BBC Top Gear drives the Honda FCX Clarity as well
Dec 18, 2008 Auto Tech
In the same episode that Jeremy drove the Tesla Roadster in Top Gear, Captain Slow James May drove the Honda FCX Clarity, the fuel cell vehicle from Honda which has been leased out to few lucky blokes in California. No more words from me, just enjoy the video!
If you liked the Clarity, the future is exciting. See how Honda teased us with FCX derived concept cars recently. So here is where we think all those money Honda will be saving by pulling out of Formula 1 from 2009 will be going: fuel cell vehicle R&D!
Tags: FCX, Honda, Hybrid cars, Top Gear
Honda announces steep price drop for its Civic Hybrid in India
Nov 13, 2008 Auto Tech, Natural Resource Conservation
Honda Civic
Economic Times reports that Honda has just dropped the price of its Civic Hybrid by Rs.8 lacs (about $17500), only a few months after its June launch in India. All this time, the Civic Hybrid, the only hybrid available in India ( leave aside the mild hybrid Scorpio) had cost almost double the standard car. Many, who wanted to join the green bandwagon as well as loved the Civic’s racy looks, but were deterred by the price, may now well decide to buy the hybrid. The Hybrid pricing is now just Rs. 50,000 more than the automatic Civic. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Honda, Honda Civic, Hybrid cars, India, Price cut
Now a hybrid three wheeler from Piaggio
Nov 12, 2008 Auto Tech
MP3 Hybrid
Piaggio (which once upon a time, used to make the famous Vespa scooter) has unveiled a plug-in hybrid three-wheeler MP3 and claims that it will get up to 141 mpg (60 KMPL) and could be on the road as early as next year.
The gas-electric version of Piaggio’s funky MP3 scoote, combines a 125-cc gasoline engine with an electric motor in an easy-to-ride three-wheeler that reportedly could do zero to 60 in around 5 seconds and uses a plug-in system, so that you could charges it from a wall socket and if Piaggio sticks to its timeline, the MP3 may become the first plug-in hybrid, beating the likes of Chevrolet Volt. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: hybrid, Hybrid cars, MP3, Piaggio
New hybrid from Ford
Nov 4, 2008 Auto Tech, Green Technologies
Ford has unveiled the images and specs for the 2010 Ford Fusion in US and promised a hybrid delivering around 38 mpg in town. It borrows a few parts from the Escape bin, but the size, weight and presumably the cost of the battery pack has been substantially reduced. The cells are nickel metal hydride supplied by Sanyo (as in Escape), but they produces 20 percent more power than before. The total number of cells has been reduced by 20 percent keeping the capacity at 1.3 kWh, the same as in the Escape.
The changes to the battery mean that the pack is now 30 percent smaller in volume than the Escape pack, and weighs 23 percent less. It also means the pack no longer needs its own air conditioning system like the one in the Escape. Instead, cabin air can be routed through the pack to keep it cool. The pack integration was done by Delphi while Ford engineers handled all the battery management software and electronics internally. There is a Variable Voltage Contoller for optimising the power usage as well.
The motor power is now up to 93 kW compared to the 70 kW output of the Escape With the on-demand voltage increase of the VVC, the new motor can now drive the Fusion and its planned Mercury sibling, Milan on electricity alone at speeds up to 47 mph. even after all this, Ford expects to get 38 mpg ratings in the city, better than Honda and Toyota. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Ford, Ford Fusion, Hybrid cars, Hybrids
Citroen C-Cactus promises 100mpg
Oct 13, 2008 Auto Tech, Green Technologies
Citroen C-Cactus
French carmaker Citroen has announced the possibility of making a hybrid based on the C-Cactus concept car, that promises near 100mpg mileage. That is nearly 43kmpl! This it plans to achieve by coupling the frugality of a diesel engine to a electric motor. The C-Cactus also promises to use fewer parts than conventional cars to make it lighter and cheaper to build and recycled materials for environment friendliness.
Tags: automobiles, Citroen, fuel efficiency, Green Technology, Hybrid cars