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

The Honda CR-Z has all the basics to look like a hot compact coupe, but seeing the production car for the first time in Geneva, I thought that it looked very tame. The hi-tech feel, driver centered dashboard gets our thumbs up, though. But there’s nothing a good tuner can’t fix, especially for a brand like Honda with top notch outfits like Mugen and Spoon in the wings.

The picture above is of a lowered, kitted and mildly modded CR-Z by Spoon. The more purposeful stance comes from a front coilover kit and rear spring/shock kit that lowers ride height by a substantial 50 mm. Other parts being tested are the N1 exhaust, ECU, and “twin-block” calliper and slit rotor brake upgrade. There’s also an attention grabbing set of Spoon CR93 alloys in blue. Working on the ECU and brakes will have to take into account that these are vital components in the CR-Z’s hybrid drivetrain, though.

And this is Mugen’s idea of how the CR-Z should look like. Full bodykit (lower front bumper reminds us of the Modulo kit for the Honda Accord), dramatic rear spoiler and diffuser, Mugen GP wheels in bronze and LEDs on the front grille are added. The suspension, exhaust system and air filter have been uprated too, while the cabin gets a unique gear knob, extra gauges and floor mats with logos.

View live images from Geneva of the CR-Z and Spoon/Mugen versions after the jump.

Source

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Yes, that’s true, and the buyer in question is PSA Peugeot Citroën. Mitsubishi has announced the signing of a “Final Cooperative Agreement” that will see the French giant purchase 100,000 units of the i-MiEV electric car. PSA will market the rebadged i-MiEV as the Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero. Both French badged cars will go on sale in Europe by the end of this year, starting with their domestic market.

This sealed deal comes just after both parties failed to agree terms for a capital alliance in the style of Renault and Nissan. Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Masuko and PSA chief Philippe Varin met at Geneva and jointly released a statement that a capital tie-up would not be realistic although both companies would continue to expand business ties.

Besides this latest deal, which would help Mitsubishi achieve better economies of scale for an expensive project, PSA also bases its Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser on the Japanese maker’s Outlander SUV.

The Audi A8 is the newest limo on the block and this is the A8 hybrid which aims to be the greenest in the segment. Shown at the Geneva show for the first time, the A8 hybrid’s drivetrain consists of two propulsion units – a 2.0 TFSI internal combustion engine and an electric motor – that develop a total output of 245 bhp and 480 Nm of torque. This enables a 7.6-second 0-100 km/h time and a top speed of 235 km/h, done in Transporter style coolness.

A hydraulically operated wet clutch links the TFSI with the electric motor (with 45 bhp and 211 Nm), which makes available its grunt from standstill. In the boot lies the Audi’s lithium-ion battery pack, which still leaves 400 litres of luggage space. Subsystems that operate on engine power in a regular car have been modified to run entirely on electric power in the A8 hybrid, such as the air-con compressor, electromechanical steering system and brake booster, all managed by a “pulse control inverter” system. All these will appear in the Audi Q5 hybrid, to be introduced later this year.

This A8 is capable of fully electric-powered driving up to 65 km/h and for a distance “exceeding 2 km”. Normally, both work in tandem but above 65 km/h, the combustion engine propels the car alone, while the electric motor supplies ancillaries and recharges the battery. The TFSI is disconnected from the drivetrain when the driver chooses to coast. The e-motor also functions as a generator to recoup energy from braking and replenish the battery.

Green credentials? The A8 hybrid’s average fuel consumption is 16.1 km/l while CO2 emissions is 144 grams per km. These figures compare very well with the Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid, which does 12.7 km/l and 186 g/km. Launched last year, the car from Stuttgart pairs a V6 with electric motors for a combined 299 bhp/385 Nm, and was the first production hybrid to use lithium ion batteries.

Live images from Geneva and the official gallery is after the jump.

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Here are some live pictures of the 918 Spyder concept that Porsche unexpectedly revealed in Geneva. The Stuttgart based sportscar maker, now under the Volkswagen umbrella, was very protective of its “sports car for the 21st century” (500 bhp V8 with 9,200 rpm redline, 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds, faster around Nurburgring than the Carrera GT, capable of 33.3 km/l) – as you can see from the pictures, they erected a barrier (with few big Germans keeping guard in case any daredevil journalist got too close) around the show stopper. My vote goes to Weissach in the Geneva battle of the hybrid hypercars between this and the Ferrari 599 HY-KERS!

My best efforts are in the gallery after the jump – they’re not great, but you’ll get to see some close ups of the exterior details and the cabin. For more details on the 918 Spyder, click here to read our earlier post. An impressive video is in the post right below this.

