Archive for September 16th, 2008
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Daily, USA
Photo by maveric2003. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Every now and then, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman reiterates his support for plug-in vehicles in his columns. His latest, headlined “Making America Stupid” doesn’t mention PHEVs by name, but it does put the question of where our future energy should come from into stark partisan relief. Friedman’s basic idea is that any encouragement of domestic drilling, especially the inane “drill, baby, drill” refrain, just makes America stupid because we’re not spending money getting us out of our dependency. In his words, “an America that is focused first and foremost on drilling for oil is an America more focused on feeding its oil habit than kicking it.”
Granted, both major presidential candidates (Obama and McCain) have some sort of energy plan that includes alternatives, but Friedman’s article is pretty convincing when he says that it’s the people who sell oil to the U.S., not the chanting Republicans, who must be the biggest fans of “drill, baby, drill” around.
[Source: NY Times]
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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily, At Witz End
 NOTE: If you missed them, please start by reading parts one, two and three in Gary’s EV1 series.
What was learned, and is being applied today
“As has been stated in comments [to the] previous two posts by Mr. Witzenburg, there are several things which just don’t add up, and make him look like a half-wit.” - ABG reader Virgil.
Despite your gratuitous insult, Virgil, you raise a couple good points in your comment … and one not so good. You wrote:
“First, aerodynamics. Anyone who’s ever been in a canoe knows that a 17-ft canoe is faster than a 14-ft canoe. They’re the same width, same frontal area, but the longer boat allows a more shallow angle of attack and tail-off, so is more hydrodynamic. Making a longer EV1 would improve aerodynamic performance, not decrease.”
Really? Based on intuition, without data, I would tend to agree. But vehicle aerodynamic behavior on a solid surface is not always intuitive. Our body engineers said their aero analysis showed a meaningful increase in drag from a longer (and flatter) four-seat body vs. a shorter, teardrop-shaped two-passenger one. I’m no expert, but given that no other practical production vehicle has come close to EV1’s astounding 0.19 Cd, I have no reason to disbelieve them.
Read more after the break.
Continue reading At Witz’ End: GM EV1 - The Real Story, Part IV
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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy, On Two Wheels, China, USA
Click above to see more vehicles from Kandi
Over the last few years, there has been an amazing influx of Chinese motorcycles, scooters and all terrain vehicles. Many of the products coming in from overseas have a horrible record for quality, but there have been a few gems along the way as well. With this in mind, our eyes were drawn to an article on Automotive News regarding a new Chinese company we were not yet familiar with. Though we’ve become accustomed to finding these manufacturers on scooter forums and news sites, it is still rare to see them in the mainstream automotive media. We have no way of knowing what kind of quality its vehicles are, but Zhejiang Kangdi Vehicles Co. may be making some inroads into the U.S. market with its line of two, three and four-wheelers in both gas and electric versions. The company appears to be calling itself Kandi. A Seattle company is importing the vehicles and fifteen franchises have already been purchased.
We took a look at the company’s web site and we see some of the normal scooters and motorcycles. We also see some carts with an eerie resemblance to the smart fortwo. One model really caught our attention — a three-wheeled scooter powered by what appears to be the ubiquitous GY6 150cc engine and CVT transmission. We’ll see if Kandi vehicles come up any more in the coming weeks and months. It’s just as possible that we never hear the name again. Will Kandi begin offering EPA-certified vehicles? Stay tuned.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Government/Legal, Green, Chevrolet, GM, Toyota
Click above for high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt
Automotive News reports that Toyota is preparing a statement for a congressional hearing on the progress of EVs, the results of which could influence legislation that gives a big ,500 tax credit to any hybrid with a battery pack rated at 6 kilowatt-hours of electricity or more. Toyota argues that the legislation is too restrictive and redefines what a hybrid is since the only vehicle eligible (that we know about) would be the 2011 Chevy Volt with its 16 killowatt-hour battery pack, though Toyota never calls out the series hybrid by name.
For reference, the current Toyota Prius uses a battery pack that generates 1.3 killowatt-hour, and judging by the Japanese automaker’s reaction to this legislation, we doubt that its plug-in hybrid electric Prius currently under development uses a battery pack powerful enough, either. Nevertheless, there could be other hybrids being developed besides the Volt that would be eligible, which would poke a big hole in Toyota’s argument. Also, as AutoblogGreen points out, this legislation will likely change many times before it becomes law.
