Auto & Car Blog

Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Porsche

According to AutoTelegraaf, the image above is the first official picture of the Porsche Panamera, showing the new four-door “coupe” in all its oddly proportioned glory. The Dutch pub released the image and details on the sedan after Auto Motor und Sport supposedly broke the Monday embargo. More details will be released late Sunday night, but in the meantime, let’s look at the reported specs.

The Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo is 16.3 feet long, 6.3 feet wide and 4.66 feet tall, with a wheelbase of 9.6 feet. Weight hasn’t been disclosed, but its roughly two tons. The most striking detail on the profile shot is the indentations leading from the front fenders, aft of the wheels, into the doors, but the jury is still out on the Panamera’s bulbous back end. The slippery shape and low profile gives the sedan a drag coefficient of 0.29, while an electronically actuated rear spoiler will keep things planted at speed.

An electronic air suspension is part of the package, along with an LSD, and power can be sent to either the rear wheels, or all four, depending on the trim level. Motivation will be provided by a range of engines, beginning with 3.6-liter V6 putting out 300 hp, and continuing upwards with the 400 hp, 4.8-liter V8 Panamera S and the Panamera Turbo, packing a twin-turbocharged version of the same bent eight putting out an estimated 500 hp. Power will be sent to Porsche’s new PDK dual-clutch gearbox and although a diesel model has been ruled out, a V6-hybrid variant with 350 hp will come along at a later date.

Porsche aims to sell approximately 20,000 units of the Panamera each year, with the automaker estimating that 20% will be the range-topping Turbo model. The Panamera will only be available in S and Turbo guises at launch, with the V6 model following shortly thereafter. Once established, Porsche hopes demand will increase to 50,000 units annually, with sales beginning in the U.S., Europe and Asia next year. Thanks for the tip, Jelle!

[Source: AutoTelegraaf]

Porsche Panamera image and details leak out originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hybrid, Mercedes Benz

A week after Mercedes-Benz announced details of its first hybrid, battery supplier Continental Automotive has launched production of the battery packs. Mercedes will be the first manufacturer to mass produce a hybrid vehicles with lithium ion batteries. Continental spent €3 million to build the battery manufacturing facility in Nuremberg. The first batteries that being produced weigh 55 lbs and have a volume of just under 0.5 cu. ft. When the Mercedes S400 BlueHybrid launches in mid-2009 with this 120V battery pack it will be installed in the engine compartment in place of the standard 12V lead acid battery.

Since this is the first mass market automotive application of a lithium battery, Mercedes and Continental are being extra careful. The battery is designed to last a minimum of 10 years and 100,000-150,000 miles so Continental has developed a sophisticated monitoring system to make sure that it operates within normal operating parameters. Each individual cell is monitored to keeps loads balanced and ensure even charging and discharging. Continental had to develop special processes to weld the copper bus bars that act as cell interconnects. The whole battery is enclosed inside of a laser-welded stainless steel case. The initial production capacity of the factory is 15,000 units a year and that can easily be doubled.

[Source: Continental]

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Filed under: Biodiesel, Emerging Technologies, Ethanol, Hybrid, Toyota, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

As we gathered sleepily in the conference rooms early in the morning, host John Hanson said that Toyota’s hope with this one-day seminar was to present the complexity of the sustainability mobility situation and to highlight the challenges that the world is dealing with. The solution is not just the cleaner-than-they-used-to-be four-wheeled vehicles that Toyota is building, but also its partnerships and transportation alternatives, a reduction in how much energy and resource we use, better regulations, and so on and so on and so on. Seriously. By 3 p.m., our heads were swimming but still, Toyota succeeded in Hanson’s stated goal. The six or so hours of presentations and Q&A sessions provided a lot of answers and raised a few questions about just what we’re going to do in the coming decades. If nothing else, we learned that Toyota is thinking about the problem.

Follow us past the jump for the full story.

