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Ford unveils C-MAX Energi and C-MAX Hybrid at NAIAS – both arrive in the US market in 2012, and Europe in 2013

January 11, 2011 at 9:57 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Ford, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News

It was with the arrival of the C-MAX to American shores that Ford also showed what plans it had for the platform – both in the US and Europe – with the unveiling of two next-generation hybrid vehicles in Detroit, both also bearing the C-MAX moniker.

The company says that the C-MAX Energi, its first-ever production plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, and C-MAX Hybrid, a full hybrid variant, will be introduced in the US in 2012 and Europe in 2013.

Both versions of the five-passenger vehicle will leverage the company’s global C-car platform, critically acclaimed powersplit hybrid architecture and advanced, lighter and smaller lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery systems, the latter developed and assembled in-house by Ford in Michigan.

The C-MAX Energi pairs a high-voltage lithium-ion battery and electric traction motor with a high-efficiency Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine, and Ford says that the vehicle will offer more than 800 km of overall driving range using the battery and engine – more than any other plug-in or extended-range electric vehicle.

On start-up, the C-MAX Energi operates in charge-depletion mode, providing electric driving range, until the battery has been depleted or certain conditions are met, where it switches to charge-sustaining hybrid mode for continued optimal fuel efficiency.

While the C-MAX Hybrid operates much like today’s hybrid vehicles, the C-MAX Energi benefits from daily charging to maximise its all-electric range, and easily recharges 100% overnight on a 120 volt outlet. The C-MAX Energi shares the same five-point plug as the Focus Electric, and the charge port on the car is located between the driver’s door and front wheel well.

Both the C-MAX Energi and C-MAX Hybrid models will be built alongside the Focus Electric – which is set to go on sale late this year – at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, while European C-MAX Energi and C-MAX Hybrid production will be carried out in Valencia, Spain.

Gallery after the jump.
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Toyota Prius v makes its debut in Detroit – v is for versatility

January 11, 2011 at 6:52 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Toyota

In one fell swoop, Toyota has expanded its Prius hybrid family count to four, with the debut of the Prius c Concept and Prius v at the NAIAS in Detroit. The twinkly twosome join the existing third-generation Prius and Prius Plug-In Hybrid, which is already undergoing field evaluation in the US selectively.

The big ticket item is of course the Prius v, since the c Concept is still a ways away from market reality. Essentially, the Prius v – with the v standing for versatility – is a larger ZVW30 (or XW30, if you go by the current designation for it), sitting on the same platform and continuing to seat five, but offering over 50% more cargo space than the latter.

Ditto the pot, which is the same 2ZR-FXE 1.8 litre Atkinson cycle unit, offering 98 hp at 5,200 rpm and 142 Nm at 4,000 rpm; together with the permanent magnet synchronous motor electric drivetrain’s 80 hp, the combined total output is 134 hp, identical to the ZVW30′s.

Still, Toyota says the v is a new vehicle designed from the ground up, with a shape and style that has evolved from the current Prius rather than being an elongated version of it. Nonetheless, one can’t help but feel it’s evolution rather than revolution.


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Shape-wise, the v looks very much more rounded off than the ZVW30, but retains Prius cues well enough. The trapezoidal-shaped front features sharp-edged headlamps, wind-slipping aero corners for improved aerodynamics and an enlarged under grille, which all help create a unique design evolving from the current Prius.

At the back, the styling is highlighted by a refined backdoor panel, intricate combination taillights and a specially designed roof spoiler that improves air flow. Two wheel sizes are available – 16-inch as standard (with 205/60 series tyres), 17-inch as an option,


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Inside, things get a bit more of a different tack. Certainly, interior space is up, with improved occupant to occupant distance, especially fore-aft, and of course the cargo space volume is up from the existing Prius.

Elsewhere, the cabin features a more refined dashboard presentation, though the general layout is retained. The centre stack has become a whole lot imposing, and that bit busier. The driving controls – including the Push Button Start, parking switch, electronic shift lever, and driving mode selection – are distinguished by silver trim.

