Paul Tan's Automotive News » Technology

A new design from Chris Bangle, and it’s a cognac bottle!

Anthony Lim — Mon, 21 May 2012 02:24:12 +0000

Now, we’re definitely not in the habit of talking about booze, even if some of us here do enjoy the odd tipple or three now and then, but something along those lines then on a Monday morning, simply because of who’s behind it.

Chris Bangle, who was BMW’s chief of design for more than a decade and a half, and who will forever be associated with the Bangle butt (the rather affectionate term for the E65 7-Series’ bustle-back lid that was actually penned by Adrian van Hooydonk), is back in the design game with a fresh composition, one offering a rather different perspective. The man, who was also responsible for penning the Fiat Coupe, has come up with a new… cognac bottle!

Yes, it’s all glug-glug with this one – Bangle has inked the lines of Hennessy’s new V.S.O.P bottle, his first project outside the automotive industry. The American designer was in KL last week for the unveiling of the new package design – shame we weren’t able to have caught up with him for a one-on-one (the slots were filled up, seems).

It’d have been a hoot to ask CB what’s been happening since he left Munich (“Finally hit the bottle, eh, Chris?”), and if there’s any significantly different approach needed in designing a bottle as opposed to a car. Wonder if this one will be known as the Hennessy butt. Or the Bangle bottle.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Mazda CX-5 to debut Smart City Brake Support system

Anthony Lim — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:01:12 +0000

Mazda has announced that the upcoming CX-5 SUV arriving this spring will debut a Smart City Brake Support (SCBS) system, which helps a driver to avoid a frontal collision when driving at low speeds in the city or in slow traffic.

The system uses a laser sensor to detect a vehicle or obstacle in front and automatically reduces the extent of the brake rotor travel to quicken braking operation. If the driver fails to perform any operation to avoid a collision, such as applying the brake, SCBC automatically activates the brakes and reduces the engine output at the same time. Not exactly new hat, the tech, but it is for the brand, and the CX-5 will be the first to wear it.

In related tech news, the company has announced the development of a new resin that offers the same rigidity as conventional materials, with the result being that less material is needed to make a part, while offering the same structural integrity.

Jointly developed with Japan Polypropylene Corporation, the new resin thus offers a lighter manufactured part. It’s set to feature as material in the production of front and rear bumpers, where it contributes to a weight reduction of approximately 20%.

The company blended two components found in polypropylene and rubber (the constituents of resin) that have different properties, and succeeded in distributing them in a double-layer structure in line with the required function for the surface and the inside of the base bumper material. The net result is a bumper with an inner section that retains high rigidity and impact absorption, with reduced thickness.

Additionally, the use of the material also offers faster build times. In the production process, the reduced thickness allows for a shorter cooling period for molding, and bumper molding time, previously 60 seconds, will be halved to 30 seconds utilising the resin, leading to major reductions in the amount of energy consumed in the production process. Needless to say, the resin will be used for the CX-5′s bumpers.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Jatco introduces CVT8 and CVT8 Hybrid transmissions

Anthony Lim — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 04:33:48 +0000

Jatco has announced a new continuously variable transmission for midsize and large front-wheel drive vehicles, offering an improvement of 10% in fuel economy compared to earlier models.

Designed for application with 2.0 to 3.5 litre engined vehicles, the CVT 8 features a ratio spread of 7.0:1, which is around 15% higher than current models. Friction is 40% down for the unit, which features Adaptive Shift Control as part of the kit.

The new ratio has been obtained by combining smaller shaft diameter pulleys with a new and differently shaped belt, which is flatter, and the range of ratios between the two pulleys has been expanded with only minimally increased axial distance.

Elsewhere, a more compact oil pump, the use of specially formulated low viscosity oil and an interface increase between the pulleys and the belt – to reduce neccessary oil pressure – as well as modification to 60% of the component parts have translated to the lowered friction.

The CVT8 is to be introduced next year, debuting in vehicles in North America, and will be built in both Mexico and Japan. The company has also announced the CVT8 Hybrid, developed in conjuction with Nissan. The system incorporates an electric motor and two clutches into the unit, offering a compact, versatile powertrain that does not require a specially designed body. Nissan plans to release a new hybrid vehicle with this system in the US in 2013.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Nissan’s new 2.5 liter hybrid unit to replace 3.5 liter V6?

Harvinder Sidhu — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 07:17:08 +0000

Nissan has introduced a brand new hybrid drivetrain which is made up by a 2.5 liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, an electric motor as well as a lithium-ion battery pack. The interesting bit is that the 2.5 four potter is supplemented by a twin-screw supercharger.

This helps the new system to produce almost similar horsepower and torque figures as the company’s VQ35 3.5 liter V6 unit. This means we are talking about approximately 260 hp and 338 Nm of torque. At the same time, fuel consumption is lower too, at least 10% lower with the continuously variable transmission. Engineers claim that the new system has plenty of low and mid-range torque.

This drivetrain will either be made available alongside the 3.5 liter V6 or it might replace it all together. It is expected to be introduced into the North American market by 2013 and many suggest that it could in the next-generation Nissan Altima.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Need assistance? Well, they’re all EARs, it seems

Anthony Lim — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:10:01 +0000

It’s called EARs, or Emergency Assistance & Response Services, to give it its full name, and it’s a nationwide personal safety and automotive assistance service, ready to aid anyone who find themselves lost, stranded or in need of emergency personal or automotive help. The service, which is subscription-based, works through means of a mobile phone, in this case an iPhone application known as the EARsAlert2, which allows users to seek for help at the touch of a button.

How does it work? Well, say you’ve been involved in an accident, and may be in shock or injured, uncertain of your whereabouts or frustrated from having to contact many different parties for help, such as family members and friends, auto services and tow trucks, among others.

The service simplifies the entire process – just tap on the icon on your phone and a signal is immediately sent within five seconds to EARs which identifies your name and pinpoints your location via GPS. You’ll receive a call from an EARs agent within a short timeframe to ascertain your condition and safety, and to confirm what kind of emergency service or assistance you need.

The agent will then contact the relevant service providers to assist you. At the same time, EARs will also alert five of your closest contacts to inform them about your situation. The service is also able to assist with police reporting, workshop coordinations for repairs and insurance claims, if needed.

In the event of a personal emergency, such as a kidnapping case, if the EARs app is launched and the person is not contactable by the agent, the five closest contacts are immediately alerted via SMS and one primary contact is contacted to act upon the situation, armed with important information like location coordinates.

“EARs was conceptualised mainly because I have many friends and family members who have experienced vehicle breakdowns or personal crimes, or who have had their car stolen,” said EARs CEO Edwin Ong. “Although there are services for each of the situations I’ve just mentioned, these services tend to work independently of one another, hence I felt the need for an all-in-one total solution for personal and automotive assistance, leveraging on a mobile device which many of us already have.”

According to the company, in 2008 there were a total of 373,047 vehicle accidents which resulted in 6,527 deaths, and in 2009, there was a 15% increase in crimes, totalling 198,622 or 544 reported cases per day – every day, there was at least one murder, 19 cases of rape and 243 stolen vehicles. Meanwhile, last year, there were 1,022 vehicle accidents per day (or the equivalent of one accident every 1 minute and 44 seconds).

“In light of statistics like these, we believe that EARs will bring great peace of mind to many Malaysians,” said Ong. “People can be assured that there’s someone they can call on at any time of the day who will be able to help them, regardless of whether they need a tow truck or personal assistance.”

