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Are hybrids on the dead track?

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:12:56 +0000

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.

The hydrogen concepts show bigger problems but few big automotive companies continue to develop hydrogen cars, hydrogen fuel cells and the concepts of the new Hydrogen Economy. One of the biggest problems for the new hydrogen cars is the nonexistence of any infrastructure for hydrogen refueling. Recently there are some efforts for building hydrogen producing plants, but also a hydrogen refueling network.

Successful electric cars were produced in the last 20 years but with a questionable success. The Major automotive companies fail in the efforts to bring clean electric vehicle to the common masses. All electric cars which were offered, or are now on the market are expensive, with small autonomy and questionable cost of ownership. The new concepts like Italian/French joint venture Pininfarina BLUECAR, Croatian Doking XD or Coda electric Car are with uncertain future or will be more expensive than the regular car of the same segment and class.

Recently a new line of VW cars called Bluemotion with an advanced diesel motor literally kill the all reasons to buy a hybrid. The VW Polo Bluemotion is burning less fuel and has less CO2 emissions than any hybrid on the market today. Another reason to buy a Bluemotion car from VW is lower price tag and lower cost of ownership.

Who killed the hybrid car? Volkswagen Polo did!

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:19:31 +0000

Many readers, at least the readers which are familiar with the clean transport technologies will say that the headline is not very original and they are right. The headline is famous and in the original is “Who killed the electric car”. The movie with the same name was about the electric cars which produced twenty years ago were promising the new technology, new economy and new life for our planet.

The headline for this article is just to express my opinion about the new VW Polo Bluemotion. Bluemotion is the new VW philosophy for building new cars which are more fuel saving, more eco friendly and guess cheaper than hybrids.

VW Polo Bluemotion is a five door, five-seater small hatchbacks which is perfect for city drive, going to work, but also for shopping or short trips with a whole family. VW Polo Bluemotion will exhaust just 87 g CO2/km which makes it one of the cleanest cars in the world. The fuel efficiency is just stunning. With 85.6 mpg (2.75l/100km) VW Polo Bluemotion is one of the most fuel saving cars which are coming on the market today.

In the company of VW Polo Bluemotion the hybrids like Toyota Prius and Honda Insight are looking like sinners. Both of these hybrids are simply dirtier than VW Polo Bluemotion with more than 100 grams of CO2/km.

The new VW Polo Bluemotion has a 1.2 liters 74hp diesel engine and improved aerodynamics. The car is lowered by 10mm and it is fitted with a new low resistance rolling pneumatics around the 15 inch alloys. The car is fitted with a new stop/start system and smart alternator. These two new gadgets are saving 0.25 litters on every 100 km. This car is made to save fuel so it is understandable to have the longer third, fourth and fifth gear.

VW Polo Bluemotion is going on sale in May 2010 and it will cost around £12,000 or $18,500. The price tag in euro is 13,500 euro.

2009 Honda Insight – Attack of the clones?

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:59:14 +0000

Is it Prius…? Is it Insight…?
Is it some updated model of Toyota Prius or is it the brand new Honda Insight? Is this Toyota Prius brought by the competition at the Insight presentation?

The presentation of the new Honda Insight, start with these questions in my mind. Probably if you like to fight with a gunman you must bring a gun to the fight. That was the philosophy of the Honda engineers while they were designing Insight.

Insight is a hybrid* car with a modern design similar to Prius. A long time Honda was hiding the name of the new hybrid and then they just brought the same name of their first hybrid – Insight. The first Insight was hybrid car produced from 1999 to 2006 as a three-door hatchback.

Honda Insight will be cheaper than Prius and the promise for the base price was around $19.000, but now Honda Insight price tag for the entry model is $20.510. This was possible with achieving a cost reduction in the IMA (Integrated Motor Assist).

The gasoline 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine with 98 horsepower and 123 lb-ft of torque with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), placed at the front of the vehicle, will be the main source of power. The lightweight, ultra-thin electric motor between the engine and transmission with 10 kilowatts (13 horsepower) will assist during start up, passing, acceleration and in other situations when extra power will be needed. The flat nickel metal hydride battery pack/block and control unit will be placed at the rear end beneath cargo space.

A happy owner of 2007 Toyota Prius can get 46 mpg on average and Honda Insight is rated at 43 mph. That is 30 mpg less than the old 2005 Honda Insight which was capable for almost 70 mpg. We must be fair to the new Insight which is not two seats car like old one but full size five-door hatchback.

Compared to Toyota Prius, Honda Insight is smaller 2,5 inches, with a noticeable smaller space for the rear passengers. It offers more agile drive which will be a reason plus for the clients under 35. Price comparison show that base model of Honda Insight LX ($20,510) is $2.640 cheaper than Prius II ($23,150). With a gas price around $3 this means that if you choose Honda Insight the first 15580 miles are on the house.

With a price comparison of the more expensive model like Insight EX ($22,010) and Prius II the savings is still on the side of Honda Insight with a $1,140.

It is clearly that in this battle of the Hybrid wars, the Honda Insight is a clear winner. But the other car producers are not sitting on their hands. We have announcements for more hybrid vehicles coming in the next few years.

Below are the photos of 2010 Honda Insight USA version, showing some minor differences on the front grille and the fog lights. There is also an undrestadable difference at the back, where the US-size license plate is located.

*A hybrid car or hybrid vehicle is a car/vehicle that uses two or more different power sources to move the vehicle. The term hybrid car most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), which combine a gasoline engine and one or more electric motors.