The Mini team has been working on a smaller version of the MINI for some time now. Rumor has it, that the concept should be ready for the 2011 Geneva Motor Show in March. Not much information has been revealed yet, but it will probably be a two-seater based on a modified version of an existing front-engine/front-wheel-drive platform with a shorter wheelbase and small-capacity gasoline engine. It would make it a direct competition to Smart ForTwo. Another possibility is that the car will have three seats. It is also expected that it will be a development of an existing concept that first appeared in Geneva in 1997 – a 4-seater known as the MINI Spiritual.
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The T.25 City Car has been recently unveiled by the designer of McLarens F1 sports car; Gordon Murray. The aim of the T.25 is to be the most complete car for easy use in and around the city. A very lightweight and small car the T.25 is set to rival the smart car in the city car market place.
Its small size means that the car is very easy to park, being able to fit sideways or long ways into a parking space. In fact the T.25 is even slimmer than a smart car. With its single door design the car is able to be parked in the smallest of spaces whilst also allowing the driver to easily access and exit the vehicle.
Extra benefits of the reduced width of this car mean that it is feasible for two T.25’s to occupy a single lane side by side, which could potentially reduce the amount of traffic jams during peak times.
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One of the most successful Chinese automotive companies in China – BYD (Build Your Dreams) Auto is going to attack the US auto market with a four-door electric car, which was presented at the last Detroit auto show.
BYD e6 will roll out of the assembly plant soon and the first vehicles will be offered on the American market by the end of 2010 year.
BYD e6 is full sized electric vehicle with 4 doors. The operational costs are only 1/3 of the regular car in the same segment. Autonomy is 205 miles and the maximum speed is 88 miles per hour. In 14 seconds can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles. BYD e6 can be charged at home, but charging stations will be offered to any interested party like transportation companies, airports, restaurants etc…
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Picking one car that has everything you desire and need for your family road trips usually boil down to what you can afford. Because you’re traveling with precious cargo – your family – safety and security are often at the top of the checklist for cars.
Then comes comfort. The American pastime is driving across the country and many days on the road are going to add up to frazzled nerves and short tempers if everyone is uncomfortable.
One thing that is creeping up on the list is gas mileage and environmental considerations, especially as gas prices continue to gouge our budgets.
So, if you’re preparing for one of those road trips, or gearing to make them a tradition while the kids are still under your roof, which car is going to give you the most for your money – and keep saving you money? If you’ve traveled 1500 miles and are looking for things to do in, say, Boston, the last thing you want to be worried about is constantly filling up your safe and comfortable, but gas-guzzling vehicle.
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In January 2009 President Obama declared strong support for initiatives that aim to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming. As a part of his green stimulus package, he assigned $2.4 billion for loans and grants to companies investing in the development of low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicles.
Some of the federal money went to Navistar – a company that specializes in the production of trucks, buses, and vehicle engines. At first the company received a $39.2 million grant to develop its first all-electric commercial truck called eStar. The vehicle had its official premiere on May, 13th. It is a medium-duty vehicle with a range of 100 miles, and maximum speed of 50 mph. Its battery can be fully charged in 6 to 8 hours and, if necessary, can be exchanged in 20 minutes , which enables 24/7 operation. The truck will be now tested by FedEx in its Los Angeles fleet. The manufacturer claims that eStar can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 10 tons of carbon dioxide a year when compared to diesel trucks. In January 2010 Navistar was given a hefty sum of $37.3 million – this time for investment in a “Super Truck” featuring a 50 percent improvement in fuel efficiency. Better efficiency is expected to be achieved by improving truck and trailer aerodynamics, waste heat recovery, combustion efficiency, hybridization, and idle reduction.
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Not so long time ago, when I was big fan of submarines I learned the fact that the best conventional propulsion for this submersibles is the diesel electric engines/motors. Now the Germans are going to try to dominate the world again and guess what? They are going to use the same proven recipe like 70 years ago – the diesel electric propulsion. Before you start to ask what a hack is going on this blog, let me to tell you that this is going to be an article for the new BMW concept of diesel electric hybrid.