The Breakdown and Assistance (BRASS) plus Personal Alert (PAL) combined packages are priced at RM75 per year, or RM10 per month. You can find out more about the service here. As for the app, it’s available on iTunes for iPhone users to download for free, and users can play around with the app in demo mode without an account. It’ll soon be available for other smartphones.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Budget 2012: Individual budget taxi owners to get assistance

Humanix iSAVE-SC1 e-Tricar – the car, as airbag

Anthony Lim — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 03:22:22 +0000

Click to enlarge.

Okay, so here’s the novel take of the week. According to reports, a venture company in Japan called Humanix will introduce an electric vehicle that wears airbags. On the outside.

The Hiroshima-based company, which utilises research results from Hiroshima University and builds items such as the Cellomics Tip for use in live single cell mass spectometry applications, among others, is now set to introduce the iSAVE-SC1, an electric tricar covered with soft cloth containing shock-absorbing airbags.

Click to enlarge.

The three-wheel prototype has inflated airbags at the front and rear, and the body is covered with tent cloth. In the event of a collision, air is released from the bags to cushion the impact.

It plans to sell about 100 units of the vehicle, which seats three, from late November to March 2012, at a cost of around 790,000 yen each. The vehicles will be used for monitoring purposes, before mass production begins in April or later next year. The production version should have a complete wrap-around airbagged body as in the sketch, presumably.

Click to enlarge.

”Think of the car as wearing clothes, which is something found nowhere else in the world,” said Tsutomu Masujima, Humanix president, who is also professor at the university’s graduate school. ”I used to wonder why the surface of a car is made of metal. Through my study of biology, I noticed that living creatures are naturally soft. I began developing the car based on this idea,” he told reporters.

The maximum speed of the iSAVE-SC1 is 50 km/h, and the vehicle can be charged at home via a 100 volt power supply. The company says that vehicle will be cheap to run, at a fifth to a tenth of a gasoline vehicle’s maintenance costs, though no mention was made about the cost of replacement airbags.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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GM to introduce industry’s first front centre airbag

New tech to help build better batteries emerges

Anthony Lim — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:34:36 +0000

Over in Japan, automakers – working with partners – as well as companies in other industries are researching technologies to improve the performance of storage batteries for use in both vehicles and homes, according to a report.

Toyota is one of these; working together with the Tokyo Institute of Technology and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation, the automaker has come up with a prototype next-generation storage battery that’s based on a solid core instead of a liquid one. Because it doesn’t have an easily combustible liquid core, the new-gen battery doesn’t require fire-retardant materials, which will allow the use of a simple structure to lower costs.

The battery can easily be processed into sheet form, and is able to store several times the amount of electricity, volume for volume, than the current generation of electric vehicle batteries, its developers say. The extra capacity could thus enable a higher maximum driving distance per charge for compact EVs to around 1,000 km, from the 200 km or so now, the report added.

Toyota and its partners aim to further improve the battery and commercialise it sometime in 2015 to 2020, and adds that the tech can also be used to design compact, home-use storage batteries.

Meanwhile, Mazda – together with Hiroshima University – has come up with a new electrode material that it says can boost battery capacity by roughly 80%. The material, which is based on molecular spheres of carbon measuring several hundred nanometers in diameter, can approximately halve a battery’s weight but maintain the same levels of storage capacity. Mazda says the new electrode material is likely to be commercialised in about five years.

Besides the two automakers, electronics giant NEC says it has developed a lithium-ion battery with an electrode that uses manganese instead of cobalt, which is more expensive. It has also altered the composition of the battery’s electrolyte and improved its durability, making it possible for the unit to be recharged 20,000 times.

This will make for the development of household storage batteries with a 13 year life span, compared with seven to eight years right now – NEC is looking at getting the durability up to 20 years, and have the battery out into the market in five years.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Nissan unveils revolutionary car battery charging tech and new, highly formable ultra high tensile strength steel

Anthony Lim — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:43:27 +0000

Nissan has unveiled a couple of innovations, and the first is the development of a new technology that can fully charge an electric vehicle battery in about 10 minutes.

According to a report, researchers at Japan’s Kansai University, working together with Nissan boffins, have come up with tech to speed up the charging process. Currently, lithium-ion batteries can take up to eight hours to recharge fully.

In experiments, the researchers tweaked a capacitor – by using a composite made from tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide for the capacitor’s electrode instead of the usual carbon – to allow it to hold more power. Tests with the new capacitor resulted in it being able to fully recharge within 10 minutes, while maintaining nearly the same storage capacity and voltage as lithium-ion batteries, the report says.

Apparently, the new capacitor has endured repeated charging and discharging without durabiility issues, and the researchers are now planning to go further afield, utilising different materials and structures for the device, with the aim of bringing down the charge time to three minutes or less.

The report adds that it is likely to take about a decade to commercialise the technology, but the breakthrough is expected to help cut production costs for electric cars and make them more popular for drivers in a hurry.

The second one involves steel, in this case what has been tagged as the world’s first ultra high tensile strength steel to be rated at 1.2 gigapascals (GPa), which Nissan has developed in collaboration with Nippon Steel Corporation and Kobe Steel.

What’s unique about this one isn’t just its stiffness, but also its formability. Until now, high tensile strength steel involved a critical trade-off – increased strength came with increased rigidity, and with that, a consequent reduction in press formability, not to mention the challenges in spot-welding the stuff. Traditionally, only high tensile steel – rated up to 980 megapascals (MPa) – has been used in cold pressing structural body parts, requiring complex press work.

The new material changes the scene. Highly formable, it will be produced from 2013 as steel plates for use in cold pressing structural body parts, and used for centre pillar reinforcements, front and side roof rails and other key structural components.

Development of the new material was realised by a breakthrough in the ability to control its structural formation at the sub-micron level, combining hard and soft layers to achieve both strength and formability. An optimal spot-welding methodology – a proprietary process which involves careful optimisation of welding pressure, current volume and power distribution – was also developed for use with it.

The steel offers the benefit of exceeding the structural body performance of previous materials, with less thickness needed. As such, it will offer weight savings, with Nissan claiming its use will reduce vehicle body weight by up to 15 kg.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Proton and Agensi Inovasi Malaysia sign MoU to collaborate on innovation activities in automotive sector

Anthony Lim — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:25:38 +0000

Proton and Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation and collaboration related to innovation activities in the automotive sector.

The partnership will see Proton and AIM working together to promote and mutually assist each other in accelerating the development and commercialisation of innovative products and advanced technology in the automotive industry, to benefit both the industry and public at large.

The MoU specifies collaboration between both parties in the following areas: the promotion of innovation, in particular automotive-related advanced technology ideas; the utilisation of facilities to accommodate their personnel throughout the duration of a project; the exchange of information, publication and materials related to their project/s as well as joint-organisation of projects in relation to the promotion and development of innovation.

Under the MoU, Proton and AIM will establish a joint working committee that will be responsible for the implementation of mutually-agreed projects that will be undertaken.

In line with the company’s aspirations of becoming a global car manufacturer, Proton MD Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin said the collaboration would help to enhance and accelerate Proton’s research and development activities, not only for the introduction of new and exciting models, but in pioneering and commercialising advanced automotive technologies which would be beneficial in moving Malaysia’s automotive industry up the value chain.

The collaboration also underlines Proton’s commitment in support of the national agenda in transforming Malaysia into a high income and knowledge-based nation, as outlined in the Government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to elevate Malaysia to becoming a fully developed nation by 2020.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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GM to introduce industry’s first front centre airbag

Anthony Lim — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:39:37 +0000

One more added on the safety item list. General Motors is set to introduce the industry’s first front center airbag, which is an inflatable restraint designed to help protect drivers and front passengers in far-side impact crashes.

