Nissan has plans to launch its own small sports car that will rival the Mazda MX-5. Nissan’s newcomer will have a rear-wheel drive system and will be powered by the Leaf’s electric drivetrain. At one point, Nissan wanted to revive the legendary rear-wheel drive 200SX but that was put on the back burner in 2008.

However, the project has been resurrected, and it will be part of Nissan’s ambitious plan to launch 52 new cars by 2016. Before the SX was shelved, the plan was for the car to sit on the 370Z platform, and would share the turbocharged 1.6-liter Juke engine that produces 188-hp. However, plans have changed again, and the car will likely have an entirely different name, using an all-new chassis. Last March, Daimler signed and agreement with Nissan to supply mid-size platforms to the Japanese automaker. The platform can accommodate anything from a four-banger to a V8, but nothing has officially been announced as of yet.

This will not be the same project as the MX-5 rival, and Nissan has not made a decision on what will power the new sports car, but a tuned version of the Leaf’s drivetrain and a hybrid set-up are under consideration. The ESFLOW concept which debuted at the Geneva auto show in March, firmly secured Nissan’s interest in an all-electric rear-wheel drive sports car. Sources have also revealed that Lotus is on-board to ensure sharp handling, a nimble chasis and lightweight construction. The electric power sports car will likely arrive in 2013, and will cost around £20,000 ($32,500).

[Source: Auto Express]

BMW has developed two new hybrid vehicles that the German automaker says  have redefined the understanding of personal mobility with a focus on sustainability.

The i3 concept,  previously know as the Megacity,  is an all-electric car that focuses squarely on the mobility challenges in urban areas. The i8 hybrid concept is a “forward-looking, intelligent, and innovative” sports car with both an electric drive system and a fuel efficient combustion engine. The i3 is built for four passengers, and BMW’s LifeDrive architecture conjures up a feeling of space inside the car more generous then even the latest conversion vehicles can offer. The i3 features wide-opening opposing “coach” doors, and trunk capacity of around 200 liters. The electric motor is over the rear axle and can produce 170-hp with 184 lb-ft of torque. The i3 can achieve a 0-62 mph time of just under eight seconds. The i3 can achieve what BMW calls an “everday” driving range of between 130 and 160km on a single charge, with a standard charge taking six hours, although with the right equipment, an 80 percent charge can be done in one hour.

The four seater i8 concept “embodies the vision of a sustainable contemporary sports car brought to life” according to BMW. The plug-in hybrid system combines the modified electric drive system from the i3 fitted over the front axle and a high performance three cylinder engine at the rear. The engine can produce 220-hp and 221 lb-ft of torque delivering a 0-62 mph time of just under five seconds. The i8 delivers 94 mpg or three liters per 100 kilometers. The i8 can also run purely on electric power, with a driving range of 35 kilometers (20 miles) and the battery can be fully recharged in two hours at a standard power socket.

GALLERY: BMW i3 and i8

General Motors is trailing  Nissan in electric car sales, prompting the the American automaker to boost output on Chevrolet Volt to 5,000 units a month as the automaker tries to take the lead.

Nissan sold 3,875 Leaf units in June while GM followed behind with 2,745 vehicle sales. Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for the Chevy Volt said, that while Nissan accelerated production faster than GM, the Detroit automaker will outstrip its Japanese rival and make 5,000 Volt vehicles as quickly as possible for January. Posawatz also said that GM will quickly expand output towards the goal of selling 10,000 Volts in the U.S annually.

“This is very much about supply constraints as opposed to a sales race,” Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Automotive, a research firm based in Lexington, Mass. “Next year will really show true demand for these kinds of cars and which one wins.”

[Source: GM Inside News]

The Norway-based electric car maker Think has been acquired by one of its investors, Russian businessman Boris Zingarevich, who plans to relaunch Think.

The electric automaker has filed for bankruptcy for the third time last month after failing to secure finances to continue operating. The automaker released a statement today, regarding a court-appointed trustee choosing Zingarevich as the winning bidder for Think’s assets. The assets will also include Think North America and Think U.K, which are separate entities and had not filed for bankruptcy.

This move has created a new Norway-based company called Electric Mobility Solutions and rescued Think from shutting down. The company has plans to restart production of the Think City electric town car in the first quarter of next year. The Think City is a highway-capable sedan, made with a plastic shell and has a range of around 100 miles. The price of the City EV is projected to be around $35,000 and targeted towards urban commuters.

