Archive for Hybrids

We all know that alternative drivetrains such as electric or fuel cell can allow us to totally rethink the way we design a car’s chassis, but I think this is taking that ideology too far. This oddity is called the BamGoo and it’s body is made of bamboo, what the makers call an “eco-material” that’s hard and lightweight.

The BamGoo only weighs 60kg (that’s lighter than me!) and can run about 50km on a single charge. But still, would you really want to travel 50km in something like this? I would only feel safe (what kind of crash test results is it going to get anyway) going to nearby shops - that’s about less than 2km in distance - and with that kind of distance, wouldn’t it be a better idea to just walk or cycle?

The vehicle was the result of a joint-venture project between the state government of Kyoto and the Kyoto University.

Click to view larger image

Honda’s new second generation Insight hybrid will feature the Honda Ecological Drive Assist System, a driver’s assist system that helps the driver drive fuel efficiently.

How it does this is via a few indicators on the dashboard. There is a scoring system on the multi-info display which gives the driver feedback via graphic “leaves”, which grow over time as the driver becomes more able at fuel efficient driving.

The second indicator is the background colour of the digital speedometer display, which is located on the top deck of the multi-tiered dashboard. This is probably more convenient as it doesn’t require the driver to shift his eyes too far from the road to know how fuel efficient is his current driving pattern. During fuel efficient driving, the background is green, and this changes to blue-green during relatively fuel-efficient driving and back to fuel when the driving pattern is not efficient. This colour changes in real time.

Another feature of the Honda Ecological Drive Assist System is the ECON Mode button which activates an energy-saving feature in the air conditioning unit, extends idle stop time, and increases regenerative recharging during deceleration. The IMA’s CVT transmission shift programming also changes to a more fuel saving pattern.

The Fisker Karma is a plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan, and was also the subject of controversy because Tesla accused Fisker Coachbuild of not doing a good job with the work it was contracted to do with the upcoming (and postponed) Tesla Model S sports sedan. Tesla has since dropped the lawsuit.

The Karma is an extended-range plug-in electric vehicle, which means its sole method of drive is its electric motor, which can take it up to 0 to 100km/h in a rapid-enough 5.8 seconds. But it also has a combustion engine, which was just recently announced this week to be GM’s inline-4 turbocharged direct injection Ecotec engine from the Pontiac Solstice GXP that can produce 260hp.

This engine’s sole purpose is to generate electricity to recharge the Karma’s batteries to extend the car’s 80km battery range. I’m not sure why such a high-powered engine is necessary for this, instead of a small displacement engine like GM’s own extended range plug-in, the Chevrolet Volt. Perhaps its because the li-ion batteries need to be recharged more rapidly because of the high power requirements of the electric motor.

“GM is proud that Fisker has selected one of the world’s best powertrains for installation into the new Karma. The advanced design of this engine offers a superior performance-to-weight ratio that makes it the right choice for the Fisker Karma,” said Tom Stephens, Executive VP of GM Powertrain & Global Quality.

Look after the jump for a gallery of the Fisker Karma.

Click here to read the rest of Fisker Karma to use 260hp 2.0L turbo from GM

Honda Siel Cars India has dropped the price of its Honda Civic Hybrid sedan by Rs 8 lakh (approximately RM57,600), which means the car which previously costed Rs 21.5 lakh (RM155,000) since its launch in June 2008 now costs only Rs 13.36 lakh (RM96,250).

These prices are ex-showroom prices in Delhi. In comparison, the Civic 1.8V AT is priced at Rs 12.86 lakh (approximately RM92,650), making the Civic Hybrid with the 1.3 liter IMA engine only slightly more expensive than the regular 1.8 engine version.

Since the Malaysian government has given CBU hybrid cars a temporary tax-free period, sole hybrid principal importer Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd has also promised to drop the price of its Honda Civic Hybrid to between RM125,000 to RM130,000 although a final price has not been determined yet. The original price of the Japan-imported hybrid car retailed for more than RM160,000.

Unlike most other car manufacturers who usually procure hybrid and electric drive components from third party manufacturers (Tesla is one company that acts as a supplier), Volkswagen intends to produce all of its hybrid components excluding battery cells on its own, so that the company can master the technology and increase chances for a competitive edge.

A concept hybrid Volkswagen was unveiled earlier this year based on the Mark 5 Volkswagen Golf. It featured a combination of an electric motor backed by lithium ion batteries as the main method of propulsion, assisted by either a TSI petrol engine or a TDI diesel engine whenever needed. According to Volkswagen, a 100km test journey from Potsdam to Berlin took only 8kWh of electricity and 2.5 liters of fuel.

Source

Japan’s Mag-X carried a story earlier this year claiming Toyota is working on a production version of the Toyota 1/X Concept (shown above) based on the next generation Toyota Yaris chassis (which will be a development of the Toyota iQ’s chassis), set to hit the production lines towards the end of 2011. It will probably be displayed to the public at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, which is the next motorshow after the 2009 show, as the show is only held every two years.

Toyota is apparently targeting a fuel economy of 44km per liter according to the Japanese 10-15 mode measurements. It will be one of Toyota’s smallest hybrids to keep true to its lightweight roots in the 1/X concept, and will measure slightly less than 4 meters long. It will also be one of Toyota’s cheapest hybrids, so to keep costs down NiMH batteries are likely to be used rather than lithium ion batteries.

BMW Web TV talks to BMW spokesperson Wieland Bruch at the 2008 Paris Motor Show on the new F01 7-Series ActiveHybrid. The BMW Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid features the 4.4 liter V8 from the 750i and the X6 xDrive50i, but is supplemented by a 15kW/210Nm electric motor integrated into its 8-speed transmission’s housing.

When the concept was unveiled I was wondering what was the whole idea behind making a hybrid car with such a huge engine. According to BMW, hybrid technologies have the biggest effect on large displacement engines so they decided to add the technology to a car that would save the most fuel compared to a non-hybrid version rather than outright consume the least fuel in total.

It seems that fuel savings of 20% can be expected over a regular 750i, plus someone who could afford a 750i would most likely afford the hybrid bits in the car anyway. But then again he could also afford the fuel, so it’s down to reduced emissions I suppose.

Watch the video after the jump.

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

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.

Source

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?