Designed to work collectively with the other airbags and safety belts in a vehicle, the front centre airbag deploys from the right side of the driver’s seat and positions itself between the front row seats near the centre of the vehicle.

Without, and with, the FCAB, single front occupant. Looks painful.

The tethered, tubular airbag is designed to provide restraint during passenger-side crashes, be it with a single or double front occupant scenario – the airbag acts as an energy absorbing cushion between driver and front passenger in both driver- and passenger-side crashes. It is also expected to provide benefit in rollovers.

GM and its technology supplier Takata developed the airbag over the course of three years, testing many design iterations to achieve packaging, cushioning, and restraint in a variety of crashes and occupant positions.

Without, and with, the FCAB, two front occupants. Definitely painful.

While the front centre airbag is not required by US federal regulations, it is expected to improve the safety performance measurements in such-equipped vehicles in terms of third-party crash test performance.

The front centre air bag will be introduced by GM on the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Chevrolet Traverse midsize crossovers in the 2013 model year, and will be standard fitment on Acadia and Traverse with power seats and all Enclave models.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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F1 In Schools World Finals – two awards for Malaysia

Anthony Lim — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:15:50 +0000

Last week’s seventh F1 In Schools World Finals held in Kuala Lumpur saw Malaysia picking up two awards at the event. Malaysian team Velospeed SIC from Sekolah Menengah Sains Hulu Selangor won the Team Portfolio Award and Axis, a collaboration team from Dubai College, UAE and Aminudin Baki Secondary School, were delighted to win the Team Identity Award.

Velospeed SIC, made up of Asyraf Najmie Abd Rahman, Mohd Arif Azizan Abdul Jalil, Alang Ariff Asyraf Muhammad Ghazali and Muhammad Aimran Md Noor from Sekolah Menengah Sains Hulu Selangor, beat off tough competition to win the Best Team Portfolio Award.

The team’s high quality documentation presented clearly and concisely the work that it had put into their entry and was commended by the judges for its professionalism. The team were sixth overall in the World Finals, which was won by Australian team Pentagliders.

“It has been an honour and a privilege to be one of the schools from the host nation and to welcome everyone to our country. We have really enjoyed showing our city to the other students and have had a great time competing in the World Finals. We’re very pleased to have won the Team Portfolio Award as we put in a lot of hard work to make this presentation very special,” team manager Asyraf said.

“The week has been amazing; we have made so many new friends, shared so many memories and learned so much from the students from other countries – we’ll always remember this special time,” he added.

Meanwhile, three students from Aminudin Baki Secondary School – Malik Hisyam, Mohamad Izzudin Hafiz Mohamad Sukri and Muhammad Fahmi Ibrahim – linked with three students from Dubai to form a collaboration team, Axis.

A unique feature of F1 in Schools is the opportunity for students to join with overseas counterparts to compete together as a collaboration team at the World Finals, communicating by virtual technologies such as CISCO Webex and Skype as well as social network sites, telephone and email. This unity help bag the Axis collaboration the Best Team Identity Award and to finish 15th in the overall points standings.

Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, Deputy Education Minister, who presented the awards to the winners, had many positive things to say about the initiative. “We need to carve a niche for ourselves for producing students of distinction and excellence. The F1 in Schools Technology Challenge is one of the learning strategies which is proven to be successful in nurturing students’ interest in the fields of science, technology and engineering. This strategy fosters the mind set of continual innovation, entrepreneurship and sportsmanship in a fun and exciting learning environment,” Wee said in his speech at the awards ceremony.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Australian team crowned as 2011 F1 In Schools champions

Anthony Lim — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:24:15 +0000

An Australian team has been crowned as the 2011 F1 In Schools World Champions. Pentagliders, from Brooks High School, Tasmania, took home the Bernie Ecclestone World Champions trophy in the finals, which was held in KL on Sept 19-21.

The Pentagliders team, comprising 18-year-olds Tristan Mcarthy, Amy Winter and Nathan Clark and Jack Ball, 17, beat 22 teams from around the world to take the title as well as bag coveted Automotive and Motorsport Engineering degree scholarships at City University London.

The Australians also won the Fastest Car Award, recording a time of 1.084 seconds, as well as the Best Engineered Car Award on route to becoming champions.

Runner-up to the victorious Australian team was German national champions BETAGREEN, from Grootmoor Gymnasium, Hamburg. The all-boys team also won the Best Research and Development Award, with judges noting the quality of the R&D programme it used for the development of the whole car, especially the front wing.

Last year’s title holders, the American team UNITUS Racing from South East High School, Florida as well as James Madison Middle School, Virginia, took third place on the podium.

The host nation, Malaysia, featured in two awards, with Velospeed SIC, from Sekolah Menengah Sains Hulu Selangor, taking the Team Portfolio Award and Axis, a collaboration team from Dubai College, UAE and Aminudin Baki Secondary School collecting the Team Identity Award.

Canada took the knock-out racing glory in the finals of the highly competitive head-to-head racing secion, with the Golden Geckos from Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School, Brandon lifting the Knock-out Racing Award.

Cyber Express F1 Team from Gymnázium J.K.Tyla, Czech Republic, was presented with the Outstanding Sportsmanship Award, which it won for the fair play it showed when distractions put off its opposition in the knock-out competition and the Czech team allowed a re-run. As for Dynamic, from St. John Payne Catholic School, UK, it set a new record with back-to-back Verbal Presentation Awards, adding this year’s title to the one it won last year.

Elsewhere, Welsh team Fflam took the Best Sponsorship and Marketing Award, with Best Newcomer Award being presented to Dresser Racing from Kongsberg High School, Norway and the Collaboration Team trophy went to Trident Racing, a joint initiative from Sebastopol College, Australia and Raffles Girls’ School, Singapore. Ireland, meanwhile, collected two trophies, with Octane Racing from Dundalk Grammar School collecting the Best Team Website Award and the Best Pit Display Award.

The Innovative Thinking Award was presented to Team RedShift from Dubai College, UAE, with the judges commending the team on their superb rear wing design which showed the depth of thought put into developing the team’s car design.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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2011 F1 In Schools World Finals underway in Malaysia

Anthony Lim — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 05:42:21 +0000

Click to enlarge.

The 2011 F1 In Schools World Finals is currently underway in Malaysia – over 200 students making up 23 teams from 17 countries are competing to be crowned champions in this year’s edition of the annual event. The event, held at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in KL, runs from today till Wed.

The competition seeks for a winning team to design, build and manufacture a Formula 1 car of the future. The event involves three days of judging and racing, with every element of the team’s operation carefully scrutinised, including the engineering of the car, a written portfolio about the team, a verbal presentation by the team of their work, and, of course, racing of the car to determine its speed. The teams’ intricate and innovative race car designs have been developed using CAD/CAM software and tested with CFD programmes as well as in wind tunnels.

The goal of the Bernie Ecclestone World Champions trophy, together with Motorsport and Automotive Engineering scholarships to City University London for each team member, is a valuable prize for the winning team.

The initiative is proud and privileged to have the support of the Formula 1 fraternity – category awards and prizes are even provided by each of the Formula 1 teams and suppliers. “As a starting point for F1 in Schools, we’re using the popularity of Formula 1 to engage with students and spark their interest in learning more about engineering,” said Andrew Denford, founder and chairman of F1 in Schools.

Click to enlarge.

“We’re very fortunate to have the support of the F1 industry and F1 management, which enables us to bring many of the successful students closer to the sport, with visits to Grands Prix and team headquarters, as well as helping students to secure placements and even full time employment with companies involved at the sharp end, from engine suppliers to F1 teams.”