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Didn’t anyone send Ferrari the memo that the colour for anything green and environmentally friendly is blue, and not green? It’s nevertheless a nice colour for the car, as with most bright colours on Ferraris. It’s matte green if you notice. This concept is called the HY-KERS. In Ferrari speak, a concept is a vettura laboratorio, which is Italian for experimental vehicle. It’s based on a 599 GTB Fiorano but has hybrid technologies in it.

Weighing about 40 kg, the compact, tri-phase, high-voltage electric motor of the HY-KERS is coupled to the rear of the dual-clutch 7-speed F1 transmission. It can produce over 100 horsepower. In town driving, the car can run on motor alone. The motor can also act as a generator for brake energy regeneration. All engine ancillary components are now electrically powered.

The batteries for the electric motor are located below the floorpan of the car in the underbody. As usual, this placement helps with the vehicle’s centre of gravity as it is positioned low and below the passenger cabin. The result is a centre of gravity that is even lower than the standard 599. Look after the jump for a short video presentation on the new 599 HY-KERS.

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Jaguar Land Rover, Bladon Jets and SR Drives are in a joint venture consortium to develop a new ‘micro jet turbine’ for use in range extender hybrid drives. By now all of you should know what a range extender series hybrid system is, since once was featured in the Proton EMAS Concept.

The aim here is to replace the piston combustion engine in the range extender with a very compact jet turbine that is capable of burning a wide range of fuels. The turbine would be hooked up to a high-speed switched-reluctance generator to produce electricity to either recharge the batteries or power the electric motor that drives the series hybrid. The consortium has been awarded a juicy £1.1 million grant by the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board for the research and development. The total project cost is £2.2 million.

According to the consortium, replacing a petrol-powered piston engine with an axial flow micro jet turbine can save up to 15% of overall vehicle weight. Some of the weight savings will be from the engine’s supporting parts such as the lack of needing water cooling, oil or catalytic converters. You can also reduce emissions by burning cleaner fuels other then regular petrol.

But more importantly, Bladon Jets says the actual physical size taken up by the micro turbine is much much smaller, and could potentially only take up 5% size, weight and parts count of a typical piston engine. A prototype christened the BJ-300-P measures only 4 inch in diameter and 12 inches in length. Also, with a turbine there is only one moving part.

Production versions of the ‘Ultra Lightweight Range Extender’ as it is called could take between 5 to 15 years though – hopefully by then it will still be relevant to the motorist, as it definitely sounds like a cool idea.

Let’s have a look at the very heart of the Proton EMAS Concept cars – the Lotus Range Extender Engine. There has been a lot of concerns from readers about the range which has been rated at 50km. First of all, the car is still a concept at this point of time, so these figures are generally quite meaningless unless the car gets closer to production.

Concept cars are generally done as a ‘what if’ exercise and to gauge public perception and interest before moving ahead with the production version. This is why the one big question put forth at the Proton Concepts microsite is “would you like this to be the future of Proton”. According to Datuk Syed Zainal, it may take another 2 years before we can see a production version of the Proton EMAS on the roads.

But in any case, one of the most common comparisons in the comments so far is between the EMAS and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. After all, the i-MiEV is somewhat similar – raised floor, compact size, rear motor and rear wheel driven. But the key difference between the two cars is that the i-MiEV is a pure electric car while the Proton EMAS Concept is a series-hybrid. But what exactly does series-hybrid mean? Does it mean it is not an electric car thus is not as ‘clean’ as an i-MiEV?

A series hybrid is basically an electric car, as long as you have enough juice in the battery packs for the electric motor to function. The Proton EMAS Concept has a range of 50km, which is shorter than the i-MiEV’s 160km range. But note that it isn’t an apple to apple comparison – the i-MiEV’s 160km range is calculated based on the Japanese 10-15 urban mode driving cycle, while Proton’s 50km range is not specified. It might be a mixed mode range or a ‘best effort’ range.

The difference is range can be quite easily explained – it is simply because the i-MiEV has a larger battery. It needs to have a larger battery because the battery is its only source of energy. Once you’re out of juice, you’re a sitting duck. With the Lotus Range Extender system, you do not need to have such a large battery – only one that is large enough to complete most city trips. That means less weight and less cost in terms of battery costs. Let’s say your office is about 15km to 20km from your home. You’ll hopefully be able to complete a to and fro trip on a single charge. When you get home, you plug the EMAS into your wall socket again to fully charge it up (3 hours on our 240V voltage – longer in 120V countries), and repeat the cycle the next day.

