veiculos inteligentes

Suzuki and IE to commercialize FC cars and bikes

2012-02-09T13:11:00.003-02:00

Cutaway of Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter

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Intelligent Energy and Suzuki are to establish a joint venture company, SMILE FC System Corporation (SMILE FC), for developing and manufacturing fuel cell systems. Suzuki has already been working with Intelligent Energy for six years in the development and testing of the Crosscage and Burgman Fuel Cell Maxiscooter, the latter already approved for European roads. An extensive display of the technology in cutaway form was one of the highlights of December's 2011 Tokyo Motor Show.

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It appears that the joint venture will produce at least one car and one motorcycle.

The press release reads thus: "In order to officially develop and manufacture one of the next generation environmental vehicles, a motorcycle and an automobile equipped with fuel cell systems, Suzuki will establish a joint venture company, SMILE FC, in February 2012, for developing and manufacturing fuel cell system with IEH, and will speed-up to commercialize a product by combining the fuel cell development technology of IE, and control and mass-production technologies of Suzuki."

The release also indicates that both companies think the Hydrogen Economy is far from dead and intends to become one of the key facilitators of the commercialization: "Beginning with the air-cooled fuel cell system, which can be characterized with its lightness, compactness, and potential for cost reduction, Suzuki and IE, with SMILE FC at the core, will work on developing mass-production technology and manufacturing of fuel cells, as well as exploiting the global supply chain of fuel cell parts, and familiarizing the fuel cell vehicles."

Given the rash of publicity that has been mounting around the already-certified, ready-to-go (Suzuki was granted Whole Vehicle Type Approval in March 2011 for the Burgman) Burgman FC scooter, it will almost certainly be the new company's first commercial product.

Intelligent Energy hit the news in 2005 when it showed a small fuel cell motorcycle it called the ENV.

Within a year, it was working alongside Suzuki and the first visible sign of the collaboration was the Crosscage fuel cell motorcycle first shown at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.

For a while there in 2008, it seemed we'd get the Crosscage in showrooms first.

The 41st Tokyo Motor Show in October 2009 brought the fuel cell version of the company's maxi-scooter, and the Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter was born.

The Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter uses an air-cooled, single polymer-electrolyte type fuel cell made by Intelligent Energy using hydrogen fuel stored in a high-pressure (70MPa) tank within the frame.

Combining the scooter's lithium-ion battery and the power gleaned from a full tank of hydrogen via the fuel cell, the Burgman has a range of 350km per tank.

This same advantage - a limitless range - was the biggest drawcard of Suzuki's Mio Electric wheelchair FCV which debuted at Tokyo Motor Show in 2009, along with a fuel cell car using a GM fuel cell. Obviously, the automotive fuel cell relationship with IE will now see more of a focus on auto FC development given that the agreement stipulates such a vehicle.

gizmag

Stanford system could allow EVs to recharge from the road, while moving

2012-02-07T13:08:00.001-02:00

By charging while you're driving, you'll get more range without even stopping

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The greatest obstacle standing in the way of electric-vehicle adoption - besides crafty, deceitful right wingers - is limited range. Electric vehicles can only travel 100 miles (161 km) on their best day. Because of the lack of electric charging stations and the amount of time involved in charging a battery, they just can't go as far as gas vehicles. A team of researchers at Stanford University recently made an important discovery in wireless charging technology. Their work could one day help solve the limited-range dilemma.

According to the US Department of Energy's alternative fuel station finder, there are about 5,500 electric charging stations across the United States. That number should balloon into the five figures by the end of this year, but the extra stations will solve only a tiny part of the greater range dilemma. Most of the charging stations built or planned are Level 1 or Level 2 stations. The Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center estimates that a Level 2 charging station can add about 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km) of range to an EV's battery in an hour. Such a little amount of charge in such a long time makes Level II stations impractical for anything much more than emergency fill-ups.

DC fast-charging stations, which make up a very small percentage of today's charging infrastructure, are the more practical solution, but even these are much slower than gas fueling. These stations are powerful enough to deliver 80 to 100 percent of a battery's charge within about half an hour - much better than a Level 1 or 2 station, but still a long time to wait for an extra 75 miles (121 km) of range. Even with these stations, long road trips will be impractical or impossible for many drivers and families.

One of the potential solutions that may make electric vehicle driving easier in the future is highway-integrated wireless-charging equipment. We covered a Korean wireless charging system several years ago, and now researchers at Stanford University have made a breakthrough of their own. The researchers believe that a magnetic resonance system that they developed holds the key to offering a steady wireless charge to moving electric vehicles.

The researchers built on work performed at MIT in 2007, which used magnetic resonance to power a light bulb 6.5 feet (2 meters) away - even while there were objects between the source and receiving coils. Stanford's researchers wanted to see if a similar system could be used to send more power. They aimed to send 10 kW between the source and receiving coil, which they believe would keep a vehicle charged while it moves at highway speeds.

The Stanford team used computers to experiment with the optimal design for a system that could effectively transfer 10 kW to a moving car. They found that a source coil with a 90-degree bend atop a metal plate could transfer the necessary 10 kW to an identical coil equipped to a vehicle 6.5 feet (2 m) away. They achieved transfer efficiency of 97 percent, much higher than other wireless systems, and believe that they can eventually reach higher efficiency by tweaking the design.

While the computer simulation is but a small step toward a road-integrated wireless charging infrastructure, the researchers have filed a patent on their system and plan to move toward laboratory and real-world driving tests. Extrapolated from their simulation, the system would consist of series of electrically charged coils embedded into the asphalt in roads. These coils would constantly charge electric-vehicle batteries during driving.

Study co-author Richard Sassoon, the managing director of the Stanford Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP), explained to the Stanford Report: "What makes this concept exciting is that you could potentially drive for an unlimited amount of time without having to recharge. You could actually have more energy stored in your battery at the end of your trip than you started with."

Sassoon's quote suggests that the magnetic system would not only help with the range issue, it could virtually solve it. If this technology were one day implemented on interstate and major state highways, it would allow electric vehicles to make longer road trips even more seamlessly than gas vehicles.

The research team has also started collaborating with the engineering department to begin looking at the intricacies and problems related to designing roadways with these coils installed. Of course, they also need to determine that the magnetic system is safe to use in a real world environment and won't result in radiation harmful to humans or electromagnetic interference that could affect vehicular electronics.

You can read the study here, but be forewarned, it's not the lightest read for non-science/math-minded folks.

Source: Stanford News

Hiriko: Empresas desenvolvem carro elétrico compacto

2012-02-02T13:53:00.000-02:00

Passageiro e motorista entram abrindo o pára-brisa e rodas giram até 90º (Reprodução/Economist)

Protótipo do minúsculo veículo foi apresentado em 24 de janeiro por José Manuel Barroso, o presidente da Comissão Europeia.

Diferente de suas equivalentes norte-americanas, as fabricantes de carros europeias há muito têm sido associadas com pequenos e compactos carros de passeio, como o Fiat 500, o Citroen 2CV, o Mini Cooper, e mais recentemente o carro Smart. Isso sempre teve um motivo. Muitas ruas são mais estreitas, e as vagas mais complicadas do que do outro lado do Atlântico. E a maioria das pessoas raramente dirigem as grandes distâncias que justificariam pagar por um carro maior e mais confortável. Agora, um consórcio de sete empresas do País Basco da Espanha e o laboratório de mídia do Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) resolveram levar isso às últimas consequências.

O protótipo de um minúsculo veículo elétrico foi apresentado em 24 de janeiro por José Manuel Barroso, o presidente da Comissão Europeia, que subiu no carro, fez um sinal de positivo e o chamou de “uma solução sistemática para grandes desafios da sociedade”. O Hiriko, de duas portas, cujo nome vem da palavra basca para “cidade” ou “urbano”, foi projetado por engenheiros do MIT, mas construído pelos bascos. Programado para entrar no mercado no ano que vem, uma operação teste de produção deve começar muito em breve em Vitoria Gasteiz, nos arredores de Bilbao.

O Hiriko transborda com pequenos e sedutores artifícios. Ele dobra para cima quando estacionado, ocupando apenas um terço do tamanho de uma vaga padrão na Europa. Como alguns modelos compactos antigos, tanto o passageiro quanto o motorista entram abrindo o pára-brisa. Suas rodas giram até 90 graus, tornando os pesadelos com baliza coisa do passado.

O grupo de investimento basco apoiando o empreendimento, Denokinn, quer cobrar 12.500 euros pelo Hiriki (16.400 dólares). A companhia planeja mandar os carros para cidades na Europa que estão tentando ampliar seus projetos de partilha de carros: até agora Berlim, Barcelona e Malmö já mostraram interesse. Mas a limitação do carro de 120km por carga de bateria pode desanimar compradores individuais.

