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Monday, July 2, 2012

Honda Announces Limited Fit EV Availability

3:00 PM Thomas Ponco No comments

Published July 2, 2012

By Huw Evans

Recently American Honda Motor Co. announced that the all-electric Fit EV will offered to consumers on a three-year lease with initial availability in California and Oregon only.

The program began June 20, and Honda says that next year availability will expand to six other East Coast markets, though it hasn’t yet said which ones they will be.

The Fit EV carries a MSRP of $36,625, which translates to a $389 per month lease payment (which includes the $7,500 Federal tax credit). However, in order to qualify, potential lessees will have to undergo a pre-approval process, and mileage is limited to 12,000 miles per year with no option to buy out at the end of the term.

"No other automaker on the planet is more deeply committed to produce and deliver more energy-efficient and sustainable transportation solutions than Honda," said Steven Center, vice president of the American Honda Environmental Business Development Office. "The 2013 Honda Fit EV is the latest example of this commitment."

The Fit EV, which boasts a 20-kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack and a 92-kilowatt electric motor, delivers an EPA rated combined city/highway 118 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) fuel economy rating, the highest currently bestowed on a passenger vehicle.

Honda says the Fit EV has a driving range of 82 miles before recharging is required, with an onboard charging unit designed to plug into regular 120 household electrical outlets or 240-volt AC power units. Where the latter is concerned, Honda says the battery can be recharged in less than three hours.

The Fit EV is being manufactured at the New Model Center in Tochigi, Japan, the same that produces another alternative fuel vehicle: the Hydrogen fuel cell FCX Clarity, a car that is also available to California lease customers on a limited basis.

Leaf Backs Into A Record

2:00 PM Thomas Ponco No comments

Published July 2, 2012

By Philippe Crowe

Theory confirmed. The Nissan Leaf has set a record as the fastest car over a measured mile (1.6 km) in reverse.

Driven by professional stunt driver Terry Grant, the Nissan Leaf raced backwards up the Goodwood hillclimb course at the weekend’s Festival of Speed, covering the distance in 1m 37.02s at an average speed of 55 mph.

Having set the record on Friday, the opening day of the Festival, Terry went on to smash his time on Saturday and Sunday, shaving an amazing 26 seconds off Friday’s time.

Terry, who set a world record at last year’s festival by driving a Nissan Juke up the hill on two wheels, says: “I had a great car at my disposal – with direct drive from the electric motor to its wheels, the Nissan Leaf can, in theory, go as fast backwards as it can forwards There were times I wasn’t sure I was coming or going. However, thanks to the Leaf’s low center of gravity – the batteries are an integral part of the car’s floor – the car is extremely stable, no matter which direction it’s traveling. The only complaint I have is slight neck ache from constantly looking over my shoulder!”

The Leaf Reverse Record is part of Nissan’s ambitious social media-driven campaign, “The Big Turn On,” which aims to get one million consumers switched onto electric driving, in just 100 days. The one million “turn ons” target was achieved on June 21, 15 days ahead of the original target.

Puritalia releases full renderings of Cobra-inspired 427 roadster

12:00 PM Thomas Ponco No comments

Related Gallery Puritalia 427

News Source: Puritalia

Category: Aftermarket, Convertible, Performance, Design/Style

Tags: carol shelby, cobra, puritalia, puritalia 427, shelby, shelby cobra

Daimler and Tesla Working On All-Electric B-Class

9:00 AM Thomas Ponco No comments

Published July 2, 2012

By Jeff Cobb

It would appear Daimler’s intent to bring its range-extended B-Class E Cell Plus to market is on hold as the company switches attention to a pure EV version using Tesla-sourced battery, control systems and motor.

In 2009 the two companies had signed a technology sharing agreement when the German automaker invested in the Silicon Valley startup and Daimler presently holds 4.7 percent in Tesla.

Last year at Frankfurt, Daimler showed the range-extended version using a three-cylinder gasoline engine to augment about 62 miles electric range provided by on-board batteries, but reportedly U.S. regulations and incentives on pure EVs has prompted Daimler to shelve that project for now, if not indefinitely.