Continue reading Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar morning sessions: the bad news

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Filed under: Hybrid, Green Daily

We’ve reported on hybrid taxis in NYC, Sydney and Dubai, but the trend isn’t limited to places that also happen to be tourist hot spots. On my way to the airport yesterday, I tried a new taxi service in Lansing that exclusively uses hybrids in their fleet. OK, make that a hybrid in the fleet of one. Woodrow Campbel, the owner/dispatcher/driver, said that people don’t call him because he’s the green taxi in town, but he’s pretty sure that his reputation will grow. In the meantime, weekend bar traffic is enough to keep his new business running; he started just two weeks ago and the money he makes taking the drunk college kids home is enough to make cleaning their vomit worth it.

Another example of hybrids in hired car action comes from Iowa City, where the Black & Gold Cab company just added a second Toyota Prius to the fleet. Owner Chris Griffin sent a note in to AutoblogGreen saying that, “To our knowledge, we have the first two hybrid taxis in the state of Iowa.” Neither of these two business will be saving the planet singlehandedly, but every little bit helps.

[Source: Black & Gold Cab]

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Filed under: Economy, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Paris Motor Show, Hatchbacks, Kia

Kia’s will have at least two new tricks at the Paris Motor Show, one of them being the Kia Soul. The other will be a Kia cee’d gas-electric hybrid. Already available in coupe, 5-door hatch, and sportwagon variants, a hybrid addition based on the five-door would be a perfect addition to the line. So far, the only details we have is that the c’ee hybrid isn’t planned for sale until 2010, when it will join a train of new hybrids from other makers. Kia apparently decided that is when they’ll be able to sell enough of them to make a profit. But we will get the complete scoop on it at next week’s Paris Motor Show, so you won’t have to wait that long.

[Source: Kia World]

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sedans/Saloons, Wagons/Estates, Green, Chevrolet, GM, Pontiac, Saturn

GM is not going to let the Volt or its E-Flex powertrain get lonely. The first Volt — the one due in late 2010 — hasn’t been finished yet, yet is so popular that GM is publicly theorizing about how far it can spread the technology through the empire. Ideas include a smaller car with a smaller battery pack that could go 20 miles on pure electric, and be much cheaper. A proper wagon, just “a little bit bigger,” could also make the cut.

And those variants don’t all need to be Chevrolets. Other GM brands will certainly be blessed with Volt technology, if not an outright case of brand engineering. Cadillac is one of the wolves thought to be circling the Volt’s henhouse, and using Volt systems in a Caddy might allow GM to make a profit on such a car without tax breaks. If there were a more economical Volt with a shorter electric range, Saturn would seem to be a prime candidate.

It looks like the sole E-Flex powertrain option not planned is an electric-only car, one without a range-extending gasoline engine. GM feels that people would find it too risky to have no backup. But back to that first car, the plain vanilla Chevy Volt that’s still two years away from showrooms - a Volt team member doesn’t appear to have forgotten the prime directive: “You always have to do the first car right and well.” Amen.

[Source: CNN Money]

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Hybrid, Legislation and Policy

The State of Wisconsin will give Johnson Controls-Saft a half-million dollar grant to aid in the development of hybrid battery technology, it was announced yesterday. The grant is part of Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle’s Clean Energy Wisconsin Plan, and requires Johnson Controls-Saft to invest $500,000 of its own money - I wouldn’t be surprised it it goes into the company’s Battery Technology Center in Milwaukee - to get the matching funds from the state. The company says it was given the grant “specifically for the advanced technology R&D and commercialization efforts for lithium-ion hybrid vehicle batteries.” Johnson Controls-Saft is also building li-ion batteries in France and got $8.2 million from the “ignorant” federal government.

[Source: Johnson Controls]

Continue reading Wisconsin gives Johnson Controls-Saft $500,000 for hybrid battery tech

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily, At Witz End

NOTE: If you missed them, please start by reading parts one, two and three in Gary’s EV1 series.