“As an aside to this, we’re finding that students who came into the initiative without any knowledge or interest of Formula 1 are now avid viewers and spectators, with their F1 in Schools experience drawing them into it, and an appreciation of just what it takes to be creating a passion for this global sport,“ he added.

The 23 teams competing at the 2011 F1 in Schools World Finals have won through regional and national finals to represent their country at the event, with collaborations formed from second placed teams at national events, linking students from different countries to compete together.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Frankfurt: Getrag two-speed DCT gearbox for EV/hybrids

Anthony Lim — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 03:40:25 +0000

Getrag has premiered its 2eDCT600 two-speed powershift transmission in Frankfurt – the gearbox is dedicated to purely electric vehicles and also for plug-in hybrid and range extender vehicles.

The scalable transmission features a new actuator concept, allowing the power to be transferred via overlapping shifting through the disc clutches from one speed to the other without the need of synchronisation or a dog clutch.

It’s designed for a maximum electric motor input torque of 500 Nm with axially parallel and coaxial drive train assemblies, and can optionally be equipped with a limited slip differential. Additonally, an optional parking brake can be operated electrically.

The company says that in comparison to known single-gear electric drives in hybrid or purely electric vehicles, the two-speed approach offers better starting performance and higher maximum speed.

Also showcased in Frankfurt are the 6HDT451 dual-clutch transmission (a hybrid variation of the Powershift 6DCT451) and accompanying DC500 wet dual-clutch. This one, developed for front transverse installations in middle class and upper middle class segment applications, features an integrated electric machine for high-torque mild-hybrid drivetrains, offering up 450 Nm of torque to be transferred. A seven-speed derivative and park-by-wire option will be available.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Frankfurt: Ford debuts the 1.0 litre 3-cylinder EcoBoost

Harvinder Sidhu — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:05:24 +0000

Ford has officially unveiled its new 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine, which will be first utilised in the Euro-market Focus in early 2012 followed by the C-MAX in the same year. The all-new B-MAX will be next. The 3-cylinder engine is said to be equivalent to a conventional 1.6 litre engine when it comes to performance. The new engine has improved twin variable camshaft design, direct injection as well as turbocharging.

The turbo is able to reach nearly 250,000 rpm and is said to have virtually zero turbo lag. The exhaust manifold is cast into the cylinder head, which helps lower the temperature of the exhaust gases and this enables the engine to run with the optimum fuel-to-air ratio across a wider rev band. The cooling system is also able to help reduce fuel consumption. Referred to as split cooling, it basically warms up the engine more quickly. Unlike the larger EcoBoost engines, the 1.0 litre unit uses a cast iron block which reduces the amount of energy needed for warm-up by up to 50% compared to aluminium.

Other features include variable air-conditioning compressor, variable oil pump, special coatings for engine components and intricate development of engine geometry which help reduce frictional losses, an all-new camshaft actuator to speed up response times and so on. Furthermore, two main engine drive belts are immersed in oil which makes the engine run quieter and more efficiently, while maintaining the durability of a chain system.

It is also worth mentioning that the engineers deliberately unbalanced the flywheel and pulley to offset the engine configuration. According to Ford, this along with new engine mounts help deliver a more refined performance. This has been proven following a 720,000 km test which also includes 360,000 km of durability trials and 10,000 km of environmental testing.

The 1.0 litre EcoBoost will be available in two forms, including a 99 hp and an 118 hp variant, which also offers 170 Nm of torque between 1,300 – 4,500 rpm. These variants will be offered with a 5-speed manual and a 6-speed manual transmission respectively. Ford did not reveal the engine’s fuel economy figures, but said that it can output less than 120g/km of CO2 emissions. More information will be revealed at a later stage.

The Blue Oval also confirmed that the new engine will be made available in North America, China and in other regions although it did not specify a timeline. Continue reading to view more images of the 1.0 litre EcoBoost.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Frankfurt: Land Rover reveals the DC100 and DC100 Sport Defender concepts

Harvinder Sidhu — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:51:55 +0000

UPDATE: Live photos have been added to the gallery.

Land Rover has unveiled two Defender concepts at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The first is the DC100 concept which was revealed prior to the motor event and second is the roof-less DC100 Sport concept which was just announced moments ago. According to the famous 4×4 maker, these two concepts will help set the pathway for the future design of the iconic Defender and they both showcase various off-road capabilities.

Both concepts sit on the same lightweight, mixed-alloy platform and feature 2.0 litre gasoline and diesel engines with hybrid and plug-in capabilities. They both run on a permanent four-wheel drive configuration along with an 8-speed transmission.

Other features include an Intelligent Stop/Start system, three-abreast ‘social seating’, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Leisure key which is a waterproof and lightweight alternative to the control fob, built-in induction charging stations as well as the ‘Always-on’ connectivity and telematics feature which allow for car-to-smartphone, car-to-car and car-to-base communication.

As for the 4×4 functions, both concepts have the Terrain-i scanning device which alerts the driver about obstacles while off-roading and it can even suggest alternative routes. There is also something called Wade Aid which uses sonar technology to assess water depth and it can also advise the driver on the optimum speed. Another interesting feature is the spiked tyre system which can be activated by the driver.

There is also Driveline Disconnect which physically disjoints the rear axle to save fuel when the all-wheel drive system is not required and there is also an updated Land Rover Terrain Response system. So what’s the difference between the two concepts? Well the DC100 pretty much showcases the future of Land Rover capability and versatility while the DC100 Sport is an “active expression of freedom and leisure.” Land Rover also took the opportunity to reiterate that the new Defender will be launched in 2015.

Continue reading to view an image gallery.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Bumper to bumper – Mazda recycles old to make new

Anthony Lim — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 04:53:57 +0000

Over in Japan, Mazda has begun recycling scrapped bumpers from end-of-life vehicles (ELV) to obtain raw material for use in new vehicle bumpers. The new technology is initially being used to make rear bumpers for the Biante minivan.

Conventionally, bumpers from cars destined for scrapping are processed into automobile shredder residue (ASR) and incinerated to recover heat energy. The new process will yield approximately 10% of material for each new bumper produced. For starters, the company is collecting bumpers from end-of-life Mazda vehicles in the Hiroshima area to obtain the necessary.

With bumpers comprising a large proportion of plastic, collecting and recycling ELV bumpers is expected to make a significant contribution to reducing waste and loss of resources, and the company says that the cost of recycling is less than the cost of purchasing new plastic. A case of ashes to ashes, bumper to bumper, indeed.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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gogopal Q5.0 GPS navigator – a lot of kit for the price

Anthony Lim — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 07:40:50 +0000

The personal GPS navigation device has certainly come a long way and made great inroads, especially in the last half a decade. These days, prices have become competitive, and you can get a very nicely featured unit for a third of the asking price five years ago. And with plenty to pick from, there’s no shortage of choices if you’re in the market for one.

One such device is the gogopal Q5.0 GPS navigator. We received a unit for evaluation some time back, though admittedly there hasn’t been the chance – or need – to use it much, given the familiarity of the Klang Valley and the usual haunts visited. In any case, we finally put the unit through the paces, so we can now finally report on it.

Full story after the jump.

The unit features a 5-inch 480 x 272 resolution TFT touchscreen, a SiRFatlasV 533MHz CPU, 128MB of internal memory, 64MB of SDRAM memory as well as a 2GB MicroSD storage card and a Windows CE 6.0 operating system. The Q5.0 uses a SpeedNavi SQ Version 3.1 software from Korean company Hyundai MnSOFT (part of the Hyundai-Kia Group), with Malaysian and Singaporean maps from MapIT loaded.

