Home / Special Coverage / Proton EMAS Concept (Page 2)

  • More Proton Geneva concept pix appear online!

    In Cars, Concept Cars, International News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Proton EMAS Concept / By / / 151 comments

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    Proton and Giugiaro has put up a website over at protonconcepts.com, showing the new Proton Concept Car along with a countdown clock (about over 5 days to go) and a simple question – would you like this to be the future of Proton?

    Needless to say, right now the vote count is about 99% in favor of “Yes”. at time of publishing. But it made me wonder – the website is called Proton Concepts, and that’s plural. So there must be more than one concept right?

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    Autocar once again has the scoop on Proton’s Geneva concept and now we know that there are actually at least two body variants. One is the silver 5-door that we’ve previously seen, and another is this maize-ish yellow 3-door version with SUV styling.

    The one with the SUV styling has no B-pillar, has a thicker C-pillar and features some kind of roof mounting device. The alloy wheel design is also different. We also get to see the rear end of the concept cars for the first time. The photos appear to be Italdesign Giugiaro press material but I can’t find it anywhere else on the internet.

    According to Autocar, the SUV-styled version has increased ground clearance, and it can accomodate 5 instead of just 4 thanks to the interior space saved by the omission of a B-pillar. The image above refers to Giugiaro demonstrating that the Proton Concept has the interior space of a C/D/SUV segment vehicle, without the larger luggage space of the SUV of course, we are talking about interior space.

    Look after the jump for one more photo showing seat hip point.
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  • More on the Proton Concept Car’s hybrid drivetrain

    In 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Lotus, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Proton EMAS Concept / By / / 116 comments

    The Proton Concept Car, which will be unveiled at next week’s Geneva Motor Show, will showcase a series hybrid drivetrain designed and developed by Lotus Engineering.

    Integrated into the Italdesign penned concept is the Lotus Range Extender engine, which uses a 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine to replenish charge in the battery and provide electrical power for the drive motors when battery levels are low. This method is much like GM’s E-REV system in the Chevrolet Volt, where the internal combustion engine does not power the wheels, and only acts as a “generator”. The battery can also be recharged via household sockets to achieve initial electric-only operation. No range is given for the pure electric mode, just a mention that it’s “acceptable”. Click here for more technical info on the Lotus Range Extender engine.

    Dr Robert Hentschel, Director of Lotus Engineering said: “The hybrid drivetrain of the Proton Concept is another example of Lotus Engineering’s expertise in electrical and electronic systems and efficient performance engines. The high efficiency Lotus Range Extender engine, which we unveiled to great acclaim at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year is perfectly suited for the advanced series hybrid we have created for the Proton Concept city car. It is an exciting example of the diverse range of highly efficient total propulsion systems that Lotus Engineering continues to develop for its partners and clients.”

    A hi-res copy of the image above is available after the jump.
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  • Italdesign teases Proton Hybrid Concept – Day 2

    In Cars, Concept Cars, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Proton EMAS Concept / By / / 65 comments

    Italdesign will put up one different photo of the new Proton Hybrid Concept that they will be jointly exhibiting at the Geneva Motorshow from the 2nd to 14th of March 2010. Today’s teaser image is quite obviously the projector headlamps for the car. What I really want to see is how the back of the concept car looks like – so far none of the teasers or even the initial full image have revealed this. We might just have to wait until Geneva to find out. Read our previous stories on the Proton Hybrid Concept to find out more about it.

    Related Posts:
    New teaser pix for Geneva 2010 Proton Concept
    More details on Proton’s Geneva 2010 Concept Car
    Photo of new Proton concept appears online!
    Read more ›

     

  • New teaser pix for Geneva 2010 Proton Concept

    In Cars, Concept Cars, International News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Proton EMAS Concept / By / / 96 comments

    Italdesign Giugiaro has posted up on their website a different teaser image for the new Proton Hybrid Concept Car set to debut at Geneva during the press days at the end of this month/early next month. The image shows some kind of lamp – it’s specifically the ‘foglamps’ on the bumper of the concept car.

