Geneva Preview: Skoda to debut Octavia Greenline
According to a report on Auto Express , Volkswagen-owned Czech automaker Skoda is set to debut a fuel-saving version of its Octavia sedan at the Geneva Motor Show next week. The Octavia is the longest-running nameplate from Skoda, celebrating its 50th anniversary earlier this year. Like other eco-friendly models from Skoda , the new Octavia will carry a Greenline badge and will feature various tricks designed solely to save on fuel bills. Expect the new sedan to be equipped with a 1.6L TDI diesel engine that offers up 105 horsepower and about 185 lb-ft (250 newton meters) of torque, probably mated up with a manual transmission powering the front wheels. Perhaps most importantly to Europeans, the Octavia Greenline should emit around 116 grams of carbon per kilometer, placing this relatively large sedan in a low £35 road tax bracket. EU fuel mileage ratings should be around 64 mpg (53 U.S.) on the combined cycle. [Source: Auto Express ] Auto Blog: Diesel , Geneva Motor Show , Europe/EU , UK Geneva Preview: Skoda to debut Octavia Greenline originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Geneva Preview: Skoda to debut Octavia Greenline
Geneva Preview: Tata to bring the euro-spec Nano back for more?
Click to see the complete gallery of the Tata Nano Sales of the Tata Nano haven’t started yet in its native land, India, but speculation about exporting the vehicle to Europe and America is already in the news. Now, Ratan Tata has announced that his company will be bringing the Nano to the Old Continent in the coming months, as well as for the Geneva Motor Show (the car was a hit in Geneva in 2008 ). Mr. Tata mentioned that the car would pass the EuroNCAP crash tests, as well as the Euro V anti-pollution legislation – two must-meet conditions for the car to be sold in Europe. There was no mention of the plant that would produce this model, just that prices will start at €5,000. By way of comparison, you can find a Dacia Sandero 1.2 for roughly €8,000. Oh, and an American Nano is also in the works. Gallery: Tata Nano: The People’s Car [Source: Le Blog Auto ] Auto Blog: Geneva Motor Show , Tata Geneva Preview: Tata to bring the euro-spec Nano back for more? originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Geneva Preview: Tata to bring the euro-spec Nano back for more?
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Leave a commentNissan hopes to show off electric cars for London’s 2012 Olympic bid
Last year during the Olympic Games in Beijing, Chinese automakers (and Germany’s MINI ) took advantage of their brief opportunity on the world stage to show off some of their latest fuel efficient vehicles. Now that London has been awarded the Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012, European automakers are probably considering how to put their best feet tires forward when the whole world starts watching. At least one automaker, the Renault/Nissan conglomerate, has already been in talks with Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, to showcase three new electric vehicles by filling up the streets of the European city with its wares. Included in the proposal is a new small electric city car about the size of the Clio, a larger sedan “that would make a good taxi,” and an electric version of the Kangoo MPV. French energy supplier EDF would provide a city’s worth of electric car chargers . [Source: Car Magazine Online ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Nissan , Renault , Green Daily , Europe/EU , UK Nissan hopes to show off electric cars for London’s 2012 Olympic bid originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Nissan hopes to show off electric cars for London’s 2012 Olympic bid
Posted in Auto Green, Hybrids | chinese, electric nissan, electricrenault, euro, europe, geneva-motor, geneva-preview, london, london2012, londonolympics, ratan tata | Leave a commentEcoBoost = good news: Ford will re-open Cleveland plant to build cleaner engines
Click above for a gallery of the 2010 Lincoln MKS Ford’s EcoBoost engines are a fairly simple technology and, while they’re certainly not going to achieve 100 mpg, these 3.5-liter V6 powerplants are ready right now and will be available in four 2010 models: the Lincoln MKS, Lincoln MKT, Ford Taurus SHO and Ford Flex. In fact, the 3.5L EcoBoost V6 is so ready to go that Ford has announced it will reopen the Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 to build it. This plant will be the first Ford manufacturing site in the world to produce EcoBoost engines. This is great news for Cleveland, as the plant has been idle since 2007. It was first opened in 1951 and Ford spent $55 million to give it flexible manufacturing capabilities. Unfortunately, no new jobs will be created as 250 employees from other areas of the