Archive for Hybrids, Electric vehicles, fuel cells, alternative fuel

Mercedes-Benz has just released a couple of more photos of their Concept BlueZERO, which many say is most likely a preview of what the next generation B-Class will look like.

But like the name indicates, the BlueZERO is not just a showcase of future production models. The 4220 x 1890 x 1590mm vehicle uses a sandwich floor construction, much like the current A-Class and B-Class, but it’s been modified a little to accomodate electric drive. There are three versions of the Concept BlueZERO but with one commonality, all are front wheel drive with an electric motor at the front axle.

With the BlueZERO E-CELL, two lithium ion battery packs (liquid cooled 35kWh capacity battery) are placed in the sandwich floor behind the electric motor. The other two variants are the BlueZERO F-CELL which is fuel-cell-powered with a battery and hydrogen tank in the sandwich floor.

Finally there is the E-CELL PLUS which is a range extender electric car, with some form of combustion engine used to recharge the batteries, like the Chevy Volt. Right now the proposed combustion engine is an inline-3 turbocharged petrol engine from the smart fortwo, producing 50kW.

Anyway check out the full gallery after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New Photos: Mercedes-Benz Concept BlueZERO

According to UK-based Autocar, Nissan will reveal an electric vehicle prototype on August 2nd this year, the day when the Japanese auto maker opens its new headquarters in Yokohama, Japan.

Not much has been revealed regarding the new prototype, but rumor has it that it would be a mid-sized, five door hatchback. The prototype is expected to offer twice the power offered by a traditional “li-lo” battery, while maintaining power and reliability.

The advanced lithium-ion battery pack will be developed by Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), which is a joint-venture company involving Nissan, NEC Corporation and NEC TOKIN Corporation, a subsidiary of NEC.

Apparently, the production version of the prototype could be produced by winter this year with an output target of 50,000 units. The production version is expected to be officially unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Reports worldwide are indicating that Japanese auto maker Toyota, will revive the Supra, and that a production model could hit dealerships by 2011. The news was first fueled back in 2007, when the auto maker previewed the FT-HS Concept car the Detroit Auto Show.

Now, words are being exchanged again regarding the revival of the Nissan Skyline-fighter. Apparently, the new Supra would be powered by a Lexus-sourced 2GR-VSE 3.5-liter V6, that will be paired with a hybrid system, sourced from the Toyota Crown.

While the previous Supra produced up to 320HP from it’s 2JZ-GTE inline-6 twin turbo powerplant (depending on the market), the replacement model could produce more than 400HP, when mated to the hybrid system. Expect the auto maker to showcase a concept at this year’s motor show in Tokyo. Keep your fingers crossed!

The US Government has loaned US$ 5.9 billion to Ford, for the development of fuel-saving technologies including hybrid-electric systems, alternative-fuel power plants, direct-injection as well as other developments that are related to help reduce fuel consumption such as dual clutch transmissions, vehicle weight reduction and aerodynamic efficiency.

On that note, Ford has revealed more information about its electric car programs. First on the list, is a ‘pure battery electric’, or (BEV) Transit Connect commercial van that would be introduced next year. Ford will be working hand in hand with Smith Electric U.S on the development of the electric Transit.

Next on the list is something that is more interesting, which is the production of a BEV Focus. The emissions-free Focus would be co-developed with Magna, and can hit the streets by 2011. Both the BEV Transit Connect and BEC Focus are expected to deliver up to anywhere between 160 and 257 kilometers in terms of driving range.

Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally revealed, “This green partnership between Ford and the U.S. Government will help accelerate the development of advanced technologies for even better fuel efficiency and emissions. Ford is absolutely committed to fuel economy leadership with every new model we introduce. In fact, we plan to invest nearly $14 billion in advanced technology vehicles in the next seven years.”

FoMoCo will also work on plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) as well as “next generation” hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). Both the PHEV and the HEV could be introduced by 2012.

Daimler has confirmed that it will put the smart fortwo electric drive into small series production after a successful 100 car UK trial involving the Metropolitan Police, universities, local councils, architects and energy companies. The trial involved select customers leasing the vehicle for 4 years at a monthly cost of £375.

The smart fortwo electric drive is powered by a 30kW electric motor built by Zytek. It runs on a single gear transmission and smart claims that cost-wise, it is able to achieve the equivalent of 300mpg. You charge it via a regular 3-pin plug as it has its own own-board charger. 0 to 60km/h takes 6.5 seconds, which isn’t very sluggy at all actually but because it only has a single gear ratio, top speed is limited to more or less 100km/h.

Dongfeng has commissioned Detroit Electric to jointly research, develop, market and sell Electric Vehicles in China using Detroit Electric’s electric drive systems.

The Chinese company will provide the cars, and Detroit Electric will provide the propulsion, similiar to the arrangement that DE has with Proton. But the DE-Proton deal involves rebadging the Persona and GEN2 under the Detroit Electric brand, but for Dongfeng, the two companies will study and explore the market entry strategy under the Dongfeng and Detroit Electric brand.

The two companies are also discussing the possibility of forming a joint venture company to manufacture, assemble, produce and supply the electric drive technology in China to the Dongfeng Group and other vehicle manufacturers that want to buy the technology.

Dongfeng does Kia, Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Honda in China, but they have been recently focusing on developing their own brand too. They recently launched a sedan based on the old Citroen ZX chassis called the Dongfeng Aeolus Fengshen, shown above.

Renault will be unveiling a new all-electric car at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show scheduled for September this year. The concept has been developed to go into production in less than 3 years, so we could see it on the road as early as 2011. This new electric car will have a 5-door hatchback body, and will join other Renault EV concepts based on existing models - the Megane EV and the Kangoo EV.

