Autoblog

Mainstream automakers are faced with the reality of improving the efficiency and cleanliness of everyday vehicles, but companies like Porsche and Lamborghini say drastic change would effect the underlying character of their products. Ferrari apparently doesn't feel the same way, as the exotic automaker has pledged to cut emissions 40 percent by 2012. Like most other automakers, Ferrari plans on tackling its emissions problems on several fronts. It will improve the efficiency of its current powertrains, add new engines, possibly including a turbocharged V6, and bring a hybrid to market that could incorporate Ferrari's Kinetic Energy Recycling System (KERS) employed on its F1 cars, which uses a CVT connected to a flywheel that stores energy under braking. Prancing stallion president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo told a German newspaper that the hybrid Ferrari would be available around 2015. If anybody can make a hybrid supercar that is entertaining, efficient, exotic, and extremely fast, we're betting on the guys and gals over at Ferrari.

[Source: AFP]

Mercedes-Benz has laid out a long Road to the Future, detailing its efforts to create "fuel-efficient and environmentally-sustainable premium automobiles without the need to forgo the characteristic brand features." That's fancy talk for having your German chocolate cake and eating it, too.

The three areas on which the tri-pointed star wants to focus are fitting vehicles with the latest internal combustion engine technology, including smaller engines, gasoline direct injection, turbocharging, and BlueTEC; improving vehicle aerodynamics, weight, and energy management (BlueEFFICIENCY); adding more "hybrid" technologies like start/stop functions and a fully-electric-capable 2-mode hybrid drive; and creating zero-emissions vehicles.

Mercedes wants diesels as clean as gas engines, gas engines as efficient as diesels, diesel hybrids, lighter cars, better gas mileage, leprechauns, unicorns, and rainbows for everyone. Well, not those last three, but you get the picture. To understand the full sweep of Mercedes' efforts, follow the jump for the full press release.

[Source: eGM Car Tech]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Honda CR-Z concept

First Honda said it was going to press the reset button on its hybrid efforts and come out with something bolder than the Civic Hybrid. Then it laid out plans for a number of hybrids that would be priced considerably more aggressively than the Toyota Prius. One of the concepts, the funky CR-Z, has already got people abuzz.

More details have emerged about the first hybrid to appear, a 5-door hatch with unique styling that's based on the Fit, but three inches taller and one inch wider. It will use the Civic Hybrid's Integrated Motor Assist technology and mate that car's 1.3-liter engine with 94 hp to a 15kW electric motor powered by a nickel-metal-hydride battery pack. Fuel economy, according to insider predictions, will be somewhere around 71 - 82 miles per gallon, but that's based on Japanese domestic use. Expect a drop for U.S. comparison.

Honda is considering a return to the name "Insight" for its first new hybrid, which we're all for. The Insight was a brilliant little ride, and we never understood why Honda let it go. Though it was low on practicality with only two seats and not much storage, it was a purpose-built vehicle for big mpg numbers. This potential new Insight will be Honda's global hybrid, and the company expects to sell 100,000 of them in the U.S. annually. Add this to the other three hybrids Honda is planning, and Honda's hybrid future -- assuming it delivers as promised -- looks quite bright.


[Source: Auto Observer via eGM Car Tech]

Last month, a major announcement was made regarding an effort between Nissan and Chrysler to share products. Specifically, Nissan will build a small car for Chrysler and receive a large truck in return. It seems as if the Pentastar brand could use some more help when it comes to offering the types of vehicles that the public wants as quickly as possible. To that end, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli says, "If we can have similar arrangements ... and it makes financial sense and supports our dealer network relative to what customers are telling them they want, we're going to go do it." What customers want is fuel efficient vehicles, something which Chrysler is not exactly well positioned with at the moment.

In related news, Nardelli also mentions that Chrysler sees hybrids and electric cars as the most viable options moving forward to reduce emissions and fuel consumption. The first hybrid vehicles from Chrysler are expected to be the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen SUV's, which use a version of the dual mode hybrid system that is currently offered by GM on the Tahoe and Yukon.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press]

In the fuel economy and future tech debate, the hybrid vs. diesel vs. hydrogen fuel cells vs. smaller cars and smaller engines always provokes a fair bit of discussion among Autoblog commentators. At this point, no one yet knows what's going to win since nobody knows how the volatile mix of products, timelines, prices, regulations, legislation, state standards, and gas prices will ultimately pan out. Bob Lutz's prediction is that diesels, at least as far as the US is concerned, won't be much of a factor.

His reasoning is simple: "I think customers are going to say, 'Wait a minute. At equal fuel prices I'm paying $4,000 more for this." Unlike many countries in Europe, the US offers no incentive for people to buy diesels. In the States the price of a diesel vehicle is often more than $1,000 higher than that of a gasoline-engined car, and diesel fuel is just as expensive as gas (throughout California and other states, it's slightly more expensive than premium unleaded). In that case, Lutz's opinion is that just about all the customer will glean from an oilburner is a higher car payment.

