Car Blog

Plug-In Hybrid, Hydrogen, Range Extended Electric, Battery Electric Cars Included

Five nominees have been identified for Green Car Journal’s 2009 Green Car Vision Award(TM), which acknowledges a vehicle that best envisions the road ahead. One of these five finalists — the Chevrolet Volt, Fisker Karma, Honda FCX Clarity, MINI E, or Mitsubishi i-MiEV — will be honored as the 2009 Green Car Vision Award winner during a press conference on Public Policy Day February 3, at The Washington Auto Show in Washington D.C.

“Vehicles offering dramatically improved environmental performance are crucial to helping us move beyond today’s challenges of oil dependence and growing environmental impacts,” says Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com ( http://www.greencar.com/ ). “While not yet widely available in new car showrooms, these vehicles each inspire in important ways with their advanced powertrains, use of cleaner or more sustainable fuels, vastly improved efficiencies, or a combination of these attributes.”

Unlike concept cars, which tantalize us with wild designs or features that may or may not ever make it to the highway, these five vehicles are real. They are either in limited production or in demonstration programs now, or are in development and on the road to commercialization.

Dispelling the myth that innovation will only come from outside the traditional automotive industry, four of the 2009 Green Car Vision Award(TM) finalists are products from major auto manufacturers. The fifth is from a new car company, Fisker Automotive, headed by Henrik Fisker, formerly director of Ford’s Global Advanced Design Studio and before that president of BMW division DesignWorks USA.

Chevrolet’s Volt is a range-extended, plug-in electric car with a scheduled introduction in late 2010. The Fisker Karma, to be shown in production form next month, is a plug-in hybrid luxury sedan that’s set for sale in late 2009. The FCX Clarity, Honda’s innovative hydrogen fuel cell sedan, is in very limited production and being leased to a small number of consumers now. The recently unveiled battery electric MINI E will be leased to 500 select consumers in three states. Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric cars are on the highway in a demonstration program with Southern California Edison and PG&E.

“The advanced technology vehicles now available at new car showrooms, like highly efficient gasoline-electric hybrids, are the result of visionary work that occurred years in advance of their introduction to the market,” says Cogan. The five nominees for Green Car Journal’s 2009 Green Car Vision Award(TM) are exceptional examples of innovation at work.”

The award-winning Green Car Journal has focused on the intersection of automobiles, energy, and environment since its launch in 1992. As part of its mission, the magazine hosts events, produces ride-and-drives of advanced and clean fuel vehicles, and conducts various outreach efforts to educate consumers on better and more environmentally positive vehicle choices.

The 67th staging of the Washington Auto Show: The Automotive Seat of Power will bring more than 700 new cars, trucks, mini-vans and sport utility vehicles from over 42 domestic and import automakers to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center from Feb. 4 — 8, 2009. Supporting its growing ‘green’ theme, a wide array of advanced technology and clean fuel vehicles will be displayed in a Green Car Pavilion and throughout the show floor. For more information visit the Washington Auto Show online at http://www.washingtonautoshow.com/ .

Source: Green Car Journal

You are invited to the launch of ‘ECO Drive’, a national campaign by Ford Retail Group in partnership with the Energy Saving Trust to encourage eco driving amongst the British public. Either before or after the media briefing, journalists can take part in a 45 minute ECO Drive lesson. You will experience firsthand the effectiveness and ease in adopting ‘green’ driving techniques which will save you fuel and money as well as cut CO2 emissions.

In an initiative that is the first of its kind in the UK, Ford Retail, the country’s largest Ford dealer group, is offering customers and the public green advice and eco driving lessons. A pilot scheme has shown that the average motorist can make fuel savings of GBP200 to GBP250 per annum and cut their CO2 emissions by at least 15%. At the same time, by adopting eco driving techniques, driving is made less stressful, accident rates are cut and wear and tear on vehicles reduced.

Working with the Energy Saving Trust, 38 dealerships across Ford Retail’s network will run ‘ECO Drive’ events from w/c 12th January 2009 giving expert advice to motorists on how to increase the miles per litre they get from their car. Attendees will receive practical guidance about ‘eco driving’ techniques and able to sign up for an ECO Drive lesson with a specialist Energy Saving Trust instructor.

