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

Energy-efficient vehicle design specialists Oaktec have been working on Honda’s IMA hybrid system for motorsports usage since 2004 and has recently signed on Lotus Engineering to be a part of a project funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency to develop a stage rally and circuit race version of the Honda Civic Hybrid.

No specs have been released on what upgrades have been made to the Civic Hybrid to make it motorsports-worthy, but Lotus says the Civic Hybrid’s CVT transmission allows the car to be driven in full power constantly, making performance very accessible.

The motorsports Civic Hybrid developed by Oaktec and Lotus will be raced for the first time at the Dunlop Max Sport Cup at the Rockingham circuit on the 28th of September 2008 so perhaps we will learn more about the car after the race. What we know now is that the electric motor has been revised for more power and there is now an upgraded control system to allow for more aggressive brake energy regeneration.

The Chevrolet Volt will be entering our region via Thailand but don’t count on it solving your fuel price woes as it is estimated to be priced at nearly 3 million Thai baht (roughly RM300,000), thanks to current Thai import duty structures. The Volt will be launched in the US in 2010, and the Thai arrival is expected to be as early as 2011.

I suppose the only way for prices to come down to a more affordable level would be local assembly in Thailand. Hybrid or electric car assembly have typically been in places where the manufacturer has a strong foot, but with even Toyota beginning to set up overseas hybrid assembly plants, it could be possible for GM to set up an assembly center for the Volt up north.

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Some initial information on a concept hybrid car based on the Kia cee’d has been revealed, with the model to be unveiled at the 2008 Paris Motor Show early next month. The model is still undergoing R&D and a production version should be ready by 2010.

The 1.6 liter petrol engine in the Kia cee’d hybrid is mated to a 20 horsepower electric motor and typically of a hybrid car, uses a CVT transmission. The car will also include other regular hybrid features such as brake energy regeneration and computer controlled automatic start-stop. There are some minor weight reduction thanks to the use of lightweight components in certain areas of the car.

On the interior, the instrument panel has been upgraded to one that is able to display much more detail in order to provide the driver information on the electric assist.

Who wants to bet that the diesel Kia cee’d that already exists will still manage to get more mileage than this hybrid cee’d?

While the Tesla Roadster is being assembled at a Group Lotus PLC factory in Hethel, Tesla is preparing the production center for its next model, a zero-emissions luxury sedan. Tesla is building a $250 million facility that will include a production plant for the new sedan as well as its corporate headquarters and R&D center. It will be located in San Jose, California.

The new Tesla sedan was previously referred to as “Project WhiteStar” and is currently referred to as the “Model S”. It will feature 4 doors, 5 seats, and zero emissions. It will use lithium ion batteries for a maximum range of 386km and its base price will be about US$60,000 or about RM204,000, much cheaper than the Roadster’s US$109,000 price tag.

A more expensive version will come later equipped with a range extending internal combustion engine to charge the batteries when you are unable to get the car to a plug-in charging point – this is much like the concept of how things work with the Chevrolet Volt.

The first Tesla Model S is expected to roll off the production line in late 2010. Both the Roadster and Model S will be priced far out of reach of common folk, but Tesla hopes the profits from the Roadster and the Model S can fund a third car – an affordable electric car currently known as Project BlueStar.

The BMW 7-Series has got to be the only BMW with so many fuelling options available. You have your run of the mill petrol and diesel versions but there is also a Hydrogen 7 and now soon after Mercedes Benz’s S400 BlueHybrid car comes the BMW Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid, based on the F01 BMW 7-Series.

The Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid features the 750i’s 4.4 liter twin turbocharged V8 direct injection engine mated to a tiny electric motor producing 20 horsepower and 210Nm of torque. The electric motor is powered by a lithium ion battery stored beneath the luggage compartment and this is charged via a more potent version of BMW’s Brake Energy Regeneration system.

This concept also marks the debut of BMW’s upcoming 8-speed automatic transmission by ZF. The electric motor is integrated into this transmission’s housing.

Some other details on the concept hybrid car include the use of LED lighting for the foglamps. The car’s foglamps consist of LEDs arranged vertically in two rows on each side of the car. The side profile features large 20 inch alloy wheels while the rear end features an unusual tailpipe design that is wide and flat.

Anyone who buys this car is not going to realistically imagine he’d be getting excellent fuel economy out of what is essentially still a 4.4 liter twin turbocharged monster. The fuel-economy conscious 7-Series buyer will still go for the 730d. This is basically just a way to take Brake Energy Regeneration a step further and convert wasted braking energy into a little more horsepower and torque.

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

Click here to read the rest of F01 BMW Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid

Pininfarina and French battery company Bollorre will unveil a concept plug-in electric car at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. Hopefully it will look much better than the Bollore BlueCar Concept (shown left) that was displayed back in 2005 at the Geneva Motor Show.

The car will be a four-seater and will be sold under the Pininfarina brand beginning late 2010. The 50:50 joint venture plans to sell 15,000 electric cars a year by 2014. It plans to build 2,000 in 2010, 8,000 the year after and 11,000 cars in 2012.

Unlike other electric or hybrid petrol-electric vehicles that are just about to get a hang of lithium ion batteries, the Pininfarina and Bollorre electric vehicle will use Lithium Metal Polymer batteries. A LMP cell is a laminate of four materials – a metallic lithium foil, a solid polymetric electrolyte, a vanadium oxide cathode and an aluminium foil current collector. These materials prevent any self-ignition above 200°C and precludes the risk of explosion.