What was learned, and is being applied today

“As has been stated in comments [to the] previous two posts by Mr. Witzenburg, there are several things which just don’t add up, and make him look like a half-wit.” - ABG reader Virgil.

Despite your gratuitous insult, Virgil, you raise a couple good points in your comment … and one not so good. You wrote:

“First, aerodynamics. Anyone who’s ever been in a canoe knows that a 17-ft canoe is faster than a 14-ft canoe. They’re the same width, same frontal area, but the longer boat allows a more shallow angle of attack and tail-off, so is more hydrodynamic. Making a longer EV1 would improve aerodynamic performance, not decrease.”

Really? Based on intuition, without data, I would tend to agree. But vehicle aerodynamic behavior on a solid surface is not always intuitive. Our body engineers said their aero analysis showed a meaningful increase in drag from a longer (and flatter) four-seat body vs. a shorter, teardrop-shaped two-passenger one. I’m no expert, but given that no other practical production vehicle has come close to EV1’s astounding 0.19 Cd, I have no reason to disbelieve them.

Read more after the break.

Continue reading At Witz’ End: GM EV1 - The Real Story, Part IV

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Filed under: Hybrid, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM, GMC, Saturn

General Motors is finally starting to regularly break out the sales figures for its hybrid vehicles and while the numbers are improving, they still look very weak compared to the competition. August was the company’s best month yet for hybrids with a whopping 1,629 units delivered of the six available models. Buyers took home a combined 797 examples of the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon plus a single Escalade hybrid. The Escalade only went on sale in late August so we’ll be looking for the September numbers to see if there really is any demand for a $70,000+ luxury hybrid SUV. Over on the mild hybrid side of the tally, the Saturn Vue was the winner with 417 sales, followed by the Malibu at 388 and finally the Aura with a mere 26 sales. These numbers are still pretty weak but at least they are trending upward. Over 12 months the current rate amounts to over 19,500 units, a number that will likely grow significantly when the two-mode Vue goes on sale in a few months. With six hybrids on sale though, that’s still pretty tame compared even to Ford, which sells every one of the 25,000 Escape and Mariner hybrids it offers. Ford will likely jump well out ahead in the new year with the Fusion hybrid. Next month, we’ll be carefully watching Chrysler’s numbers as well, since the first sales of the Durango and Aspen hybrids should be recorded.

Related:

• In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid Limited FWD
• In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid
• In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2008 Chevy Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading GM Hybrid sales slowly picking up some steam: 1,629 deliveries in August

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Filed under: Hybrid, Ford, Green Daily

While KITT gets the headline from Ford in its announcement of FoMoCo vehicles appearing in fall TV shows, the green-minded among us can find a mention of a hybrid powerplant on the set of Fringe a few paragraphs down - after talk of KITT (it turns into a F-150!) and Desperate Housewifes. Fringe is the latest show from J. J. Abrams (Lost and Alias).

Apparently, a main character in the FOX sci-fi drama Fringe, FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) will track down E.T. or whatever in a 2009 Escape Hybrid. The use of the honkin’ hybrid shows just what a greenie Abrams is, said Ross Mackenzie of Ford Global Brand Entertainment in a statement. “J. J. Abrams is a big environmentalist, and he wanted to have a hybrid vehicle on the show. Since Olivia Dunham is the lead character, the Escape Hybrid was a nice fit.”

If you want to know how the 2009 Escape Hybrid performs in the real word, check out our review. There’s also the Ford release and a video teaser ad for Fringe after the break.

