The Cygnet, a retrimmed and rebadged Toyota iQ of Aston Martin, will have a vital role as the car manufacturer tries to meet the stricter regulations on emissions.
The EU has come up with the standards for the allowable carbon dioxide average of vehicle fleets of carmakers. The Aston Martin Cygnet will allow the company to survive in their key European markets without having to alter the engineering of their range of sports cars nor do they have to go for a V8 instead of their V12s.
The Cygnet powered by a 1.3L 96 bhp engine will cut the CO2 emissions average of Aston Martin into half with an average of around 115g/km.
The European Union’s rule will take effect by 2012 and will have different stages spread into four years. Come 2012, 65% of a carmaker’s fleet must meet the set standards while moving forward to 100% by 2015.
Small-volume manufacturers like Bentley and Aston Martin which only has between 1,000 units to 10,000 units rolling out of their factories every year can go for two options. They can compute the CO2 emission average with the production of the bigger group which they belong to or like Aston Martin, which is not part of a bigger group, can stand alone.
EU will allow Aston to have a lower target than the set 130 g/km. The car manufacturer needs to negotiate with the EU. With the current aim of selling around 1500 Cygnets every year, Aston Martin might actually meet the goals but if the car industry rebounds increasing the number of sales to around 3,000 units, this will push them to do something about their other models.
Marc K. Aston Martin, Emissions Aston Martin, CO2 Emissions, Cygnet
A recent report stated that LG Chem will be supplying lithium ion batteries for the electric vehicles manufactured by Volvo Cars Corporation, the Swedish arm of Ford Motor Company. However, the company did not disclose exactly when they will be providing these battery packs. LG has already been signed up to provide batteries for five companies in their electric car ventures.
These companies include Hyundai Motor, which is South Korea’s top electric vehicle seller; CT&T, another Korean electric vehicle manufacturer; Chan’an Automobile Group which is China’s third largest automobile manufacturer; Eaton Corp. which is an American components maker for commercial vehicles; and US car manufacturer General Motors.
Peter Bahnsuk Kim, the vice chairman of the South Korean company, stated the LG is anticipating the move of four more companies to get them as the primary supplier of batteries for their electric vehicles. By July of this year, LG Chem will also start the construction of an electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan, USA. This plant will be used to mass produce EV batteries which should meet the anticipated demand by 2012.
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Emily Volvo Batteries, Chan’an Automobile Group, General Motors, LG, LG Chem, Lithium-Ion, Volvo
There are many alternatives nowadays to cars that run solely on fossil fuels. One such alternative car fuel is hydrogen. Although there are no cars that run on hydrogen as of now, researchers have taken the development of hydrogen fuel cells a long way and now this technology has become a viable alternative to fossil fuel based engines.
The idea behind hydrogen as an alternative car fuel is actually not a complicated one. The basis of this alternative fuel is the fact that if hydrogen and oxygen come into contact with each other then a reaction occurs that results in heat, electricity, electrical charge and water. In order for a car to be powered with hydrogen, a fuel cell is required and this functions just as a battery would and supplies the power when it is needed.
The greatest advantage of hydrogen fuel is that it is extremely clean, because the only byproducts are water and heat. The efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells are also very high and already average around 50%, which is more than double of what a fossil fuel powered engine manages. The sources needed to run hydrogen powered vehicles are readily available and sustainable which means that once this technology becomes standard, it most likely will be a very low cost fuel.
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Emily Hydrogen Alternative Fuels, Hydrogen
Americans may just soon get a chance to get themselves behind the wheels of small premium cars like the Audi A1 minicar which is scheduled to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.
The Audi A1 have been previewed before in several auto shows the past years and we can say that the A1 is very similar to the MINI Cooper looking at the premium, small segment.
The A1 is expected to have a range of powertrains from 1.2 to 1.6L and may come as a convertible and a 3-door or 5-door hatchback.
The small premium car market has been doing very well in Europe. In the United States, premium and small might not really blend well. The North American market has a tendency to equate size with value and buying smaller vehicles is not how the consumers do business. Audi thinks this way of thinking can be change and they believe that their small cars have a market to supply in the U.S.
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Emily Audi, Micro Cars Audi, Audi A1, Micro Cars, Small Cars
BMW has a very ambitious dream when it comes to having their consumers drive hybrid vehicles. They want a non-hybrid to be hybrid. This simply means that they want a hybrid vehicle drive like non-hybrid. Salute to BMW as they bring in the ActiveHybrid X6.
The ActiveHybrid X6 is the most powerful hybrid vehicle on the planet today. The hybrid boasts of 485 horsepower and an amazing torque of 575 ft-lb. The figures come as a combo of a 407hp V8 twin turbocharged 4.4L engine and a electric motors with 91 and 86hp.
We are not here to tell you about the specs of the hybrid but give you a glimpse of how it performs:
Performance
The ActiveHybrid X6 zooms from 0 to 62 miles per hour in just 5.6 seconds. This is at par with the xDrive 50i. The transmission of the vehicle worked like any other automatic transmission with the engine reacting well with the shifting and throttle very well.
If you will depend only on the battery pack, the vehicle can run for 1.6 miles and cruise at 37 mph.
Fuel Efficiency
During a test drive on mixed road conditions, the ActiveHybrid X6 averaged 20.4 miles. This performs better than any other BMW X6 running with a V8 coupled with six-speed transmission. Cruising on the freeway plotted 21 mpg. The overall efficiency is 20% better than any other X6 in BMW’s fleet.