In February, Daimler and Tesla announced they’d be working on a third collaboration together, and it seems this pure EV version may be it. Daimler and Tesla and previously shared technology in developing the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive and Mercedes A-Class E-Cell.

The news comes via the German language publication, Automobilwoche, and AutoGuide further speculates it won’t be surprising to hear later this year plans announced to market the Mercedes EV in light of already existent competition from BMW’s ActiveE.

Whether regulations strongly encouraged shelving the extended-range version remains to actually be seen, but given limited range from pure EVs and the premium price an M-B badged vehicle would get, it does leave questions as to why a small, economical range extender would not still make sense.

The B-Class E-Cell Plus shown last September in Frankfurt could travel as far as 372 miles with petrol assist, but if Daimler goes without it, it and Tesla – which has managed to get good range out of its Roadster and Model S already – will have to see how much all-electric range can be feasibly designed in to satisfy requirements of its Mercedes’ generally more discriminating clientele.

Sbarro Espera Geco

9:00 AM Thomas Ponco No comments

V6 / 2.946 cc / 210 PS / 214 ft/lb (290 Nm) @ 3.750

(click images for a larger view)

BMW and Toyota Plans to Lead Hydrogen Fuel Cells to Commercial Viability

8:00 AM Thomas Ponco No comments

Published July 2, 2012

By Bertel Schmitt

The intensified alliance between Toyota and BMW shines a new light on a technology that has been discussed for decades, but that never quite made it: Hydrogen fuel cells. BMW will get access to Toyota’s fuel cell technologies. This essentially spells the end of fuel cell cooperation between BMW and GM, and we already know the two companies are no longer talking on the subject. Let’s take another look.

Toyota is far ahead with hydrogen fuel cell technology. The company had Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles (FCHV) on the roads for ten years. In 2009, it “launched” its FCHV-adv, basically a Highlander with the hybrid synergy drive from the Toyota Prius connected to a 90-kw fuel cell stack. A few months ago we had it on a short test ride through the scenic warehouse landscape of Torrance, Calif. Except for an eerily quiet drive, the ride was uneventful.

On a full tank of gas, we could have taken it all the way to San Francisco and beyond – no range anxiety here. Fuel cell vehicles have all the advantages of a battery-operated vehicle, i.e. no emissions (the fuel stack produces water), and nearly none of its drawbacks.

If you want to drive tailpipe emission free, your choices are battery or fuel cell. A fuel cell is basically a battery. Fuel cells and batteries use a chemical reaction to make electricity. When the chemicals in a battery are used depleted, you must recharge or throw away the battery. The chemicals of a fuel cell are hydrogen and oxygen. You provide the hydrogen. The fuel cell stack uses free-of-charge oxygen from the air and produces electricity plus H2O – water.

Proponents of the technology say that well-to-wheel, fuel cells involve much lower emissions than batteries. Refilling the hydrogen tank should not take longer than filling up with unleaded. Next stop after 400-plus miles.

Short of one of the rumored battery tech breakthroughs we here of from time to time coming to pass, the only way to extend the range of a BEV (if you don’t want to add an ICE) is by adding more batteries. This quickly becomes an exercise in futility. Each added battery cell means more weight, heavier brakes, a larger traction motor, a stronger body to carry the mass, and in turn even more batteries. And most of all, it becomes insanely expensive.

Not so with fuel cells. Fuel cells can make electricity at weights that are between eight to 14 times less than current batteries. Extending the range of a fuel cell vehicle has negligible impact on its weight.

Like electricity, hydrogen is not a way to make energy, it is a way to transport energy. Hydrogen can be made in the same number of ways as electricity.

And why aren’t we all driving around in fuel cell vehicles by now? There were a number of technical challenges, but as Toyota Chief Engineer Satoshi Ogiso had said last year, the challenges have all been mastered.

The only real problem Ogiso is facing with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is money.

“For us, the only remaining real issue that stands in the way of fuel cell electric vehicles is mass production cost,” he said.

Current fuel cell technology is big, bulky, heavy and expensive. With enough scale, package size and price can come down considerably. Toyota plans to launch a commercial FCV in 2015. It still will be expensive, the Nikkei figures 5 million yen ($62,000). By 2020, Ogiso plans to have an affordable FCV.