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Ford hybrid gets Fringe treatment on TV this fall

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Filed under: New York Auto Show, Podcasts, Economy, Sedans/Saloons, Hatchbacks, Ford, GM, Suzuki

It’s nice to be back in the swing of things. We’re once again cranking out weekly podcasts, and #63 is a compact one. We start off salivating over the news that the next generation Suzuki Swift will be headed for US shores. We devolve from discussing an unsubstantiated rumor into wistful praise for the current can’t have it Swift, and even make mention of Swifts from nigh on twenty years ago. The dustup over Alan Mulally’s work of fiction at the New York Auto Show keynote draws our ire next. This one has it all, lies, grandstanding media with agendas, attacks, grandstanding media with agendas, misinformation, grandstanding media with agendas, disinformation, and finally, grandstanding media with agendas. Speaking of grandstanding, we nearly go as far as calling Lutz’s bluff on the announcement that the hotly anticipated RWD cars from GM are on hold ’till regulators get their shizzle together. Whatevs. The entire GM turnaround is on hold? Not bloody likely. The consensus we come to is: Bad Lutz. So, turn on, tune in and peel out for our latest slice of podcast goodness.

SUBSCRIBE to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
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Filed under: Diesel, Hybrid, Manufacturing/Plants, Ford, GM, Legislation and Policy

Fuel misers like the Civic Hybrid have caught buyers’ eyes in Australia.

Global accountancy firm KPMG has said that the Australian federal government should offer Australian car makers tax incentives to build greener vehicles, including hybrid electric cars and clean diesel vehicles. With fuel prices expected to rise again, the firm has warned that consumer trends are shifting permanently towards more fuel-efficient vehicles, a market segment currently best served by imports.

Local vehicle manufactures already receive significant federal government assistance including grants for specific projects such as the AUD$52 million (US$40.6) to Ford Australia to assist in the development of a diesel Falcon. GM Holden have also received a recent grant of AUD$6.7 million (US$5.2) to improve the fuel economy of the recently released VE Commodore.

Traditional Australian vehicles like the six and eight cylinder Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons have struggled in recent times with a massive sales shift towards smaller and cheaper to run vehicles. Sales of SUVs and four wheel drive vehicles in particular have been heavily hit by rising fuel prices. KPMG’s global senior vehicle company executive survey overwhelmingly pointed towards hybrids being the growth sector of the auto industry over the next few years.

Analysis: Japanese car manufactures still have the lead in hybrid technology and are catching up quickly on clean diesel technology as well which puts them in a good to capitalise on recent Australian market shifts. Little has been done to bring hybrids or clean diesels to market by the local manufacturers and it looks like that could cost them dearly. Big, comfortable cars with lots of space and power are nice but people’s fuel budgets wont expand indefinitely to accommodate the extra convenience.

Related:

• In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2007 Volkswagen Passat TDI
• Toyota looking to build hybrid Camry in Australia
• Brisbane Motor Show: interview with Parveen Batish, director of Saab and Hummer brands in Australia

[Source: Drive.com.au]

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Now, the car makers are looking forward to make a green statement with their hybrid models. Honda, which earlier delivered gas-only and gas-electric version of its Civic, is now offering a Civic that moves on compressed natural gas. Well, natural gas in…

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Filed under: Diesel, Ethanol, Hybrid, Nissan, Volvo

The world’s second-largest truck company, Volvo AB, has agreed to buy Nissan Diesel Motor Co. for $1.1 billion in a bid to gain a greater foothold in the booming Asian market. Asia has been a weak spot for Volvo thus far, comprising just seven percent of its sales in 2006. By buying Japan’s fourth largest truck producer, Volvo should be able to establish a far more secure position through Nissan’s regional brand name and production capabilities.

Shares were up slightly in Volvo and hugely in Nissan Diesel indicating the market’s largely positive acceptance of the news. The purchase will also give Volvo access to technology Nissan Diesel has developed to reduce engine emissions, a fact that is likely to gain importance as more countries implement stringent clean air legislation. Other synergies are likely to follow with Nissan Diesel having said that it should be able to bring down purchasing costs by as much as 20 percent per annum by joint purchasing parts with Volvo. On the drawing board for the combined companies is a jointly developed diesel-electric hybrid powertrain and research into alternative fuels including ethanol.

Analysis: This type of consolidation is increasingly likely over the coming years as the cost of R&D on next-generation powertrain technologies increases. Good to see plans to bring more diesel-electric hybrid trucks to market.