The Prius v features a Toyota-first, which is a resin Panoramic View moonroof with power retractable sun shades, providing an open atmosphere in the cabin with a 40% percent reduction in weight compared to conventional glass roofs of the same size.

Like the ZVW30, the Prius v has four driving modes (Normal, Power, Eco and EV), and as far as features go, there’s a smart key system with Push Button Start, an electronic shift lever, Hill Start Assist Control (HAC) and a reverse camera as standard fitment. Options include energy-efficient LED headlamps, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control with a Pre-Collision System (PCS) and Advanced Parking Guidance System.

Other features and functions include Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Traction Control (TRAC), ABS and EBD, and the car also features the standard Smart Stop Technology brake-override system.

When it goes on sale in the US in the late summer of this year, American Prius v models will come wearing an Entune multimedia system, which offers a richer in-vehicle experience with fully integrated and wireless upgradeable navigation, entertainment and information services.

Gallery of hi-res photos after the jump.
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Toyota Prius c Concept unveiled at Detroit 2011 – smallest Prius due for market introduction in 2012

January 11, 2011 at 3:56 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Toyota

Toyota has introduced more members of its Prius family of vehicles at the NAIAS, bringing the number to four. Besides the Prius v, which will enter the market later this summer, there’s also the Prius Plug-In Hybrid, planned for introduction in the first half of 2012, and making up the quartet is the Prius c Concept, which is what the company tags as an inspiration for a future small entry-level hybrid.

It’s looking at the concept as a means of introducing a product that will come into the market sometime next year. While the current Prius has ushered hybrid technology into the mainstream, and the Prius v will provide the additional room and versatility for active families, the company isn’t forgetting those interested in a smaller hybrid at an entry price point, offering superior fuel economy.

Enter the Prius c Concept, with c representing a “city”-centric vehicle, which Toyota is hoping will offer urban appeal by the spade loads to young singles and couples who want an eco-sensitive, high-mileage, fun-to-drive Prius.

No details accompany the release, but the four-door hatch looks cutesy enough, in a kitschy sort of way – the position of the headlamps is rather reminiscent of the array found on the Fiat Multipla, and the rear door handles are integrated into the upper frame of the door in Alfa-esque style. You might find it all rather familiar – a previous version of the design was shown a year ago at Detroit 2010 and it was called the Toyota FT-CH Concept. The design has been refined since and brought closer to production, one supposes.

Inside, the futuristic cabin of the ‘concept based on a concept’ seats four, and mod cons include a touchscreen Start/Stop button, paddle shifters, a centrally-mounted, single-knob rotary-action control stick where a traditional gearshift lever would normally be located. Much of which – again – looks deja vu.

Oh well. In any case, Toyota says that the vehicle will pursue outstanding fuel efficiency in a compact package, while also providing a surprisingly spacious interior, and the market product will include many advanced technology features, including some offered on the current Prius.

The company is planning to introduce the c Concept as an additional Prius family member in the first half of 2012, and in the process bring about the most value-oriented hybrid available in the US, with the highest mileage of any “cordless” hybrid to boot.

Gallery after the jump.
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Detroit 2011: Hybrid Porsche 918 RSR racer is a stunner

January 10, 2011 at 11:11 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Porsche

Not exactly a production 918 Spyder, but this Detroit show car is widely believed to be close to the real thing. The Porsche 918 RSR is described as a race car that combines the “technology fitted in the 911 GT3 R hybrid and the design of the 918 Spyder” from last year’s Geneva show.

The RSR’s V8 is a development of the direct injection unit from the RS Spyder race car, now offering 563 hp at 10,300 rpm. There are two electric motors that offer torque vectoring on the front axle, and each contributes 75 kW for a total of 150 kW. All in, the 918 RSR’s pilot has 767 hp at his disposal. A six-speed constant-mesh gearbox with longitudinally mounted shafts and straight-toothed spur gears is operated via steering wheel shift paddles.

Additional power generated during braking is stored in an optimised flywheel accumulator, located at where a passenger seat normally is, and rotating at up to 36,000 rpm. At the push of a button, the pilot is able to call up the energy stored in the charged accumulator and use it during acceleration or overtaking manoeuvres. This “power boost” is available for around eight seconds.