    Just a recap on what the Proton concept car is:

    • It is a creative collaboration between Proton and Italdesign Giugiaro.
    • It will have five doors and four seats that are independently adjustable and slideable.
    • It is 3,550 mm in length. That is about a good half meter longer than the Toyota iQ but shorter than the Savvy.
    • The car will use a series hybrid drive. A combustion engine will be mounted at the front and will be used only to recharge lithium ion batteries. The batteries power a motor that turns the wheels.
    • It uses a special chassis with a raised floor that allows installation of the combustion engine at the front and batteries in the rear
    • The car was designed to offer interior spaciousness of a D-segment car with the exterior dimensions of an A-segment car.
    • The hip point is designed to be at just the right natural and ergonomic height – you do not get down into the car like a short sedan or “climb” up into the car like an SUV.
     

  • More details on Proton’s Geneva 2010 Concept Car

    In Cars, Proton, Proton EMAS Concept / By / / 217 comments

    Proton has unveiled some additional information on the new concept series hybrid car they will be unveiling at the Geneva show.

    Some of the text leads me to believe that this Proton concept and the Italdesign Giugiaro concept teaser on their website are one and the same.

    UPDATE: Italdesign Giugiaro’s press release has confirmed that their concept car and Proton’s Giugiaro-designed car are one and the same. I’m updating this list with new info on the road via my smartphone. Check the list below for the new info. Italdesign says we can follow the development of the whole project step by step from the 12th February 2010 (probably some European timezone) on Italdesign’s website.

    For now, there is no official name for the car announced yet – it is simply referred to by Proton as “Proton Concept Car” for now. Proton advisor and ex-PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be in Geneva to launch the concept car.

    Here are the released details:

    • The car is a creative collaboration with Italdesign Giugiaro.
    • The concept car will have 5 doors and will seat 4.
    • It is 3,550 mm in length, which is approximately a good half a meter longer than the Toyota iQ but shorter than the Proton Savvy.
    • The four seats will be independently adjustable and slideable.
    • The car will use a series hybrid drive. A combustion engine will be mounted at the front and will be used only to recharge lithium ion batteries.
    • The lithium ion batteries will drive the motor that moves the car.
    • It uses a special chassis with a raise floor that allows installation of the regular combustion engine at the front and batteries in the rear
    • According to Italdesign chairman Giorgetto Giugiaro, the car was designed to offer interior spaciousness of a D-segment car with the exterior dimensions of an A-segment car.
    • The hip point is designed to be at just the right natural and ergonomic height – you do not get down into the car like a short sedan or “climb” up into the car like an SUV.

    I still don’t have official photos of the car provided to me by an official source yet – only some foreign publications have it, such as Autocar UK. Do you like the concept car’s styling? Cast your vote in the poll below.

     

  • Photo of new Proton concept appears online!

    In Cars, Concept Cars, International News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Proton EMAS Concept / By / / 101 comments

    Autocar UK is the first with a photo of Proton’s new concept car designed by Italian design house Italdesign-Giugiaro. The vehicle looks like a supermini with a tallish roofline, and according to Autocar it is about 3,350mm long – that’s a good 360mm shorter than the Proton Savvy. There is no attempt to look space age with ultra curvy rooflines that hurt rear passenger room – this is clearly a design that’s quite suited to go into production with some minor modifications.

    The concept car will showcase a series hybrid powertrain that works much like the system that Chevrolet is using for the Volt. It uses an internal combustion engine fitted at the front that runs in an efficient powerband to recharge lithium ion batteries. These batteries then power and electric motor that drives the car. From what I can understand from the Autocar story, the internal combustion engine does not power the wheels directly. The car’s platform is a new platform that’s designed to accomodate all the necessary hybrid drive elements such as batteries in a space efficient and safe way.

    Lotus had previously showcased such a system at the Frankfurt 2009 show so given Proton’s obvious connections to Lotus, the powertrain in this concept car might just be one and the same. Or it might not – we’ll have to wait for official details to find out. The Lotus Range Extender system uses a 1.2 litre 3-cylinder single cam 4 valves per cylinder engine that weighs only 56kg dry and is optimized for 2 RPM points – 20hp at 1,500rpm and 47hp at 3,500rpm. Peak torque is 107Nm at 2,500rpm.

    Word is that Proton will be sending some journalists to Geneva because of this car. If Proton wants to maximize the value of the air tickets and accommodation for these journos, those lucky guys might even get to drive the car, if it is a running concept using the Lotus engine. That would definitely generate more buzz and get Proton more coverage in international publications.

    As for us, we are still completely in the dark about this concept car other than whatever Autocar UK has revealed now, so we hope to bring you confirmed facts as soon as Proton says something, hopefully today!

     
 
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