Ecomomist

SmartCap monitors workers' fatigue levels by reading their brain waves

2012-01-31T10:04:00.001-02:00

The SmartCap is a device that monitors workers' fatigue levels by monitoring their brain waves

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You don't need to be an expert in occupational safety to know that worker fatigue is one of the leading causes of workplace accidents - this particularly applies to people who operate heavy machinery or drive for a living. While it would be great if all employees simply took a break when fatigue started setting in, it can sometimes be difficult for people to tell just how tired they really are. That, or they decide that they just want to push through and get the job done, drowsiness be damned. A relatively new invention from Australia's EdanSafe, however, takes the guesswork out of the picture. It's called the SmartCap, and it measures employee fatigue in real time by monitoring its wearer's brain waves.

The washable cap incorporates waterproof sensors in its lining, which are able to measure electrical activity originating in the brain, at the scalp level. No preparation of the scalp is necessary.

Once every second, a custom algorithm analyzes the data, to determine the wearer's level of alertness. This information is transmitted by Bluetooth to a linked device such as a smartphone or the dedicated SmartCap touchscreen monitor, where the user will be able to see a visual display of their fatigue level - if that level drops to dangerous levels, audible and visual alarms will be activated. The sensors are able to tell when the cap isn't being worn, so simply taking it off to hide one's fatigue isn't an option.

Along with the sensors, each cap features a removable card-like module that contains the core electronics. This attaches to the underside of the brim when the cap is being worn, but can be docked in a base unit (or in the touchscreen display) for recharging and testing when "off duty."

The system can be used in an offline stand-alone format, or it can be linked into the SmartCap Fatigue Manager Server. Using that technology, supervisors can monitor the output of multiple caps in real time, or look back over an employee's past shift to check what fatigue levels they experienced.

Initially developed for use in the mining industry, the SmartCap is presently still being field tested by industrial partners, but should reportedly be available for sale early this year. Versions built into hard hats, visors and headbands are also in the works.

gizmag

Lola Drayson B12/69EV electric racing car launched

2012-01-26T10:45:00.002-02:00

Drayson Racing Technologies and the Lola Cars group have just revealed what is intended to be the fastest electric-powered racing car in the world - the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV

Drayson Racing Technologies and the Lola Cars group have just revealed what is intended to be the fastest electric-powered racing car in the world. The Lola-Drayson B12/69EV features Drayson's brand new 4X2-640 electric drivetrain, inductive charging, composite battery power, moveable aerodynamics and electrical regenerative damping. Its four electric motors are said to deliver a whopping 850 horsepower and a top speed of around 200 mph.

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In 2007, Lord Paul Drayson left the UK government and set up a business with his wife Elspeth, aimed at pioneering green technology in the harsh environment of motorsport. Drayson Racing Technologies subsequently developed a GT2 Aston Martin that ran on second generation bio-ethanol and was raced in the American Le Mans Series and the 2009 Le Mans 24-hour race. A spell as the UK government's Minister for Science and Innovation gave Lord Drayson access to data underlining the scale of the challenge presented by climate change, which served to reinforce his resolve.

The company went on to develop a unique Le Mans Prototype (LMP) racing car with a flex-fuel Judd V10 engine which allowed the car to run on both second generation E85 bio-ethanol fuel and conventional petrol race fuel. At the Road America ALMS race in August 2010, the Lola B10/60 LMP car achieved an overall win.

Now the Drayson Racing Technologies and Lola Cars partnership has set its sights on producing the fastest electric-powered racecar to lap a circuit. Built around the current Lola LMP1 chassis, the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV was unveiled earlier this month at the UK's 2012 Low Carbon Racing Conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

The four axial flux Oxford YASA motors generate over 850 peak horse power to the rear wheels, taking the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV up to a top speed of 320 km/h (just shy of 200 mph) - it is said to be capable of producing more power than a petrol equivalent vehicle. Off the starting line, the electric racer is claimed to zoom from zero to 60 mph (96.56 km/h) in 3 seconds, or zero to 100 mph (160.93 km/h) in 5.1 seconds.

Drayson says that the partnership's "main aim is to prove that an electric powered LMP car can lap as fast, if not faster than a conventionally powered car and to show how exciting an 850 horsepower, 200 mph plus electric car is on track."

The car's design is centered around optimizing qualifying performance in short attack runs. The new generation Lithium Nanophosphate battery cells made exclusively by A123 Systems, and used for the first time in the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV, will only last for around 15 minutes in race mode - but at those speeds, what a 15 minutes that will be!

The batteries are recharged using a Qualcomm HaloIPT wireless induction system, where coils positioned in the floor of the vehicle start juicing the packs when placed over recharging pads in the pit garage. Safety concerns have been central to the design process, with the team ensuring that the batteries discharge on impact and that fire risks are eliminated.

The batteries and the electric motors are situated behind the driver, along with power inverters and a cooling system. The new electric racing car also has a single reduction gear linking the drive from the electric motors to the driveshafts, plus it incorporates Rhinehart inverters, new active aerodynamic features developed by Lola in conjunction with BAE Systems (the latter also responsible for developing the structural composite battery technology), and new recycled carbon fiber technology developed in house by Lola. The electronic control systems come courtesy of Cosworth, and there are Multimatic electrical regenerative dampers and Warwick Manufacturing Group recyclable body panels.

The Lola-Drayson B12/69EV will begin its track testing regime in the coming months, ahead of a planned showing at the 2013 FIA electric car championship.

gizmag

"Unusual-looking" SIM-LEI EV has 300-km range, could be available soon

2012-01-12T11:09:00.005-02:00

The SIM-LEI's rear overhang is part of its aerodynamic design

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If you were one of the people who were hoping to turn some heads when you drove your Aptera down the street, well ... you may still get your chance to own a truly eye-catching electric car. SIM-Drive, a collaborative of 34 Japanese tech companies and institutions, presented its SIM-LEI prototype EV at the 2011 Electric Vehicle Industrial Exhibition late last year. While you probably either love or hate its looks, there's one thing about it that everyone should like - it can reportedly go about 305 kilometers (189.5 miles) on one charge of its battery, traveling at a constant speed of 100 km/h (62 mph).

A venture company established by Japan's Keio University in 2009, SIM-Drive's goal isn't to commercially produce cars itself, but instead "to provide the highest level of electric vehicle technology and information, at the lowest cost, to all those involved with electric vehicles."

The four-seat car's energy efficiency comes thanks largely to its striking aerodynamic design, that results in a drag coefficient of just 0.19. Its long, tapered rear overhang is part of that design, as are its tiny side mirrors (they're augmented with built-in side-view cameras) and its externally-located side impact beams - these serve to reduce the width of its frontal projected area by a total of 100 millimeters. A lightweight steel monocoque frame and low rolling-resistance Bridgestone Ecopia tires also contribute to its efficiency.

A 65-kW battery provides power to four direct-drive in-wheel motors, which also harvest energy when the vehicle is braking. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in a peppy 4.8 seconds, and has a top speed of 150 km/h (93 mph). The car weighs in at 1,650 kilograms (3,638 lbs).

There's quite a bit of cargo space inside, thanks to that enormous overhang. Up front, a 19-inch display allows for functions such as navigation, while also displaying the feed from a rearview camera. Two smaller screens are dedicated to the two side-view cameras.

Although SIM-Drive itself isn't in the car-selling business, interested groups belonging to the collaborative will reportedly be able to sell a commercial version of the SIM-LEI. Large-scale production could start as early as next year.

Source: DigInfo

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Tata presents $20,000 eMO compact EV concept

2012-01-11T11:09:00.000-02:00

Tata Technologies has unveiled its eMO EV concept car, that is designed to sell for US$20,000

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You could be forgiven for thinking that an electric car called the eMO would be dark-colored, inspire sulkiness in its drivers, and play nothing but My Chemical Romance on its stereo. In this case, however, eMO stands for "Electric MObility study," which is just what India's Tata Technologies designed the concept car as - a study in practical, cost-effective electric city/urban transportation. The vehicle is currently on display at the North American International Auto Show as part of this year's Michelin Challenge Design exhibit, in which participants were asked to design "a personal, ground-based vehicle that can transport between two and 10 people, meeting the anticipated needs of select cities in 2046."

The eMO was designed in a collaboration between engineers from Tata's four international centers of excellence, located in Pune (India), Detroit, Coventry, and Stuttgart. They sought to minimize its exterior footprint while maximizing interior space, which resulted in a car that can seat four adults, or that can carry cargo with the back seats folded down.

Additional features include nine air bags, a full steel safety cage, a dashboard touchscreen interface, and easy-access rear suicide doors (combined with forward-opening front doors), like those on the Honda Element.

It also reportedly has more aerodynamic surfaces and shorter overhangs than conventional internal combustion-powered vehicles, its assembly process forgoes traditional painting methods for mold-in colored body panels, and it incorporates recycled building materials.

Power is provided by an air-cooled 18.4-kW lithium-ion battery, coupled to a liquid-cooled, dual-motor, front-wheel-drive system which is said to be good for at least 250,000 miles (402,336 km) of use. This combination gives it a range of 100 miles (161 km) per charge, and a top speed of 65 mph (105 km/h). Stopping is handled by front disc and rear drum antilock brakes with electronic stability control, while an electric power-assisted rack-and-pinion system takes care of steering.