ECO Drive events will be hosted by the following Ford Retail owned dealership brands: Dagenham Motors (London and south east), Polar Ford (Yorkshire and North West), Heartlands Ford (Birmingham) and Brunel Ford (Bristol and south west). The events are expected to be popular and over 900 people will benefit from taking ECO Drive lessons.

Source: Ford Retail and Energy Saving Trust

If you’ve stuck it out through thick and thin for a quarter of a century of marriage, you might be rewarded with a piece of silver or an exotic trip. But now breaking up may earn you a pile of cash or even the drive of your life. Hurry and get unhitched from your beloved used car by donating it to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) by year’s end and you may hit the jackpot as the charity celebrates the 25th anniversary of its Kidney Cars Program with a national sweepstakes.

Donating a vehicle to Kidney Cars from now through December 31, 2008, makes you eligible to win one of 25 prizes, including the Grand Prize — a weekend for four at the Pebble Beach golf resort in California. You may also get a chance to win $25,000 in cash or a year’s worth of gas. Sometimes, love is about knowing when to let go and in the case of Kidney Cars, your sputtering vehicle may revive the health of thousands suffering from kidney disease.

Over the last 25 years, more than 650,000 used vehicles have pumped a total of $150 million into life-saving programs, including free kidney screenings for those at risk, research, public and professional education and camps for children on dialysis.

“Kidney Cars is one of the key revenue drivers for the National Kidney Foundation,” says Chad Iseman, Kidney Cars Program Director, “enabling us to conduct vital outreach programs in the community and grassroots educational efforts. Seventy five cents of every dollar donated to Kidney Cars goes directly to programs and services. The 25th Anniversary Sweepstakes is designed to call attention to Kidney Cars and also to reward our generous donors, many of whom have supported us with multiple donations over the years.”

The National Kidney Foundation is the nation’s leading voluntary health agency dedicated to preventing kidney and urinary tract diseases, improving the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation. For more information on the sweepstakes or to donate your vehicle visit www.kidneycars.org or call 1-800-488-CARS (2277).

Source: National Kidney Foundation

Indiana Senator’s Proposal Will Create U.S. Jobs, Boost Competitiveness

Hoosier State Strives to Become ‘Silicon Valley’ of Auto-tech

A new plan proposed this week by Indiana Senator Evan Bayh involving $1.6 billion in federal grants to accelerate growth of America’s advanced hybrid-electric and electric car industry is crucial for American competitiveness in automotive and high-tech manufacturing, Charles Gassenheimer, Chairman and CEO of Ener1, Inc., said today. Ener1′s Indianapolis subsidiary EnerDel is the first company able to produce automotive lithium-ion batteries on a commercial scale in the U.S.

Gassenheimer stood with the Senator for a press conference today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Senator Bayh’s plan could not come at a more critical time,” commented Gassenheimer. “We think it will pay for itself many times over,” Gassenheimer said, comparing advances in the rapidly emerging sector to the birth of America’s Silicon Valley computing industry. “This is a high-tech, high-growth, high-value industry, invented right here in America, and Indiana is at the center of it. The priority now to build the production capacity we need before foreign competitors beat us at our own game.”

Senator Bayh discussed his proposal today at an event gathering many of the state’s top auto-tech manufacturers at the Indianapolis Speedway. The legislator, who is one of the Congress’s leading champions of U.S. energy security and alternative fuel automobiles, has offered his plan to the Senate majority and minority leaders, co-signed by 11 other senators.

Automakers around the world have dozens of new hybrid models already in the pipeline, but almost no current sources for batteries to power them. The rush is on in Europe, Japan, Korea and China to capture their shares of a market that could be worth as much as $150 billion a year within a decade, some analysts say. U.S. carmakers worry that without a domestic battery supply chain they could find themselves at the back of the line, or forced to pay steep premiums.

“Viability of the American auto industry depends on the decisions and the investments we make today,” Gassenheimer said. “The last thing we want is to trade dependence on foreign oil for dependence on foreign batteries. Senator Bayh is proposing a down payment on our long-term competitiveness and security. We deeply appreciate and commend the energy and vision he is bringing to this incredibly important goal.”