Related:

• Volvo Trucks to display parallel hybrid diesel-electric system at U.K. show
• LA and Long Beach ports look to convert truck fleets to LNG
• Clean Heavy Duty Vehicle Conference: Tackling issues of biodiesel, NOx

[Source: Bloomberg]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Diesel, Hybrid, Volvo

Volvo Trucks, which has full control of the Mack Trucks brand in North America and Renault Trucks in Europe, will be showing off an example of their hybrid diesel-electric D7 engine and I-SAM (Integrated Starter, Alternator Motor) drivetrain system at the Commercial Vehicle Show to be held in Birmingham, U.K. in late April.

The D7 engine and I-SAM have been developed in-house by Volvo and is a parallel hybrid system where the diesel engine and electric motors can work independently of each other. Thanks to efficient interaction between the two power sources, a smaller diesel engine can be used without compromising on performance. Incorporating regenerative breaking, the system is also highly efficient in stop-start urban environments where tests results have indicated that fuel savings of up to 35 are possible. Other features of the system are significant reductions in emissions and noise levels.

Also on display at the Volvo stand will be the recently-launched 540 hp / 402 kW version of the new Volvo FH16 truck as well as examples of the new FL and FE ranges, making their first appearance at the CV Show.

Analysis: 35 percent is a massive fuel saving around urban centres where the reduction in emissions will also be really appreciated. We first covered the D7 back in August last year and its good to see it’s now on the market. I want to see government agencies as a start mandating use of hybrid trucks for their own fleets to send a positive message to the market.

Related:

• LA and Long Beach ports look to convert truck fleets to LNG
• EPA Awards $145,000 for Diesel Retrofit Projects
• New Volvo trucks will meet 2009’s Euro V regulations

[Source: Easier Motoring]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Diesel, Hybrid, Toyota

Forbes is covering an unconfirmed report published in the Nikkei that Hino Motors Ltd will release its diesel-electric Dutro Hybrid truck in Australia this month. A local Australian shipping company is also reported to have made the decision to replace its truck fleet with the Dutro Hybrid. The environmentally-friendly truck was released in the Japanese market in late 2003 and sold around 1,000 units last year.

The Dutro Hybrid has a load capacity of between two and four tonnes and is seen by Hino as the vehicle that can help them triple their overseas truck sales to 150,000 by 2015. Sales in Australia are estimated to be a modest 100 units in Australia in the first year with the roll-out to take place across the South East Asian region.

In October last year, Hino released a new model Dutro Hybrid equipped with a new hybrid system based on the advanced 4-cylinder inline diesel engine NO4C for higher output and enhanced efficiency through the combination of the clean diesel system DPR, new-model permanent magnet motor/generator, batteries and inverter, realizing both environmental performance and fuel efficiency.

Related:

• Volvo revving up its trucks with heavy-duty hybrid drivetrains
• Freightliner will show off new diesel hybrid technology next month

[Source: Forbes]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Hybrid, MPG, Honda

With three cars in the Top 10 Best-Selling Hybrids of 2006, Honda’s got a lot to shout about and they’re planning to use one of the world’s biggest stages to do just that. Honda have announced that they will be airing three television advertisements during the broadcast of this year’s Super Bowl, one of which, a thirty-second spot called “Slalom” will reinforce Honda’s fuel-efficiency leadership.

“The Super Bowl remains one of the best opportunities to reach a wide television audience in one shot,” said John Mendel, senior vice president of American Honda. “Many Super Bowl viewers look forward to the commercials almost as much as the game, and Honda has taken this great opportunity to highlight a couple of its key brand values through fun and creative ads.”

Honda, which boasts the highest fleet-wide fuel economy of any major automaker, increased its U.S. sales by three percent last year as consumers looked to smaller, and more fuel efficient vehicles to offset record fuel prices.