The government is right, however, to put higher restrictions on what is eligible for a tax credit of this size. Current hybrid tax credits have topped out around ,000, with the largest on record being for the Prius itself at ,150. If the government is considering offering more than twice that amount for future hybrids, then we think it’s fair they raise the bar on what should be eligible.
[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]
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Filed under: Concept Cars, Hybrids/Alternative, Euro, Green, Paris Motor Show, Hatchbacks, PSA, Peugeot
Click above for a hi-res gallery of the Peugeot Prologue concept
Peugeot’s new, Paris-bound hybrid concept car is called the Prologue, and based on how Peugeot describes it in the press release that accompanied these three photos, it shows us where the French automaker is headed stylistically and technologically. The Prologue is a perfectly normal-looking 5-door hatchback with a new, less-horrific take on the gaping-maw look with which the Peugeot range has been saddled in recent years. Now it just looks angry, instead of like a boxer about to spit out his mouth guard. The Prologue’s hybrid powertrain is apparently good for 200 horsepower and emits 109 g/km of CO2 per kilometer. We’ll have the final word on the Prologue — an epilogue, so to speak — from the Paris Motor Show next month.
[Source: Peugeot]
Continue reading Paris Preview: Peugeot Prologue concept
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sedans/Saloons, Green, Videos, Chevrolet, GM
Click above to watch video after the jump
General Motors’ goal for the exterior of the 2011 Chevy Volt is to create as much pizazz as possible with superior aerodynamics to ensure the least amount of parasitic loss for the electric drivetrain. The interior, however, is all about how the driver interacts with the vehicle. And with the Volt, GM designers attempted to pull off a Buck Rodgers meets Apple iPod theme.
A quick glance at the futuristic Volt interior shows a very unique approach to integrating design and technology. The first thing we noticed was that GM decided to use two seven-inch LCD screens, with one working as the main driver instrument panel (no gauge cluster here) and the other for everything from navigation to tracking battery charges. Both screens are user configurable, and two different configurations can be saved for two different drivers.
Follow the jump for more including a video demonstration of the Chevy Volt’s interior by one of its designers.
Continue reading VIDEO: Walkthrough of 2011 Chevy Volt interior
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sedans/Saloons, Green, Hatchbacks, Chevrolet, GM
Click above for high-res gallery of 2011 Chevy Volt
Everyone who has been waiting with bated breath for the past year and a half to see the production version of the Chevy Volt can now breathe a big sigh of relief. After some extremely unflattering press shots shots were accidentally released last week, people were extremely disappointed with what appeared to be little more than a Prius clone. Anyone who spends time photographing cars knows how hard it can be to make them look good and how easy it is to make them look really awful. Unfortunately, those shots that were unapproved and never supposed to be released anyway fell into the latter category.
The car that GM rolled out this morning as part of its centennial celebration in Detroit is a much more attractive machine that while different from the concept is still very attractive. Rather than the egg shape look we saw, it’s actually much more like the car we saw in the Transformers 2 spy pics a few weeks back. The greenhouse is longer and the raked back windshield gives a very slick look. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the design is the black trim around the side windows. The thick black border along the lower edge is meant to recall the transparent beltline of the concept. It definitely works better in darker colors where there is less contrast. On the inside, a fully configurable LCD instrument cluster allows different drivers to select the gauges they want to see. Overall the design team appears to have created a car that while certainly more mainstream than the concept, is still recognizable as the Volt and something different from the Japanese brand hybrids.
UPDATE: More live shots are on their way. Wi-fi at the GM Renaissance Center is particularly bad this morning.
UPDATE 2: First gallery of live shots added below, and here are some live shots from autoblog china (Shanghai).
UPDATE 3: Video of the actual reveal added after the jump!
Continue reading Officially Official: GM reveals the 2011 Chevy Volt!
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green
Could the nearly-identical shapes of the Prius and the new Honda Insight really be a coincidence, as Honda claims, or is the so-called “Prius killer” going to slay by copying? At least the new 2010 Chevrolet Cruze has got its own style, as we saw at yesterday’s live reveal in Detroit. Another reveal takes place later today when GM shows off the Chevy Volt. Stick with Autoblog and AutoblogGreen for all the details.
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