While costs remain a challenge for the advanced battery industry today, Gassenheimer believes full-scale production could cut current prices by half. EnerDel is currently undergoing a major expansion at its two Indiana facilities.

Sen. Bayh’s proposal to provide $1.63 billion in federal grants through the U.S. Department of Energy is designed to ramp up production and drive down costs of hybrid and electric drive systems. The package includes:

• $1.0 billion in competitive grants to expand the U.S. manufacturing base for advanced batteries and other essential components.

• $295 million for R&D on new battery technology.

• $90 million in grants for state and local business and governments to build the infrastructure and other resources such as rapid-recharging stations to support plug-in and other technologies.

• $95 million in grants for near-term truck and maritime port electrification, which saves energy and dramatically cuts dangerous pollution.

• $150 million for research and development of “smart-grid” technology that can save consumers money and help integrate plug-in vehicles while improving capacity and reliability of the nation’s aging electric system.

By comparison, Gassenheimer points out that Japan’s combined public and private investment in advanced battery development has outpaced that of the United States by as much as 10-fold for most of the past decade. Some in the industry are already worrying about what an emerging “battery gap” might mean for their ability to procure enough of these essential components for fuel- efficient autos.

Toyota already owns a major stake in Panasonic’s battery business; Honda and Mercedes Benz have just entered into new joint lithium-ion battery ventures.

“This is only the eye of an energy price storm,” Gassenheimer said. “We’re getting a temporary break at the gas pump right now, but it’s only going to last as long as the economic downturn. Then we’re right back to facing devastating price shocks. Industry and government increasingly appear ready to move forward together and that means we will prevail economically and in guaranteeing our energy security.”

Source: Ener1, Inc.

Interior and exterior redesign reinforces strong personality of Audi A6 / S6

An all-new 300-hp 3.0 TFSI supercharged V6 will be offered with quattro AWD

The 2009 sedan, Avant and S models will arrive in dealerships by early January

Audi of America today released pricing for the updated 2009 model-year Audi A6 sedan, A6 Avant and S6 sedan, which are scheduled to arrive in U.S. dealerships by the beginning of January.

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for the Audi A6 3.2 sedan Premium will start at $45,100. The Audi A6 3.0T quattro sedan Premium will start at $50,100. The Audi A6 3.0T quattro Avant Premium will start at $53,310. The Audi A6 4.2 quattro sedan will start at $60,950, and the Audi S6 will start at $75,900. Prices do not include a destination charge of $825, taxes, title or dealer charges.

“The A6 model range gains a far more progressive look with this makeover,” said Johan de Nysschen, executive vice president of Audi of America. “Of particular note is the addition of the new supercharged drivetrain that will give drivers of these cars plenty of responsive power without sacrificing fuel efficiency. These updates will show why the Audi A6 is the best-selling luxury sedan worldwide.”

The 2009 model-year Audi A6 3.0T quattro rewards motorists with the best fuel economy of any mid-sized luxury sedan sold in the U.S. featuring all-wheel drive. With an energy-recuperating alternator and efficiency-optimized gear ratios, the new model achieves 26 mpg highway and 18 mpg in city driving for a combined EPA fuel economy rating of 21 mpg.

New for 2009 models are three equipment levels – Premium, Premium Plus and Prestige – aimed at improving vehicle value and reducing complexity by combining the features demanded by many luxury car buyers. The new A6 will also come packed with additional standard equipment, including a sunroof, Bluetooth, Homelink, heated front seats on quattro models, three months of free SIRIUS satellite radio service and Audi music interface with iPod connectivity.

Also new for 2009, the 3.0 TFSI V6 engine will deliver 300 horsepower and a powerful 310 lb.-ft of torque. It marries the benefits of direct fuel injection and a compressor supercharger to record a 0-to-60 mph time of 5.9 seconds. The new engine will be packaged with a Tiptronic automatic transmission and the new 40/60 asymmetric rear-biased quattro all wheel drive. The 3.0 TFSI supercharged engine will be available on Premium, Premium Plus and Prestige versions of the Audi A6 sedan and Avant.