Tata Technologies' sister company, Tata Motors, is best-known for producing what is currently promoted as being the world's most inexpensive car, the US$2,500 Tata Nano. While the eMO isn't designed to be quite that cheap, it has been created to sell for $20,000 - pretty good, for an EV. With a "fuel" economy of 150 MPG equivalent (1.57 L/100 km), Tata estimates that it should cost a typical owner about $405 a year in electricity ... if it's ever commercially produced.

"We developed it strictly as an engineering study with no particular automaker in mind," said Kevin Fisher, president of Tata's Vehicle Programs and Development group. "If there are auto companies interested in exploring the potential of the eMO, we would, of course, welcome that opportunity."

The video below provides some more information on the car.

gizmag

The beautifully retro Juicer ebikes with striking EV-Twin battery mount

2012-01-10T11:23:00.000-02:00

Starboard view of Juicer 48 showing pride in her home-state

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If you think that you've spotted a strangely old-looking motorized bicycle cruising around the streets of Los Angeles, don't worry, you're not hallucinating. What you're likely seeing is one of two hand-built Juicer e-bike models - both of which harken back to the very early days of motorcycle development, when engines and motors were fixed to bicycle frames. The Juicer 36 is fashioned like a stretch cruiser and the 48 is an homage to the board-track era. Retro styling aside, the stand-out feature for us has got to be the gorgeous battery/motor configuration, that's been arranged like cylinders of a V-twin engine.

If you're in the market for a hand-built electric bicycle but the luxury Terminus models from M55 cost just a tiny bit more than your budget allows, and Gabriel Wartofsky's folding e-bike looks a bit too modern in the Gocycle design sense, then perhaps Dave Twomey's Juicer e-bikes will fit the bill. Designed with a definite nod to the motorized bicycles of yesteryear, and using as many off-the-shelf parts as possible, these custom creations feature classic exposed machinery and something named the EV-Twin.

The first e-bike created by Twomey was the Juicer 36v electric cruiser with a Schwinn-style springer fork, a top speed of 37 mph (59.5 km/h) with no assistance from the rider, and a range of around 10 miles (16 km) at a speed of 20 mph (32 km/h). The Currie-style 1000-watt brushed DC motor was chosen so that the e-bike can remain classified as a bicycle in California. That eye-catching EV-Twin arrangement above the motor is home to a series of 12 Headway 10 amp-hour cells.

"LiFePO4 is a safer lithium chemistry in that they do not combust when they fail," explains Twomey. "The Juicer 36 has a Signalab battery-management system in the oil-tank area behind the seat-post tube, and a controller, voltmeter, charge-plug and kill-switch in the gas tank."

There's a petcock-style 3-way switch between the EV-twin cylinders, caliper front brakes and coaster braking at the rear - which is described as an overrunning clutch and a drum-brake all in one.

The 70 pound (31.75 kg) Juicer 36 is available for custom order at a cost of US$3,000.

The latest design and the new flagship model is the Juicer 48v electric racer. Twomey told us that this model "started as a Worksman Newsboy frame, sectioned and grafted to a loop in order to cradle a Etek-style motor."

It features a Manta brushed DC electric motor capable of an unassisted top speed of 46 mph (74 km/h), the same striking LiFePO4 battery configuration as the cruiser but increased to 16 Headway 16 amp-hour LiFePO4 cells (increasing the range to around 13 miles/20 km at 20 mph), and EcityPower battery management. The fuel tank is home to a Kelly controller rated at 400 amps (but currently limited to 100), a surface-mounted antique voltmeter, charging plug and ignition-switch.

The custom-made Hydroencephalac forks are based on designs by chopper builder John Brain, with rear-facing bicycle-necks that function as adjustable risers. There's disk braking at the front, a Y-brake at the rear, and Felt Thick Brick tires on the rims.

"Both Juicers achieve their gearing using a jackshaft," says Twomey." The Juicer 48's jackshaft, however, is a free-coaster hub being used as an overrunning-clutch to reduce drag while coasting."

The Juicer 48 is not yet up for sale, so no price is available at the time of writing.

Twomey also produces a few t-shirts sporting the Juicer logo, just in case onlookers are in any doubt about who made your cool ride.

gizmag

Lit Motors' C-1 electric motorcycle will stand up for itself

2012-01-05T11:24:00.000-02:00

The C-1 is a proposed fully-electric and fully-enclosed self-balancing motorcycle

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As any avid biker will tell you, motorcycles have a lot of advantages over cars - they use less fuel, accelerate faster, are more maneuverable, can be parked in more places, and don't incorporate the weight of extra seating for passengers who are non-existent on solo commutes. As many other people will tell you, however, motorcycles also leave their occupants open to the rain and cold, and can potentially tip over and scatter those occupants across the road. That's where Lit Motors' C-1 comes into the picture. It's a proposed fully-enclosed two-passenger electric motorbike that uses an electronically-controlled gyroscopic stabilizing system to stay upright when stopped, or even when struck from the side in an accident.

Lit Motors is based out of San Francisco, and is headed up by industrial/automotive designer Daniel Kim. The idea for the C-1 came to him after he had traveled around the world for a year, seeing the transportation challenges and innovations in developing nations. "I met thousands and thousands of people, and learned how cultures function and how people get around," he told us. "It was an amazing experience. That's basically what informed me, for the rest of my life."

The vehicle

So far, Kim and his team have developed an operating model of the C-1's flywheel-based stabilization system, along with a full-scale fiberglass mock-up of the vehicle itself. They are now working on a hand-built steel uni-bodied working prototype, which should reportedly be complete within about three months. Plans call for an initial run of production vehicles to be available at a price of about US$24,000 by late 2013, with that price going down to $16,000 once full production gets under way in 2014.

Different versions of the C-1 will be available for different markets. The model aimed at First World countries will have an 8-10 kilowatt-hour battery pack, while a model intended for developing nations will be rated at about 4-6 kWh. The vehicle will incorporate electric hub motors in both wheels, at least one of those motors being a high-performance Remy HVH unit. The top speed should be at least 120 mph (193 km/h), with driving range for the higher-end model expected to sit at around 150 to 220 miles (241 to 354 km) per charge, depending on the exact size of the battery.

Harvesting energy

While the C-1's light weight, aerodynamic shape and low rolling resistance should allow it to get decent mileage, KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) technology will also help in that department. As is the case with the self-balancing Thrustcycle SRT, kinetic power that would otherwise be lost in the braking process will instead be used to assist in spinning up the flywheels. Along with providing stability, those wheels will also deliver power back to the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating, giving the battery pack a break.

The flywheels will be located beneath the vehicle's floor, and should generate over 1,300 lb/ft (1,763 Nm) of torque in the final, commercial model. Although previous attempts at gyroscopically-stabilized vehicles such as the Gyro-X were rumored to be tippy when cornering at high speeds, Kim assures us that a patented system will keep that from being the case with the C-1.

Keeping connected

As with many existing newer cars, the vehicle will also utilize various connectivity protocols to stay in contact with the internet. This will allow its driver to be continuously aware of factors such as traffic, construction, and adverse weather conditions - where applicable, alternate routes will be suggested.

Some fairly big names have become interested in the project. While Daniel was first developing the C-1 as a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, it caught the attention of Robin Chase, co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar, the world's largest car-sharing service - she has since become "a huge proponent" of the vehicle. The MIT Media Lab also provided assistance in its design. More recently, Jason Hill, lead designer with the now-defunct Aptera Motors, signed on to work on the final design of the C-1.

Should you want one...

Lit Motors is now accepting US$250 refundable deposits, from people interested in becoming early adopters of the vehicle. Approximately 25 deposits have been made so far, mainly from Europe. When and if it hits the market, the C-1 may face some competition from the E-Tracer, a fully-electric version of the Monotracer cabin motorcycle made by Swiss company Peraves. Unlike the C-1, however, the E-Tracer lacks a gyroscopic stabilizing system - instead, its driver must manually deploy retractable outrigger supports when slowing down or coming to a stop.

"We're creating a safe motorcycle, and that's never been done in the way that we're doing it, where it's also incredibly efficient" said Kim. "We're trying to open up safety to a huge market of 200 million motorcyclists, daily in the world. We have a huge market, and I think we could have a lot of impact."

The video below shows how the C-1 might operate in the real world.

gizmag

Forget face detection - this Japanese car seat can tell who's sitting on it

2011-12-28T09:25:00.000-02:00

A group of Japanese researchers at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology have developed a car seat that can identify drivers while they're sitting down

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Who needs face detection when your car can know who's sitting in it based on their rear-end? A group of Japanese researchers at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology (AIIT) have developed a car seat that can identify drivers while they're sitting down.

The way the technology works is pretty simple. The seat is retrofitted with 360 different sensors. Those sensors take into account things like your weight, the highest value of pressure on the seat, and where you come in contact with the seat. The idea is that we all sit in car seats relatively the same way each time, so the seat should be able to tell who is sitting in it, ensuring that the person is the owner of the car rather than a car thief.