What happens when you need to travel further than 50km? The internal combustion engine will turn on and run to generate power. Because it only generates power and does not drive the wheels, Lotus can optimize it to run only at certain RPM points, so there is no need for costly variable valve timing, or this or that. The engine is a very simple 1.2 liter 3 cylinder single cam engine with only 2 valves per cylinder and a 10.0:1 compression ratio. It does not have to be built to withstand high RPM speeds so it can be lighter and cheaper to manufacture. The Range Extender engine only runs at 2 points – 1,500rpm and a higher 3,500rpm when you need to generate power a little faster. Peak torque is 107Nm at 2,500rpm, while peak power is quoted at 51hp at 3,500rpm.

Thus the Proton EMAS is hybrid in the sense that the electricity that its electric motor requires can be obtained through 2 ways – either a wall socket, or by the range extender engine burning fuel to generate electricity. As long as you do not exhaust the 50km battery capacity, your EMAS is technically as good as an electric vehicle and there won’t be any exhaust gas coming out of your exhaust pipes. But we don’t know yet how the battery management system works so the range extender engine might kick in earlier to ensure the battery does not get too weak in order to preserve battery life.

What I want to know now is how efficient the engine is in burning petrol to generate electricity. How many km can the car go on the electricity generated by 1 liter of petrol? That will give us a “km per liter” measurement for when the car is not running on plug-in power. Look after the jump for 4 pix of the engine.

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I haven’t finished covering every hall of the Palexpo yet, alternating between going out for “war” and posting in the press centre, but so far, the SEAT IBe is one of the concepts that caught my eye. Low, wide, squat, and free from the severe “criss-cross” lines of the current range (which I personally dislike), the IBe could be VW’s Spanish subsidiary’s rival to the Scirocco. Although its 3.78 m length is 250 mm shorter than an Ibiza, the IBe measures 1.8 m wide and is only 1.22 m in height. The showcar’s 19-inch wheels also look good with almost zero overhangs beside them.

Unveiled here by managing director James Muir (right) and chief designer Luc Donckerwolke, the IBe is a zero-emissions electric vehicle powered by lithium-ion batteries. With a max output of 102 bhp and 200 Nm of torque, the IBe completes the century sprint in an unexceptional 9.4 seconds, although the 0-50 km/h time of 3.4 seconds suggest good point and squirt acceleration. Top speed is limited to 160 km/h.

An electric powered SEAT should be quite far away, since the brand only plans to launch its Leon Twin Drive plug-in hybrid in 2014. For now, SEAT has a popular range of diesel powered Ecomotive cars, the best of which (Ibiza Ecomotive) achieves 27 km/l and 98 g/km of CO2. More pictures after the jump.

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Proton has just sent over a PDF document explaining the EMAS Concepts a little. The text goes a little more in depth into the design language. It’s an interesting read if you just can’t get enough of the EMAS triplets. If we’re lucky, Proton will probably showcase then at the KLIMS the end of this year alongside some other interesting stuff. Then both you and I will get to see it in flesh. But for now, enjoy the text and remember to click the ‘fullscreen’ button for easier reading, or download it for offline use.

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Italdesign-Giugiaro have uploaded a video presentation of the new Proton EMAS Concept on its website. You can watch it here streamed from local servers. The video has a little technical presentation in it, showing how the interior dimensions were designed to be similiar to that of a C or D segment SUV, etc. Hope you enjoy it!

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Proton EMAS3

Proton’s range of concept hybrid city cars have been officially unveiled in Geneva today and we now know that they are called the EMAS, the EMAS Country and the EMAS3. For non-Malaysians reading this site, EMAS basically means gold in Bahasa Malaysia, but in this context it also stands for ‘Eco Mobility Advance Solution’. The cars were unveiled at Italdesign Giugiaro’s booth by our ex-PM Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who so happens to also be Proton’s advisor.

The EMAS is the 5-door 4-seater silver hatchback that we first saw. The other two models are the EMAS3, which is a three-door 3+1 seater for city driving, and the EMAS Country which is for country driving – that’s the model with the SUV styling and raised suspension. The concept cars were designed by Italdesign-Giugiaro to fit the description of a compact car with the passenger room of an SUV.

Proton EMAS

The EMAS range of vehicles all run on a common platform that can spawn some other body variants such as a small van for short commercial trips around the city. The chassis has a wheelbase of 2,590mm (the shorter EMAS3’s wheelbase is 2,035mm). Imagine a small zero emissions and silent van used by Pos Malaysia to deliver your mail and parcels! The batteries are positioned somewhere at the centre of the car. The Lotus Range Extender engine is mounted at the front.