The 3.2 FSI V6 engine, which produces 255 horsepower and 243 lb.-ft of torque, will be available in the Audi A6 Premium and Premium Plus equipment levels. The 3.2 FSI will be paired with front-wheel drive and multitronic transmission. The Audi A6 4.2 comes fully loaded with a 350-hp 4.2 FSI V8 engine, Tiptronic automatic transmission, quattro all-wheel drive, S-line exterior and the Prestige equipment level as standard.

The 2009 Audi S6 features a 5.2 FSI V10 engine mated to the Audi Tiptronic automatic transmission, which kicks up 435 horsepower at 6,800 rpm and 398 lb.-ft of torque.

The design of the Audi A6 gets several enhancements led by the high-gloss, single-frame grille as well as bold new bumpers, air vents and fog lights. Chrome accents are added features on the doors and trunk. Available xenon plus headlights now include LED daytime running lights. All-new LED tail lights provide an exclamation point to the new look of the A6.

The world-class interior of the Audi A6 features leather seating, wood trim, intuitive Multi Media Interface, a driver-oriented design and now the added touch of sleek aluminum trim accents on the steering wheel, switches and the parking brake. The interiors also get new instrument cluster graphics and will feature Engine Start/Engine Stop buttons that are new to the A6 models.

The improvements to the A6 should bolster its standing as the best-selling model in the mid-size luxury car market. Worldwide, the Audi A6 claimed a 37% share of the luxury mid-size segment, ahead of its primary competitors, the BMW 5-Series and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The new 2009 Audi A6 will begin shipping to dealers next week in time for the holidays.

Source: Audi of America

The Audi A4 2.0T FrontTrak sedan pairs the multitronic transmission with the award-winning Audi 2.0 TFSI engine

The Audi A4 quattro sedan is now available with a six-speed manual transmission

MSRP for the base front-drive model is $31,000 and $31,850 for the base manual quattro model.

Audi announced an expansion of its 2009 A4 lineup with two new models, one featuring front-wheel drive and one featuring a six-speed manual transmission. The newest 2009 Audi A4 models offer exceptional value and the best fuel economy ratings in their individual segments.

The 2009 Audi A4 2.0T FrontTrak combines the advantages of the Audi 2.0 TFSI engine, which recently earned a spot on the 2009 Ward’s 10 Best Engines list, and the efficient multitronic continuously variable transmission, or CVT.

The A4 sedan now available with a six-speed manual transmission, offers a sporty driving experience for those who prefer to shift for themselves. The manual transmission is also paired with Audi’s efficient 2.0 TFSI engine along with Audi’s latest generation of quattro all-wheel drive featuring a rear torque bias for sporty handling.

The result of the new front-wheel drive A4 powertrain combination is the best fuel efficiency in its class with an EPA rating of 23 mpg in city driving conditions and 30 mpg in highway driving. Those fuel economy figures represent a 4 percent fuel-efficiency gain over the previous-generation A4 powered with earlier versions of the 2.0 TFSI engine and the multitronic transmission. The 2009 A4 2.0T quattro manual sedan achieves the best efficiency of any all-wheel drive car in its luxury segment with EPA fuel economy ratings of 22 mpg in city driving and 30 mpg on highways.

The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price on the front-wheel drive 2009 Audi A4 2.0T FrontTrak sedan with multitronic CVT transmission starts at $31,000. The MSRP on the 2009 Audi A4 2.0T quattro manual is $31,850. Both models come with a rich list of standard equipment such as sunroof, leather seating, SIRIUS satellite radio, and quattro all-wheel drive.

“Offering exceptional efficiency without sacrificing the comforts that luxury car buyers expect is Audi’s hallmark,” said Johan de Nysschen, executive vice president, Audi of America. “These two new A4 models are no exception. Their addition to the Audi lineup allows us to meet a broader array of consumer tastes with our highly acclaimed, best-selling car.”

Audi is a pioneer in continuously variable transmission technology. The multitronic transmission was significantly revamped and first appears in the 2009 Audi A4. With the redesign, the multitronic transmission offers greater sportiness and agility along with reduced fuel consumption. The first Audi A4 2.0T FrontTrak multitronic model will begin arriving at dealers this month, with Audi A4 2.0T quattro manual models expected to arrive in dealerships by early 2009.

Source: Audi of America, Inc.