BMW new diesel electric hybrids have astonishing look and performances. The power of the engines is 356 hp. From 0 to 60 mph the new BMW hybrid can reach in 4.8 seconds. Fuel consumption is just 63 mpg.
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Few decades ago in the time with a rising fuel prices, the automotive companies were looking for some new paradigms in the developing of a new generation of cars which will be less dependent on fuel and classical energy sources. New concepts were developed like hybrid cars, hydrogen cars and electric cars. The last one was common at the beginning of the last century but quickly forgotten after the First World War, only to be rediscovered in the last decade.
Hybrid cars vas developed as automobiles with a two combined power sources. The first one is a classical internal combustion engine which power the car for the most of the time and the second one is electric which helps the car during the acceleration and drive in the traffic clogged environments like city centers, towns and high traffic lanes around the towns and cities. The electric motor is powered by the electric power from the batteries situated in the car. The electric motors also use the electric energy which is created when the driver hits the brakes and vehicle is decelerating. This concept shows a success and in the last decade the car enthusiasts and eco friendly new car owners can buy cars like Toyota Prius and Honda Insight.
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We have already written about some electric vehicles which are going to hit the market in the next 2-3 years like Coda electric car, Doking XD, Pininfarina Bollore BLUECAR and Nissan Leaf.
But if you like to drive fully capable electric car now, we would like to inform you about the newest electric car on the North American market – the Tazzari Zero.
Tazzari Zero is a latest generation of electric vehicle which is produced in Italy. This year (2010) Tazzari zero is going to be available for American market. The price tag is going to be 29,900 US dollars before any federal or state tax credits. The distribution in America, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean islands is going to be managed by Verdek-EV. The price in USA is eligible for a tax credit of 6,336 American dollars.
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Last week, Tesla Motors, Inc. (Tesla) and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced an intention to cooperate in the further development of electric vehicles, parts, and production system, but also in engineering support. Toyota Motor Corporation will purchase $50 million of Tesla’s common stock which will provide Toyota significant presence in the Tesla Motors.
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Nowadays it is de rigueur to discuss ‘going green’ with almost any topic imaginable. Here in the UK we have our first ‘Green’ party MP – the first of many I am sure. But in the emotive area of vehicle development, what is the availability of environmentally efficient cars, trucks and vans? With the price of petrol (gasoline) rising all the time, it becomes more and more important to conserve fuel consumption, because ultimately this means more money in our pockets. So how do you define a ‘green van? According to petrol prices.com: “a green van is a vehicle that is considered to be environmentally-friendly and to be less damaging to the environment compared with conventional vans”. So who cares, and why should anyone be bothered to ‘go green’ the next time they buy or lease a van?
The UK government (Department for Transport) is actively involved in encouraging the development of zero carbon and low carbon emission vans. Following competitive procurement, a process of selecting potential supplier, 4 companies were invited to submit proposals that showed new levels of performance, technical innovation and the potential for mass market commercialization.
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Pininfarina and Bollore executives are perfect example of the people who are doing their homework. In this case the homework was done four to five years ago and it consisted of reading some statistics and future projection of the usage cars in Europe (and we can freely say USA too) What statistics are saying for the future usage of the cars in Europe? Most of the time, the cars today and in the future will be used for not more than 60 km (40 miles) per day. Most of the cars will be used in the clogged towns and city high polluted environments. Cars will be used for going from home to work and vice versa, shopping, taking kids to and from the school and similar short to medium distances. This is nothing what we did not know, but Pininfarina and Bolloré decided to do something about and bring a revolutionary concept which will make the life in these environments better and healthier.