While it seems like the tech might be problematic, the researchers claim the seat is able to accurately identify the person sitting in it 98 percent of the time. That's a pretty impressive accuracy rate, but it also means that one in every 50 times the seat would in theory not be able to recognize you, potentially resulting in your inability to drive your own car. It's also not clear how the seat would deal with things like weight loss or gain, the wearing of unusual clothing, or injuries that might effect how you sit down.

The AIIT researchers hope to work with car companies to bring the tech to vehicles as an anti-theft features in the next two to three years.

What do you think? Would you be interested in seat detection in your car?

Source: TechCrunch

gizmag

FIA embraces Formula E Championship

2011-12-26T18:38:00.002-02:00

The FIA is still adamant a Formula E Championship, a championship for electrically powered single seaters, is the way towards a more greener image of motorsport in general, and have recently installed the New Energy Championships Commission, who are working on regulations and safety aspects for Electric Vehicles (EVs). This also means the FIA is really serious about this form of racing, and an official Formula E championship is planned for 2013.

Although many people still think of electric Formula cars as an upscaled version of a toy radio-controlled car, technology has now made it possible to build cars that are just as fast as fuel engine propelled race cars. One of the companies that has been the frontrunner of the technology, is the French-based Formulec company, who have designed the Formulec EF01, a fully electric single seater formula car.

Jules Bianchi tests the Formulec EF01

Photo by: Formulec

The company tested the car for the first time in September 2010, and are now conducting full tests on race tracks as well, and after two and a half years of development it seems they have mastered the technology, where others in the past have failed. The first prototype is a fully functional race car, and not a car that has been bolted together for demo purposes. The car and chassis have been developed by Formulec together with the Mercedes GP Formula One team.

Formulec have currently been promoting their EF01 car during the famous Bavaria City Racing events in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Moscow, and it must be said, the cars are fast and are a far cry from previously presented electric cars. The car has a 220kw, which equates to 300 bhp, on board and the acceleration is impressive: 0 to 100 km in three seconds with a top speed of 260 km/h. The car has a range of 20 to 25 minutes depending on the track, batteries are quick-charged in 1 hour, and fully charged in 1.5 hours.

There is plenty of torque and a driver can easily make rubber donuts on the track, and in the rain like in Moscow, drivers had their hands full to keep the powerful car on the city asphalt. The lithium-ion batteries are manufactured by the French SAFT company, who also produce batteries for hybrid road cars. Hewland, the famous gearbox producer, has designed an unique transmission system, Siemens supplies the two electric motors for the EF01, and French tyre company Michelin supplies the tyres.

The company is aiming for a world-wide Formulec Series, starting at the end of 2012. According to a statement, contacts have already been established with more than 20 countries to host future events on five continents. The FIA is currently working on regulations, and if all goes well, the electric championship will become a reality.

Jules Bianchi tests the Formulec EF01

Photo by: Formulec

Frenchman Alexandre Premat his driven this car and was impressed, and as the car doesn’t have a traditional gearbox, it is very light and easy to drive. “I would say you hear and feel the wind more in this car and you can hear the friction between the motor and the drive shaft very well,” said Premat. “There are plans for a championship for 2012 or 2013, but we need to find investors for this project. In the future it could certainly become a very interesting race series. And if they need more testing I will certainly be available for that,” he added.

In March 2012 there will be a meeting of the FIA WMSC and it is expected more will be announced regarding the regulations and safety issues concerning the Formula E championship.

motorsport.com

Korea gets its first electric vehicle - the Kia Ray EV

2011-12-22T10:36:00.000-02:00

The Kia Ray EV is the first electric vehicle launched by either of Korea's big two automakers

Korea might be home to a couple of the world's biggest automakers in Hyundai and Kia but, with the exception of concept cars, it isn't until now that the country has launched an electric vehicle. Intended exclusively for the Korean market, the Kia Ray EV shares the same dimensions as the Ray CUV (crossover utility vehicle) that was launched last month, but instead of a 1.0-liter gasoline engine, the car is powered by a 50 kW electric motor and a 16.4 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack that gives it a range of up to 139 km (86 miles) on a single charge.

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In what Kia claims is a worldwide first for an EV manufacturer, the Ray EV's sharing of dimensions with the Ray CUV allows it to share a production line with conventional combustion engine vehicles. Although the front-wheel drive Ray EV is some 187 kg (412 lb) heavier than its gas-powered cousin, the Ray EV boasts faster acceleration (0 - 100 km/h/62 mph in 15.9 seconds) thanks to 77 percent greater torque (167 Nm). Kia says the vehicle has a top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph).

Kia says the Ray EV can be recharged in six hours from a 220 V household outlet or in just 25 minutes in fast-charge mode. The inlet for the 220 V supply is located under a flap in the front grille, while the fast-charge inlet can be found where the fuel intake is usually located on regular models. The 330 V lithium ion polymer battery pack is located under the rear seat and cabin floor.

The Ray EV has been fitted with a new type of regenerative braking system featuring an "Active Hydraulic Booster" that uses the electric motor to create hydraulic pressure for the brake system. Kia says in addition to harvesting excess braking energy to recharge the vehicle's battery, it also provides consistent brake pedal force under a wide variety of driving conditions.

Like audio alert systems already available in a number of hybrid vehicles from manufacturers such as Toyota and Nissan, the Ray EV is fitted with a Virtual Engine Sound System (VESS) that emits a mixture of recorded gasoline engine noises when the car is traveling at speeds below 20 km/h (12 mph), or when reversing.

The instrument cluster displays electric motor operation, battery status and the distance before a recharge is required. An EV-specific navigation system features a 7-inch display that provides information such as the location of the nearest recharging stations - of which there are 500 in Korea with plans from the government to increase that number to 3,100 by the end of 2012. The navigation system also displays a circular shaped area over a map that shows how far the vehicle can travel with its current level of battery power.

The Ray EV won't be available to ordinary customers with Kia currently planning to produce just 2,500 of the cars. These will be provided to government departments and public offices as part of the company's research and development program to gather real-world usage and performance data to aid in the development of future electric vehicles.

gizmag

Inductive charging for electric vehicles to be put to the test in real-world trial in Berlin

2011-12-21T15:57:00.000-02:00

Daimler will supply a Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-CELL, a second generation smart fortwo electric drive and a smart ebike to an energy-efficient house project in Germany

Inductive charging devices are already making their way into the home as a cable-free option to keep the batteries of everything from mice and keyboards to mobile phones and toothbrushes juiced up. The increasing availability of practical electric vehicles has also seen the technology attract the attention of those looking for for a cable-free way to charge EV batteries. German automakers are taking the opportunity to put inductive charging of EVs to a real-world test as part of the "Effizienzhaus-Plus mit Elektromobilität" project.

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The "Effizienzhaus-Plus mit Elektromobilität" (Google translation: House-Plus efficiency with electric mobility) project is a German government-backed initiative to build an energy-efficient house that generates more electricity than it consumes. It will see a family of four living in the house located in Berlin for fifteen months, starting in March 2012. The house has been specifically designed along energy-efficient lines and is intended to demonstrate how energy-efficient building and electric mobility can be combined in real-life conditions. Equipped with photovoltaics and energy management technology, surplus electricity generated will either be fed back into the grid or stored in batteries ready to recharge the batteries of the occupants' electric vehicles.

Audi, BMW, Daimler, Opel and VW will each get a chance to put their respective electric vehicles to the test with each providing EVs to the house for periods of three months each.

Daimler will start proceedings in March 2012 by supplying a Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-CELL modified to include an induction charging option to test how effective the technology proves in real-world conditions. Fitted with a special charging coil, the A-Class E-CELL only needs to be positioned over a charging coil in the ground to automatically begin cable-free charging by way of an electromagnetic field.

Along with the cable charging infrastructure that has been built into the architecture of the house, the carport has also been embedded with the necessary coils for wireless inductive charging, over which the A-Class E-CELL is guided by a special display system. However, the vehicle can also be charged via a cable at public charging stations or via a standard domestic power outlet to allow it to be juiced up when away from home.

In addition to the modified A-Class E-CELL, Daimler will also supply a second-generation smart fortwo electric drive and a smart ebike to see how a family utilizes a variety of electric vehicles as they go about their day-to-day lives. The project hopes to show that "sustainable living and driving is possible without compromising on one's quality of life."

More information can be found on the Effizienzhaus-Plus mit Elektromobilität project page - but you'll need to know your German or make use of a translator.

gizmag

GM looking to bring carbon fiber to mainstream cars

2011-12-13T14:19:00.004-02:00

By Chris Weiss

Teijin Senior Managing Director Norio Kamei (left) and GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky shake hands after signing the carbon fiber deal (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)

On Friday, GM signed a partnership agreement with Teijin Limited, a Japanese company that specializes in carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic technology.

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Teijin has developed an automotive molding process that cuts the cycle times of its carbon fiber components to under a minute. Other carbon fiber companies use thermosetting resin processes that take more than five times longer to set, according to Teijin. These longer molding times are a primary reason why carbon fiber has been so expensive and limited to high-end performance cars.