The Q5.0 comes bundled with a car charger, USB cable and car cradle. Additionally, the gogopal also comes with a special storage pouch and a house charger (worth RM79) as standard, items that are usually optional extras for other brands. With every purchase comes a year’s worth of free map updates.

Features include support for eight languages (English, BM, Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese), as well as playback functions for video, music and photos, and it also has Flash player support and eight games, for those moments you’re seemingly bored and not needing the use of the GPS.

Functions of the unit include 3D building rendering, which makes for easier on the eye navigation, as well as a separate junction zoom split display, where every junction features a top-down view on approach to afford the driver unmistakable view of where exactly to turn.

There’s also 3D photo navigation, where selected junctions feature a photo rendered from full 3D-models to help you make the right turn. Another unique feature is the provision of lane information to guide drivers onto the correct lanes for an upcoming turn or maneouvre, with the designated lane marked by a yellow arrow.

Additionally, there’s a special house numbers search feature that allows you to navigate to the exact house on the road you’re looking for, and this is available throughout Malaysia and Singapore. If you’re travelling to Singapore, you can even search for a specific location via the postcode search, since all buildings in the Republic have a unique postcode.

In use, satellite acquisition time is fairly quick, even in hemmed in locations – such is the advent of technology that the SiRF Atlas III on the Nuvi 610 is well eclipsed in terms of locking speed. The rather slow take-up in satellite acquisition aside, the Garmin has been a steadfast tool in the four years I’ve had it, even if it really is only called in when travelling out of town these days, primarily for its POIs (read speed trap locations along the North-South highway) and its wealth of eatery options in its directory list, courtesy of the fine folk from the Malfree map community.

Yes, the Nuvi 610 it has its quirks, like in its search functions, and how sometimes keying in a road name doesn’t always get the desired results (which shows up when you go to the general area and zoom in!). And it has its fair share of omissions, like the inability to do way-points and plotting a user defined route, which most units now offer as standard. By and large, however, despite its little foibles, it has been thoroughly dependable. Certainly, coming to it from a Magellan GPS 320 was life changing (those into their navigation devices will know exactly what I mean).

Still, you’d expect that a swanky new thing like the Q5.0 will walk all over something like it. It does, and it doesn’t, actually. The gogopal’s presentation is right up to date with what’s expected circa 2011 – easy on the eye visuals, clear, always reiterated voice instructions and reinforced with that on-screen, so you’ll never be in the dark again about where exactly to turn or head.

Some thoughts about screen clarity and legibility. The 5-inch screen works great at night, and the display has a crisp, vibrant feel to it. But in very bright conditions, especially under say the midday sun, it feels somewhat subdued even with the backlight set to maximum, the rather reflective gloss screen not helping things. Voice command articulation and spread is very good though, as is operational time on battery only.

During a recent round trip to Ipoh as part of a SUV group test, the gogopal got to where it was asked in clean fashion, and it all feels very polished if you’re coming in from the Nuvi 610‘s more straightforward presentation. You do have to get used to the rapidity and frequency of the unit’s voice navigation – there’s plenty of clearly issued commands, which will never get you lost or wayward, but it does sometimes feel a bit unrelenting.

The OS’s menu on the Q5.0 is easy work, and moving about within and setting up a navigation route is a fairly easy job. Address searching is quick, and the MapIT map is comprehensive when it comes to home and building addresses, with the house address search an added boon, though in terms of places of interests (POI) the scope is a bit limited compared to what Malfree serves up.

Food in particular can be somewhat trying – for example, say you’re in the mood for chicken rice in Ipoh, and want to head to Lou Wong or Onn Kee, both in Jalan Yau Tet Shin. You won’t find them in the POI search under ‘chicken rice’ or by their shop names, so you’ll have to know they’re on that particular road.

Ditto Ipoh Chicken in Jalan Gasing in PJ, though Satellite right next door is listed. But never worry, you will find a Coffee Bean or a 7-Eleven anywhere, because the Q5.0 has it all neatly categorised and compartmentalised. gogopal says it’s working on completing the list of good makan places, and it will be released in the next update.

Another thing the company says it’s definitely looking into is with the availability of speed trap locations. Granted, it shouldn’t be why you’d use a GPS, but there’s no denying that the feature is very handy. The Q5.0 does however have an audible highway speed limit warning, which helps keep you honest and well within the line.

Little quirks and omissions aside, the gogopal Q5.0 has a lot going for it – it’s easy to use and is well equipped, and is a considerable amount of kit for the price, which lists for RM499.

The company is offering a promotional price of RM389 for the unit this weekend at Mid Valley Megamall, at the Lelong.my E-Commerce Fair that runs August 12-14. Head on over to Superbuy’s booth (2109, located in Hall 2 at the MV Exhibition Centre on Level 3. Additonally, the same offer is available online at Superbuy.my. Visit gogopal’s website for more information.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Toyota reveals tech for future vehicle safety systems

Anthony Lim — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 05:30:16 +0000

Some news on the passive safety development front, from Toyota. The Japanese automaker has announced a quartet of future vehicle safety systems, currently under development, which it is looking at introducing into its vehicles. Aimed at protecting older drivers and pedestrians, their development is in response to Japanese road accident statistics that show that more than half of road traffic deaths are of people aged 65 and over, and that pedestrians now account for more fatalities than vehicle occupants.

The first of these is an extension of the Pre-Crash Safety (PCS) system, now with collision-avoidance assist. Currently, the system can predict when a collision is imminent and instigate measures to reduce damage and the risk of injury. The latest development of the technology is designed to help avoid a collision happening altogether. Using the same millimetre-wave radar and miniature camera to monitor the road ahead, it works to help avoid a collision if the driver fails to apply the brakes, and is being further developed to help the driver steer a safe course in an emergency.

Second on the list is what the company calls emergency response technology, which incorporates a new system that can monitor cardio-vascular functions through the driver’s grip on the steering wheel and detect risks. Similar in essence to that being pursued by BMW in its Emergency Stop Assistant under its ConnectedDrive programme as well as Ford’s heart rate monitoring seat, Toyota is planning further research with a view to bringing a system to market.

Next is the adaptive driving beam. The company introduced an automatic high beam function on some of its cars two years ago, which switches the headlights to low beam when a camera detects the tail lights of vehicles ahead or the headlights of oncoming traffic, then restores high beam as soon as the road is clear.

It has now improved this technology with an Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB). This partially shields the high beam light so that it doesn’t shine directly in the face of drivers in vehicles ahead. This means it can prevent glare while maintaining best possible forward illumination of the road, reducing the risk of accidents.

Then there’s the pop-up bonnet, which can reduce the risk of head injury in a pedestrian-related frontal collisions. It automatically raises the rear of the bonnet to increase the space between it and the engine, which means it can be effective even on vehicles where the bonnet is set low, with limited clearance underneath.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Ford 1.0 litre EcoBoost three-cylinder to be introduced in 105 PS and 120 PS output forms

Anthony Lim — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:31:22 +0000

The idea of a 1.0 litre engine pulling a Ford Fiesta about may not sound very appealing, but throw in the likes of a turbocharger and direct injection with say, 120 PS for numbers and it doesn’t sound quite so boring, does it?

Such a scenario isn’t that far away from reality; the company’s 1.0 litre three-pot EcoBoost looks to be a certain offering on the B-segment hatch in this market, sometime in 2012. It promises much, and much is expected of it.