It’s basically a 1.2 liter inline-3 engine that’s designed to run only specifically as certain RPM ranges, since it does not drive the wheels directly but only generates power to recharge the batteries. This means it does not necessarily have to rev very high. Drive torque is provided by the electric motor. So it is not surprising that the 1.2 liter engine’s peak power is 51 horsepower at a very low 3,500rpm.

Because the engine does not have to rev high, Lotus can design it for a lower redline and certain parts such as valve springs and etc do not have to be built to tolerate higher speeds. This can save weight and cost – and the result is an engine that weighs only 56kg according to the original specs. But in any case, the specs that was unveiled here is actually slightly more powerful than what Lotus initially announced when they introduced the range extender engine. The original Lotus Range Extender press release quoted two different power generation points depending on load – 20hp at 1,500rpm and 47hp at 3,500rpm. The engine can run on gasoline, ethanol, methanol or natural gas.

The electric motor outputs a continuous power of 45kW and a peak power of 75kW. The motor’s torque output is pegged at 240Nm at peak, and does not require the use of a gearbox, so the motor drives the rear wheels through a fixed ratio. 0 to 100km/h tales 14 seconds, the car’s top speed is 170km/h, and one battery charge’s worth of range is 50km before the internal combustion engine needs to kick in to recharge it. You can also charge the battery via an electrical outlet as it has plug-in capabilities. A full charge is said to take 3 hours with 240V 13A power point.

The interior (which you can see above – we’re in the midst of getting better pix) is said to feature two TFT monitors in the center mounted at a concave angle. The right hand monitor shows the speedo and various other vital statistics of the car such as the hybrid system energy flow diagrams, while the left hand monitor handles the in-car entertainment and communication settings, including a browser for internet access. A third display located beneath the center console is a touch screen display that allows you to control various car functions.

“The unveiling of the concept cars today reflects the long-term strategy we have in matching global automotive standards as we expand and reinforce our presence worldwide. We strive to listen to our customers to ensure the development of a global car that meets customer’s requirements and expectations. The aim is to produce the global car for world market in the future,” said Proton managing director Dato Syed Zainal. According to DSZ, the car is between 17 to 24 months away from production, so we’re looking at a 2012 to 2013 launch date!

We’ll be back very soon with some more info from our man Danny on the floors of Geneva with more live photos of the car (live photos now uploaded) as well as perhaps some videos. Look after the jump for a full spec sheet as well as product images.

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This is the Porsche concept car that they’ve managed to keep under the wraps so far while other Geneva debuts like the new Cayenne were prematurely leaked. It will debut alongside the Cayenne and the 911 GT3 R Hybrid on Porsche’s Geneva stands.

The 918 Spyder reminds us of the Carrera GT and thanks to its hybrid powertrain, it can hit 100km/h in under 3.2 seconds. It can also do the Nurburgring in less than 7 minutes and 30 seconds, which Porsche says is faster than the original Carrera GT! Even with these impressive figures, Porsche claims an average fuel consumption of just 3 liters per 100km though you’ll use far far more than this when you are really gunning it as hard driving isn’t factored into ‘combined fuel consumption’ driving behavior.

The car is built on a modular monocoque bodyshell made of carbon reinforced plastic as well as magnesium and aluminum. Thanks to that, curb weight is only 1,490kg, despite having to carry the entire hybrid system. That’s a lot of stuff there – the combustion engine which will no doubt be large and powerful since this is a performance car, and then we also have the batteries and the multiple electric motors.

The hybrid powertrain in question combines a 9,200rpm redline high revving V8 producing about 500 PS together with electric motors on both the front and rear axle. The motors produce a combined output of 218 PS. Peak combined output from all the power sources is 718 PS. Rear wheels are driven by the V8 and an electric motor through a 7-speed Porsche PDK dual clutch transmission, while the front axle’s electric motors drive the wheels via a fixed transmission ratio. These motors get their power from a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery mounted behind the passenger cell, which seats two by the way.

The car can work in four different modes. In Hybrid mode, the 918 Spyder uses both the electric motors and the combustion engine but shuts either off depending on conditions, just like a regular series-parallel hybrid like the Prius. The Sport Hybrid mode turns on both electric and V8 power all the time, with most of the drive power going to the rear wheels. There is also torque vectoring so power is distributed well between the left and right wheels. In Race Hybrid mode, both power sources also work together, but there is also a “push to pass” button that feeds in extra power for overtaking. Finally, the E-Drive mode allows the car to move on electric power only up to 25km.

