Car Blog

Battery Electric Model Honored at Washington Auto Show

Green Car Journal’s annual Green Car Vision Award was presented to Ford today at the Washington Auto Show. Honoring the Ford Focus Electric vehicle that will come to market late in 2011, the Green Car Vision Award celebrates an industry-leading, environmentally focused vehicle that is in its early stages of commercialization or in demonstration programs, but not yet on sale.

“The groundwork that Ford has laid with such advanced and sensible technologies as EcoBoost, hybrid drivetrains, and ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles has shown an understanding of what it takes to bring fundamental change to the marketplace, without sacrificing the features and the driving enjoyment that is so important to new car ownership,” said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com. “The Focus Electric is an extension of this philosophy.”

Based on the all-new 2012 Focus global car platform, the Focus Electric was designed from the ground up to be efficient, attractively packaged, and meet the needs of the mass market with the safety, comfort, and stylish features expected of the brand’s conventional models. It’s powered by lithium-ion batteries and offers a projected 100 mile all-electric driving range. It can be charged in three to four hours with a 240 volt home charger.

This year, Green Car Vision Award™ finalists included the Ford Focus Electric, Honda Fit EV, Mitsubishi i, Toyota RAV4 Electric, and Volvo C30 DrivE electric. For the first time in the history of this award, all candidates featured electric drive.

Chrysler introduces the new 2011 Chrysler 200 Convertible, offering consumers an open-air driving experience featuring elegant craftsmanship inside and out, a fun, yet refined driving experience, innovative technology, an abundance of standard safety features and an extraordinary level of standard content.

The 2011 Chrysler 200 Convertible is an exciting alternative for customers who want the benefits of a coupe and the true open-air freedom of a convertible, all at a surprising value.

Redesigned and re-engineered for 2011, the Chrysler 200 Convertible is unique in the standard specialty segment as a true mid-sized convertible that comfortably seats 4 adults and has enough room in the trunk, even when the power top is dropped. Consumers can choose from two automatically latching tops, a body-color painted steel, retractable hard top, or a cloth soft top, both of which can drop with the press of a button on the key fob.

With a new exterior design, refined ride and handling characteristics complements of an upgraded suspension, an efficient new powertrain, safety features that are all standard on every model, and a beautifully crafted all-new interior, the 200 Convertible stands alone in the segment for customers who crave the wind in their hair and sun on their face.

“The sky is the limit with the new Chrysler 200 Convertible, delivering customers stylish design with purpose and the most interior space in the segment, comfortably seating four adults and providing ample cargo space in the trunk, even when the top is down,” said Olivier Francois, CEO — Chrysler Brand, Chrysler Group LLC. “The new 200 Convertible offers superb driving dynamics, a new exterior design, an all-new, beautifully-crafted interior and an abundance of standard features.”

The new exterior design and sheet metal upgrades for 2011 include: front and rear fascias and fenders, grille featuring the new Chrysler brand winged badge, new hood, LED light pipe accents in front headlamps, rear deck lid and exterior mirrors, new projector headlamps and fog lamps, new LED taillamps and an LED center high-mounted stoplight.

The 2011 Chrysler 200 Convertible provides drivers a fun, confident, handling performance in all driving situations, whether it’s commuting to work or a weekend adventure on scenic roads. Virtually every part of the suspension has been retuned or redesigned for 2011, including 22 of 28 suspension bushings. The suspension geometry was completely re-engineered. The track is an inch wider, tire width has been increased from 215 to 225 mm and the Chrysler 200 has been lowered 12 mm in the front and 6 mm in the rear for a lower, wider, more substantial stance. Read the rest of this entry »

Nissan North America brought sustainable mobility to Texas with the arrival of the state’s first all-electric Nissan LEAF.

The Sauers family took delivery of their blue Nissan LEAF SL at Clear Lake Nissan of League City, Texas. This groundbreaking moment follows last month’s deliveries in Northern and Southern California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Tennessee.

Jimmy Sauers, along with his wife Christie and their three daughters, live in Seabrook, TX, a suburb of Houston. Jimmy is an engineer and analyst for Reliant Energy while Christie is an engineer for NASA.

“Electricity is the new fuel for cars, and the Nissan LEAF has the potential to transform the automotive industry and the way people drive,” said Carlos Tavares, chairman, Nissan Americas. “Starting today, drivers in Houston have the freedom to choose a future that produces zero tailpipe emissions, moves away from our dependence on fossil fuels and represents the end of trips to the gas station. This Nissan LEAF delivery signifies the dawn of a movement that brings sustainable mobility to within our grasp.”

In November 2009 Nissan announced that it was entering into an agreement with the retail electric provider, Reliant Energy of Houston to advance zero-emission mobility. A similar partnership with the City of Houston was formed in February 2010 that also helped pave the way for the introduction of the Nissan LEAF in Texas.

NRG Energy, Inc., the parent company of Reliant Energy, recently launched the nation’s first privately funded, comprehensive electric vehicle charging ecosystem in Houston called eVgo(SM). The Sauers have chosen eVgo’s Mobile Plan and Reliant’s EV Owner’s Plan for their new Nissan LEAF providing them with power for their home charger and unlimited access to the city’s charging ecosystem.