The new electric 5-door hatchback production-destined concept car is said to be built on the Renault-Nissan Alliance B platform, which also underpins cars such as the Renault Clio and the Nissan March. A smaller car such as this would make more sense for now as battery technology isn’t all that mature yet and decent EV range is easier to be achieved with a lighter (and smaller) body.

Renault will also be exhibiting a new system they’ve devised called the Quick Drop system. You essentially cycle between multiple batteries with your electric car ownership. Drive it into a garage, and the system swaps your car’s depleted battery and puts in a new fully charged one in just 3 minutes.

No further details but we can probably assume the system then proceeds to charge the depleted battery to swap back into the car the next night. Initial implementations will most likely be in public areas (due to high cost of implementing a Quick Drop station?), with Quick Drop points functioning the same as petrol stations.

Full details on all of Renault’s forays into the electric vehicle arena to be revealed closer to the Frankfurt show date.

A 160km range on the Japanese 10-15 urban mode driving pattern, a 7 hour 200V charge time, 30 minutes on a 200V 3-phase quick charger, and LED headlamps and tail lamps to add a finishing touch. You’ve just read the spec sheet of the new production Mitsubishi i-MiEV EV, a production electric car that has just gone on lease by Mitsubishi for nearly 4.6 million Yen inclusive of consumption tax.

That’s nearly RM165k, and with the taxes you have here in Malaysia it could end up pretty darn pricey. But it does have a lithium ion battery, which is more advanced than the nickel-base ones that go into most hybrid and EVs these days.

The battery which consists of 88 li-ion cells connected in series is installed under the floor, and the 64 PS 180Nm electric motor which is mated to a single-gear transmission is installed under the luggage compartment. Yes, like the regular combustion engine Mitsubishi i, it uses a rear midship layout.

Mitsubishi will be preparing 1,400 cars for leasing this year, mainly to corporations and local authorities. Individual leases are expected to begin in April 2010, but order-taking will begin in July 2010. Look after the jump for a video of the i-MiEV’s test run through the Tateyama Kurobe alpine route surrounded by 3,000-meter-high mountains.

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Volvo and Swedish energy company Vattenfall will be cooperating on producing plug-in diesel-electric hybrid Volvos that combine electric motors with high capacity lithium ion batteries and turbodiesel powertrains by 2012. Volvo will manufacture the cars and Vattenfall will develop the charging systems as well as supply the cars with electricity for plug-in charging.

Three Volvo V70 demonstrator cars will be presented in summer this year by the joint venture. These demo cars will be used to gather information about the wishes and demands that drivers may have on the new technology, to determine their driving habits and to establish how they want to charge their cars.

Vattenfall will be using these demo cars to test various concepts for high-speed home charging and also for charging stations in public places, where owners pay to charge up the car with electricity instead of refueling it with fossil fuels.

Determining charging behaviour patterns are very important in order to plan and deploy a charging infrastructure that works. Conducting focus groups and verbally finding out what potential drivers may think they want is one thing but real life requirements may change once someone is actually driving a plug-in car, thus these demo cars are actually quite important.

Look after the jump for some shots of the V70 demo car.

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Toyota have previewed the Toyota Camry Hybrid that will be assembled in Thailand. The Thai-assembled Camry Hybrid will be the first Camry Hybrid to be based on the Aurion-based Camry body. Currently the Camry Hybrid sold in countries such as the US are based on the JDM Camry, which to me looks more funky and sporty, somewhat like an overgrown Altis.

As the Camry sold in Thailand and the rest of the ASEAN region are based on the Australian Toyota Aurion, it only makes sense that Toyota bases the Thai Camry Hybrid on the Aurion body. The Thai assembled Toyota Camry Hybrid features its own front grille and rear tail lamp design as well as a front bumper that looks similiar to the one found on the facelifted Toyota Camry, but with some differences in the fog lamp area.

The Australian-assembled Camry Hybrid will likely continue to be based on the JDM Camry body, as indicated by the Toyota HC-CV Hybrid Camry Concept displayed at the 2009 Melbourne Auto Show.

Toyota Motor Thailand president Mitsuhiro Sonoda says the Camry Hybrid will be priced quite closely to exiting petrol-powered Camry models in Thailand, predicting a premium of not more than 100,000 Thai baht. This is because the Camry Hybrid is subject to an excise duty of only 10% instead of 35% in Thailand.

Since a top of the line Camry 2.4 can go for over 1.7 million Thai baht (it starts from about 1.5 million for the cheaper 2.4G), the Camry Hybrid would likely be priced at about 1.8 million Thai baht. I don’t think he was referring to the 3.5Q which retails for nearly 3 million Thai Baht.

The warranty for the Toyota Camry Hybrid will also be extended to 5 years or 150,000km, which is longer than the regular 3 year warranty that you get with Toyota cars there. This is to help ease public acceptance of the relatively new technology which many fear will be expensive to maintain once the warranty period ends. Toyota has also partnered with insurance firms there to offer the same premiums as the regular models despite the Camry hybrid having more expensive parts.

I am not sure whether the Thai Camry Hybrid will share the same hybrid powertrain as the US market Camry with different styling, but under the US car’s hood is the 2.4 liter Atkinson cycle 2AZ-FXE engine producing 147 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 187Nm of torque at 4,400rpm, paired to a 30kW (40 horses) electric motor with 270Nm of torque. These two are combined and send power to the front wheels via an E-CVT transmission. The Thai Camry Hybrid should use something similiar.

Look after the jump for more photos of the Camry Hybrid.

Click here to read the rest of Thai-assembled Toyota Camry Hybrid unveiled!