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Suddenly Hawaii becomes very popular and important state in the new emerging transportation technologies. After the Korea based CT&T Co. announced that is going to build an electric vehicles factory in the US state of Hawaii, now GM and the Gas Company announced a plan to bring hydrogen vehicles on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
Gas Company is Hawaiian based company which makes a synthetic natural gas from the refinery’s petroleum leftovers. Recently they also started to make natural gas from plant oils and animal fat. In this moment Gas Company is producing hydrogen which can provide energy as 7.000 gallons of petroleum but easily can be doubled said Jess Kissel, chief executive officer of the Gas Company.
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Toyota Motor Corp is famous by their hybrid cars and likes to continue with their philosophy of a car maker which is the first in the eco friendly technologies. In this moment the most important for Toyota is to make and start to sell the first commercial viable hydrogen car. Toyota’s executive Yoshihiko Masuda said that the first car will cost around $50.000 and will not lose money to the company.
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CT&T Co., a Korea-based maker of electric vehicles is going to build an electric vehicles factory in the US state of Hawaii. This business decision is going to bring CT&T to American market and it is going to have a big impact on the Hawaiian economy.
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Neste Oil Corporation is not a new name on the fuel scene. It in its home country, Finland, it has already begun trials of Neste Green 100 diesel fuel, (100 percent biofuel) produced from 100 % renewable raw materials, free of any fossil components. This fuel will be offered on the Finnish market for the start.
We are happy to hear that another company is devoting at least a part of its production to producing clean biofuel. Neste Oil tries something that hasn’t been done before. Their biofuel will be tested across wide range of different cars, according to Neste Oil’s Executive Vice President, Sakari Toivola. The test will include private individuals and Neste Oil employees. Additionally, test drivers will use Neste Green 100 diesel from mid-May to Mid-summer, while the company employees have already started using the fuel and are happily riding their cars, knowing that they are not polluting our planet any more. As this biofuel is not available everywhere across the Finland, the drivers will be required to fill up at Neste Oil Service stations in Greater Helsinki.
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As the figures show, increasing number of people lives in the cities and works in their centers. In 2030 60% of 8 billion people will live in urban areas. As a result, even the most developed network of highways and parking lots, and well-functioning railway and subway will not be enough for the increasing number of commuters.
That is why a new intelligent individual transport is indispensable. For some the subject may seem a science fiction, but the researches are undertaken in several countries and the first results can be seen soon.
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The manager of the Audi America calls the future owners of the electric cars like Chevrolet Volt idiots because the expensive electric cars cannot return the value of the initial investment try the life span of the electric vehicle. As the second reason he mentioned the dirty electricity made in the coal burning plants which are in abundance in some parts of the USA. We somehow agree with him, but not everybody in the Audi high management is thinking like their American colleague so they surprised us on the Geneva Motor Show.
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The green revolution in the automotive industry has to begin. This has been understood not only by the environmentalists but also by car manufacturers, and even more importantly, by the governments of many countries. More and more people are aware of the need to reduce the CO2 emissions. It seems that, at least for the time being, the revolution will be based on electric vehicles. Unfortunately, most of the energy used to charge their batteries still comes from coal-burning power stations (also emitting carbon dioxide); but they are still more eco-friendly than petrol and diesel cars. What is more, there are plans to obtain more energy from natural renewable resources (such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat) what will make these vehicles even greener.
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The highly anticipated Chevrolet Volt MPV5 concept car has made its debut at the Beijing Auto Show. According to GM’s own press release, “The five-passenger multi-purpose crossover concept demonstrates the potential of the Voltec propulsion system by utilizing the same foundation as the Volt, for gas- and tailpipe emissions-free electric driving.” It’s earlier version, the Chevrolet Volt, that is expected to be out later this year, is the foundation on which the MPV5 is built.
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Newest Cars of 2010: Lexus RX450h Review
By Casino Games 2010
A popular judgment that is to lead by example. Well, this maxim applies to the case of the hybrid car we tested, the new Lexus RX450h, a crossover all-wheel drive incorporating the 2nd generation hybrid system, more efficient than the 1st generation of the Lexus RX400h launched in 2005, which it replaces. It is also considerably more expensive. You can also have a free one if you play Grand Theft Auto PC game.
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