plant site will be retrained and used. This is all good news even if you don’t have ties to The Forest City because the 3.5L EcoBoost V6 improves fuel economy by 20 percent while dropping CO 2 emissions by 15 percent. The engine will be standard on the SHO and available an option for the other three models. To dig into the nuts and bolts of the technology, check out this post (and this one ) and Car Blog Greenmore about the reopening of Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 after the jump. Gallery: Lincoln MKS with EcoBoost [Source: Ford] Continue reading EcoBoost = good news: Ford will re-open Cleveland plant to build cleaner engines Auto Blog: Emerging Technologies , MPG , Ford , Green Daily EcoBoost = good news: Ford will re-open Cleveland plant to build cleaner engines originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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EcoBoost = good news: Ford will re-open Cleveland plant to build cleaner engines
Geneva Preview: Lotus to unveil Omnivore concept engine
Next week at the Geneva Motor Show , Lotus Engineering will unveil its Omnivore concept engine. As the name implies, the Omnivore is designed to consume whatever is fed to it. The Omnivore is a flex fuel engine that is designed to extract the maximum amount of work regardless of what type of fuel is used. One of the main issues with flex-fuel engines is that the various fuels have different combustion characteristics (burn rates, octane ratings combustion temperatures) and it’s difficult to get a single engine to run at optimal efficiency with different fuels due to the physical limitations of the engine. Turbocharged engines have an advantage because the maximum boost pressure can be varied to take advantage of higher octane alcohol fuels. The Omnivore is specifically designed to take advantage of varying fuels and modern electronic control capabilities. Like most research engines, this is a single cylinder design that allows the Lotus engineers to more quickly make changes and study the effects. This is also a two-stroke design with an air assisted direct injection system provided by Orbital Corporation of Australia. Those interested in two-strokes may remember Orbital from the early nineties when a number of manufacturers were investigating two-stroke engines. The concept engine uses a mono-block layout with a single hunk of metal comprising the cylinder block and head and no poppet valves. Instead the ports are exposed by the piston’s motion. Variations in timing between intake and exhaust are achieved by valve in the exhaust port that traps the exhaust. The lack of poppet valves allows for the installation of a movable puck in the top of the cylinder that allows for a variable compression ratio. Sensors that detect the fuel composition are tied into the engine management and the compression ratio is varied to get the most out of the fuel under various driving conditions. The goal of the project is to allow engines to go as far as possible on every gallon fuel regardless of the fuel type. Ultimately this design should even be able to accommodate diesel-like HCCI combustion . [Source: Lotus] Continue reading Geneva Preview: Lotus to unveil Omnivore concept engine Auto Blog: Flex-Fuel , MPG , Lotus , Geneva Motor Show Geneva Preview: Lotus to unveil Omnivore concept engine originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Geneva Preview: Lotus to unveil Omnivore concept engine
Geneva Preview: Porsche to publicly debut Cayenne diesel
Click the Cayenne diesel for a high res gallery Porsche started building the new Cayenne diesel SUV several weeks ago but the German sports car maker will publicly show it for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show in a couple of weeks. Like its platform-mates the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7, the Cayenne uses the VW group 3.0L TDI V6. The 240 hp diesel engine allows the new Cayenne to be the most efficient variant yet by a long shot. The Cayenne diesel is rated at a combined 25.3 mpg (U.S.) on the European cycle. The 405 lb-ft of torque motivates the Cayenne to 62 mph in 8.3 seconds with a top speed of 133 mph. The 25.6 gallon fuel tank gives the Cayenne a bladder-busting range of 620 miles. Like its siblings, the Cayenne is only available with a 6-speed automatic transmission. So far, Porsche hasn’t indicated any intention of offering the diesel Cayenne in the U.S. market even though the engine is already certified for the Audi and VW. The press release is after the jump. Gallery: Porsche Cayenne Diesel [Source: Porsche] Continue reading Geneva Preview: Porsche to publicly debut Cayenne diesel Auto Blog: Diesel , Porsche , Geneva Motor Show Geneva Preview: Porsche to publicly debut Cayenne diesel originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Geneva Preview: Porsche to publicly debut Cayenne diesel
