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340hp Peugeot Concept EX1 to make debut in Paris

September 22, 2010 at 12:45 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Peugeot

Peugeot has unveiled a new concept car called the EX1, which will have a full reveal at the Paris Motor Show later this month. They probably wouldn’t admit it, but it looks like inspiration for this concept was drawn from the recent Batman films. Instead, the French automaker have stuck to the story that they were creating an “extreme dream car” with “exciting possibilities for electric power”.

Demonstrating this, the EX1 uses two electric motors connected mounted on each axle that collectively generate 340HP and 240Nm of constant torque. This makes it an all wheel drive vehicle. Peugeot went on to say that the EX1 is “capable of lightning acceleration” which “exceeds 1G of gravitational force.”

The electric four-wheeled tric uses the company’s new design language first seen on the SR1 concept car and the new 508. Optimal weight distribution was key as the size of the passenger compartment was reduced.

The concept which measures 1.77m wide and 0.90m high also employs a monocouque body structure manufactured from a carbon/honeycomb composite, for rigidity. The front uses a drop link double wishbone suspension while the rear comprises of a single swinging arm linked to centrally-mounted shock absorber.

Look after the jump for a picture gallery.
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French brands unite to create Citroen Lacoste Concept

September 21, 2010 at 9:40 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Citroën, Concept Cars

Two French brands have teamed up to make a concept design set for a Paris preview. This will be Lacoste and Citroen with their new Citroen Lacoste Concept.

The car is motivated by a three-cylinder engine, which Citroen says provides “plenty of performance for a vehicle of its weight and size”. This is because its about the size of a Toyota Aygo or Citroen C1 and measures in at about 3.45m long, 1.80m wide and 1.52m high.

As you would expect, design of the car mainly concentrates on the whole Lacoste theme. This is seen on the car which sports “golf ball-styled” set of alloy wheels and parts of the body that resemble tennis nets.

They complement the unique feature roof, which is a structure that extends back to the boot like a convertible Jeep. Adding to that is the door-less architecture that gives it a roomy feel. Check out the picture gallery after the jump.

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Audi e-Tron Spyder rumored to debut in Paris

September 21, 2010 at 9:22 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Audi, Cars, Concept Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News

Could this be a leaked sketch of the upcoming Audi e-Tron Spyder? According to Caradisiac it is. They have reported that this car will make a Paris Motor Show debut, likely as a concept. The Spyder is a convertible based on the Audi e-tron concept that was recently previewed at the Detroit Motor Show. According to the publication, only a thousand units will be built in 2012.

No information have been provided on the powertrain running this car, but if it is for real, it will probably feature something similar to the e-Tron concept. This would be four electric motors, creating a total power output of 204hp and 2,650Nm of torque. The original e-tron concept was shown at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show featuring 313hp and 4,500Nm of torque.

However some are saying that the topless e-tron will be powered by a 3.0 litre V6 TDI paired with two front-mounted electric motors and a dual-clutch transmission. This means that there is a possibility of the e-tron Spyder being a hybrid instead of a pure electric vehicle. All we can do for now is wait for the Paris event to confirm these reports.

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Lotus Elite supercar unveiled – set for 2014 release!

September 21, 2010 at 12:06 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Lotus

Lotus has finally revealed it’s plans for the much-anticipated supercar, which will be given the legendary Elite designation. We are not sure if this model is the much-talked about Esprit replacement as the Elite name was used before, both in 1958 and 1974. However the supercar signals the company’s foray into Ferrari and Aston Martin territory. In the press release, the Elite has been described as “ultimate refinement”.

The public will be the judge of that, but no doubt design has progressed slightly, which should help in its quest to compete with the big boys. I must admit that the prototype pictured here does point to a pretty good looking production car.

The 2+2 Elite will be offered with a retractable hard top. It will house a force-inducted 5.0 litre V8 engine (which hasn’t been confirmed whether this will be turbocharged or supercharged) that is set to pump out 612hp and 720Nm of torque. Lotus also mentioned that there will be an optional hybrid system which will be made up by a hybrid gearbox integrated with two electric motors and a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).

