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Hyundai Freezes Gas Prices at $1.49 a Gallon

July 9, 2009 in Consumer News by kristen | No comments

If you’re in the market for a car this summer, and if that market includes a Hyundai, you could get more than just a car — you could get a time machine. The Korean car maker began its Hyundai Assurance Gas Lock (catchy!) on July 1. The program guarantees a year’s worth of gas at $1.49 a gallon — a price that hasn’t been seen in the U.S. for more than five years, according to AutoWeek.

You may recall that GM tried a similar incentive during last summer’s record gas prices, offering three years’ worth of gas at $2.99 a gallon. The bottom fell out of that plan, though, when gas prices dropped off. As of July 7, AAA pegged the national average price for a gallon of gas at $2.77. The highest record price came almost exactly a year ago, when the average price of gas hit $4.11 on July 17, 2008.

Hyundai’s Gas Lock plan applies to cars purchased between July 1 and August 31, 2009. The only cars in the company’s lineup that don’t qualify are the base model of the Accent and the car-mag faves Genesis and Genesis coupe models.

Image of the Hyundai Accent courtesy of Hyundai Motor America.

L.A. Auto Show Green Car Round-Up

December 3, 2008 in Consumer News, EVs, Hybrids, MPG, diesel by kristen | No comments

The Los Angeles Auto Show just came to a close, and not surprisingly, manufacturers brought a lot of green cars to the event. There were high-mpg gasoline cars, electric cars, clean diesels, and more. (Ferrari and Bentley also brought expensive gas guzzlers, but I’m willing to bet the market for those is pretty small.)

Here, then, is the Good Green Cars round-up of the enviro-friendly autos that were at the L.A. Auto Show.

  • Ford hybrids: Ford brought the all new 2010 Fusion hybrid and 2010 Mercury Milan hybrid to L.A. The cars are nearly identical but for a few styling cues and trim levels, and they share the new lighter hybrid system found in the current Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs. The cars can go 47 mph on electric power only, according to Ford.
  • Hyundai Blue Drive: This isn’t a new engine technology; rather, it’s Hyundai’s strategy to reach a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2015. It includes the 2010 Sonata hybrid, high-mileage “Blue” versions of the 2009 Accent and Elantra, and a future crossover with a gasoline direct-injection engine.
  • Lexus hybrid SUV: The 2010 Lexus RX 450h gets its first update since its introduction, with more horsepower and better exhaust-heat recovery. It also gets its own distinctive grille. No further word yet on whether Lexus could be Toyota’s all-hybrid brand in the future.
  • Mini EV: The Mini E plug-in electric vehicle made its official debut in L.A. Only a handful will be available anytime soon, and those will be tested by private and corporate customers in California, New York, and New Jersey. The Mini E can go 150 miles on a charge, with a top speed of 95 mph.
  • Volkswagen diesels: VW expands its clean-diesel TDI technology to the latest Touareg SUV, which means it passes California’s stringent emissions laws. The EPA rates it at 25 mpg, and it will be available in all 50 states. This is the same technology that earned the Jetta TDI the “Green Car of the Year” award at the show.

Hyundai Unveils Two New Eco Cars in Paris

October 5, 2008 in Consumer News, Future Cars, Hybrids, MPG, diesel, small cars by kristen | No comments

Hyundai i20 blue

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:

  • 1.4-liter diesel engine
  • six-speed gearbox, rather than a five-speed
  • low-friction engine oil
  • software to optimize timing, injection, and idle speed
  • ISG start-stop system that cuts the engine while the car is not moving and not in gear
  • full-length covers underneath the car to reduce drag
  • Michelin Energy low rolling resistance tires

All this adds up to 15% lower carbon dioxide emissions and a 15% improvement in fuel efficiency (from 55 mpg to 63 mpg).

Hyundai Santa Fe blue Hybrid

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.

Small Cars Too Small for U.S.?

October 3, 2008 in Consumer News, MPG, small cars by kristen | No comments

Hyundai i10In the past six months, American car buyers have fled from buying SUVs and oversized pickups in favor of small, fuel-efficient cars and hybrids (if they can find one on the lot, that is). But car makers still feel that some small cars are too small for our roads.

Hyundai, for instance, is making a global push to establish itself in the small-car market. But not so much in the U.S. Its tiny five-door hatchback i10 model, for example, won’t be sold on American shores.  They’re looking instead to bring the larger i20 and i30 cars rather than the i10, which was designed with the European market in mind.

Though nothing is set in stone, not bringing the i10 to the small-car-starved dealerships here in the U.S. is a curious move for a company whose sales have been constrained by the limited availability of its current small cars, like the Elantra. Not even the i20, which is slightly larger and makes its debut in Paris next week, is officially set for import to the U.S.

Now that Wall Street and shifty mortgage schemes have the U.S. economy tanking and financing is hard to come by, the American car consumer’s wish for small, inexpensive, gas-sipping cars could become a demand. Everybody stand up and wave what few dollars you have in the direction of the i10 and the Ford Fiesta Econetic.