First seen in the Ford Start concept car that debuted in Beijing in 2010, the engine made its European debut in the Ford B-MAX at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. Full technical details are set to be announced in Frankfurt in September, so the mill should make its market debut next year.

Ahead of this, we managed to get some idea of how much the engine will offer in terms of output. According to David Filipe, Ford of Europe’s chief engineer of engine programs, the European-designed mill – developed at Ford’s Dunton Technical Centre in the UK – will come in two output variant forms when it makes its market debut.

“We’re coming out with two initial output levels for the engine, which will be 120 PS and 105 PS,” said Filipe, who was in town for the launch of the Mondeo and S-MAX Ecoboost models. His work at Ford has included the design and development of Ford’s in-line Ecoboost programs, including the 1.0, 1.6 and 2.0 litre Ecoboost engines as well as the Diesel Stage V engine programs.

The higher 120 PS output form is identical to the Fiesta’s current 1.6 litre twin independent variable camshaft timing, normally-aspirated lump, so it won’t fall short when it comes to numbers. And it promises to be zestier too, according to Filipe.

“That 1.0 litre is very much more fun to drive, compared to the normally-aspirated 1.6. For one, the torque comes in earlier,” he said. As to the choice of partnering powertrain, Filipe said that while the brand would always try to protect itself to be flexible with options, its prime task is to get the engine going with a twin dry-clutch transmission.

Tech-wise, besides turbocharging (another Borg Warner unit again, presumably), direct-injection and Ti-VCT, the three-cylinder – with a 10.0:1 compression ratio – contains a number of innovative efficiency solutions, among them an offset crankshaft that reduces friction and an advanced, Ford-designed split cooling system that allows the cylinder block to warm up before the cylinder head.

Elsewhere, the 1.0 litre EcoBoost, which will come with a cast iron block, cast aluminium cylinder head and cast aluminium sump, features an exhaust manifold cast into the cylinder head – the one-piece assembly lowers the temperature of the exhaust gases, enabling the engine to run in a wider rpm band with the optimum fuel-to-air ratio. The new design also saves weight and allows the engine to operate more smoothly.

It’s set to be available globally – including the US – in the company’s small cars, and will be deployed in the Fiesta, Focus and C-MAX, among others, when the time comes. It will also be a significant milestone when it is introduced, because Ford has never before built a regular production car with fewer than four-cylinders.

Ford may have come to the table later with turbocharging and DI than its European competitors, so how is it aiming to make up ground? “Some of our competitors have been out there with similar technology bundles, but I think we’ve been more aggressive and clear on our strategy to make it a high volume solution,” Filipe said.

“Some competitors have it as a low volume answer for certain products and applications, but we are taking it all across our engines around the globe, and that’s how we get the cost structure more affordable to our customers,” he added, bridging into the next question, that of deployment costs.

In the initial phase of any new cycle or technology, there’s always the issue of increased cost, and though Ford’s plans are ambitious (it plans to offer the EcoBoost engine in up to 80% of its vehicle nameplates, supporting global sales of 1.5 million EcoBoost-powered vehicles per year in the near future), won’t EcoBoost also bring about added cost to the consumer, at least initially?

“As we add the technology, it will cost a bit more, but we’re adding volume and scale to keep the costs of turbo, DI and variable cam timing as low as we can. The fuel economy will certainly get better (by up to 20%), and if you look at other technologies that deliver the same fuel economy, it’s going to be much more cost-effective than those other technologies, so even if it does cost more to start with, it’ll be very good value as it goes along. It really is the lowest cost solution over the long run,” Filipe stated.

Then there’s always the point of perception, about displacement being everything and that something like a 1.0 litre mill, though turbocharged, isn’t going to cut it on a Fiesta will still ring loud in this region, though thankfully the likes of VW’s offerings of late have helped dispel those archaic beliefs somewhat.

David Westerman, regional manager for Asia-Pacific, Ford Export Operations, says that’s something that the Blue Oval’s marketing people will have to break down. “It’s a challenge, but we’ve got to work on dispelling a lot of stereotypes and customer perception about displacement that a vehicle this size needs an engine of a certain size,” he said.

Click to enlarge

Though the three displacement units in the current EcoBoost family (aside from the primarily US-based V6) cover ground well enough in terms of output and spread – 150 PS and 180 PS for the 1.6 litre, 203 PS and 240 PS for the 2.0 litre as well as the 105 PS and 120 PS for the upcoming 1.0 litre – the question surely begs as to whether there are plans to open say a 1.2 or 1.4 litre option to provide an even more comprehensive solution in terms of output tune coverage.

Felipe says that things are being looked at, though nothing as yet has been fixed. “We are studying to see if there are any gaps that are there, for example between 1.0 litre and 1.6, and if there is, to fill them.” Finally, to the point about fuel requirements, he said that the likes of the 2.0 litre (as found on the Mondeo) can run RON 91 as a minimum, with the 203 PS output rating obtained with RON 95; in terms of robustness, a wide variety of fuel quality grades are used on an EcoBoost design during testing, so it’ll handle what we have comfortably.

On a different note, here’s an interesting snippet of info, and Asean-based at that. The company is exploring the possibility of a small seven-seater, essentially something along the lines of the Nissan Grand Livina. “We know that here, the families are larger and the passenger needs are greater, and as such, a seven-passenger carrying ability is an important feature for a platform in this marketplace,” Westerman said in reply to a question whether there were plans to introduce a B/C segment-spanning product in the region.

“We’re certainly looking at applications to bring it to the marketplace, something smaller than an S-MAX and priced competitively,” he added, though no indication was given as to when such a product would be introduced.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Japan setting out to get its own GPS off the ground

Anthony Lim — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 04:32:23 +0000

Some GPS-related news. The Japanese government – with the the assistance of private firms – is ramping up research on a Japanese version of the Global Positioning System in a bid to turn satellite-based technologies into a key export, the Nikkei reports.

Plans are afoot to conduct joint reserach and development on this – nine firms and two organisations are slated to participate in a study group to be formed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at the end of the month, with an aim to come up with new services in five years, the report says.

The venture will include companies such as NEC and Mitsubishi Electric Corp, which develop satellites or ground facilities, as well as those with a broad range of businesses, including transport systems, logistics and machinery.

Having launched a quasi-zenith positioning satellite last September, the addition of two or three more satellites will enable an around-the-clock service, though specific plans for the second satellite haven’t been drawn up yet. The Japanese satellite system is designed to supplement the GPS currently operated by the US, and is meant to cover the region, including that of Southeast Asia and Australia.

A domestic GPS would yield many benefits beyond just making and launching satellites – with a projection that the overall market will grow from around four trillion yen in 2008 to roughly 10 trillion yen in 2013, a wide range of infrastructure-related fields will stand to grow as well.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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ZF 9HP 9-speed auto transmission – details announced

Anthony Lim — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 06:08:37 +0000

ZF Friedrichshafen’s 9HP nine-speed automatic transmission, which was first announced earlier this year, now has more specific details about it, though there’s still no mention of when it is expected to debut in a production vehicle.

The unit, which doesn’t replace the 8HP eight-speeder and is meant for passenger cars with front-transverse drive, will be available in two variant forms, covering a torque range between 280 and 480 Nm.

The transmission, which is stop-start capable (with only one friction shift element that needs to be closed for restarting), features four individual gearsets and six shifting elements. A torque converter is used in the 9HP as the standard starting element, with a multi-level torsion damper system minimising hydraulic losses and quick bridging of the torque converter lock-up clutch facilitated at low speeds. In hybrid-based applications, the torque converter is replaced by an electric motor.