Teijin won both a Frost & Sullivan 2011 Global Automotive Carbon Composites Technology Innovation Award and a Best Product Innovation Award at the ICIS Innovation Awards 2011 for its technology.

GM believes that with Teijin's foundation in carbon fiber, the companies will be able to effectively mass produce and apply carbon fiber, making it less expensive, and practical for applications beyond expensive cars. GM doesn't just envision using carbon fiber on the likes of Cadillacs and Corvettes, but also on mainstream, everyday cars, trucks and crossovers.

"Our relationship with Teijin provides the opportunity to revolutionize the way carbon fiber is used in the automotive industry, said GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky. "This technology holds the potential to be an industry game changer and demonstrates GM's long-standing commitment to innovation."

Next year, Teijin will break ground on the Teijin Composites Application Center in the northern part of the United States so that it can collaborate more closely with GM.

Carbon fiber is both 10 times stronger than regular-grade steel and a quarter of the weight. Exotic automakers like McLaren and Lamborghini have capitalized on this combination of properties to create cars that have the structural integrity and light weight necessary to get as much out of their big, powerful engines as possible.

The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, a concept-turned-limited-production-model, is a showcase for the performance potential of carbon fiber and other composites. The car uses carbon fiber-reinforced plastics throughout major components like the chassis, suspension and body, along with a stripped-down build (the interior was basically just the raw carbon tub with seats) to cut weight down to 2,202 lbs. (999 kg). Resulting performance, as provided by Lamborghini, is a 2.5-second dash to 62 mph (100 km/h), making the 570-hp (419 kW) car every bit as quick as the Bugatti Veyron.

GM, of course, isn't interested in using carbon fiber to build bullet-quick supercars, but to take advantage of the other benefit of low weight: cleaner, more efficient driving. Using carbon fiber will help GM to greatly reduce the weight of its vehicles, which in turn will increase the fuel economy of its fleet, helping the automaker to meet government-imposed restrictions. More efficiency is also a big selling point for consumers.

The companies haven't detailed any specific applications for their automotive carbon fiber work but stated that such applications will be announced closer to market readiness.

We look forward to seeing how this partnership develops. A push to bring carbon fiber to the mass market is certainly an intriguing turn.

gizmag

Aptera employees smash vehicles after company closes?

2011-12-07T19:17:00.001-02:00

By Sebastian Blanco

Four videos have surfaced showing what is understood to be the destructive aftermath following news of Aptera's closure last week. Without knowing for certain what's happening, the videos appear to depict employees (or former employees) laughing as they trash prototype bodyshells of the three-wheeled, hyper-efficient vehicle.

Using a forklift, the people in the videos crush a bodyshell against the wall, drop on from on high and then put it into a dumpster. At the end of the first video, someone says, "None of this shit ends up on YouTube." In another, an off-screen voice asks, "How much do you think these videos are worth?" Well, now that they're publicly available, not much, but at the very least, these videos suggest that the shells were pretty sturdy. That's worth something, right?

This all has the potential to go from bad to worse very quickly. Steve Fambro, Former Chief Technical Officer and co-founder of Aptera, wrote on the Aptera forum that, "There is no viable or logical reason for this to have been done, only to prevent the founders from ever seeing their functioning works again."

Earlier, Aptera co-founder Chris Anthony wrote on the Aptera forum that the overall plan for the company once it went out of business was to put the assets into:

a trust with a very well respected Managed Liquidation Company. Their responsibility is to maximize the value of the remaining assets for the benefit of debt and share holders. There are no employees at Aptera and no Board of Directors. Everything that is Aptera, in terms of assets and IP, are now held by the Managed Liquidation Company.

This process to establish how the liquidation will occur has begun, but will take several weeks to be fully defined. Eventually, the assets will be auctioned off to the highest bidder to do with what they choose.

It is the responsibility of the managed liquidation company to protect Aptera's assets and maximize their value now. They were there when the doors were closed and hold the only access to these assets now.

Nothing will be destroyed, taken away, or otherwise impacted in a way that value will be decreased.

We're not sure how these videos change that statement, but you can watch them all after the jump.

autoblog

Bridgestone's airless tires are designed to never go flat

2011-12-05T11:43:00.001-02:00

By Emily Price

Bridgestone's airless tires are made from entirely recyclable material

This week at the Tokyo Auto Show in Japan, Bridgestone showed off its latest development - puncture-less air-free tires. The tires are still in the concept phase, but have been successfully tested on single-person vehicles in Japan traditionally used for elderly people.

The 9-inch wheels have thermoplastic-resin spokes that radiate from the rim to the tread, curving to the left and right for maximum structural support. The tires' solid design doesn't require air, and consequently can't be punctured - so, no more flat tires.

Also interesting is the material the tires are made of, which is entirely recyclable.

Still in the testing phase, Bridgestone plans to heavily evaluate the tires' performance on traditional cars before making them available to the general pubic.

While certainly interesting, Bridgestone's tires aren't the first we've heard of to go air-free. Airless tire technology has been under investigation for years, with Michelin's airless Tweel tires even winning the Intermat Gold Medal for Innovation in 2006.

Source: Tech-on

EV upstart Aptera closes after failing to raise funds

2011-12-02T22:32:00.001-02:00

Dave Guilford

Fledgling electrical vehicle-maker Aptera Motors has closed and will liquidate, CEO Paul Wilbur said today.

Wilbur, a former Chrysler brand manager and CEO of niche design house ASC Inc., said the company had gained conditional approval for a $150 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. But Aptera was unable to raise additional capital required to start production of its first product, a mid-sized sedan.

Aptera's inability to raise money signals a cooling of investor attitudes toward EV startups, Wilbur said. Venture capital firms earlier indicated a willingness to invest if Aptera received the federal advanced vehicle technology loan. But in the interim, the difficulties of launching EVs became apparent, he said.

"A couple years ago, there were a lot of people who thought the automotive industry is easy," Wilbur said. "It isn't."

Wilbur said Aptera, of Carlsbad, Calif., was negotiating to use the former General Motors plant in Moraine, Ohio, to produce the sedan. He described the car as having an all-composite body and getting fuel economy equivalent to 190 mpg, with a 130-mile range.

Aptera's work force of about 30 employees was let go, he said.

Wilbur worked in product planning at Chrysler Corp. and managed the Jeep and Dodge car brands. He led Saleen Performance Vehicles. He also tried unsuccessfully to make ASC, of suburban Detroit, a builder of specialty vehicles.

STATEMENT BY PAUL WILBUR

Dec. 2, 2011

After years of focused effort to bring our products to the market, Aptera Motors is closing its doors, effective today. This is a difficult time for everyone connected with our company because we have never been closer to realizing our vision. Unfortunately, though, we are out of resources.

It is especially disappointing since we were so close…

Aptera executives had been engaged in exhaustive due diligence with the Department of Energy (DOE) pertaining to an ATVM (Advance Technology Vehicle Manufacturing) loan. Our business plan was examined from top to bottom by internal agency representatives, independent consultants and experts in academia. They did an amazing job of vetting us and they tested every possible weakness in our plan. And after nearly two years of discussions, we had recently received a Conditional Commitment Letter for a $150 million loan.

The ATVM loan would have provided funding for the development and commercialization of a five-passenger, midsized sedan (similar to a Toyota Camry) that would be base priced at less than $30,000 and deliver more than a 190 mile per gallon equivalent. The concept of this vehicle had been in place since the very beginning of Aptera, and we had been wholly focused on its development for the last year. The last remaining hurdle was finding new funds to match the DOE loan.

We were so optimistic that the company would move forward that we were in discussions to reactivate a mothballed automotive plant in Moraine, Ohio. In the past months we had engaged with the labor union that operated that facility to discuss the hiring of 1,400 new job opportunities. These jobs would have reactivated talented workers who had been dismissed when the facility was closed.

During the same time, we continued development of our patent-pending composite manufacturing system that enables energy efficient vehicle production by drastically reducing vehicle weight (by as much as 30%) while tripling its strength. This same patent pending system allowed us to finish the surface of our composites without manual finishing and without the high capital cost of a typical automotive paint shop. In all, the process would save nearly $750-million versus a typical volume auto assembly plant start-up.

We were well on the way to satisfying the vision of efficiency on which the company was founded and we are confident that with time and capital we could still achieve our goal. The Aptera formula: aerodynamics plus light weight design (through composites) delivered efficiency of 206 EPA miles per gallon in tests at Argonne National Labs. That wasn't a simulation; it was real measured performance. Despite that promise of efficiency, this challenged market – specifically large private investors – did not have an appetite to lead an investment for the perceived low volume return of our three-wheeled vehicle. So we reprioritized our product plan to four-door sedans, which also cost us time.

We remain confident, even as this chapter closes, that Aptera has contributed tech new technologies to build a future for more efficient driving. Through the dedicated staff at Aptera, our board and suppliers we have touched this future. All that remains is for someone to grab it. We still believe it will happen.

