Electric Car Blogging

Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sedans/Saloons, Green, Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz really wants you to know how green its new line of diesel vehicles can be. To that end, the German automaker calls them Blue and capitalizes EFFICIENCY. Subtle, no? In an effort to earn the badge, MB has tweaked its largest and most luxurious model with a 3.0-liter diesel engine, a seven-speed automatic tranny that decouples itself at stops, a power steering pump that only operates when necessary and low rolling resistance tires. Those are pretty simple changes, no complex electric motors here. Fuel mileage, though, is rather good for such a large vehicle, coming in at nearly 31 U.S. miles per gallon. In contrast, the marque’s upcoming S400 BlueHYBRID only manages about 29 miles per gallon. If this sounds to you like it makes a resounding case for diesel vehicles, you’re right. It does. Unfortunately, MB only mentions German pricing for the S 320 in the press release after the jump, not indicating whether the big blue sedan will be sold on our shores anytime soon or not.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz introduces S 320 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY with 31 MPG

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Paris Motor Show, Hatchbacks, Audi

We’ll start our live coverage of the Paris Motor Show in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, but in the meantime the embargo dam at Audi has broken a bit early and released some interesting details along with a few images of the new A1 Sportback Concept. Hinted at by the Metroproject concept from Tokyo, the new A1 is a bit shorter than the A3, which is currently the smallest member of the Ingolstadt family tree, and aims to fill the premium small car niche that is currently dominated by the MINI Cooper. The Sportback’s ace-in-the-hole may be its five door body-style, offering up a dose of practicality not found in the standard BMW-based MINI. Don’t expect too many styling changes to be made before the new A1 is released in Europe as an ‘09 model. The concept sports what appears to be a new mild hybrid powertrain with a 150-horsepower 1.4L TSI engine mated up to a 27-horse electric motor. That combo sends power through Audi’s S-Tronic dual clutch gearbox, which is essentially Volkswagen’s superlative DSG transmission with a new name. Mileage is spectacular at 60.3 mpg (U.S.) and carbon emissions are low, just 92 g/km. We’ll know more after Audi officially unveils the A1 Sportback Concept in Paris tomorrow.

[Source: CarScoop]

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, China, Tech

Chinese battery manufacturer BYD can now be mentioned in the same breath as Goldman Sachs: both have recently been given the blue-chip imprimatur by U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffet. The Oracle of Omaha’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings has bought a 10-percent stake in BYD for 0 million.

BYD has big plans for its lithium-ion battery work and its automotive division. The company’s automaking arm builds - or clones, depending on your viewpoint - cars that it intends to eventually export around the world, including America. Its ultimate aim is create its own cars that run on its own batteries, like the e6. Assuming that BYD gets the batteries to work, and then can sell them to other automakers, the company will have a huge competitive advantage. If it can sell its cars, that is.

Buffett’s investment will help BYD achieve that, and should help Buffett make even more money. BYD says another planned use of that 0 million is to accelerate its move into the U.S. market, which was planned for 2010. When they finally do arrive, we’ll see if Buffett has as much faith in their vehicles as he does in their batteries.

[Source: IHT]

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