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Detroit 2010: BYD e6 showcased at Electric Avenue

January 12, 2010 at 10:59 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, BYD, Cars, China, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

Now here’s something quite worth looking at from BYD. This large hatchback is the BYD e6, and with a wheelbase of 2,830mm, its placed smack in the middle of the D-segment, making it about the same size as an Asian market Honda Odyssey. That should mean lots of space inside and a decent boot (not much of a rear overhang there), considering it is a 5 seater. I believe you can compare this to a Toyota Venza.

The e6 is an electric car, but what’s particularly amazing about it is that BYD claims a range of 330km (based on the spec sheet given at the NAIAS, there were also reports of 400km before this) before you have to get the e6 to a charger! That should solve any issues people have with electric car range.

Sure, it might still not be able to do cross-state journeys with completely no worries but the range is surely enough for regular daily commutes without even needed to recharge everyday. BYD themselves are a battery manufacturer so this must have helped them with the know-how of how to make an EV that’s ready for day-to-day needs.

The BYD e6 uses two electric motors. In this particular model, there is only a front motor and the front motor has a power and torque output of 101hp and 450Nm. Apparently there is also a version with a rear motor for all-wheel drive. The rear motor adds another 54hp to the total output. A higher-grade option has also been mentioned, upgrading the front motor to 215hp either in front-only or front+back (215+54) configuration.

Look after the jump for a live gallery from Detroit.
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Detroit 2010: Cadillac CTS Coupe

January 12, 2010 at 10:17 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Cadillac, Cars

Other than the XTS concept, the usual fare of Cadillacs were there including the CTS Coupe, which has just had its CTS-V debut. Alot of North American media seem to like how the CTS Coupe looks like but I don’t know, blame regional tastebuds but despite the sharp clean lines it still just looks like a boxy hunk of metal with doors cut into the sides to me. Too much chrome and too much blank sheetmetal. Look for a live gallery after the jump or read more about the CTS-V.
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Detroit 2010: Cadillac XTS Platinum concept

January 12, 2010 at 3:37 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Cadillac, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

Cadillac has of late been quite successful in ditching its old man’s car image, spearheaded by hip-hop’s favourite SUV, the Escalade, and the sharply styled CTS sports sedan. But some remnants of its conservative past remains in the range, such as the DTS, which looks stuck in the 90s and totally out of sync with Caddy’s new image.

For Detroit, GM’s luxury brand shows off the XTS Platinum concept, a big car application of Cadillac’s “Art & Science” design language which would complete the brand transformation should it replace the STS/DTS. It’s pretty much the big brother of the CTS – carrying the same sharp, angular lines, but with more restraint.

The XTS is powered by a 3.6-litre direct injection V6 paired with a plug-in hybrid system, which is estimated to produce 350 bhp and 400 Nm. The concept uses an AWD chassis. The XTS’ Magnetic Ride Control uses shocks controlled by magneto-rheological tech, rather than mechanical valves, to govern body control and ride comfort.

Like current Platinum Edition Caddys, the concept’s interior is full of hand cut-and-sewn materials. The XTS injects more contemporary forms and themes into the cabin, including the use of Organic LED displays in place of traditional gauges and screens, which contrasts the warm wood trim. “We envisioned this concept as an automotive personal headquarters, using advanced technology to enable new levels of connectivity and luxury,” said Bryan Nesbitt, Cadillac’s GM.

More pictures after the jump.
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Detroit 2010: More compact, lighter Audi e-tron

January 12, 2010 at 2:37 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Audi, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

The e-tron, Audi’s electric sports car concept, continues to evolve since its debut at Frankfurt 2009, and this version in Detroit features a more compact aluminium and carbon fibre reinforced plastic hybrid body that’s closer to the production car, which will go on sale in late 2012.

The latest e-tron measures 3.93m long (from 4.26m), 1.78m wide (from 1.9m) and 1.22m tall (from 1.23m). Its 1,350 kg gross weight is also lower by 250 kg.