“With the potential of working with the leading American automotive lithium-ion battery maker and Europe’s top automobile engineering and manufacturing company, I believe we could have exactly the right combination and value chain to ensure that the brand will be increasingly competitive in the worldwide electric vehicle market,” Zingarevich said in a recent statement.

[Source: Car Tech]

Well this is a change. The typical NBA all star usually drives around in a Cadillac Escalade or Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but not Steve Nash. No no, this Pheonix Suns point guard, seven-time NBA All-Star, two-time MVP award winner represents the Toyota Prius. In this new commercial, based on the competitive nature of both Nash and Toytota, the all new Prius comes out on top, or maybe dancing does. Nash’s competitve edge show him push the Prius to beat an old lady into a parking sport. The victory dance is hilarious.

Check out Nash celebrate his victory dance after the jump!

Continue Reading…

Important dates for the release of the Volkswagen Up! models have been leaked. The highly anticipated city vehicle will have its world premiere on August 22 in Paris. Following the premiere, the Up! vehicle will be present at the Frankfurt auto show in September 2011, and the official release for the 3-door hatchback is scheduled for the end of 2011. The bigger 5-door hatchback will be released at the end of 2012, and the first MPV Up! and electric-powered models will be available in early 2013.

The three-door five-seater will feature a 1.0-liter gasoline engine and a 1.2-liter diesel engine, with an all-electric version to follow. The Up! will be half the size of a Volkswagen Golf and will cost around $10,000. The Up! variants will compete against the Toyota iQ and other very small compact cars.

[Source: VW Up! Blogspot]

Toyota has decided that the RAV4 electronic vehicle will not be made available to consumers. According to Geri Yoza, Toyota’s national business planning manager of advanced vehicle marketing, the vehicle will instead be focused for “very strategic applications” such as fleets and car sharing programs.

The RAV4 EV has made use of Tesla’s electric drivetrain and has been tested with 160 users receiving positive feedback, according to Yoza. Testers charged the RAV4 more frequently (around 10 times a week), costing $150 for six weeks.

This is Toyota’s first RAV4 EV after first launching the vehicle 15 years ago in 1996. The EV is the first vehicle in the world powered by nickel-metal hydride batteries, capable of achieving 78 mph (125 km/h) and a maximum range of 120 miles (190 km). The RAV4 is expected to arrive in the U.S by the first quarter of 2012.

GALLERY: Toyota RAV4 EV

[Source: Reuters]

Honda’s best selling car in Japan for the first half of 2011 was the Fit compact, helped by the addition of a fuel-efficient hybrid model released in October.

During the time period, 88,282 Fit cars were sold, interestingly sales figures dropped 2.1 percent compared to the same period last year because of disruptions caused by the March 11 earthquake. Honda released a van model of the Fit in June, known as the Fit Shuttle.

The Toyota Prius came in second place in Japan regarding sales for the first half of 2011. In total, 83,319 Prius’ were sold in the first six months of 2011 but, this figure represents half of what was sold in the same period last year. Sales were affected by severe damage to the Miyagi Prefecture in Japan that makes nickel-hydrogen battery cells for the Prius.

[Source: Yomiuri]

Volkswagen has unveiled its latest Golf Twin Drive plug-in hybrid prototype. This vehicle is a more refined and updated version of the Golf Twin Drive hatchback released in 2008. It has an electric-range of 35 miles and will use a direct-injected 1.4-liter gasoline engine that can achieve 559 miles. The electric traction motor cranks out a reasonable 85 kW (114 horsepower). The motor coupled with the engine allows for a total output of 161-hp.

The Golf Twin Drive will use a single-speed transmission, an electronically actuated “separation” clutch and will be equipped to either a 13.2-kWh or an 11.2-kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

The Golf Twin Drive can achieve a top speed of 106 mph and get from 0-62 mph in “under 12 seconds.” When the vehicle is in electric-only mode, it can get up to 75 mph. VW has released a fuel consumption estimate of 2.1 liters per 100 kilometers (112 miles per gallon U.S).

Volkswagen is planning to launch the vehicle in 2013 but will immediately release 20 Golf Twin Drives for real-world testing.

Contrary to public belief, Mitsubishi still sells cars in America. And the company is hard at work on hybrid technology: they are planning to sell three electric versions of their vehicles: the i-MiEV, the Outlander, and the Outlander Sport.

The kidney-shaped i-MiEV is already available in America, and is fully electric-powered. But the other two vehicles will likely be plug-in hybrids: the compact Outlander Sport will be introduced first, while the larger Outlander will be available globally in 2013.

