Geneva Preview: Magna debuts new EV concept
Click above for high-res image gallery of the Magna Steyr mila ev concept Auto supplier Magna Steyr has chosen the Geneva Motor Show to unveil its new mila ev concept vehicle. You may recall that Magna is currently working with Ford on a production version of the Focus-based electric car that the Blue Oval is expected to launch as a production model in 2011. Like the proof-of-concept EV from Magna that we got the chance to drive at the Detroit Auto Show , the mila ev uses a lithium ion battery pack that’s capable of providing a range of around 100 miles (150 kilometers) after a charge of about 2.5 hours. Though it’s clearly possible to convert a gas-guzzler to an electric machine, the mila ev highlights the advantages of designing a purpose-built electric vehicle with a spacious five-door hatchback bodystyle and the ability to accommodate a natural gas, hydrogen fuel cell or hybrid powertrain in addition to the fully electric version currently being shown. Integrated rooftop solar panels provide an extra jolt of power and could possibly allow for a climate control system that doesn’t drain the batteries. Magna says that the mila ev concept is ready for production and that it can assemble the modular vehicle for any manufacturer at its own flexible manufacturing plants. Check out our gallery below and see the official press release after the break. Gallery: Geneva Preview: Magna Steyr mila ev [Source: Magna Steyr] Continue reading Geneva Preview: Magna debuts new EV concept Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Geneva Motor Show Geneva Preview: Magna debuts new EV concept originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
Car Blog Greenthe rest here:
Geneva Preview: Magna debuts new EV concept
Ford gets incentives from Michigan for EV battery development
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Ford Transit Connect The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has granted Ford Motor Company a $55 million incentive in refundable tax credits. The incentive will come from the new Michigan Advanced Battery Credits initiative and is supposed to help Ford push forward with its plans to introduce four new electric vehicles to the American market by 2012 . Lithium ion battery packs are likely to account for the bulk of the costs associated with developing usable electric vehicles. The first vehicle we are expecting to see from the Blue Oval is an all-electric van based on the Transit Connect platform , which should be ready by 2010. Next up, and probably more exciting to most consumers, will likely be a new electric compact car based on the next-gen Ford Focus platform and built in collaboration with Magna International. Expect that car to hit the market in limited quantities in 2011. A year later, Ford’s first plug-in hybrid models should be ready for public consumption as well. Gallery: 2010 Ford Transit Connect [Source: Ford] Continue reading Ford gets incentives from Michigan for EV battery development Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Ford , Legislation and Policy Ford gets incentives from Michigan for EV battery development originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
Car Blog Greenthe original here:
Ford gets incentives from Michigan for EV battery development
Chrysler studying Fiat’s 6-speed gearbox
One of the first consequences of the Chrysler-Fiat alliance could be the arrival of Fiat’s new six-speed transmission in Chrysler models . Chrysler lost its dual-clutch partner Getrag , which was developing a next-gen dual clutch transmission, so Fiat’s unit, still under development, is likely to arrive statewide. At least this is what Frank Klegon, Chrysler LLC’s executive vice president of product development, speculated about during the recent Chicago Auto Show . Called G365, Fiat’s new transmission comes in three flavors: manual, automated manual and dual-clutch. The manual version will debut in Europe next June, the dual-clutch version at year’s end and the automated manual in the first half of 2010. [Source: Automotive News ( subs. req'd )] Auto Blog: Emerging Technologies , Chrysler , Fiat Chrysler studying Fiat’s 6-speed gearbox originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
See the original post:
Chrysler studying Fiat’s 6-speed gearbox
Zerocarbonista releases last latest video on wind-powered sports car
The wind-powered, Exige-based electric sports car is coming along. Dale Vince, the man with the plan, has just posted the sixth in what was supposed to be a series of six videos (there will be more, though) that describes the updates to the car and other news from the Norfolk, UK idea lab. Vince doesn’t like the original Exige front end so that is being changed. As for the naming issue , it looks like Ecotricity Mojo is the current top contender, but Vince isn’t ready to commit quite yet. What he and the other guys are willing to say (as they have before ) is that electricity beats hydrogen cars, no way around it. They call the recent Top Gear program on hydrogen cars “a little misleading,” and Vince adds: “Just because it’s on Top Gear, some people might think that makes it real. But that doesn’t make it real. Hydrogen suffers from so many drawbacks that it just can’t be made to work. It’s in a race it can’t win. The fundamental problem is one of efficiency, so for any unit of energy that you put in you can do three times as many miles in the electric system than you can using the hydrogen system.” I guess if you’re done baiting Tesla , you have to say something to get attention, right? [Source: Zero Carbonista ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Green Daily Zerocarbonista releases last latest video on wind-powered sports car originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
