Henderson, Lutz and Wagoner next to the Volt

I’m a big fan of the Chevy Volt. I think it’s an important step in the right direction, especially for a company like GM. Still, I’ve blogged over-and-over that the Volt was not an excuse not to build a direct Toyota Prius-contender.

Ultimately, the lack of small hybrid cars coming out of GM – there are none – has perpetually bothered me. Thus, when a web campaign emerged to ‘bailout out GM to save the Volt’. I had to say no (Bailout GM to save the Volt: No).

GM’s viability, I’ve believed, had to be about more than the Volt, especially in the short term, and President Obama’s task force agrees.

“While the Volt holds promise, it will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short-term,” an Obama task report said. The electric car “is currently projected to be much more expensive than its gasoline-fueled peers and will likely need substantial reductions in manufacturing cost in order to become commercially viable.”

Labels: bailout, Chevy Volt electric vehicle concept, Hybrid Vehicles, toyota prius

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Although the price tag should keep the car at the exclusive end of the US market, BMW hopes its clever deployment of technology will allow the customers that the Z10 ED does attract to achieve both the performance that they require and the fuel-efficiency that they want.

BMW is planning to push the existing engine and materials technology to its limits and deliver a spectacular “green” vehicle package for the 2011 BMW Z10 ED so that they do not have to reduce the performance of the model. If successful, the Z10 should deliver on both performance and fuel savings for its customers.

To improve engine performance, BMW will most likely use carbon fiber body panels and door frames to make the Z10 ED as light as possible. BMW is known for its carbon fiber expertise today. When the engineers combine this existing expertise with using aluminum components in other areas of the car, they should be able to meet the 3000 pound target weight for the 2011 BMW Z10 ED.

The German automaker is also rumored to be developing a new six cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine for the new Z10 ED vehicle. This engine offering will be coupled with an automatic transmission for the US market. The turbocharged gasoline engine will allow the vehicle to achieve more power than a normal naturally aspired six cylinder.

The BMW Z10 ED was originally introduced as a concept car in 2007. The vehicle was never expected to go further than the one-off concept phase, even by BMW. However, BMW leaders changed their plans to focus on a more economically-friendly supercar and decided to go forward into limited production with the Z10 ED for 2011. The Efficient Dynamics badge gives BMW a platform to bring their fuel-saving technology to market while also reducing carbon emissions.

The 2011 BMW Z10 ED will not come cheap to consumers with its $115,000 price tag. However, BMW’s new green supercar should deliver on both performance and fuel efficiency to the customers it does tempt in 2011.

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Get a deal on a Toyota hybrid today

Toyota has announced a bunch of incentives on its vehicles, including its hybrid cars. Incentives can vary depending upon your region, but the Toyota Camry hybrid is averaging about a $1500 discount and the Prius is averaging about $1000 discount according to Cars.com.

Check out Toyota’s consumer site for more information.

Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, toyota camry hybrid, toyota prius

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The Chevrolet Beat was introduced as a concept car in 2007. Although it was planned to be introduced everywhere else, GM did not originally want to bring it to the U.S. market. Executives at GM thought Americans would not want a city car that was smaller than the Aveo.

Despite this initial view, GM executives have now changed their mind and announced earlier this year that the Chevrolet Spark, which is based on the Beat concept will be launched in Europe in 2010 and will start to appear in the US dealerships in 2011. The fluctuation in gas prices and the current economic crisis has made this reversal easier to make.

The 2011 Chevy Spark is being designed in Korea by GM’s Daewoo brand. It should compete directly with the Smart Fortwo and Toyota iQ and hopefully will appeal more to the young, minicar, urban consumer than the current Chevy Aveo does. Let’s face it though it would be hard not to beat the customer appeal of the current Aveo.

The 2011 Chevy Spark will be available with a 1.0 liter, 66 horsepower or a 1.2 liter, 78 horsepower four cylinder gasoline engine. What the Spark lacks in engine performance, it will gain in fuel economy. It is expected to get at least 47 mpg and achieve very low carbon emissions making it very appealing to the environmentally-conscience city buyer.

The vehicle will come as a 5-door hatchback. GM claims the new car’s style is fun and fashionable as well as functional. For a small vehicle, the car does have a reasonable sized passenger compartment and even some trunk space. One unique feature on the interior is the motorcycle-type instrument cluster that is mounted to the steering column. It is supposed to proved easy-to-read information for the driver.

