on it yet.
Tesla will use the same lithium-ion battery technology that powers the Roadster in the S series, and it expects to eventually sell 20,000 S cars a year. If the California company can pull off building a four-door EV sedan for $60,000, the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt — which still requires gasoline and will likely retail for more than $40,000 — may have a serious challenger on its alternative-fuel hands.
The image is obviously from Autocar.co.uk.
Honda has been promising to unveil its new hybrid all week, and today, they’ve done it: the company is resurrecting its original hybrid, the Insight, which died a small death only two years ago. The new version will be a five-door, five-passenger hatchback like the Prius, with a similar starting price in the low $20,000s.
The new car looks more like a Civic or hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity and less like the old Insight, with its covered rear wheels and flat Kamm tail. Though the original only sold 17,000 units between 1999 and 2006, it was the first car to break the 70 mpg barrier. Honda expects the new Insight to sell much better, to the tune of 200,000 cars worldwide, half of which will end up in American driveways. The concept will debut at the Paris auto show, October 4-19, 2008, and be available in U.S. showrooms by April 2009.
Honda already has a hybrid version of the Civic, but the Insight will be smaller and lighter. The company also has plans to add a hybrid Fit to the lineup sometime in the future, along with a sporty hybrid based on the CR-Z.
At a press event in Portland, Oregon, Dan Kapp, Ford’s director of powertrain research, said that the company has plans to become the number-one hybrid producer in the country next year. By adding hybrid versions of the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan to the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids already on the market, Ford will double the number of its hybrids on the road.
Kapp laid out Ford’s long-term strategy, from today to 2050. The company plans to migrate its advanced fuel-saving technologies, like hybrid systems and the new EcoBoost engine, across the product line by 2012, so at least a few Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles will get a little better gas mileage. By 2020, Kapp said Ford will fully implement current technology and begin to delve into more gasoline-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and more. After that, the plan is to roll out hydrogen fuel-cell cars, biofuel-powered vehicles, and whatever other new technologies have developed by then.
Kapp was eager to point out the advantages of Ford’s new EcoBoost engine, which uses gasoline direct injection and turbocharging to raise fuel efficiency by as much as 20% and lower tailpipe emissions by as much as 15%. The physically smaller engine will be able to deliver the same or greater power as traditional Ford engines, and will be available first in the 2009 Lincoln MKS sedan.
Kapp pointed out that while Ford was not pursuing hydrogen-powered cars as quickly as Honda, nor was it chasing Chevy’s PHEV Volt with any conviction, it does have the first driveable hydrogen fuel-cell PHEV in the Edge HySeries. The fleet of 30 cars is still very much in the test stage, and Kapp noted that hydrogen fuel has “monumental infrastructure problems.”
When fielding questions about bringing clean diesel cars from Europe (answer: not any time soon), a fellow journalist mentioned that he ran his diesel-powered Ford truck on B99 every summer. Kapp nearly choked on his coffee when he heard that one of his trucks was being powered by 99% biodiesel a few months out of the year. I was surprised that he was surprised — he was in eco-conscious Portland, after all.
Last week, the Internets were abuzz with the marketing hype of Fosh Automotive, which promised to unveil an EV with self-regenerating batteries and an unlimited range. I emailed the company and was told to cool my jets — all would be revealed on Monday, August 18, but it had something to do with “solar like” panels and regenerative braking.
Monday came, and the curtains on the Web site stayed closed. It seems that Fosh has had some television interest, so they delayed the unveiling of this perpetual motion machine they’re calling the EVT-3 until next Monday, August 25. And Fosh’s predicted price of $25,000 is out the window, too. Estimated MSRP of the EVT-3 is over $50,000 now.
There are forums on the site, and posters seem none too happy to be shunned for television cameras. Post headings include “Why Not Show the Demo Video Now?” and “Ok good joke now where is the real car”. The FAQ says the on-sale date is November 28, 2008, but we probably shouldn’t hold our breath.
If the EVT-3 works as promised, it could be revolutionary. But Fosh’s false start isn’t inspiring confidence so far.
Three of Japan’s largest car manufacturers have all made announcements recently about their future hybrid plans. Here’s a quick recap, in order of each hybrid’s expected release date:
April 2009 — Honda’s Hybrid
Honda’s Prius-fighting five-door hybrid-only model will see showroom floors next April, according to the company’s American executive VP Dick Colliver. He also said the new hybrid, which doesn’t have an official name yet, will be cheaper than the Prius. Honda plans to build 200,000 of the car globally, with about half of them to be sold in the U.S.