At the moment it is not certain if the above mentioned power figures take the hybrid system’s output into account, although judging from the high numbers, it is likely that power from the alternative source has been included. Weighing in at about 1,650kg, the car can accelerate to 100km/h in around 3.5 to 3.7 seconds, up to a top speed of 315km/h. This also gives it approximately 215g/km of CO2 emissions output.

“There’s no denying that the Elite is breathtakingly beautiful to look at but it’s so much more than that, it’s a car that over delivers in all other aspects as well. One could say it’s a car of perfect contradictions, it’s compact yet spacious, high performing yet low emitting, lightweight yet still reassuringly solid. It’s a car that we are exceptionally proud of at Lotus and we truly believe that there is nothing else like it out there both in terms of styling and performance,” said Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus.

This front mid -engined, rear wheel drive car will be put into production in early 2014 with a market debut in the second quarter in the same year. Prices are unconfirmed, but is expected to be at around the £115 000 mark. Look for a high-res picture gallery after the jump.

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BMW Concept 6-Series Coupe looks production ready!

September 19, 2010 at 11:33 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Concept Cars


BMW have unveiled its Paris 2010 concept car – the BMW Concept 6-Series Coupe. As expected, the upcoming F12 6-Series is basically a 2 door version of the hot BMW Concept Gran Coupe. BMW claims the Concept 6-Series Coupe is a “design study” for a premium-class 2+2-seater but we all know that this is basically very close to production, since the spyshots we’ve seen of the new F12 look very much like this car.

Not much have been revealed about the F12 Concept so far, except for a bit about its headlamps. BMW says the F12 Concept features full white LED headlamps, which is a first on a BMW. Both the low beam and the high beam use LEDs, along with the fog lamps. The brake lights, signal indicators and etc on the rear are all LED-powered as well.

Look after the jump for a full gallery of the new F12 concept, including some angles of the interior.
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Audi A1 e-tron with rotary engine range extender!

September 14, 2010 at 9:45 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Audi, Cars, Concept Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

Audi will be unleashing a total of 20 specially prepared Audi A1 e-tron range extender electric cars onto the streets of Munich as part of the “eflott” joint venture pilot project between Audi, E.ON, the Munich municipal utility company Stadtwerke München (SWM) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

The Audi A1 e-tron is powered by a electric motor that delivers an output equivalent of 102 PS, drawing power from a lithium-ion battery mounted within the floor assembly in front of the rear axle of the A1 e-tron. This electric motor can take the A1 e-tron up to a top speed of 81 mph and it can go about 31 miles in city traffic.

But what happens beyond 31 miles? A small combustion engine will be started up to generate power to recharge the batteries, and what’s most interesting is that this small combustion engine is a small single-rotor Wankel rotary engine, with 15 kW of charging output. It would be interesting to find out why exactly Audi chose to use a Wankel rotary engine design for its range extender combustion engine.

Supporting these A1 e-tron cars are a total of 200 newly installed charging stations. These stations will enable experts to address a number of issues, from the data transfer between the driver, vehicle and electric filling station to the power grid and the use of smartphones as the central interface for the driver.

According to a draft standard for the calculation of fuel consumption for range extender vehicles, the A1 e-tron will be able to achieve a fuel economy figure of 148.7mpg and a CO2 output of only 45 g/km.

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Kia POP electric city car concept due for Paris Motor Show

August 19, 2010 at 12:02 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, International News, Kia

Kia has announced that it will be unveiling a three seater electric city car concept at the Paris Motor Show this year. No official information has been given about the electric drive train but from the pictures, we can see that it features a 2 + 1 seating layout.

Other notable cars with similar design include the Gordon Murray T25, which has a centred seating position for the driver and two back seats for the passengers. The POP on the other hand, seems to feature a bench-like seat in front, with a single seat at the back. It would be interesting to see how much boot space is left in the small car.

Measuring in at three metres long, the car’s competitor will be the Smart forTwo and the Toyota iQ. Further information will be revealed by the Korean company closer to its debut on the 30th of September. The POP follows Kia’s release of the plug in hybrid Ray concept, in its range of eco-friendly concepts.