ZF says the unit, with its extremely high total spread of 9.84, offers savings of up to 16% compared to today’s standard 6-speed automatic transmissions in front-transverse installations. In ninth gear, only 1,900 rpm is needed to cruise at 120 kph instead of 2,600 in a 6-speed transmission.

With a view in installation in a wide variety of vehicle applications, the 9HP has been prepared as a ‘construction kit’ – for example, an additional transfer case can be connected for all-wheel drive operation. In this case, it can be mated to ZF’s AWD Disconnect all-wheel drive, which can be decoupled – it actuates the rear axle drive only when needed, offering a fuel savings of around 5% compared to permanent all-wheel drive.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Oh deer, watch out! – Volvo developing system to avoid collision with wild animals

Anthony Lim — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 09:35:25 +0000

More news on the collision avoidance assistance front, but this time, it has to do with animals – Volvo is developing a system that alerts and automatically brakes for animals on the road.

With thousands of motorists across the globe killed in accidents caused by collisions with wild animals each year, the aim of the project is to develop a safety system that reduces the risk of collisions with said wild animals. The new system is based on technologies from Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake and will be launched on the market in a few years’ time, Volvo says.

The system consists of two parts – a radar sensor and an infra-red camera that can register the traffic situation. The camera monitors the road ahead and if an animal is within range the system alerts the driver with an audible signal. If the driver doesn’t react, the brakes are automatically applied.

As the majority of accidents with animals occur at dusk or after nightfall, it’s essential for the system to function in the dark. The goal, of course, is for the system to function at the normal rural highway speeds, as opposed to the current pedestrian detection system which operates at low speeds, specifically for city usage.

The challenge being faced by the engineers is how to ‘teach’ the system to recognise different animals. A development team from Volvo spent time at a safari park digitally logging film sequences of animals and their various behavioral patterns, focusing on moose, red deer and fallow deer. By driving very slowly along a trail where fodder had been laid out to attract the animals, data was recorded and this will be used to evaluate and develop the sensor system.

In the first stage, the system will respond to large animals that risk injuring the driver or passengers in an impact, such as moose, deer and reindeer. There’s good reason for going with the trio – in Sweden alone, more than 47,000 accidents involving wild animals took place in 2010, 7,000 of them with moose.

The company says that the greatest danger is from collisions with a moose, or Eurasian elk, if you prefer. In an impact with an Alces alces, there’s a relatively high risk of personal injury, since it’s common for the animal to end up on or roll across the front of the car and its windscreen.

The project has been under way for just over a year, though a lot of work still remains to be done. Various technologies are currently being evaluated and software is being developed. And while the system “learns” to recognise various animals, development is also under way on the necessary decision-making mechanisms, which is how and when the protective system is activated to respond.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Ford seeking globally harmonised communications standards for advanced wireless systems

Anthony Lim — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 09:08:05 +0000

Ford is working with automakers and safety leaders globally on a standardised platform for advanced wireless systems that can allow vehicles to “talk” to each other – based on a common communication standard – to reduce crashes and congestion.

Intelligent vehicles potentially could help in preventing 81% of all police-reported light-vehicle target crashes involving unimpaired drivers, according to a US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report.

The company says that global vehicle manufacturers need harmonised standards while the technology is being researched and developed, or the industry could end up with a variety of standards and vehicles that cannot talk to each other from region to region. It adds that failure to develop these globally harmonised standards would delay deployment, decrease reliability and unnecessarily increase costs.

Ford’s researchers are already developing advanced crash avoidance systems that use GPS technologies and advanced Wi-Fi signals, or dedicated short-range communications, on a secured channel allocated by the Federal Communications Commission. The essence is to create intelligent vehicles that communicate with each other in traffic and help drivers avoid or mitigate crashes.

In Germany, the company is collaborating on a wireless research project with other automakers and the government in an effort to address congestion-related traffic safety issues. The Safe and Intelligent Mobility-Test Field Germany research project, which runs through 2012, is a 400-vehicle field test to evaluate feasibility and scalability of wireless systems in the real world.

The Wi-Fi-based radio system allows full-range, 360-degree detection of potentially dangerous situations, such as when a driver’s vision is obstructed. For example, drivers could be alerted if their vehicle is on path to collide with another vehicle at an intersection, when a vehicle ahead stops or slows suddenly or when a traffic pattern changes on a busy highway. The systems could also warn drivers if there is a risk of collision when changing lanes, approaching a stationary or parked vehicle, or if another driver loses control.

Over in the US, meanwhile, it’s contributing two prototype Ford Taurus sedans for a series of clinics slated for later this year. The research will be conducted by a coalition of automakers organised by the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP), a joint research group founded by Ford and General Motors which is working to develop inter-operability standards in advance of completing the research phase in 2013.

By reducing crashes, intelligent vehicles could ease traffic delays, which would save drivers both time and fuel costs. Congestion also could be avoided through a network of intelligent vehicles and infrastructure that would process real-time traffic and road information and allow drivers to choose less congested routes.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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In the future, cars to be a power source for the home?

Anthony Lim — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:51:18 +0000

Over in Japan, automakers are looking at turning electric and hybrid vehicles into external power sources for the home, aiming to turn them into a type of rolling battery, the Nikkei reports. The push has been strengthened by such assistance provided by these green cars, which helped supply emergency power in areas during the March earthquake that hit Japan, the report says.

Nissan says that electric vehicles can be used as storage batteries and supplementary power sources, and the company is working to equip its Leaf EV with the ability to feed power into homes. The car can for example be used as an emergency power source during a power outage, utilising the electricity stored in its battery overnight to be used in the house during the day. Fully charged, the Leaf’s 24 kwh lithium-ion battery can power the average house for about two days.

Mitsubishi Motors, meanwhile, plans to market an optional device that will enable its EVs to supply electricity to rice cookers and other home appliances. It plans to make the device compatible with all its eco-friendly vehicles, including the i-MiEV and eight new EV and plug-in hybrids it is planning to introduce over the next five years.

And Toyota is mulling over the inclusion of a power supply function on its future eco cars, including the Prius hybrid and the upcoming plug-in hybrid it is launching next year. Conversely, there’s already a home battery system – the Smart Energy Veus – that can be used to power a Prius, with some conversion work.

Elsewhere, Honda and the city of Saitama have embarked on the E-KIZUNA Project, and as part of this will construct a house to test its Honda Smart Home System, which will feature electricity generated from solar panels, storing the power in an EV and using it in combination with electricity supplied off the grid. It will also explore the system’s potential to independently produce electricity for the household in the event of a disaster.

There’s still a fair way to go before such practice becomes the norm – utilising electricity from EVs and hybrids to power homes will require utilities to modify their power lines, and new legislation concerning electrical equipment will also be required.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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F1 not pertinent in gaining tech for road cars, Audi says

Volvo Flywheel KERS system – significant performance gains, with up to 20% less fuel consumption

Anthony Lim — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:09:57 +0000

Click to enlarge

Volvo is set to test a new system called Flywheel KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), which it claims will make a four-cylinder engine feel like a six-cylinder and at the same time reduce fuel consumption by up to 20%. The company has received a 6.57 million Swedish kronor grant from the Swedish Energy Agency for development, in a joint project together with Volvo Powertrain and SKF.

The Flywheel KERS is fitted to the rear axle – during retardation, the braking energy causes the flywheel to spin at up to 60,000 revs per minute, and when the car starts moving off again, the flywheel’s rotation is transferred to the rear wheels via a specially designed transmission.

The combustion engine that drives the front wheels is switched off as soon as the braking begins – the energy in the flywheel can be used to accelerate the vehicle or to power the vehicle once it reaches cruising speed.

