Your daily automotive news!
Peugeot is building a brand new sport scar, yes, you read it correctly. Personally I didn’t expect this at all. Peugeot and sports car, is that a combination? Well after seeing the images, I think it is.
The specs are even great too! Who could think about that?! (more…)
A survey was conducted and it was found that the UK’s electricity supply system and national grid has the capacity to deal with an increase in electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The every day peak-use increase is expected to be less than 2%. This is measured under the assumption that electric and plug-in vehicles account for 10% of all vehicles on Britain’s roads.
The British government is going to help the UK car manufacturers even though it is not going to give any large bail-out grants.
Business secretary Lord Mandelson said yesterday, after Nissan’s announcement of cutting 1,200 jobs at its factory in Sunderland, that an array of packages was under discussion and this includes easier access to credit for the car makers.
But he said that further job losses would be ‘unavoidable’, and that reconstituting businesses was necessary.
Large cash shots have been ruled out. Lord Mandelson also said that it would be a mistake if the American government simply to handed out vast subsidies without ensuring that the industry had got its act together, meaning that a similar approach should be taken here.
Lord Mandelson will be visiting Sunderland to discuss Nissan’s plans to make a new series of electric vehicles there in the future.
Ford Escape Hybrid
MSRP: $21,880 – $27,445
MPG: 34 City / 30 Hwy
The Ford Escape Hybrid is among the top three by merging the utility and serviceability of the gas-only Escape with a fuel-sipping hybrid power train. Commentators like its muscular exterior and contented seats, but criticize about swollen managing and the lack of stability control.
Mercury Mariner Hybrid
MSRP: $23,310 – $29,920
MPG: 34 City / 30 Hwy
The Mercury Mariner hybrid has all the strengths and weaknesses of the Ford, but with a more refined interior. Regrettably it is costly also. But still, commentators love the balance of standard features. But they’re not as beguiled with the Mariner Hybrid’s baggy handling.
Honda is to renew the name Insight for its Prius-rivalling new hybrid.
The Insight will be a small family sized five-door, five-seater hatch as the original 1999 model was an impractical two-door coupe. This five door coupe is to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. The sales of this car will be starting next year. It will be assembled in Suzuka, Japan. The company plans to sell 200,000 a year through out the world.
Honda predicts to undersell the Prius because the Insight will be priced at a very less price than any other hybrid car on the market. This would help people to access petrol-electric technology easily. Prices will be declared at a later date.
Honda also has plans to assist drivers through a unique function for more fuel-efficient driving. This would help drivers to get the most out of their real world fuel consumption.
Honda is also to set in motion hybrid versions of the Jazz and a new Civic Hybrid in the next few years. It also has plans for a sports car based on the CR-Z concept. The goal of Honda is to sell more than 500,000 hybrids a year, with 10% of its global sales to be hybrids by 2010.
General Motors and the Environmental Protection Agency have in fact started a squabble over what in fact is GM’s forthcoming plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt? This argument will determine whether the Volt gets a jaw-dropping EPA rating of over 100 mpg which will make it the most fuel-competent car sold by a chief automaker or will it just be another Prius-like 48 mpg.
General Motors considers their Chevy Volt as an electric car where as the EPA wants to classify it as a hybrid.
PC Magazine explicates, “Its drive train is entirely electric, since the companion gas engine powers a generator, not the car itself. The Volt is not a hybrid in the usual sense, in other words. GM claims it can run 40 miles before the gas engine even kicks in.”
The car applies its batteries to render most of its ability, setting off the electric generator only when they are exhausted to a certain point. The car is so planned that it arrives to its destination at approximately 30%-35% of the battery’s status of charge.
For hybrid cars like these, you will receive a nice discount on your insurance for your cars in many states.
Fisker Automotive has plans for a four-model range of plug-in hybrids. More info about hybrid cars you can find on the website of CarFuelOptions, a website dedicated to alternative fuel options.
First up is the Karma super-saloon which will be for sale next year, and Fisker is now hopeful to build up a coupe, a convertible and even an SUV approximately the same basic underproduction and power train.
It has been published that the three models are planned to be unveiled by 2012. By 2011, the company has intentions of producing 15,000 cars a year. It is also planning for production in the US, though at first, the Karma will be set up by Valmet in Finland.
Further down the line, Fisker is planning for a more approachable plug-in hybrid vehicle, which will be priced around $60,000.
Hyundai is to display a petrol-electric (hybrid) Sonata saloon at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.
The auto will have new-generation lithium-ion batteries, and be established on the face lifted on 2009 version of the Sonata. Nevertheless, production will be starting only by 2010.
Hyundai is not importing the face lifted Sonata to the UK because it has sold only in small numbers. As an alternative, it is waiting for its all-new large family-sized model, to be called i40. This comes to Europe in late 2010, and will be totally different to the US-market Sonata.
Hyundai is scheduling a Mondeo/Vectra-type series and, though a saloon will still be accessible, the company anticipates the best-seller in the line-up to be an estate.
Cadillac is unveiling a crossbreed interpretation of the Escalade this month and its starting price is from $71,685, including destination. This is a sport utility vehicle. It makes use of a double mode hybrid technology. It also has a cylinder shut off feature and it gets you 20 mpg in city driving and 21 mpg on the highway.
When you drive it slowly or when the car is idling then it can run completely on the electric motor. Unless and until the driver is harsh the vehicle will stop from the electric power. Also the steering and air conditioning units are also electrically powered.
More Cadillacs that run on E85 in the next two years can be anticipated. Presently, the Escalade is the only Cadillac vehicle to dash on the ethanol fuel. Diesel power plants, now presently utilized in the CTS in Europe will be also considered for the North American Cadillacs.
Engine noise in hybrid and electric vehicles are to be recreated with a new technology that is developed by Lotus Engineering.
This safe & sound technology is presently being proved in a Toyota Prius, which normally runs without much sound at low speed and also when it is in complete electric mode. This vehicle is welcomed by the blind and also those who are partially-sighted.
The synch makes use of a road speed sensor and a speaker mounted on the radiator and utters a noise at a representative pitch and frequency to procreate the noise of an engine decelerating down or accelerating up.
This allows a pedestrian to easily know how close the car is, and also its speed. The synthesizer repeatedly kicks in when the car moves into its total-electric mode, and turns off when the engine resumes.
‘Blind and partially-sighted people use the noise of oncoming traffic as a cue for when it is safe to cross the road’ and this engine noise will help them a lot.