Lutz sees diesel uptake in the US hovering at about eight-percent. The technology he sees as winning the day: ethanol. It's clean, it's easy to integrate into the refueling infrastructure, and it "doesn't require a change in consumer behavior." (Except for the people in emerging markets who've seen the price of corn skyrocket.) For another take on the fuel economy battle, according to Kelly Blue Book, 40-percent of US new car shoppers think hybrids are the future, with just 17-percent citing flex-fuel.

[Source: The Car Connection]

Click image to enlarge

Shanghai GM today introduced the first mainstream hybrid in China's upper-medium vehicle segment: the Buick LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid. The car is part of Shanghai GM's push to earn truly worthy green credentials -- the kind that surpass Chinese requirements and meet European standards.

The LaCrosse is the first car to get the two-mode hybrid system for the Chinese market. With it the, the new car gets 28 mpg as opposed to the non-hybrid's 24. From next year until 2012, GM will offer 11 more increasingly fuel-efficient engines, including the E-Flex drive and the Fuel Cell E-Flex. For this year, Chinese customers will get new powerplants in the form of the 1.2-liter S-TEC, an HFV6 3.6-liter dual mode DI V6, and a mystery two-mode hybrid that will better its gas-powered cousin by 50-percent in fuel economy with no drop in performance.

The LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid is the first hybrid in Buick's lineup, and will use a development of the Belt Alternator Starter hybrid system akin to the Malibu Hybrid. Unlike the Malibu Hybrid, though, we won't be seeing the LaCrosse Hybrid here in the States.

Follow the jump for the full press release.

[Source: GM]

Canada's response to America's latest energy legislation and CAFE standards: a resounding "Meh, whatever. Call us when you're serious." The land of the maple leaf has declared that the new U.S. standards simply don't go far enough. Said the nation's transport minister, "We welcome the U.S. goal, but are committed to developing made-in-Canada standards that achieve - at minimum - that same target in Canada."

What kind of goal do they have in mind? Well... they haven't really said. But there will be a 60-day consultation period while the government holds pow wows with various groups, clans and businesses, and then they will come up with... something... that will take effect for the 2011 model year. No word on whether Dick Cheney has been invited to attend the sessions.

Of course, no announcement that "Those guys didn't do enough, so we're going to do it right" would be complete without fifteen follow-up announcements claiming that "You guys aren't doing enough, either!" Quebec, which is already playing the role of Canada's California in trying to set emissions rules that are more stringent than federal standards, has said "setting fuel efficiency standards alone doesn't go far enough." The Sierra Club says the delay to implementing the new rules -- to 2011, mind you -- is still too long. And the auto industry is saying that if you want it, fine, but you're going to pay for it. It looks like the quest for the greenest mile is going to bring quite a bit of heat to the frozen north.

[Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corp]

Bob Lutz has staked a fair amount of his and GM's reputation on the Volt. Even though he has said since the beginning that the Volt needs battery technology that isn't ready for the mass market yet, he also said that the Volt would go on sale by the end of 2010.

Rick Wagoner, though, in a 50-minute Q&A session with journos and bloggers, said that the Volt launch date is "fluid." Citing, again, the lack of battery technology that the Volt would need, he said, "We continue to put massive resources into production as soon as possible. 2010 would be great, but (we) can't guarantee that at this time. We'll keep you posted regularly on our progress."

GM critics -- like the Toyota rep who called the Volt "vaporware" -- will take this as a sign that GM is waffling. GM supporters will say, correctly, that this doesn't mean the Volt won't come out in 2010 -- it simply isn't assured. We would love to see the Volt appear tomorrow. Short of that, we'd love to see GM get the batteries it needs to deliver the Volt on time.

[Source: Detroit News]

Porsche came out swinging at the LA Auto Show with a Cayenne Hybrid it said could do 75 MPH on battery power alone. Now the carmaker isn't sure it wants to fight that fight any more. Speaking of hybrid market share, Porsche's head of distribution said, "The most optimistic forecast still only calls for a market share of 5 percent." And in that case, Porsche feels it might not be worth it to bring out a Cayenne Hybrid until the introduction of the next generation in 2010.

They would then use that model as the litmus test for other hybrids. The Panamera might get a hybrid variant in 2011 -- two years after its introduction -- or it might not happen until 2013. In fact, since Porsche still has no firm date set for getting a hybrid to market, all of these dates could be pushed back indefinitely. Contrast that with Audi, which wants to introduce a hybrid Q7 by the end of 2008.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

A little over a year ago, Alan Mulally's time was spent managing Boeing, and here in LA just 14 months later he's the keynote speaker for at an international auto show. He's a year older, and he also knows a heck of a lot more about cars than he did when he took the helm at Ford Motor Company. In that time, Ford has begun on reversing its massive losses, a new contract with the UAW has been ratified, and new products like the MKS introduced today are on the verge of production.

Much of Mulally's keynote speech focused on the green initiatives that Ford is undertaking, and we've attached the above video clip with the meat of Ford CEO's message. Click play above to check it out.