Paul Wilbur

President and CEO

Aptera Motors

automotive news

Silicon nanowire fabric as high-energy anode material for Li-ion batteries

2011-12-02T16:30:00.001-02:00

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a non-woven fabric of silicon nanowires; the material has the look and feel of tissue paper, yet is composed entirely of crystalline silicon (Si).

Thermal annealing of the nanowire fabric in a reducing environment results in good performance of the resulting material as an anode in a Li-ion battery without the addition of conductive carbon or binder. In a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the team reports achieving anode capacities of more than 800 mAh g^–1.

The work represents another approach to devising a commercially viable solution for practically applying silicon, with its much higher theoretical storage capacity than the graphitic anode materials commonly used, in Li-ion batteries (LIB).

The LIB capacity is limited in part by the intercalation of Li⁺ by the graphitic anode material; thus, highercapacity batteries require anode materials that can accommodatemore Li⁺. The theoretical capacity of the graphite anode is372 mAh g^-1. Lithium-alloying materials have the potentialfor significantly higher storage capacities. For instance, Si alloyswith Li⁺ at room temperature to form Li₁₅Si₄, which corresponds to a substantially higher theoretical capacity of 3579 mAh g^-1. However, Si undergoes an enormous volume expansion of nearly300% when fully lithiated.

Bulk crystalline Si cannot tolerate thestresses associated with these lithiation/delithiation cycles andcrumbles, resulting in battery failure.

On the other hand, Si nanostructures have been found to tolerate extreme changes in volume with cycling. Thin Si films have realized capacities above 2000 mAh g^-1. Si nanoparticles have also beenexplored, but with overall specific capacities that have beenlimited by the need for a conductive carbon matrix to ensureelectrical contact with the electrode. Si nanowires have beenpromising. For example, Cui and co-workers achieveda capacity of 2725 mAh g^-1 with very good stability, retainingmore than 1400 mAh g^-1 after 700 cycles using an interconnected amorphous Si hollow nanosphere thin-ﬁlm electrode. Unfortunately, these electrode materials are very expensive atpresent and cannot be produced in the significant quantitiesneeded for commercial LIB applications.

Solvent-based processes for nanowire synthesis, such as supercritical-fluid-liquid-solid (SFLS) and solution-liquid-solid(SLS) growth, can produce large amounts of Si nanowires(SiNWs) at relatively low cost...Here we demonstrate thecreation of a Si nanowire fabric and show that it can functionas a standalone anode material without the need for additionalconductive fillers (activated carbon) or polymeric binders.
—Chockla et al.

The nanowires, made by the supercritical-fluid–liquid–solid process, are crystalline, range in diameter from 10 to 50 nm with an average length of >100 μm, and are coated with a thin chemisorbed polyphenylsilane shell. About 90% of the nanowire fabric volume is void space.

The findings show that the surface composition of Sinanowires plays a critical role in their effectiveness as an anodematerial in an LIB, the researchers conclude.

Future research needs to focus on understanding thecycling durability and the factors that limit performance, including the formation and stability of the solid'electrolyte interfacelayer, they suggest.

Another issue is that the since thenanowire fabric has 90% void volume, the volumetric capacity ofthe nanowire fabric is relatively low. The specific capacity of 800mAh g^-1 corresponds to 186 mAh cm^-3, which is significantly lower than the volumetric capacity of 777–867 mAh cm^-3 forgraphite.

However, they suggest, it should be possible to increase the volumetric capacities of the nanowire fabric by densifying the filmswith pressure. They estimate that the maximum volumetric capacity of a densified Si nanowire fabric would be 1864 mAh cm^-3—more than a factor of 2 higher than that of graphite. However, the influence of volumetric expansion and contraction upon lithiation and delithiation on cyclingstability would still need to be understood.

Resources

Aaron M. Chockla, Justin T. Harris, Vahid A. Akhavan, Timothy D. Bogart, Vincent C. Holmberg, Chet Steinhagen, C. Buddie Mullins, Keith J. Stevenson, and Brian A. Korgel (2011) Silicon Nanowire Fabric as a Lithium Ion Battery Electrode Material. Journal of the American Chemical Society doi: 10.1021/ja208232h

green car congress

Honda aims high with "Earth Dreams Technology"

2011-12-01T11:38:00.001-02:00

Honda's new 2.4L engine is part of a wide range of engine classes developed for the company's 'Earth Dreams Technology' initiative

Honda has outlined its next-generation technology for automobiles at the Tokyo Motor Show. "Earth Dreams Technology" is a broad revamp of engine and transmission technologies with which the company aims to achieve ambitious, industry-leading fuel efficiencies for every category within three years, while simultaneously setting a timeline of 2020 to reduce by 30% CO2 emissions for all products sold worldwide, relative to emission figures for 2000.

Earth Dreams Technology incorporates the following key elements:

Revised gasoline engines: Honda's has built on its original VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control System) and developed a new structure for higher expandability to improve output and fuel efficiency. The new tech will appear in a wide range of engine classes including the 660cc, 1.3L, 1.5L, 1.8L, 2.0L, 2.4L, and 3.5L.
World's Lightest Diesel Block: Honda says that by optimizing engine rigidity and combustion pressure, an aluminum block has produced the world's lightest 1.6L class diesel engine.
New CVTs: Honda will introduce a range of hydraulically controlled CVT-based transmissions for mini, compact, and mid-size vehicle classes, as well as "G-Design Shift", which co-ordinates shift transmission, throttle, and hydraulic control for a more sporty drive.
Two-motor hybrid system: A new two-motor hybrid system featuring a special lithium-ion battery and charger for plug-in hybrid vehicles has been developed with three driving modes, catering for urban through to high speed cruising.
High output electric SH-AWD hybrid system: A new hybrid for large-sized vehicles combining a 3.5L, V6 engine that Honda claims provides acceleration equivalent to V8 engines, as well as fuel efficiency equal or superior to in-line 4-cylinder engines.
Electric 4WD system: This incorporates independent 20kW+ motors on both sides for the rear wheels plus a 7-speed dual clutch transmission system with a built-in 30kW+ high-efficiency motor with the engine.
Compact, high efficiency powertrain for EVs: Thanks to a high efficiency coaxial motor, low-friction gearbox and electric servo brake system, this system is claimed to meet the required AC consumption rate of 29kWh/100mile(116MPGe) as set forth by the United States, providing a range of 210km (JC08 mode) from its lithium-ion battery. When using the 240V U.S. electric source, a full charge takes less than 3 hours according to Honda (from the time a low-charge signal is lit till full charge) and there are three driving modes (SPORT, NORMAL, ECON) with which the driver can dial up whatever performance takes his or her fancy.

gizmag

Kowa and tmsuk join forces to create Kobot concept electric vehicles

2011-12-01T11:34:00.001-02:00

The three-strong range of Kobot concept electric vehicles at the Tokyo Motor Show

In February of this year, TMSUK - the Japanese robotics company behind service robots such as the telerobotic shopper and the Showa Hanako 2 robotic dental patient - partnered up with pharmaceuticals and electro-optronics company Kowa to develop environmentally friendly electric vehicles for urban transportation. The Kowa-TMSUK joint venture isn't even a year old yet has managed to produce not one, not two, but three eye-catching concept vehicles that have made their world debut at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show.

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The concept vehicles on display include the one-seater Kobot ν (Nu) and Kobot β (beta), and the two-seater Kobot II. All are electric vehicles designed to ease the congestion in crowded city centers or for use by tourists in environmentally sensitive sightseeing areas. The company envisions parking lots being provided at the periphery of city centers or tourist spots with the vehicles providing local emission free transport into said city center or tourist area. The vehicles are also aimed at car-sharing schemes that would see the vehicles rented from train stations or tourist spots.

The already compact size of the one-seater vehicles can be further reduced when parking thanks to a telescoping design that sees the vehicles' rear wheel and seat folding into the front of the vehicle with a push of a button on a smartphone application. In their compacted form, the vehicles can also nest together to further reduce the space needed to store them when parked. When some protection from the elements or an extra seat is needed, customers can opt for the (only slightly) larger Kobot II. All three vehicles are extremely agile with tight turning circles and the company says they are easier to learn to drive than a motorcycle.

No word on whether the Kowa-TMSUK joint venture has plans to take the vehicles into production but the backing of the two company partners and the effort and investment that has gone to producing the three concept vehicles inside a year suggests the company is serious about its electric vehicles.

gizmag

Nissan Pivo 3 inches closer to production

2011-11-30T14:26:00.001-02:00

By Damon Lavrinc

Every other year, Nissan trots out another Pivo concept to the Tokyo Motor Show, and each successive version is weirder than the next. But this latest version – the predictably named Pivo 3 – is different. Nissan wants to build it, and while its awkward shape and trick doors won't make it to production, much of the underlying tech will.

Since 2005, each Pivo has featured some four-wheel-steering system, and the Pivo 3 takes it to the next level with a 6.6-foot turning radius that can practically spin the Pivo on its axis. Power is delivered thorough individual in-wheel motors, with energy stored in a Leaf-inspired lithium-ion battery pack. The big feature is the Pivo 3's automated parking system, which not only finds a space, but drives off to park itself then returns courtesy of a smartphone app.