Like PBS, Mitsubishi is looking to be known as The Electric Company: by 2015 they aim to have eight vehicles that are either fully-electric or plug-in hybrids. To start things off, the i-MiEV will be available early next year across the country.

[Source: NZ Herald]

Last Sunday, the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca hosted Refuel 2011, the third annual track day for electric cars and motorcycles. The event was open to anyone with an electric car, ranging from the Tesla Roadster to DIY conversion cars. This year’s event was the first time that fully electric production vehicles from mainstream car makers were present at the event.

Joe Nuxoll, Tesla employee and racing instructor achieved the fastest lap time in the production electric class and the Nissan Leaf wasn’t far behind.  The Leaf was two seconds behind the Tesla with a commendable time of 2:10.223.  Leaf owner Nadar Assemi took a video of the Leaf competing on the track. The Leaf surprisingly didn’t suffer from overheating issues like the Tesla and the DIY cars did.

“To my surprise almost every other EV out there (production or otherwise) had heat management issues after 2-5 laps. Tesla’s were hitting power cut by lap 4-5. Most of the other kit cars could do one or two laps due to heat or range issues.” Explained Assemi on a Nissan forum. “Conversely, the Leaf was pulling strong all day and the battery temp gauge didn’t move over 6 bars. Energy efficiency on the track was a stellar 1.2-1.3 m/kWh.”

Check out the video after the jump!

Continue Reading…

AC Propulsion, a global leader in electric drive design, development and manufacturing, announced today that the Yokohama-sponsored electric race car using AC Propulsion’s proprietary electric drive system broke it’s own record set last year at the 88th annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

The electronic race car won the hill climb’s Exhibition Class and set a new EV record, coming in at 12:20:084, beating last year’s 13:17:575 record. The car was also the race’s fastest EV among both cars and motorcycles.

“AC Propulsion electric drive systems deliver performance,” said AC Propulsion CEO Tom Gage. “Our string of Pikes Peak EV records–especially this one, where we are well into the 12-minute bracket–clearly demonstrates that electric vehicles can get up the hill fast. Now that more people are buying EVs, it’s important to offer really good performance. For us, the old racing slogan holds: win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”

This year’s 89th annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is comprised of racing to the 4,301-meter summit, covering 12.4-miles. Road conditions vary based on rapidly changing temperatiures and weather as well as combination of tarmac/ gravel surfaces and 156 turns.

The Yokohama EV is a rear-wheel drive, open-wheel race car . The AC-180 motor cranks out 268-hp at 6000-7000 rpm and has 258 lb-ft of torque.

Even with high gas prices, Americans are choosing fuel effiecient compacts with conventional gas engines over pricier gas-electric hybrids. Sales have steadily increased with the Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze while hybrids are showing little activity.

Hybrid sales in the U.S peaked in July,2009 peaking at 3.6% and last month sales were down to 1.6% however production cuts and the Japan disaster are playing a factor.

“Even with the fuel savings, it doesn’t make sense to buy a hybrid” for many buyers, says Power Senior Manager Mike Omotoso of J.D Power and Associates. “This year, we had $4 gas (in many cities) but we saw the introduction of compacts that get 40 mpg. All of these cars are considerably cheaper than hybrids.”

The nations best-selling hybrid is the Toyota Prius averaging 50 mpg, while the Ford Fusion hybrid averages 38.5 mpg. However, all Elantras and some Focus and Honda Civic models are rated at 40 mpg or more on the highway.

New conventionally powered cars use various strategies to increase gas mileage to compete at hybrid levels- without the batteries and electric motors that can increase the price of the car by $6,000, according to J.D Power and Associates.

[Source: USA Today]

Are you curious to know how much of your car is made in America? Well if you are, Diane Sawyer takes a look into the automotive manufacturing business. ABC World News lauched “Made in American Summer” which focuses on American manufacturing, the economy and how ordinary Americans can help create more jobs in their country.

ABC worked with the Stewart family of Hillsdale, N.J during their time shopping for a new car. The Stewart’s compare a Ford Escape and a Toyota Camry and ABC News tries to figure out which car best supports US manufacturing.

Shockingly, the Camry is 80% American made, while the Escape is 65%. The Ford created 13 assembly line jobs for every 100 cars sold while the Camry provided almost 20.

Check out the video after the jump to see which vehicle the Stewart’s buy.