Already used in the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, this system’s additional power can also be used as a consumption aid, whether to delay pit stops or reduce the fuel tank volume, and weight. The GT3 R Hybrid did brilliantly to lead for more than eight hours in its Le Mans debut last year, and we won’t be surprised to see Porsche campaign this 918 RSR, this year perhaps?

Other interesting points are doors which open obliquely upwards, the air intake in the roof between the wing doors, quick-action locks on the front and rear CFRP lids, two roof-mounted aerials for pit radio and telemetry, RS Spyder-like small, lateral front flics and air splitters beneath the front lip. Porsche calls this an “experimental racing laboratory”.

Why No. 22? The number pays homage to the 1971 Porsche 917 short-tail coupé piloted by Dr. Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep. Their Le Mans winning distance record of 5335.313 km at an average speed of 222.304 km/h was unbeaten for 39 years until 2010. That Martini liveried experimental racer was groundbreaking for its magnesium space frame.

Gallery after the jump.
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2012 Ford Focus Electric set for late 2011 launch!

January 9, 2011 at 7:56 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Ford, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

This is the new Ford Focus Electric, not a baby Aston Martin Rapide.This isn’t a Detroit reveal – no, the Ford Focus Electric was unveiled to the world at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This isn’t Ford’s first electric vehicle of course, as those honors go to the Ford Transit Connect EV, but it will be its first passenger car EV. It will be launched for sale in late 2011.

In a market where there’s options such as the Nissan Leaf EV and the Chevrolet Volt range extended EV, naturally Ford has made comparisons with its competitors in its initial press release. For one, Ford says a full recharge will take just 3 to 4 hours at home with the 240V charge station, half the charge time of the Leaf, which takes 8 hours to charge at 240V.

I’m very curious though as to how Ford managed a 4 hour charge time – does the shorter charge time affect battery longevity? Is Ford using better technology? Some technical details would be nice, but these are typically only available from the experts at the launch event. But I can make an educated guess. A 240V 60A 6kW charger (Level 2) should technically be able to charge the Nissan Leaf’s 24kWh battery in 4 hours, but the Leaf’s internal battery management limits the charging to 3.3kW to limit the amount of heat generated during charging as the Leaf’s battery has no active cooling.

Ford’s battery pack however does have active cooling, so it could be using the full 6kW power. The lithium-ion battery system was engineered by Ford with LG Chem and it uses heated and cooled liquid to help maximize battery life. According to Ford, thermal management of lithium-ion battery systems is critical to the success of EVs. The active cooling and heating system heats or chills a coolant before pumping it through the battery cooling system.

Charging the battery pack is via an industry standard 5-point plug supplied by Yazaki. The charge port is located between the driver’s door and front wheel well. A light ring around the port is activated to acknowledge a proper charger connection. The light ring lluminates in quadrants as the vehicle charges. Flashing quadrants represent charge in progress and solid-lit quadrants show stages of charge completion. If something goes wrong, the entire ring flashes, and when the car is fully charged, the entire ring lights up solidly.

We don’t really have any information on the electric motor and we expect this to be unveiled only towards the end of the year closer to the launch date, but we do know the Focus Electric goes up to a top speed of 136km/h. Doesn’t sound like the Focus Electric is going to be a very brisk machine, but it’s certainly going to be very silent and economical!
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Detroit Electric e63 spotted in Subang – is something up?

January 5, 2011 at 4:49 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Detroit Electric, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Local News, Proton

After a serious bout of activity and publicity a couple of years ago, news from Detroit Electric, which was aiming to produce electric vehicles based on Proton’s Persona and GEN2 models, has pretty much gone quiet.

The company signed a supply and manufacturing agreement with Proton in March 2009, where it was to buy the Persona and GEN2, replace the CamPro engine with an electric motor drivetrain, and rebadge them as the Detroit Electric e63 and the e46 models. Later, it also inked a deal with Chinese automaker Dongfeng to use its battery-electric drivetrain technology for the latter’s models.


The e63 during the media introduction in September 2008.