More pictures available after the jump.
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Mazda design: Nagare no more, yesterday once more?

August 11, 2010 at 11:50 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, International News, Mazda

Are you a fan of the current Mazda look, with its curvy shapes, smiling mouth and eye-catching jewelry? It all started with the Nagare concept shown at the 2007 LA Motor Show, where the carmaker showed off a car that “flowed”. A couple of concepts later – Ryuga, Hakaze, Taiki and Furai – the Nagare design language was in full flow (pardon the pun), as Mazda tried to implement it onto its road car range.

They’ve finally managed to apply the Nagare design in full with the new Mazda5 (as shown in Geneva), before killing it. Yes, the Nagare design language is dead.

Creator of Nagare, Laurens van den Acker, left the company for Renault last year, and the brand’s European design boss Peter Birtwhistle was recently quoted as saying: “Nagare is done. After the 5, it’s highly unlikely that there will be another Nagare car. Mazda has moved on.” He adds that Mazda top guns in Japan aren’t fully convinced with the Nagare look, which the Brit describes as “particularly difficult to apply to a boxy people carrier shape.”

So what can we expect from them next? Birtwhistle told Auto Express that Mazda is aiming to become “more like a Japanese Alfa Romeo, producing cars which are great to drive, but crucially that also have the right premium feel, particularly inside.” Mazda’s global design chief Ikuo Maeda, who led the RX-8 and Mazda2 design teams, is the man in charge.

A number of concepts are being designed under the “thrusting motion” theme and Maeda will select a winner in September. The chosen design will debut at the Paris Motor Show along with the name of Mazda’s new design philosophy. Interestingly, Nagare creator van den Acker is set to show off his best for Renault in Paris, so the stage is set!

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GALLERY: BMW Gran Coupe Concept – behind the scenes

May 10, 2010 at 4:42 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Concept Cars

Here is a just released gallery of “behind the scenes” images featuring the BMW Gran Coupe Concept that was unveiled in Beijing last month, where you’ll get to see design sketches of Munich’s four-door coupe and sculptors working on a clay model. The Gran Coupe looks like a reincarnation of the Concept CS, which was shown back in 2007.

Long, wide and low slung, the sleek Gran Coupe is said to preview the next 6-Series (just minus two doors) and provide a Mercedes-Benz CLS rival for BMW. From how good it looks, we don’t see why BMW shouldn’t put this into production. It should be already in the works, judging from how “real” the Gran Coupe looks and Munich’s history of putting the “Concept” tag on near finalised designs.

Previous post and images of the Gran Coupe in the metal is here. Gallery is after the jump.
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Chevrolet Volt MPV5 – mixing style with eco-credentials

May 10, 2010 at 3:03 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, Concept Cars

Chevrolet has recently released the Volt MPV5 concept that will keep the eco-concious driver appeased. The concept, which is based on the Volt platform, was previewed at the Beijing Motor Show and will feature the same Voltec propulsion system seen in the Chevy Volt. This would be the 16-kWh T-shaped lithium-ion battery pack that powers the electric drive unit and a 1.4-litre engine generator that extends the battery power if and when juice runs out. It’s likely a reskinned hybrid Orlando, sharing the same wheelbase figures.

The MPV5 will be able to run solely on electric power for 51.5 km where as the range extender petrol engine extends this said range to 482 km, providing you with a certain amount of peace of mind. Drive goes through the two front tyres.

The exterior, while looking smooth and stylish, has functional elements such as a closed grille and aero-optimised lower air dam, which improves fuel efficiency. Other aerodynamic touches are a full-underbody belly pan, along with rocker claddings, creased tail lamps and specially designed blades on the rear quarter.

Apart from that, the Sonic Blue Metallic paint, dual skylight panels and 19-inch Volt-like sporty rims give it a powerful futuristic look. The MPV5 measures 4,585 mm long, 1,871 mm wide and 1,612 mm tall, and is meant to fit five passengers comfortably.

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