Sometime in 2010 — Nissan’s Hybrid
The first car to carry Nissan’s in-house hybrid technology (its previous hybrids used a system leased from Toyota) will be badged as an upscale Inifiti. The new hybrid features a lithium-ion battery and a V6 engine, but Nissan engineers say there are still some kinks to be worked out before the car hits the streets, notably a lag when the gasoline engine kicked in.
By 2020 — Toyota’s Full Line of Hybrids
The manager of Toyota’s advance powertrain program said at a seminar recently that the company plans to have hybrids in each of its product lines at the end of the next decade. He added that the 1 million hybrid Toyotas sold so far have saved 7 million tons of carbon monoxide emissions, and that the company wants to continue to develop cleaner powertrains. Toyota’s also working to develop hydrogen fuel cell technology to complement its domination in the hybrid market.
This right here is the front driver’s side corner of the production Volt. Are you excited yet? Have you added your name to the unofficial list of 30,000-plus who are interested in buying the car for less than Chevy wants to sell it?
GM has flooded the Internet with so many images and baby steps during the development process that it feels like we’re entering “Snakes on a Plane” territory. By the time the Volt actually appears in driveable, saleable form, we’ll all be over it.
But in case you’re not over it yet, here’s the tail end of the car:
Fan site GM-Volt.com has a waiting list for the Chevy Volt with more than 33,000 names on it. (Actually, as of the moment I’m writing this post, there are 34,179.) This number is the kind of encouragement GM engineers need to get the Volt to the market on time in late 2010.
The problem with the list is that its about as unofficial as unofficial can be. The Web site is not in any way affiliated with GM, and there are no deposits being taken by the company yet. The “Wait List” on GM-Volt.com asks for name, address, enthusiasm level, and the price you’d be willing to pay for the plug-in hybrid.
California led the pack of Wait Listers by far, with Texas, Florida, Michigan, and New York rounding out the top five most interested states. On a scale of 1 to 10, enthusiasm was just over 9, but people aren’t so excited about parting with the cash. The average Wait Listers were willing to pay for the PHEV was just over $31,000, about $9,000 short of what GM expects MSRP to be. Nearly 8,000 responders were willing to put their money where their keyboard is, though, with the average deposit they were willing to plunk down for the Volt being $2,500.
Nine auto manufacturers and a cadre of governmental and industry groups have put together the Hydrogen Road Tour ‘08 to showcase the clean fuel in 31 cities in 18 states. The caravan left Portland, Maine, Monday, August 13, and will reach Los Angeles Saturday, August 23.
The tour is a partnership of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the California Fuel Cell Partnership, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Hydrogen Association. Each of the nine manufacturers has one car in the 3,000-mile parade, except VW, which has two:
With only 61 operational hydrogen fueling stations in the entire country (28 of which are in California), you may wonder if they plan to drive cross-country on one tank of fuel. The answer is, “Sort of.” There are actually two giant tanks of hydrogen fuel following the fleet for topping up on the go.
I don’t mean GM has found a way to turn corporate bluster into a fuel source, though that would ease the burden of the price of gasoline. A while back, the Department of Energy issued a challenge to automakers. It asked them to improve fuel economy by 10% using nothing but wasted exhaust heat to help power the vehicle.
GM, with BMW close on its heels, has developed a thermoelectric generator that could create enough electricity to augment or replace the usual alternator in a gasoline-powered car. Thermoelectric devices can use temperature differences to create electricity. When one side of the generator is heated, electrons move to the cooler side. The movement creates a current, which is collected by electrodes and converted to electricity.
The GM prototype is set to be tested in a Chevy Suburban next year, where a 10% fuel economy boost would mean a 1-mpg improvement. In a small car like the Chevy Aveo (the Suburban’s exact opposite), the boost could be enough to put its combined economy over 30 mpg. BMW and its research partner Ohio State University will run tests of its prototype next year, too.
Mitsubishi announced that it has partnered with Pacific Gas and Electric to test the new all-electric i MiEV in California at the end of 2008. The utility company will test the four-passenger cars in the “real world,” and gauge the impact charging a fleet of EVs will have on the grid.
Similar testing with seven electric utility companies in Japan went so well that the company stepped up its EV program and will offer the i MiEV in Japan next summer. Global sales expectations for the car are so high that Mitsubishi has plans to build a lithium-ion battery factory that will open in April 2009. The plant will produce enough batteries to equip 10,000 vehicles.
The i MiEV is based on the Japanese-market i-series mini car, but its 47-kW motor is said to have better acceleration and performance than the 64-hp engine in the gasoline-powered version. Though a quick conversion shows 47 kW to be equal to 64 hp, electric motors have 100% torque available as soon as you press the throttle, making it seem quicker.