“We are very pleased to have the owners of the first Nissan LEAF in Texas select eVgo to keep their vehicle charged wherever they go in the city and ultimately across the entire Texas Triangle,” said Arun Banskota, president of NRG’s Electric Vehicle Services.

“Today marks a dramatic shift in the way Houstonians will be driving,” said Annise Parker, mayor of Houston. “Electric vehicles are now a real and viable part of our future. We look forward to working with Nissan and continuing to make Houston a cleaner and greener city in which to live and work.”

The delivery is Nissan’s first in Texas in 2011 as the company delivered the first Nissan LEAF vehicles to each of its primary launch markets in December 2010 to Northern and Southern California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Tennessee. Nissan also donated $25,000 to the World Wildlife Fund to mark the occasion.

Nissan is on track for a nationwide launch of the Nissan LEAF by 2012, with Hawaii next to roll out later this month. In order to fulfill interest and meet demand in initial launch markets, Nissan plans to reopen reservations in the first half of 2011 as well as shift timing of additional markets until the second half of 2011.

First TPEG Over IP-based Pan-European Real-Time Traffic Service Debuts in the 2011 Audi A6

Audi AG and INRIX announced Audi has selected INRIX’s XD Traffic to help further the company’s Audi Connect strategy with real-time traffic information for its navigation systems starting with the mid-2011 model year.  At a launch event today for the 2011 Audi A6, the automaker demonstrated how Audi vehicles connected to the Internet via Audi Online Services will use XD Traffic to provide motorists with real-time traffic information, traffic-influenced turn-by-turn directions and alerts to accidents and other incidents along their route.

“Audi is continuously looking for ways to harness the benefits of the latest technologies to improve the driving experience for our customers,” said Ulrich Beeskow, Head of Development for Connected Navigation, Audi AG. “Traffic is no exception.  The combination of INRIX’s XD Traffic and Connected Services platform helps Audi become the first car manufacturer in the world to deliver a high quality and reliable connected navigation systems our customers can count on to always find the best route and avoid unforeseen delays along the way.”

“Audi and INRIX are known as technology innovators so it’s only natural that we’re collaborating on the design and delivery of a highly advanced traffic-powered navigation solution for their customers,” said Bryan Mistele, INRIX president and CEO.  ”The accelerated development and integration of XD Traffic with Audi’s MMI navigation system fuels Audi navigation with the best pan-European real-time traffic information available.  Our collaboration advances the automaker’s reputation as an industry leader in bringing the latest technical breakthroughs to drivers everywhere.” Read the rest of this entry »

New Ford Focus owners can learn a thing or two about driving skills that can maximize their miles per gallon – and they can have a little fun in the process.

EcoMode is a handy software application aimed at helping coach customers in the art of eco-driving – and then rewards those that practice more fuel-efficient driving skills with in-car kudos displayed on the instrument cluster.

“The foot of the driver has one of the biggest impacts on real-world fuel economy of a vehicle and was the starting point for the development of EcoMode,” said Thomas Schick, an engineer with the Ford of Germany Core Vehicle Integration team who helped design the software. “This is a useful tool that creates awareness between personal behavior and fuel consumption and offers up hints on how to improve. Applying those hints and recommendations is all up to the driver.”

Eco-driving refers to specific on-road behaviors that can improve fuel economy, save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In recent internal tests, Ford found that eco-driving skills can improve fuel economy by an average of 24 percent. The nationwide Auto Alliance-supported EcoDriving initiative further claims that if every American put eco-driving skills to work on the road and achieved just a 15 percent benefit in fuel economy, more than 22 billion gallons of gas would be saved each year.

Practices most often preached within the eco-driving world include: Read the rest of this entry »

Two thirds of Brits have been forced to change their driving habits because of record fuel prices, according to new research from moneysupermarket.com.

Britain’s number one comparison site asked site users whether record fuel prices were forcing them to change their driving habits. The results found two thirds of respondents (67 per cent) admit record costs have taken their toll; 62 per cent have reduced the amount of time they spend behind the wheel, and five per cent claim they have stopped driving altogether because of the costs.

However, almost a fifth (17 per cent) are sticking to their usual driving habits as they can just about still afford it, and a further 16 per cent have not changed their driving habits at all.

Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com said: “With the effects of the VAT rise taking hold, and the latest inflation data highlighting the pressure on our wallets, fuel is another day to day cost that people are really struggling with. Now really is the time to take action across the board with your finances to make the most of your money so you don’t have to resort to changing your lifestyle dramatically.   Apathy won’t be rewarded, so seek out the best deals for your circumstances to make the most of your hard earned cash.

“It is easy to make the mistake of sitting on average products which do not give a good rate of return or cost far more than they need to. Significant savings can be made by switching to a better deal on all your financial products. These savings don’t even require a change of lifestyle, but simply require a few minutes of research to check what deal you are currently being offered, comparing other products and changing to a more competitive deal if necessary.” Read the rest of this entry »