Honda sells its 300,000th hybrid, plans CR-Z for 2010
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Honda CR-Z concept Honda has a long history with hybrid vehicles, selling its first fuel-saver, the Insight, way back in 1999 and beating Toyota’s Prius to the American market by a couple of years in the process. Since then, the Japanese automaker has managed to move over 300,000 hybrid cars, a milestone that was achieved at the end of January. In total, just over 17,000 Insights were sold over that car’s short lifespan. Since then, Honda has added over 28,000 Accord Hybrids and over 255,000 Civic Hybrids to that figure. Somehow, we have a feeling that it will take Honda much less time to hit its next 300K, with sales of its latest Insight hybrid reportedly off to a very strong start and launch dates for the European and U.S. versions right around the corner. In 2010, Honda plans to bolster its hybrid line further with a vehicle based on the CR-Z concept that was first seen back in 2007. This new vehicle will harken back to the old two-seat CRX and provide an aggressive, sporty alternative to the more practical 2009 Insight. Gallery: CR-Z hybrid concept [Source: Honda] Continue reading Honda sells its 300,000th hybrid, plans CR-Z for 2010 Auto Blog: Hybrid , Honda Honda sells its 300,000th hybrid, plans CR-Z for 2010 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Honda sells its 300,000th hybrid, plans CR-Z for 2010
Geneva Preview: Details on Rinspeed iChange concept filter out
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Rinspeed iChange Last month, we learned that Rinspeed would be debuting another of its crazy concept vehicles at the Geneva Motor Show , now a few more details about the Swiss-designed vehicle, along with a ton of new images, are making the rounds. Concept cars from Rinspeed are always a bit wacky, and this one doesn’t disappoint with a body that shape-shifts in order to seat the required number of occupants (up to 3) so that it’s always as aerodynamically adept as possible. Besides the real-life Transformer shell, the iChange concept features a fully electric drivetrain, including a 150-kilowatt (204 horsepower) motor that’s hooked up to a six-speed gearbox cribbed from a Subaru WRX. There are two different lithium ion battery options (one each for short-range or long-range driving) that can offer enough juice to accelerate to 60 miles per hour in about 4 seconds. Top speed is listed at 137 mph. Other eco-friendly features include a navigation system that tailors the route for fuel savings, spun wool interior and roof-mounted solar panels that help charge the batteries on sunny days. Lastly, a heater that runs on electricity for short trips and E85 liquid fuel for long trips has been fitted for climate control. See the comically long press release after the break. Gallery: Geneva Preview: Rinspeed iChance concept [Source: Rinspeed] Continue reading Geneva Preview: Details on Rinspeed iChange concept filter out Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Solar , Geneva Motor Show Geneva Preview: Details on Rinspeed iChange concept filter out originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid arriving in the U.S. this summer
Click the S400 for a high res gallery At last week’s Chicago Auto Show Mercedes-Benz quietly announced the impending arrival of its first volume production hybrid, the S400 BlueHybrid. The S400 goes on sale this summer with the new mild hybrid system co-developed by Daimler and BMW. Unlike the Two-Mode hybrid that will go into the ML450 later this year, the S400 used a 20 hp disk shaped motor, sandwiched between the engine and transmission. In typical fashion, the system provides auto-start-stop, electric assist, and regenerative braking capabilities. The entire vehicle’s electrical components are now driven off the lithium ion battery pack that is part of the system. The hybrid motor actually supplants the conventional alternator, which should make the system both more efficient and lighter, but also quieter by eliminating another belt driven component hanging off the engine block. With the 305 hp 3.5L V6 and 7-speed automatic transmission the S400 is rated at 29.8 mpg (U.S.) on the EU combined driving cycle. Official EPA numbers won’t be available until closer to the on-sale date. Gallery: 2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid [Source: Mercedes-Benz] Continue reading Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid arriving in the U.S. this summer Auto Blog: Hybrid , Mercedes Benz Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid arriving in the U.S. this summer originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid arriving in the U.S. this summer
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