Look after the jump for three initial hi-res photos they’ve released.

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This is the production version of the hybrid Toyota Auris HSD, which debuts at Geneva this week. Gone is the weird blue dashboard of the concept car. Two versions will be offered in Europe – one which does 89g/km of CO2 in emissions and 74.3mpg while another does a wee bit less eco-friendly numbers at 93g/km of CO2 and 70.6mpg. on the combined cycle. But Toyota’s press release only mentions one engine variant – the 1.8 liter VVT-i with an electric motor so I have no idea what makes the numbers different.

The Hybrid Synergy Drive system’s 1.8 liter VVT-i engine is mated with a 60kW electric motor. The 1.8 liter engine itself only makes 97 horses at 5,200rpm and 142Nm of torque at 4,000rpm, while the 60kW motor makes a peak torque of 207Nm between 0rpm all the way up to 13,000rpm. Peak combined output is 134hp. But of course if the Auris HSD is anything like a Prius, during a drive everything just works in the background and all you feel is a CVT-like engine note accompanied by a very soft electric whine depending on what mode the system is in.

Compared to a regular Auris, the Auris HSD is lightly more aerodynamic at 0.283 Cd compared to 0.290 Cd. The Auris HSD’s upper front grille opening has been optimised to promote a smooth flow of air over the upper half of the body, and the lower grille has been made larger to reduce airflow resistance and improve engine cooling efficiency. The flat, vertical surface of the corners of the front bumper corrects the airflow as it passes over the front wheels, helping minimise turbulence in the wheelarches. Ride height has been reduced by 5mm, and finally the alloy wheels are of a special aerodynamic design and are wrapped with low rolling-resistance tyres.

Look after the jump for a hi-res gallery.

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It has been slightly over 3 months since BMW launched the all new 5 Series mid-sized sedan. The sedan variant will be joined by the touring as well as the tarmac-cracking M5 versions. Apart from these two BMW will also add an ActiveHybrid variant, like the ActiveHybrid 7 and X6.

What you see above is the conceptual version of the 5 Series ActiveHybrid that will be shown at the Geneva Motor Show next week. The company has revealed that the concept is powered by a 6-cylinder petrol engine fitted with BMW’s TwinPower force-induction system. The engine is paired with a 40kW electric motor and an 8-speed gearbox. Those wheels remind me of the design on the E34 M5.

You can probably expect the concept to produce about 400hp and up to 600Nm of torque which is lower than the power output offered by the ActiveHybrid 7. The X6 variant makes 480hp and 779Nm of torque but that vehicle has two electric motors. As with with most hybrid vehicles, the concept also has an engine start/stop system and brake energy regeneration. A production version is expected to show up in about a year.

Look after the jump for some high-res images as well as a video.

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Here’s another image of the Hyundai i-flow concept which will be unveiled at Geneva next week. The i-flow, which advances the ‘fluidic sculpture’ design language Hyundai currently uses on cars like the new Sonata and Tucson, previews a future D-segment contender, according to the Korean carmaker.

Under the sheetmetal is Hyundai’s first diesel-electric hybrid powertrain. The package consists of a new 1.7-litre engine with two-stage turbocharging, lithium Ion-polymer batteries and a six-speed, dual-clutch transmission. Combined with drag coefficient of 0.25Cd, the i-flow’s CO2 output is a low 85 g/km and it only consumes three litres of fuel for every 100 km (33.3 km/l).

Hyundai says that the i-flow cabin “redefines the perception of space in a sedan bodystyle”, and this concept will use next-generation materials and technologies co-developed with top chemical company BASF. Elements such as the seats and centre console has BASF’s input for minimal weight and volume, while the cockpit’s main interface screen recognises not only touch but also “gestural inputs”. The glossy Liquid Metal eco-friendly waterborne coating developed by BASF Coatings contains special-effect pigments that give the surface a polished metal appearance, good for highlighting the car’s complex lines.

Also making their debuts will be the facelifted i30 (with cleaner powertrains and enhanced spec, production starts next month) and eco focussed Blue Drive variants for the i10, i20, i30 and ix35 (European version of the Tucson). All Blue Drive cars except the SUV produce less than 100 g/km of CO2. One step beyond the blue-badged models is the ix35 FCEV which shows Hyundai’s latest hydrogen fuel cell tech. The show car features steps to reduce cost and complexity of fuel-cell manufacturing as well as new approaches which simplify final assembly, leading to full production in 2012.