Other manufacturers have not announced Super Bowl spots. Last year Ford showed off its Escape Hybrid, and Toyota showcased its Camry Hybrid. In the past, Honda used the Super Bowl to launch the Ridgeline. The Super Bowl is set for Feb. 4 in Miami. A 30-second spot last year cost about $2.5 million.

Related:

• Step right up! How automakers have placed their bets on future powertrain technologies
• Detroit Auto Show: Official Honda pictures and videos from the show floor

[Source: Honda, Reuters. Final paragraph written by ABG’s Mike Magda]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Hybrid, GM, Suzuki

Kyodo News in Japan reports that Suzuki plans to introduce new hybrid models in their largest markets as soon as possible, Suzuki president Hiroshi Tsuda said on Friday. The article suggests that Suzuki will get their hybrid technology from General Motors, which owns part of Suzuki. This makes sense, as Suzuki shares platforms with the Chevy Equinox and its GM siblings from Saturn and Pontiac. GM is set to become a major player in hybrid vehicles, and is sharing their technology with DaimlerChrysler, BMW and others… now including Suzuki.

Suzuki is no stranger to fuel efficient vehicles, being the largest maker of minicars in Japan, which use engines which are no larger than 660ccs. Suzuki is one of the largest motorcycle makers in the world as well, which puts them in a good position to design and manufacture small but relatively powerful engines.

[Source: Japan Times]

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Filed under: Diesel, Ethanol, Hybrid, Toyota

In a long interview, Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe outlined how he likes to nip small problems in the bud before they grow to become major ones. For example, Toyota sales are currently strong, but this is placing pressure on production, which lead Toyota to open a truck plant outside San Antonio and set up a line to build Camrys at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive plant. More production capacity is also being brought online in Canada and Mexico leading Toyota to be able to build 2 million vehicles a year in North America by mid-2008.

Asked about possible new Tundra models, it was revealed that Toyota is considering all options including diesel, hybrid or even bioethanol. Toyota’s hybrid sales are expected to top 300,000 in 2007 and the recent deal to source diesel engines from Isuzu should be completed by the end of the year.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Watanabe shared his vision of his own dream car which would make the ambient air cleaner, and you healthier, the more you drive. It would also travel around the world on a single tank of fuel and cause no harm to people and have no accidents.

Asked, “Specifically, then, what is Toyota doing to alleviate global warming?”, Watanabe replied, “First and foremost for us is to create cars that will be environmentally friendly and that will alleviate global warming.”

“Then, as an industry, we need to cooperate with each other so that we will be able to find a solution. And if you extend the range to other sectors, like power generation and big appliance manufacturers, all of those sectors have to share the concern and make a commitment. Those are the things that we as a business must do.”

Related:

• Thanks to new EPA mileage standards, Tundra isn’t in a hurry for 2008 designation
• Prius, Bluetec make list of best cars for commuting
• Next-Gen Prius to get lithium ion battery and 113 mpg

[Source: James B. Treece / Automotive News]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Hybrid, Transportation Alternatives

The AutoTram is a new streetcar concept from the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems IVI in Dresden, Germany which combines the flexibility of bus transport, needing no rails or overhead power lines, with the passenger carrying capacity of trams. This makes the system between 30 and 50 percent cheaper than conventional railway systems.

At up to 36 meters / 118 feet long, the AutoTram can be operated as a single bus on low passenger routes, or assembled to form a uni-directional or bi-directional high-capacity vehicle. An active multiple-axle steering system with integrated guidance ensures the AutoTram can manoeuvre around tight city streets with sharp bends.

Propelling the AutoTram is an innovative hybrid drive concept that draws is power from a 180kW / 240hp diesel engine linked to a flywheel energy storage system. In the same fashion that typical petrol-electric hybrids use regenerative breaking to recharge on-board batteries, the flywheel energy storage system using breaking energy to spin a flywheel whose momentum can later be harnessed to provide positive movement. This allows the AutoTram to travel short distances, up to two kilometers /1.2 miles, completely without noise or emissions.

[Source: HybridCarNews]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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