Keep an eye on PG&E and Mitsubishi to see how these cars play with California traffic and how soon they might reach U.S. consumers.
Nissan has commited itself to its Green Program 2010, and it keeps making strides toward meeting its goals. This week, it previewed its EV and hybrid technologies, though not any final designs for the cars these powertrains will power.
The electric vehicle will be based on an array of lithium-ion batteries installed under the floor to allow for maxium passenger and cargo space. Though no one outside the company knows what the EV might look like when it hits the market in 2010, it won’t look like anything Nissan currently offers, according to the company.
The hybrid will carry Nissan’s own, recently developed technology instead of the hybrid tech it’s been leasing from Toyota to power the Altima. The HEV will have regenerative braking and power assist like most hybrids on the road right now. The difference is in its parallel powertrain, which has two clutches to improve fuel efficiency, or so Nissan says.
Nissan announced that a new device called the ECO Pedal will be available on some of its 2009 models. The pedal will let the driver know that he may be using more fuel than necessary by pushing back on his foot a little. There’s also a little green “ECO” light in the dash to help you learn to use fuel wisely rather than wastefully.
Nissan says the ECO Pedal can earn a driver as much as 5-10% better fuel economy. They didn’t say which models will receive the new technology, or even which countries might get it.
In the meantime, U.S. car buyers can count on the Nissan Altima hybrid for 2009, which was named one of the top 10 green cars by Kelly Blue Book. The company just announced pricing for the hybrid at $26,650, and the EPA rated it at 35 city/33 highway.
Honda and Mitsubishi have both launched microsites on the Internet dedicated to their latest entries into the green-car market. Honda is preparing the world for its line of hybrid vehicles on its microsite, while Mitsubishi is laying the groundwork for its i MiEV concept.
Honda is expected to debut its new hybrid at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, a five-door hatchback. The as-yet-unnamed car will be offered only as a hybrid, unlike its Civic and Accord stablemates. Honda also has a hybrid sports car that debuted at the Detroit Auto Show this year, but the CR-Z, as it’s called, has a long way to go to get from car shows to showroom-floor.
Mitsubishi’s microsite introduces the i MiEV, an electric vehicle currently in fleet testing. The car is small, not much bigger than a Smart ForTwo, though Mitsu says it seats four. The car’s lithium-ion batteries are good for 80 mph max and nearly 100 miles, making it a more feasible commuter car than neighborhood EVs like the Zap Xebra or Zenn NEV.
CRAFTY BONUS: Mitsubishi has a page full of paper craft plans and instructions for building models of its cars, including the i MiEV. Seems like an excellent way to recycle that useless meeting agenda someone left on your desk this morning.
Us Portlanders who follow these things knew this was coming, but it’s still exciting when it actually happens. Portland General Electric officially unveiled its first shiny, new curbside charging station, one of several to be installed over the next couple of months in Portland and Salem.
PGE partnered with local company Shorepower Technologies to build the charging stations, which for now offer free fill-ups to EVs and plug-in hybrids, like the Toyota Prius that happened to be in town this week for a green conference at the art museum.
The chargers have a 220-volt plug tucked inside a nozzle like you’d find at a gasoline filling station, earning the designers points for cleverness. Though there are fewer than 300 electric vehicles registered in Oregon, there are nearly 30,000 regular Priuses. PGE and its partners take Portland’s Prius love to mean that we’re likely to see a surge in EVs and PHEVs in the next decade, and they want to be ready with the infrastructure when it happens.
We were, after all, ranked third in a national listing of “greenest” drivers, after Seattle and Burlington, Vermont. Not to rub it in or anything.
Now that Mini is going electric, everybody wants a piece of the action. Smart has a test EV running around in Europe right now, and while Tata has long had plans to introduce an electric car, they’re going ahead with a diesel this year.
The electric Smart ForTwo, known as the Smart ed, has a 41-hp electric motor and sodium-nickel-chloride batteries. It gets about 70 miles per charge, and has a maximum speed of 70 mph, which makes it a reasonable commuter EV, even if your commute involves highways. Price and market haven’t been announced, but they do expect it to go on sale in 2010. Cross your fingers that it comes your way — and you can afford it.
While we may have to wait a while for the EV version of the Tata Nano, the diesel version will hit the Indian market in October. The hatchback will go a rocking 50 mph from its little 33-hp, 2-cylinder diesel engine, but it gets 52 mpg city, 61 highway. The added efficiency will drive up the regular Nano’s price of $2,500 to about $4,200.