The flywheel’s stored energy is sufficient to power the car for short periods. How it will have a major impact on fuel consumption is this: based on calculations, the combustion engine will be able to be turned off about half the time when driving in a New European Driving Cycle mode.

Since the flywheel is activated by braking, and the duration of the energy storage (the length of time the flywheel spins) is limited, the technology is at its most effective during driving featuring repeated stops and starts, which means busy urban traffic.

Combining the flywheel’s energy with the combustion engine’s full capacity promises a significant boost in horsepower, and with swift torque build-up in attendance, this translates into rapid acceleration.

The flywheel – which spins in a vacuum to minimise frictional losses – that Volvo will use in its test car is made of carbon fibre, and weighs about 6 kg with a diameter of 20 cm. It’s not the first time flywheel propulsion assistance has been tested by the company – a Volvo 240 also did so back in the 1980s, but the heavy steel-based flywheel wasn’t very efficient.

Volvo also isn’t the first manufacturer to test flywheel technology, but it is in applying it to the rear axle of a car fitted with a combustion engine driving the front wheels. If the tests and technical development go as planned, expect cars with flywheel technology to reach the showrooms within a few years, the company says.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Ford develops heart rate monitoring car seat

Anthony Lim — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:17:41 +0000

Ford has come up with a prototype vehicle seat that can monitor a driver’s heart activity, a device that could one day reduce the number of accidents and fatalities that occur as a result of motorists having heart attacks behind the wheel.

A joint development between Ford’s European Research Centre in Aachen, Germany, and Aachen University’s Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule, which developed the contactless ECG technology, the prototype seat utilises ECG (electrocardiograph) technology that monitors the heart’s electrical impulses and detects signs of irregularity, working very much like an early warning system.

Whereas a normal ECG machine in a clinic requires metal electrodes to be attached to the skin at various points on the body, the Ford ECG seat has six built-in sensors that can detect heart activity through the driver’s clothing. Specially designed capacitive electrodes feed the body’s electrical heart impulses through complicated electronics to make the heart monitoring possible.

The system will be able to detect if someone is having a cardiovascular issue, for example a heart attack, and could also be used to detect the symptoms of other conditions such as high blood pressure or electrolyte imbalances.

In early tests, the Ford heart monitoring seat has recorded accurate readings during 98% of driving time for 95% of drivers. Ford’s research engineers are continuing to study how sensors can be made to record signals through a greater number of materials, including those that interrupt readings with their own electrical activity.

The company is also testing the prototype seat to understand how it could work with other advanced systems within Ford vehicles to warn a driver to pull over and seek medical attention, or possibly even send out an alert to emergency medical workers, if necessary.

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The mobile phone could play a key role as an interface for any future application of the technology. Connected to a system such as Ford SYNC with MyFord Touch, the Ford heart rate monitoring seat potentially could use the driver’s mobile phone to send a message to medical centres, alerting doctors to irregular heart activity. The seat could also be linked to SYNC’s Emergency Assistance function to inform emergency response teams of the driver’s heart condition before, during and after an accident.

Ford is exploring how advanced safety technologies such as Lane Departure Warning with Lane Keeping Aid, Active City Stop and Speed Limiter could work together with the heart rate monitoring seat to help protect drivers in cases where they experience heart problems.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Toyota Friend – an in-car private social network

Anthony Lim — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:09:33 +0000

Toyota has announced that it will be introducing Toyota Friend, a private social network for Toyota customers and their cars. Essentially, the in-car system will offer Toyota users the means to connect with their cars, their dealership, and with Toyota itself, through Salesforce Chatter, a private social network thus far used by businesses.

The service, which is jointly developed by Toyota and San Francisco-based cloud computing provider Salesforce, will first be offered in Japan, initially with the company’s range of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles – which includes the new Prius PHV – due out next year. At some point in the future, the company will consider deploying the system in other global markets.

Aside from being a private social network, where customers can choose to extend their communication to family, friends, and others through public social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, the onboard telematics system will be able to provide a variety of product and vehicle maintenance-related information.

For example, if an EV or PHV is running low on battery power, Toyota Friend will be able to notify the driver to recharge the vehicle in the form of a “tweet”-like instant message alert. The service can also help plan suitable off-peak vehicle charging times to ease demands on the electricity grid, with users able to carry out the recharging remotely via phone or PC, the company added.

Likewise for vehicle maintenance – the system can send automatic messages from the car to the driver to alert on possible problems or anomalies, and the driver can schedule a service appointment remotely via a link to the service centre. Users will be able to access the real-time service via smart phones, tablet PCs and other advanced mobile gadgets.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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Shell develops 0W-10 viscosity concept lubricant

Anthony Lim — Wed, 25 May 2011 08:43:57 +0000

Some developments on the lubrication front. It isn’t due out in the market anytime soon, but it does show how going thin can achieve better fuel consumption.

It’s a 0W-10 ultra low viscosity concept engine lubricant developed by Shell, in collaboration with Gordon Murray Design, and in field use has shown up to a 6.5% improvement in fuel efficiency, a very tangible step up from the usual 2.5% gained in typical fuel economy lubricant development programmes.

GMD’s T.25 city car provided the test bed for the concept oil, which obtained the 6.5% urban cycle figure based on repeated testing with NEDC-based parameters at an independent laboratory in a series of chassis dynamometer tests – in a combined cycle, testing yielded a 4.6% improvement. The concept lubricant was pitted against a a typical European midtier product, a 10W-30 weight oil.

In field use, the T.25 – utilising the 0W-10 oil – won the award for the most economic small, passenger internal-combustion engine vehicle in the RAC Future Car Challenge last year, achieving 96 mpg in the process.

Not that it’s all just all to do with passenger cars, the being more efficient bit. In the area of commercial transportation, the benefits from better lube are evident too. In a field test very recently, nine identical trucks were monitored over 55,000 km, with four using Shell Rimula R6 LME and five, a 10W-40 reference.

The company says that the trucks running on its Rimula R6 LME obtained a 2% reduction in fuel consumption, which works out to an equivalent of over 1,000 litres of fuel per truck per year.

With changes in legislation and new emission standards afoot, improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions isn’t just something to be left just to automakers. Granted, a 0W-10 viscosity oil isn’t likely be for every vehicle when it arrives, and arguably not here what with our climate conditions, but it does showcase how you can lean out things and squeeze out more, as would be the case.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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TRW develops roof-mounted airbag – to be seen in offerings by a major European automaker

Anthony Lim — Wed, 25 May 2011 03:07:03 +0000

TRW Automotive has unveiled a new ‘bag in roof’ airbag system, which it says can replace dashboard-mounted airbags rather effectively. While continuing to afford high levels of protection to passengers, the roof-mounted system frees up deployment space in the dash, allowing for automotive interior designers to offer improved interior design aesthetics and better ergonomics.

The US-based automotive supplier says that the new design concept enhances development efficiency – by eliminating the need to package a passenger airbag in the instrument panel, its ‘bag in roof’ design can significantly reduce the development costs of the dashboard, since there’s no need to develop a specific ‘door’ which opens with the airbag deployment.

Functionally compatible with a wide range of vehicle architectures, the airbag unit comprises a cushion and a gas generator, which supplies the gas to the cushion in the event of an impact. TRW says the product offers easy assembly, with opportunities for standardisation, since some of the components are common to all applications.

The system has been worked on for several years, and in close collaboration in the last two with a major European automaker, which has now awarded a significant production contract to TRW for the system. Wonder which company that might be?

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 13:22:35 +0000.

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