So when are we going to see it hit the Japanese and European markets? Two years? Five years? Your guess is as good as ours as Nissan isn't giving up much.

Related Gallery Nissan PIVO 3

autoblog

Batteries: is more volume the answer to Li-ion's cost problems?

2011-11-30T12:43:00.001-02:00

The growing dominance of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in the full electric vehicle (EV) market is stymieing the uptake of EV, with costs still prohibitive despite a barrage of government subsidies propping up the sector, writes Andrew Maiden

Pike Research forecasts that the lithium-ion battery market will grow from $2bn now to $14.6 billion by 2017. The US industry analyst expects that capacity shipments of Li-ion batteries for the transport market will increase from 2.5m kilowatt hours (kWh) to nearly 28.0 million kWh during the same period.

But to achieve this, costs will have to come down significantly. While the cost of Li-ion batteries is gradually declining, cost still represents a significant hurdle as the battery accounts for a large portion of total EV cost.

Support vital
For now, state support is critical in building the economic case for Li-ion battery production. The US government has invested $2.4bn in the vehicle Li-ion battery industry, while in China, the Li-ion battery industry is being supported with RMB 100bn (£10bn) investments from the state purse.

This support is feeding through via a series of grants such as the $118.5m ARRA Battery Manufacturing Grant handed to US technology group Ener1 in August 2009. The ARRA Grant is explicitly for the manufacture of Li-ion batteries.

Sovereign wealth funds are also participating. France's Fonds Stratégique d'Investissement is backing a commercial Li-ion venture with Nissan and Renault. The two companies are setting up a €160m battery manufacturing plant in Portugal, which should have an annual capacity of 50,000 batteries a year when it comes online in 2012.

This strong level of financial support is important, says Anjan Hemanth Kumar, team leader, Automotive & Transportation at analysts Frost & Sullivan. “There’s a need for funding in cell manufacturing for batteries, and in the battery assembly process,” he says.

The production process for Li-ion batteries presents a “stiff challenge”, he adds. “Li-ion cells need to be devoid of any impurities as even a small air bubble in the cathode might lead to safety issues. And keeping metals as pure as possible drives up the costs of cells.”

When dealing with thousands of cells, it becomes a challenge to maintain the temperature of the cells and especially the state of charge. Providing a “failsafe mechanism” for battery packs remains problematic even with sophisticated software, Kumar admits.

Costs down
The only sure-fire way to bring down the cost of Li-ion is to achieve volumes of scale – not just in cell manufacture but also in battery pack manufacture. Since the process is not yet fully automated, labour costs are a factor, and the need for clean laboratory conditions to keep impurity levels as low as possible means that strong margins will only be achieved when volumes increase.

Frost & Sullivan has undertaken some analysis on how much costs could be reduced through the increase in volume. “If you make battery packs with 10m cells, the cost could be reduced by 50%. Today, the battery packs cost about €750-800/kWh – which could be reduced by 40-50% if they were manufactured in bulk,” says Kumar.

Getting that volume means getting orders from manufacturers. Here, Japan has taken the lead. Last year, Sanyo Electric completed construction of its Kasai Li-ion battery production facility, which is capable of producing 1m battery cells a month, which the company plans to raise by 150%.

South Korea is also establishing a name for itself as a manufacturing hotspot for Li-ion batteries. In December 2010, South Korea's LG Chem won a contract to deliver lithium-ion batteries for General Motors' Chevrolet Volt.

Production for the masses
Mass production on this scale, whether in Asia, the US or Europe, will help to bring down the costs and create the near $15bn market envisaged by Pike by 2017. But in the long-term, Li-ion battery recycling may grow even more critical in building the economic case.

“There could be resource problems if new lithium reserves aren’t found 10 years down the line,” says Kumar. “In which case, battery recycling makes more sense. If you can recycle in an effective way you don't have the challenge of limited resources, which means the price won’t go up.”

In the UK, battery materials and licensing company Nexeon is developing silicon anodes for the next generation of Li-ion rechargeable batteries. The company’s Li-ion battery technology uses silicon in place of carbon as the anode material, which it says will significantly improve the performance of rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and a wide range of consumer electronics.

According to Nexeon, compared with carbon, silicon has ten times the capacity for lithium on a gravimetric basis, translating into a 30-40% improvement in battery capacity.

Nexeon received £40m in investment in August this year to establish a world-class manufacturing facility at Milton Park near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, scaling up the production of its latest silicon anode materials to around 250 tonnes a year, representing a commercial supply level.

From Nissan to Nexeon, manufacturers are tapping a range of investment sources to underwrite the volume sale production needed to bring Li-on costs down – and with it the forecourt price of the next generations of Leafs and Volts. But governments are going to have to play a supportive role for some time yet.

To comment on this article, please contact the editor at: oliver.balch@evupdate.com

Electric Vehicle Update

Nissan Leaf testa carregador wireless

2011-11-30T11:45:00.001-02:00

O Nissan Leaf já está testando um novo sistema de carregamento de suas baterias de lítio. Trata-se de um carregador wireless que será disponibilizado a partir de 2013.

No entanto, o equipamento não estará disponível para os atuais proprietários do modelo, visto que o Leaf terá que passar por grandes alterações de software e dispositivos instalados sob o veículo.

O carregamento é feito quando o motorista estaciona o Leaf sobre uma placa de carregamento. Imediatamente o carro detecta o carregador e inicia a transferência de energia elétrica.

O condutor poderá monitorar o sistema através de um aplicativo de smartphone. A Nissan diz que o sistema pode operar em qualquer condição climática e pode ser fixado a céu aberto.

O tempo de recarga não muda e o veículo não terá nenhuma ligação física com o carregador. Especula-se que no futuro sistemas semelhantes possam ser introduzidos em estradas.

Notícias Automotivas

Autonomo - fully autonomous vehicle designed for the year 2030

2011-11-28T11:24:00.001-02:00

Autonomo 2030 Concept by Charles Rattray (Image: Charles Rattray)

Charles Rattray's vision of what the automotive industry will be capable of by the year 2030 is far more feasible that it may seem at first glance. Autonomo, his fully autonomous vehicle concept, certainly looks the part, but should not be dismissed as just another flashy concept car. As car makers worldwide gear up to face the enormous challenges posed by congestion, pollution, and infrastructural deficiencies, Rattray's final year student project offers a glimpse into the world where these challenges are already a thing of the past. Inspired by biomimicry, sustainability, artificial intelligence and information technology in general, the concept draws on technologies that are already being developed in R&D centers around the world.

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Autonomous transport is central to the whole idea. Drawing heavily on the principles of swarm robotics, the self-driving autonomos travel in tight clusters that shift their configurations to maintain an uninterrupted flow of traffic while allowing particular vehicles to reach their respective destinations. This so called "platoon mode" allows to vastly reduce energy consumption through reducing the aerodynamic impact on the vehicles further back down the platoon. Thanks to microwave sensors, the spaces between vehicles are reduced to mere 20cm (7.8 inches), as keeping a safe distance from cars ahead is no longer required. Another type of microwave detectors scan the road surface ahead to prime the suspension accordingly and provide a smoother ride.

Needless to say, the whole operation is run by computers. Each drive-by-wire autonomo has an onboard computer that crunches the data received from an array of sensors (e.g. radar, microwave, lidar, optical and infrared sensors) as well as from external feedback systems. This enables monitoring the road 200m (656 feet) in front and behind the vehicle, or a whole platoon of vehicles, regardless of weather conditions. The cars understand their surroundings well enough to anticipate any changes in the road environment and react to them much quicker that even the most experienced humans. Even the acute senses of the homo sapiens are no match to a set of hi-definition cameras coupled with object recognition technologies capable of interpreting human gestures and predicting the path of other vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians or any other potentially hazardous objects.

This local level of awareness is augmented by data streamed from a constantly updated centralized database responsible for the real-time balancing of mobility demands across the entire network. Such a database would be controlled by intelligent algorithms that learn from the information that is fed to them. Historical data and the data collected in real time would be used to efficiently match the infrastructure real estate with the changing demands of ever fluctuating traffic.

All this would be achieved without overhauling the existing road infrastructure. Instead of making roads wider to accommodate new lanes, Rattray chose to make his concept car a 1.15m (3.77 feet) wide two-seater. This doubles the throughput of our roads, with two autonomos fitting abreast in a single lane. Maneuverability is additionally improved by a tilting design and by wheels that allow movement in all directions (just like in case of a certain crawler robot we covered recently).

The aerodynamic body shares the length and the the wheelbase of a 2009 Mini Cooper, but - unlike the Mini - it is covered with two transparent photovoltaic layers that harvest electric energy to be stored in ultra-efficient lightweight batteries and passed on to the in-wheel motors. Since the passengers are not busy driving, they can enjoy the views through opaque, one-way vision windows or amuse themselves by playing around with the on-board augmented reality screen. Charging the vehicle through electrodynamic induction or energy transfer lasers is done wirelessly and can be performed on the go, via charging pads embedded in the road surface. Energy can also be shared within a platoon.