Activity-wise, not much has been happening. Or perhaps there is – reader Kenneth Sow spotted an e63 in Subang Jaya yesterday, running a trade plate and with four passengers inside. The car was unmistakable, since it had bits and pieces of green stickers plastered all over it, along with the Detroit Electric logo pasted on the sides.

Sow reports that as the car was pulling off along NPE towards Subang, it was seen to be making small turns, as if testing out handling, and his observation of the car’s acceleration from 0-70kph (stop/go at traffic lights) was that it was excellent, despite carrying four people.

Which brings us to the question – is there something stirring in the mix, or is it merely a false alarm, it being the Proton boys doing an evaluation on the car as part of their EV studies?

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Chevrolet Volt: What does MPGe mean on the EPA sticker?

December 27, 2010 at 4:51 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Videos

General Motors produced this video to explain the two different MPG ratings on the Chevrolet Volt’s EPA sticker – MPG and MPGe. The Volt is officially rated at 93 MPGe and 37 MPG (combined rating about 60 MPG), so this may create some confusion amongst American consumers, so I think this video is quite a good move by GM as it is quite informative and easy to understand.

Even though the Volt is not on sale in Malaysia and probably not likely to go on sale anytime soon, everyone should watch this video as it will provide a good understanding of how Range Extender Electric Vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt or even our very own Proton Exora E-REV functions.

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Hyundai completes development of its ix35 hydrogen FCEV

December 24, 2010 at 1:09 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Hyundai, International News, Koreans

hyundai ix35 fcev

Hyundai has completed the development of its third-generation ix35 Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), and the vehicle will begin in-service testing next year in limited numbers, working towards a market debut in 2015.

The FCEV version of the ix35 (known as the Tucson here) is equipped with a 100 kW fuel cell system and two hydrogen storage tanks rated at 700bar, and offers a range of 650 km on a single charge, as well as a maximum speed of 160 kph.

Both the fuel cell stack and drive system’s output rating of the ix35 are identical to the previous generation Tucson FCEV, but the ix35 features a 21 kW battery for its energy storage system compared to the earlier 100 kW super capacity unit in the second-gen Tucson FCEV, which also had half the hydrogen capacity at 350bar.

The company says that the overall volume of the fuel cell system has been downsized by 20% compared to the previous system, via modularisation of bulky parts in the fuel cell system, including the fuel cell stack, balance of plant (BOP), inverter and the high voltage junction box.

Most impressively, the ix35′s working range is a 76% improvement over the previous offering, which had a 370 km range on one charge. In other numerical terms, the ix35 FCEV has a petrol equivalent fuel efficiency of 31 km per litre, a 15% improvement over the old one’s 27 km/l.

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Valeo and BAIC develop new electric demo car

December 21, 2010 at 1:10 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News

valeo

Less than a year after French automotive components developer Valeo and Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation announced a partnership with the intent to bring an electric vehicle to series production in 2011, the two companies have come up with an electric demo car, which has been presented to the Beijing Governor.

The vehicle features a complete powertrain developed by Valeo and its partners Leroy Somer and GKN, comprising an electric motor, an inverter, a transmission, a charger, a supervisor and a DC/DC converter. By using a synchronous permanent magnet motor with a large operating speed range, Valeo says its electric powertrain is able to deliver both good acceleration at low and medium speeds and a high top vehicle speed, though no specific details were announced about the system or its specs, nor are there any images of the vehicle.

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Think introduces four-seater version of its City EV

December 21, 2010 at 12:23 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News

think four

Think has introduced a four-seater variant of its City electric vehicle, and the ‘plus’ version is set to go on sale in Europe this month.

It’s pretty much the same lithium-ion battery-based EV the two-seater version is, offering the same performance – a maximum 110 kph top speed and a 160 kilometre range on a single charge, though the 2+2 seating configuration offers greater versatility, especially if you’ve got three to go. The rear seats stow away, giving largely the same load space as before, which is always good news too.

think four 2

Air-conditioning now comes as standard kit for the City, which comes with a five-year or 100,000 km warranty on both car and battery. Five years. Sounds much better than three, don’t you think?

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