The 2011 Chevrolet Spark will be GM’s answer to the global mini-car question. Lucky for us, they changed their mind about not bringing the original Beat concept car to the US and are now planning to bring the Spark here as well as to Europe and Asia. The Spark will be a welcomed addition to GM’s line-up that should allow the manufacturer to improve their appeal to young customers and step up their game in the small car segment.

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Can lithium power the Sonata past other hybrids?

Hyundai has confirmed that it plans to begin selling the Hyundai Sonata hybrid in October of next year. More interesting, the Sonata hybrid will utilize Hyundai’s Blue Drive – a lithium polymer powered hybrid drive.

In related news, the Hyundai Blue Will plug-in hybrid concept has not yet been confirmed, but there is “a very good possibility” that the Blue Will will eventually be produced.

Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, hyundai sonata hybrid

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The new 2012 BMW 1 Series Super Sport model is designed to sit between the 135iS and the new M3. It will replace the missed M1 but will not carry the M badge.

The US version of the 2012 BMW 1 Series Super Sport is expected to feature a 2.0 or 2.2 liter, approximately 300 horsepower twin-turbocharged, four cylinder engine. The model will be rear wheel drive with a six-speed manual or a semi-automatic transmission.

The 2012 BMW Super Sport will take some cues from the base 115i model. It will be based on the coupe body style and will use lightweight materials, such as a carbon fiber roof and light weight glass. However the Super Sport will still differentiate itself from the base model by having an upgraded suspension and brakes system.

Also, the Super Sport will have a unique external look when compared to the base 1-Series 115i. This look will include dual round headlamps that are very similar to those that were seen on the 2002 tii.

The next 1-Series and 1-Series Super Sport models will also use the Efficient Dynamics system which should include an integrated starter generator and a start-stop feature for the automatic transmissions.

Sitting between the 135iS and the M3, BMW is aiming to lure young professionals away from the Mini brand or the Mercedes CLC with the 2012 1-Series Super Sport. Although the Super Sport will be designed by the M division at BMW it will not wear the M badge. However, new customers to BMW should get the ride and handling feel that the M badge is known for in the 2012 1-Series Super Sport even if they cannot have the badge to go with it.

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Hyundai’s hybrid weapon?

A couple of years ago, when it was speculated that Toyota would use lithium in the third generation Prius, I thought the world of hybrid cars was ready to explode. Unfortunately, Toyota chose the safe and reliable path and stuck with NiMH.

Since then, there has been a lot of talk about lithium chemistry’s, and which one is better. Is it lithium cobalt, phosphorous, magnesium, etc?

At the LA Auto Show, Hyundai said it was lithium polymer.

Today, Technology Review has a pretty interesting piece on Seeo, Inc. and their latest use of “thin films of polymer as the electrolyte and high-energy-density, light-weight electrodes” which result in “safer, longer-lasting, lighter, and cheaper” batteries.

While some critics maintain that polymer electrolytes are not feasible for quick charge hybrids because of low ionic conductivity, the fact that Hyundai seems prepared to bet its hybrid future on related technology is quite interesting.

Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, Hyundai, lithium battery

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569 units sold in first week

If you checked out your local Honda dealer last week hoping to purchase an Insight hybrid, you might have been disappointed. While Honda did begin delivery of the Insight, availability was limited. Nonetheless, Honda did record the sale of 569 Insights last week.

Interestingly, Honda Civic hybrid sales were down 20.8% in March compared to last year – a significant decline, but not as significant as most other Honda models.

Labels: honda civic hybrid, honda insight hybrid

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So, here are the results:

ALL CITY DRIVING

General driving style  – 24.5 l/100 km or 9.6 MPGMore economical style – 18.4 l/100 km or 12.8 MPGMore economical style 2nd try – 19.5 l/100 km or 12 MPG

I’m rather satisfied with 12.8 MPG because my Jeep didn’t do any better either. However, 9.6 MPG is certainly too bad and I shall try to avoid this in the future

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Greenhouse gases to be a “health danger”

The EPA is ready to declare carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a public health danger according to reports. If the White House accepts the EPA’s proposal, sweeping change is forthcoming. Already, the White House has indicated that it wants Congress to act on this issue, such as in greater fuel economy standards – probably similar to those California is seeking – along the way to President Obama’s cap-and-trade plan.

But will consumers balk?

Ultimately, such legislation will lead to higher auto prices – higher everything prices. Assuming cap-and-trade revenues will help subsidize these higher costs for low income consumers might be too big of an assumption for many voters. And with a majority of Americans now picking the economy over the environment, serious plans to regulate CO2 emissions could become a political braking point for the Obama Administration if the economy does not soon recover.

Labels: cap and trade, Congress, epa, global warming

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