Each LMP cell is electronically protected by passive and active systems which permanently monitor the state of the battery as well as the efficiency, voltage and temperature of each element and are encased in a steel container.

The concept plug-in EV will have a 200km range on a full charge of 8 hours from a standard electrical outlet. A 5-minute emergency charge can get you 25km.

So you’ve got the moolah and want to make a green statement. Other than rigging up your large bungalow’s roof with plenty of solar panels, how else can you show how much you’re into the whole save the environment movement? Your car of course. The Prius is too plebian and the LS600h is too Japanese. Here comes the boys at Stuttgart to the rescue with the Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid.

The Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid is based on the S350 but adds an electric motor and also the first application of a lithium ion battery in a production car, for a combined NEDC fuel consumption of 7.9 liters per 100km (up by 2.2 liters per 100km compared to the S350) and emissions of 190g/km.

Because of the high-voltage electric components that have been added to the car, Mercedes-Benz engineers have added what they call a “7-stage safety concept”.

1) All wiring is colour coded and marked with safety instructions.
2) Comprehensive contact protection via insulation and newly developed dedicated connectors.
3) Battery is enclosed in high-strength steel housing. Battery cells are bedded in a special gel to dampen any knocks. Battery has a blow-off vent, a rupture disc and a separate cooling circuit. Battery conditions are continuously monitored for safety.
4) Separation of battery terminals, individual safety-wiring for all high-voltage components. In event of malfunction, the entire high-voltage system is switched off.
5) Active discharging of high-voltage system when ignition is off.
6) During accident, high-voltage system is quickly switched off within fractions of a second.
7) Continuous monitoring for short circuits.

The 3.5 liter V6 from the S350 now runs on the Atkinson cycle and is tuned to produce 279 horsepower (via a new cylinder head, different pistons and a modified camshaft and cam control) and is aided by an electric motor rated for 20 horsepower and a starting torque of 160Nm. Combined torque output for the petrol engine and electric motor is 385Nm, the equivalent of a conservatively-tuned 4.0 liter engine, so you could say the S400 deserves its badge.

Unlike other petrol-electric hybrids which typically use a CVT transmission, the S400 BlueHybrid uses the 7G-TRONIC seven speed automatic transmission. The electric motor also functions as a device for brake energy regeneration for the lithium ion battery, and a starter for the combustion engine, allowing start-stop ability for further fuel savings. The start-stop function is switched off in Reverse gear to prevent it from repeatedly turning on and off during maneuvers such as parking.

Look after the jump for a hi-res gallery of the S400 BlueHybrid.

Click here to read the rest of Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid officially unveiled!

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Official photos of the Chevrolet Volt have been revealed but somehow the team behind it have gone all narcissistic with the product photography, at least for these initial set of images that have found its way onto the internet.

The production version of the Chevrolet Volt looks like a more futuristic and aerodynamic version of the Chevrolet Cruze and although you can see many design cues carried over from the Chevrolet Volt Concept, the final version looks curiously more like a muscular buffed up version of the Kia Forte.

The Volt reverses the whole concept of a hybrid car that we know today where an electric motor assists an internal combustion engine when needed. Certain hybrids also have an electric-only mode but what is common is there are times where the internal combustion engine also drives the wheels.

Things work differently in the Volt – the car is driven by the electric motor, which draws its power from batteries. The internal combustion engine (a 1.4 liter normally aspirated inline-4 gasoline engine) is only used to generate electricity to recharge the batteries when needed. The battery is also charged via methods like brake energy regeneration as well as plug-in charging.

This is the fuel efficient car that is supposed to save General Motors from a deep, deep sea of red in the near future. Will it? Look at more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Production Chevrolet Volt hybrid car revealed!

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This is Honda’s second take on a hybrid-only car, to be shown in concept form first at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The production version of the second generation “Cadillac of hybrids” (as John Travolta’s character called it in the movie Be Cool) the Honda Insight will on sale in April 2009.

Honda UK’s environmental manager John Kingston said earlier this week that this car will change customer’s perception of hybrids thanks to real economical savings compared to just that mostly “green” feeling that other hybrids give.

The 5-door, 5-seater hatchback car will locate the battery and control unit beneath the cargo space. Like Honda’s previous IMA system it will feature an internal combustion engine and an electric motor for assistance. Honda also claims significant cost and weight reduction with the new car, allowing the hybrid to reach more customers.

The new Insight Concept will be displayed alongside Honda’s two other alternative fuel/hybrid cars – the Honda CR-Z lightweight sports car concept and the Honda FCX Clarity. Look for one more shot of the cars after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Second Generation Honda Insight Concept unveiled!

According to just-auto.com, Honda UK’s environmental manager John Kingston said Honda’s new “cheaper” family hybrid car will be announced tomorrow and will be unveiled to the public as a concept car at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The car will then go into production in Spring 2009. The new affordable hybrid will be a 5-door hatchback and will carry styling cues from the Honda FCX Clarity (shown above).

The new hybrid car will feature a heavily revised hybrid powertrain with major components made lighter, more compact and placed under the cargo space instead of behind the rear seats like the current generation Civic Hybrid. Weight savings will be significant, further improving fuel economy.

“It is a very important car for Honda and our future direction. This is a car that will change customer perception of hybrids,” added John Kingston. He did not elaborate on how affordable would this new “more affordable” hybrid be, but he said it would be enough for people to choose such cars for economical reasons rather than just wanting to be “green”.

It was also revealed in the story that Honda will add another 3 more hybrids by 2010 – a sports car hybrid, a new hybrid Civic and a new hybrid Jazz.

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