While the Frankfurt e-tron had four motors, it’s now down to two asynchronous electric motors mounted on the rear axle. With a combined output of 201 bhp and 2,650 Nm, the e-tron accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 5.9 seconds with a limited 200 km/h top speed. The monumental torque propels the Audi from 60 to 120 km/h in a mere 5.1 seconds. Range is 250 km. The e-tron is charged with household current (230 volts, 16 amperes) via a cable and a plug. Full charging time takes 11 hours.

Audi claims agile “go-kart” handling from the e-tron’s torque vectoring system, low weight, short wheelbase and weight distribution (rear biased at 40:60). The 399 kg lithium-ion battery pack is located behind the passenger compartment and ahead of the rear axle for optimal centre of gravity.

More pictures after the jump.
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Export plans confirmed for China-designed Chevrolet Sail compact sedan

January 12, 2010 at 12:10 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, China

Not too long ago, we reported on a new compact Chevrolet sedan called Sail; it has just been officially introduced in China by Shanghai GM. The Sail differs from previous Chevys sold in China (and the Aveo Sedan/Lova) in that it’s the first passenger car created in China from scratch by a Sino-foreign joint venture. The Sail was developed by Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), both GM-SAIC joint ventures. GM also announced that the Sail will be exported to other emerging markets.

Five variants are available, with the base model priced around RMB 60,000 (US$8,800). This marks a breakthrough in the under-RMB 70,000 (US$10,300) small car segment, where Chinese brands have traditionally been dominant. Dual air bags, a retractable steering column and ABS with EBD are standard. The higher spec models come with a sunroof and power retractable side mirrors.

For more technical info, click here to read our previous post. Official images after the jump.

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Detroit 2010: Mercedes-Benz mysterious scuplture

January 12, 2010 at 11:31 am By Danny Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Concept Cars, Mercedes Benz

Alongside the E-Class Cabriolet, Mercedes-Benz displayed an unnamed artistic sculpture in Detroit. It shows a vehicle body emerging from the ground, taking a soft, flowing form – as if a shimmering cloth was draped over a newly conceived design. We can see that it’s an coupe shape, with an arching roofline much like the CLS – could this preview Mercedes’ new four-door coupe?

This design teaser also shows Mercedes’ intention to use the wide SLS style grille beyond its original application (two bars here, one bar in the SLS). The wheelarches are emphasized on, but the rear haunches are very prominent in the style of the E-Class Coupe.

“The basic proportions challenge the onlooker to interpret the shape of the future, real product that may be nearing the end of its flowing design process,” teases Stuttgart.

UPDATE: Live photos added!

See the scuplture from different angles after the jump.
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Detroit 2010: Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet unveiled

January 12, 2010 at 10:47 am By Danny Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Cars, Mercedes Benz

We tend to forget some world debuts at motor shows because we’ve seen the cars before, in pictures that is. It’s because the trend these days is to release info and photos of a car ahead of its official unveiling – case in point being the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet which was shown off in the metal for the first time in Detroit.

The four-seater folding metal roofed (open/close in 20 sec, up to 40 km/h) cabriolet completes the E-Class family and presents a world first in the shape of the Aircap wind deflector, which Mercedes says considerably reduces air turbulence when the top is down. Aircap replaces conventional wind deflectors, which are quite unsightly. The topless E also comes with the latest gen Airscarf neck-level heating system integrated into the back rests of the front seats. It blows warm air from adjustable air vents in the head restraints to warm necks, hence the “scarf” in the name.

A big range of engines are available, from the E 220 CDI BlueEfficiency (170 bhp) to the E 500 with 388 bhp. Safety gadgets such as Attention Assist drowsiness detection system, Pre-Safe predictive occupant protection, intelligent light system and Distronic Plus adaptive cruise control are available.

Full hi-res gallery after the jump.
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Honda CR-Z production car unveiled at Detroit!

January 12, 2010 at 5:28 am By Paul Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Cars, Honda, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

After many concepts showing us how the design of this new compact has been slowly refined over time, we finally see the production version of the new Honda CR-Z unveiled as a 2011 model year car at the 2010 North American International Auto Show.