Continue Reading…

With Ford planning to blitz the auto-market in the first quarter of 2012 with its eight new models, the American automaker hopes the Fusion will make a major impact with its next-gen sophisticated hybrid system.

According to a source inside Ford the Blue Oval is targeting a 47-48-mpg rating for the car in the city, with an even higher rating for the highway. Currently the Fusion gets a 41-mpg rating in the city, making for a significant increase.

Closing in on the 50-mpg mark, the Fusion Hybrid would then be encroaching on the 50-mpg average Toyota Prius.

[Source: FordInsideNews]

Nissan has released full details on its 2012 Altima lineup with the Altima Hybrid notably absent. The Altima Hybrid officially launched in 2007 and featured Nissan’s first gas-electric engine, thanks to technology licensed from Toyota. It was able to achieve 33 mpg (7.1 L/100 km), which is still a respectable number. However, the Altima was only sold in a handful of states during its tenure and never quite caught on.

Nissan has planned to continue selling the Altima Hybrid inventory while they are still being produced. However, if you were thinking of buying one, you may want to hit the dealership sooner than later!

An all-new Altima is expected for 2013, and if the Ellure Concept is any indication, a hybrid version will return.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

Ford is planning to blitz the auto-market for the first quarter of 2012. According to a source inside Ford, no less than eight all-new or refreshed models will start production for Q1.

Ford’s largest project is the all-new midsize Fusion/Mondeo, which is currently scheduled to start production in January. Ford hopes for a 50-percent sales improvement for the Fusion in North America, which may help it exceed the 30,000 units per-month sales mark. With a new Fusion comes a new Fusion Hybrid and Ford is targeting an impressive 47 to 48-mpg rating in the city.

Also coming is a new Escape, which is being replaced by the Ford Vertrek Concept, with production out of the Louisville, Kentucky plant. The C-Max Hybrid will also begin production later this year.

The 2013 Taurus, which debuted back at the New York Auto Show in April with a face lift and new base 4-cylinder engine, will also launch during the first quarter of 2012. The Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS and MKT will also gain face-lifts during the Q1 for a more modern look.

Ford will re-ignite the hot hatch segment in Q1 with a new Focus ST that will feature a 247-hp 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine.

Both the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor and and Explorer “PI” will replace the Crown Victoria and the Lincoln MKT Town Car will replace the Lincoln Town Car.

Europe will gain the all-new B-Max and South America will gain the EcoSport. The B-Max will come equipped with the highly anticipated turbocharged 1.0-liter 3-cylinder EcoBoost engine.

By the end of 2012, the oldest vehicles in the Ford lineup will be the Ford Edge and the Lincoln MKX, which recently underwent major overhauls themselves

[Source: Ford Inside News]

ne

Mercedes-Benz has recently unveiled its new M-class SUV and there has been confirmation that several variants for this crossover will be included.

Among them will be two hybrid variants. One will be powered by a gasoline-electric system similar to the current ML450 hybrid. The other hybrid will feature a brand new diesel-electric system. Peugot is the only other automaker to feature a diesel-electric hybrid. Engineering for such a platform is complicated and costly, however these diesel-electic engines have the potential to suprass the efficiency of moder gasoline-electric engines. The only issue is whether the diesel-electric hybrid will be sold in the U.S. The cost alone would be very high, so it may be a few years before we get this model.

To cheer you up, Mercedes-Benz will be bringing back the high-performance ML AMG version of the SUV. The engine will probably be the same twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8 that powers the latest generation of larger AMG vehicles, like the CL63 or the S63, and will likely produce over 500-hp and 500 lb-ft fo torque. A performance pack will likely also be an option.

There has also been confirmation that the three row next generation Mercedes-Benz GL should appear some time next year.

[Source: Car and Driver]

Tesla Motors has planned to begin building prototypes of its Model S electric sedan in the third quarter at the NUMMI plant located in Fremont, Calif, which was acquired from Toyota last year.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated the project will involve a $500 million investment. The Model S is slated for production in mid-2012 while the Model X crossover will launch in late 2013.

There are already 4,600 reservations for the Model S and the company plans to produce 20,000 Models S and X vehicles annually. Both vehicles will be priced around $50,000.

Tesla also has plans to produce its Gen III vehicle which will cost $30,000 and should debut in four to five years according to the CEO.

The current Tesla Roadster is built from Lotus’ chassis, however production will end at the end of 2011 because Lotus will no longer be building the chassis upon which the Roadster is based. The next generation Roadster will be produced at NUMMI and should arrive in three years.

[Source: Car Tech]