Car Blog Greenthe original post:
Zerocarbonista releases last latest video on wind-powered sports car
Chicago 2009: Ford Taurus SHO gets EcoBoost
Auto Blog: MPG , Ford , Chicago Auto Show Click above for high-res gallery of the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO Super High Output. That moniker, shortened to the SHO acronym, has always had special meaning to fans of the original groundbreaking Ford Taurus. Now, those three letters take a greener tint as they signify that the latest version of Ford’s mainstream family sedan has been granted the Blue Oval’s new EcoBoost technology . In Taurus guise, the 3.5-liter, direct-injected, twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 engine makes 365 horsepower and drives all four wheels through a paddle-shifted, six-speed automatic transmission, meaning that this is one new bull that will have plenty of get-up-and-go. That’s the kind of power most expect from a larger displacement V8 engine, but the flip side of EcoBoost technology is that it’s supposed to deliver that power along with the kind of rational fuel economy one would expect from a standard V6 powerplant. Future versions of the EcoBoost engine family will likely include flex-fuel capability . We’ll have to wait until Ford releases official mileage ratings to see if the EcoBoost technology is as promising as it sounds, but color us intrigued in the meantime. Gallery: 2010 Ford Taurus Sho [Source: Ford] Continue reading Chicago 2009: Ford Taurus SHO gets EcoBoost Chicago 2009: Ford Taurus SHO gets EcoBoost originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
Car Blog Greenmore from the original source:
Chicago 2009: Ford Taurus SHO gets EcoBoost
What’s green, three-wheeled and can park by the blue signs?
Auto Blog: Biodiesel , Etc. , EV/Plug-in , Green Daily Click on the image above for a gallery of BioTrike Using fewer resources to get around isn’t limited to any particular group of people. Heck, there are more 43 percent electric wheelchairs in the U.S. than electric vehicles (this statistic brought to you by the Department of Made Up statistics, but I hope my point is clear). If you often travel in a wheelchair but like the idea of an aerodynamic, biofuelled ride for your longer trips, check out the BioTrike-B3XH . Sure, all of the standard add-on equipment that helps the differently-abled (is that the right term these days?) drive an SUV would work just as well on the Volt or the Focus EV, but the BioTrike (the four-seat version, anyway) has been designed from the ground up to be accessible to people who use a wheelchair or are in other ways physically handicapped. The BioTrike is a tadpole-style three-wheeled plug-in hybrid vehicle that burns diesel (or biodiesel, natch) in a Caterpillar-sourced engine. The builders claim that the range with a full tank and a full charge is somewhere between 700 and 900 miles. They don’t give a lot of details on the powertrain, but do say that the BioTrike has a 50-mile electric-only range. Prices start at $23,999 for the two-seat version and rise to $35,999 for the four-seat, wheelchair-ready version. Options extra. Gallery: BioTrike [Source: BioTrike via HybridCars ] What’s green, three-wheeled and can park by the blue signs? originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
See the original post:
What’s green, three-wheeled and can park by the blue signs?
Posted in Auto Green, Biodiesel | 
a-friend-via, a-full-charge, bio trike, Biodiesel, blue, daily, department, details-on-the, entry, from-the-ground, green-daily, like-the-idea, powertrain | 
Leave a commentToyota versus Ford – arguing about mileage of their midsize cars
Auto Blog: Hybrid , MPG , Ford , Toyota Click above for high-res gallery of the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid When Ford announced the fuel mileage statistics of its new 2010 Fusion Hybrid, the Blue Oval made a big deal about its fuel mileage ratings, which, at 41 mpg city and 36 highway , bests the Toyota Camry Hybrid. Toyota kindly retorted that its Camry is bigger than Ford’s Fusion. We wonder if that’s supposed to be a good thing. The Prius is also considered a midsize car based on its interior volume, so, depending on your point of view, both the Camry and the Prius could be considered logical competition for Ford’s latest hybrid sedan. For what it’s worth, the Prius, Camry and Fusion all have an interior volume of around 100 cubic feet, give or take a foot. Splitting hairs? Most definitely. We would hazard a guess that most people cross shop the Fusion Hybrid with the Camry Hybrid, being that they are normal-looking sedans from the outside, putting the Prius on a higher green pedestal anyway. We agree with Toyota’s official blog response that all this doesn’t really matter, just so long as each manufacturer is putting its best foot forward when engineering its new cars and trucks to get the best fuel mileage possible. In this case, this is exactly what appears to be happening. Gallery: First Drive: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid [Source: Toyota ] Toyota versus Ford – arguing about mileage of their midsize cars originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
See the original post:
Toyota versus Ford – arguing about mileage of their midsize cars
Posted in Auto Green | 2010 toyota prius, a-big-deal, a-midsize-car, blue, camry-hybrid, entry, fordfusionhybrid, fusion, toyota-camry | Leave a commentGet Approved!
Recent Comments