Other factors like the looks, handling, and other accessories get two thumbs up. BMW succeeded in making a BMW hybrid that is non-hybrid.
Emily BMW, Fuel Efficiency, Hybrid Cars BMW, Hybrid, Hybrid Cars, Hybrids
Daimler’s hybrid bus Orion VII has been making waves since its launch and has now accepted more 3000 orders for it. About 2200 hybrid buses from Daimler are already on the streets while about 850 units are being awaited for roll out. Backlog of orders comes from several municipalities from Seattle, Houston, New York, Ottawa, and Puerto Rico.
Daimler is now the global manufacturer of hybrid buses. Houston, for example, runs 56 hybrid Orion VII on their streets with pending orders for 120 more buses that are expected to come through 2011. Puerto Rico also placed their order for 40 hybrid buses.
The heart of the diesel-electric Orion VII is its propulsion system called HybriDrive made by a company from Johnson City in New York, the BAE Systems. The essential series of components of the Orion VII are the diesel engine with 6.7L displacement, the generator, the electric engine, and the storage system for the lithium ion batteries.
The different parts of the bus have been optimized for the operation of the Orion VII. The acceleration and deceleration is primarily dependent on the electric motor of the bus. This ensures greener and cleaner operation achieved through maximum efficiency.
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Even though green cars are a little more expensive to buy, they're often cheaper to insurance! Get car insurance quotes before buying a car, and you'll know exactly!
Emily Government, Hybrid Cars, Public transport Bus, Daimler, Daimler Orion Bus, Hybrid Cars, Public transport
The Bush administration enacted a law that allows the Department of Energy to disburse about $25 billion through the Advanced Technology Vehicles 
Manufacturing incentive Program. After seating on the funds for eight months, DOE released a big chunk of the money last week.
The move in the House was made by passing the bill with the legislation on climate-change. The proposal will then go to the Senate before being enacted as a law. A similar bill was rejected by the Senate in 2008.
In the program, car manufactures will be able to get government loans of as much as 80% to cover for the cost of R&D, and production of highly efficient vehicles. The payback is stretched to 25 years with approximately 4% of interest. The company needs to issue security interest for the acquisition of any property using the funds.
Assembling a car using the DOE grant has a requirement of making a car that is 25% more efficient than the current standards. So performance cars, trucks, and SUV is out of the picture.
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Emily Auto Industry, Government Department of Energy, Ford, Government, Nissan, Tesla
Las Vegas is considered as an extravagant city in every term. But to your surprise you will still have a time of your life when you are on your Sun City Trip. To have this experience, make sure to jump down by a Tesla Roadster car rental in Las Vegas, Nevada and please your eyes as they unravel to you one of the most elegant car in the present times.
With Tesla Roadster car rental in Las Vegas, Nevada you can gain an opportunity to know about an electric car which like other cars does not go slow as well as look unusual too. Precisely you can consider The Tesla Roadster as one of the coolest car around the globe in today’s time.
The Tesla Roadster not only has an extravagant look but at the same time its performance is mind-blowing. It will please anybody who is familiar with the aspects which makes the car spot on. The speed of this electric car is unbelievable at 20km per hour and this will surely make anybody’s heart thump faster than usual. What is more incredible about this car is that it can move to 60 mph in about as less as 3.7 seconds.
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Emily Alternative Fuels, Electric Vehicles, Tesla Motors Rental Cars, Sports Cars, Tesla, Tesla Roadsters
Blind people will hear you coming in your soundless engined car...
Hybrid vehicles might be the ride of choice for gangsters in television shows where they can go and leave unnoticed. In real life though, people are complaining of the dangers the silent hybrid engines. Imagine crossing the street without hearing a vehicle’s sound, and the next thing you know is a bumper near your knee.
Companies like Lotus designs gadgets to provide engine noise for the silent vehicles. Japan is even thinking if it should make the device mandatory for all hybrid vehicles to improve safety on the road.
The root of the problem is on the design of the electric engine of the vehicles. Running on electric power alone, the car does not produce any noise when cruising on low speed. The quiet cruising of the EV has been an issue especially for visually impaired persons walking on the street.
Visually impaired persons depend on sounds when they walk on the street and they have petitioned to the government to make the streets safer for them as they consider the popular hybrid cars in Japan as dangerous.
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Emily Green Cars, Hybrid Cars, Lotus Green Cars, Hybrid Cars, Lotus, Safe and Sound
Yes, the wind-powered vehicle of Zero Carbonista is still unnamed, but Dale Vince and his team are still on the go of creating this innovative car magnanimo.
Dale Vince and his team, commissioned by Ecotricity, have this vision of empowering all vehicles in Britain by wind. Vince admitted that he is a speed aficionado and loves new and innovative technology, but he is deeply concerned with the state of the planet. He wished that all 30m cars in Britain to be driven by wind through a supplemented power of 3,000-10,000 turbines feeding electricity at its peak. According to him, this concept will save 25m tons of vehicle oil, and the total of 12% of all United Kingdom’s carbon emissions.
Vince sits at the pedestal of Ecotricity, the seventh largest supplier of electricity in United Kingdom and is one of the most renowned and biggest construction firms of wind turbines in his country. With his superb achievements, he finally conceptualized wind-powered cars. He predicted that these cars will be seen glazing on the road within 20 years. These cars will be actually running by electricity that is created by wind-farms.
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Emily Carbon Dioxide, Electric Vehicles, Emissions, Wind-Powered Car, Zero Carbonista Dale Vince, Ecotricity, Electric Cars, Electric Vehicles, Wind-Powered Car, Zero Carbonista
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