From what I can tell the CR-Z is a two-seater and it is powered by a sole engine option – a 1.5 litre i-VTEC engine mated to an IMA electric motor. Honda says this is the first hybrid car designed with style and fun taken into consideration as well as efficiency and economy. That is why other than a CVT that you usually see with Honda’s IMA system, you also get the standard option of a 6-speed manual!

Even if you can’t be bothered with a clutch, you can swap cogs with paddle shifts and when in Sport mode, the transmission is programmed to stay within a certain gear even if you hit the rev limiter, which means you will bounce off the limiter instead of the CVT automatically upshifting on its own. This is the preferred ‘sports mode’ behaviour for many.

The 1.5 litre hybrid system’s peak output is 122 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 173Nm of torque from between 1,000rpm to 1,500rpm. This is of course the peak torque that is achieved only when the IMA motor kicks in to boost acceleration, but it’s still very very nice torque figures from just a thousand revolutions! Should be quite fun! The IMA motor is rated at 14 PS and 78Nm and is powered by a 100V IMA nickel-metal hydride battery pack. The system also has brake energy regeneration and auto start-stop.

The production CR-Z has a three-mode drive system that allows the driver to switch between Sport, Normal and Economy driving modes. You can choose between these modes via three backlit buttons to the left of the steering wheel (presumably to the right in a right hand drive car). Sports mode is as its namesake – sportier throttle response, EPS steering weight and how often the IMA motor kicks in to assist with power.

In addition, the RPM meter inner ring changes its illumination to red. In Economy mode, this inner ring changes between blue and green depending on how efficient your driving is – you know you’re driving fuel efficiently when the ring turns green. Normal mode has a similiar behaviour, but with a more balanced setting instead of a full eco-friendly mode.

What we see here is the American version but the blue-ish European version shown above will also feature daytime running lights with 8 LEDs running across the edges of the two headlamps.

The chassis sits on MacPherson struts at the front and a H-shaped torsion beam at the rear. Compared to the Insight, the CR-Z has a 115 mm shorter wheelbase and is 295mm shorter in overall body length. Standard wheels are 16×6 inchers wrapped with 195/55R16 tyres but optional are 17×7 inch wheels with larger 205/45R17 tyres. There is ABS as standard, with disc brakes at all four wheels.

No prices yet though! View a full hi-res gallery after the jump.
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Ford 2.0L DI Ti-VCT engine on display

January 12, 2010 at 4:55 am By Paul Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Cars, Ford

This new 2.0 litre DI Ti-VCT engine (that’s a mouthful!) is likely set to progressively replace the Duratec20 engine in Ford’s vehicle line-up. The new engine is more advanced than the existing 2.0 litre 4-pot Ford and its Mazda MZR cousin, featuring variable valve timing on both intake and exhaust, a high 12:1 compression ratio as well as direct injection, and it can even run on E85, which grants it the ‘flexfuel-capable’ badge.

It produces 155 horsepower and about 196Nm of torque. While peak horsepower and torque may not seem unusually high for a modern 2.0 litre engine, thanks to DI and the twin VCT you can expect a wider spread of torque making the engine more driveable. This is of course just an educated guess on my part on what engineers can usually do when given DI and twin-VCT to play with, as official horsepower and torque curve graphs have yet to be released.

Instead of the current 4-speed auto, a majority of the auto-tranny equipped versions of this new engine will be instead matched with Ford’s oil-bathed dual clutch transmission.
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Lancia Delta appears at Detroit 2010 as a Chrysler

January 12, 2010 at 4:35 am By Paul Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Cars, Chrysler, Lancia

This third generation Lancia Delta was the sole Lancia car at the 2010 Detroit show’s Fiat-Chrysler stand which consisted of all the Chrysler and Fiat brands including Ferrari and Maserati.

The only thing is, this sole Lancia wasn’t exactly a Lancia. Instead it had Chrysler badges on it. It didn’t even have its own nameplate – it was simply called a Chrysler.

The Lancia Delta is essentially built on a long wheelbase (+100mm) Fiat C platform, the same base as the Fiat Bravo. In American terms that makes it somewhat of a CD car like the Ford Fusion and the Chrysler Sebring.

Look after the jump for a full hi-res gallery of the Delta.
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