Without a doubt, this project exceeds the highest expectations you might have of a student endeavor. In fact, this is one great piece of serious conceptual design that brings to the table something more that eye candy. Speaking of which, head down to see the presentation video and check out the gallery!

gizmag

Mazda announces world first capacitor-based regenerative braking system

2011-11-25T10:40:00.001-02:00

Mazda claims its new i-ELOOP system is the first passenger vehicle regenerative braking system to use a capacitor instead of a battery

While Toyota took out the Tokachi 24-Hour Race in 2007 with a Supra HV-R hybrid race car featuring a quick-charging supercapacitor-based regenerative braking system, battery storage has so far been the norm for these systems in production vehicles. Now Mazda is charging things up with its new "i-ELOOP" system intended for internal combustion engine-powered vehicles. The i-ELOOP is billed as the world's first passenger vehicle regenerative braking system that uses a capacitor in place of rechargeable batteries to temporarily store energy captured from braking.

Regenerative braking systems used in most current hybrid and electric vehicles convert a vehicle's kinetic energy as it decelerates into electricity, which is used to recharge a battery that powers an electric motor. In contrast, Mazda's new "i-ELOOP" (Intelligent Energy Loop) system is designed to be used in internal combustion engine-powered cars with the energy captured used to power the climate control, audio system and other electrical components. This gives the system the advantage of not requiring a dedicated electric motor or battery.

Mazda claims the i-ELOOP system improves the fuel economy of a vehicle by around 10 percent under real-world driving conditions with frequent acceleration and braking.

i-ELOOP uses a new 12-25 V variable voltage alternator that generates electricity at up to 25 V before sending it to a low-resistance Electric Double Layer Capacitor (EDLC) for storage. Because capacitors can be charged and discharged much more quickly than batteries, the capacitor used in the i-ELOOP system can be fully charged in seconds. A DC/DC converter then steps down the electricity from 25 V to 12 V before distributing it directly to the vehicle's electrical components.

The system is also used to charge the vehicle's battery when necessary and works in conjunction with Mazda's i-stop idling technology to extend the period that the engine can be shut off.

The new i-ELOOP system, along with its range of SKYACTIV technologies, fits in with Mazda's focus on improving the efficiency of internal combustion engine vehicles rather than developing hybrid electric vehicle technology of its own, having opted instead to license technology used in the Toyota Prius for any near-future hybrid vehicles. Mazda says the i-ELOOP system will start to appear in its vehicles in 2012.

gizmag

France: Renault’s EV roll out not all plain sailing

2011-11-23T13:17:00.001-02:00

When solo ‘round-the-world sailor Ellen Macarthur was presented the keys of one of the first Renault Kangoo EVs to come off the production line earlier this month, it seemed Renault’s EV ambitions may have weathered the tempest. Not yet.

By Rikki Stancich, in Paris

The year 2011 will go down in Renault’s annals as a memorable one, given the high profile launch of its three electric models, the Fluence Z.E., Kangoo Z.E., the Twizy, with the ZOE Z.E. hot on their heels in 2012. However, the year has been far from plain sailing for France’s flagship automotives company.

Renault’s litany of electric vehicle (EV) woes began in earnest at the beginning of 2011 when the company was pitched into the heart of a media storm over an alleged industrial spy ring within the company’s EV division. Internal accusations of industrial espionage were later retracted; the company muttered an explanation of a possible hoax before lapsing into an embarrassed silence. The conundrum ultimately cost the company its second-in-command and three of its key EV strategists.

Its run of poor luck continued when the company announced in July that production of EV batteries at its factory in Flins, on the outskirts of Paris, had been set back until early 2014 “due to the project’s complex financing arrangements”. Production kick-off had initially been slated for mid-2012. Renault announced that in the meantime, it would outsource its EV batteries from Asian suppliers such as Nissan, NEC and South Korea’s LG.

The battery production project, launched back in 2009, would have positioned France near pole position in the race for EV battery innovation, and had been eagerly backed by the French Atomic Energy Commission (€5 million) and France's FSI strategic investment fund (€125 million). Following the announcement in July, however, both the CEA and the FSI pulled out. At the same time, Renault decided against taking out a planned €100 million government loan for the project.

When finally, France’s flagship carmaker launched its long-awaited Kangoo Z.E late last month, it appeared that the clouds darkening Renault’s horizon were clearing.

France’s first 100% EV lightweight commercial vehicle (LCV) made its inaugural appearance at more than 370 dealerships throughout France, on the back of an announcement that Renault had won an order for more than 15,000 EV models over the next four years.

Launching its EV series with the LVC was a natural choice for Renault. “When it comes to innovation, we have often been a step ahead with our LVC’s. That is one of the reasons we have been leader on the LCV market for the past 13 years,” said Renault spokesperson, Christophe Lavauzelle.

Produced at the Renault’s Maubeuge plant in France, and priced from €15,000 (in France, minus VAT and the €5,000 environmental bonus), Renault proudly announced it plans to gradually roll out the Kangoo Z.E. across the rest of Europe.

French badge; foreign components
But Renault’s moment of triumph was eclipsed by its decision earlier this month to hand the factory’s entire production of EV batteries over to Nissan. Pulling the rug from its ‘Made in France’ EV motto, the new deal is that Renault will lease its premises at Flins to Nissan. The Japanese automaker will produce the batteries and then sell them back to its French counterpart.

Rubbing salt in the wound, Renault conceded that the factory’s original employment forecast would be scaled back considerably. Initially Renault had estimated that EV battery production would generate 500 jobs. The company has now revised that figure down to 220, confirmed Lavauzelle.

Lavauzelle explained that the dive in job numbers was due to scaled back production plans. “[Renault] initially talked about a plant production capacity of 100 000 batteries. Now we are talking about a slow ramp up at the beginning with a production kick off with 25 000 batteries per year, at least until 2014”, he told EV Update.

The news has been seized upon by political actors such as former French minister for industry, Christian Estrosi, who lambasted Renault chief Carlos Ghosn for ‘breaking his word’ regarding Renault's 'Made in France' pledges.

“How can we accept that a car produced by Renault has only 40% of French components?” raged Estrosi in a public statement.

The flames of controversy surrounding Renault’s change of strategy were fanned by the fact that Renault won the public bid for the supply of over 15,000 EVs. Organised by the public procurement organisation UGAP, the French government had called for the supply of a total 15,637 Kangoo Z.E. models to the 19 companies taking part in the call for bids. Among those, 10,000 Kangoo’s are destined for La Poste, 1,500 for ERDF, 1,200 for UGAP, 510 for Veolia Environnement, 450 for GDF-Suez and 330 for Spie.

Estrosi’s is among a growing number of voices urging the French state, which holds 15% of Renault’s stock, to demonstrate that it “does not share the companies strategy” of outsourcing production, and that it flex its muscle to ensure that Renault acts in “support of workers, technicians and engineers”.

But as Lavauzelle points out, Renault’s EVs are being rolled out under an “alliance project”. The battery technology will be produced by AESC, a joint venture between Nissan and NEC. The original strategy, he explains, was that Renault would capitalise on the battery know-how shared between Nissan and NEC, in France.

“The battery investment is still 100% Renault”, he stressed. “Renault will remain owner of the land and the plant building. Nissan will pay a lease fee.”

He hastened to add that Renault would also continue its battery research and development with the CEA for future models.

Maximising green mileage?
Just prior to the launch of its Kangoo ZE, Renault announced a deal with Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR), France's second largest electricity producer and its leading producer of renewable energy, to “fill up” Renault’s EVs on 100% renewable energy sourced from CNR’s hydro, wind and solar power portfolio.

The bold announcement may have been a little premature; running on green does present issues. According to CNR, supporting the introduction of the anticipated two million EVs on French roads by 2020 will require an additional 4TWh of electricity. That equates to roughly 1% of France’s total current electricity consumption.

If all those vehicles were charged simultaneously between the hours of 7-10pm, the impact on the electricity grid would be significant, requiring an additional 4GW of power, or a 7% increase in the energy supply during that window.

As such, the plan is very much in its nascent phase and will likely be limited to small fleet owners such as the French town halls, or ‘Mairies’, explained CNR spokesperson Marie-Cécile Grisard. “There is no way all the EVs on the road could be powered on 100% renewable energy”, she said.

Renault concurs. Playing down the ambitious press release issued in early October, company spokesperson Céline Loiseleux admitted that “we can’t promise - at any time - that our EVs will recharge only with renewable energy”.

To comment on this article, please contact the editor at: oliver.balch@evupdate.com

ElectricVehicle Update

Infiniti developing range-extended sports EV

2011-11-18T11:16:00.001-02:00

By Mike Hanlon

Another glimpse of the Infiniti sports EV - based on the two angles we've seen, it seems to have a lot of Jaguar E-Type in the mix

As the luxury brand of the most aggressive major automotive producer of EVs (Nissan-Renault), Infiniti has been hinting that it would go beyond its hybrid offerings and develop an all-electric sedan and more specifically, an all-electric sports car.

With its successful ties with Formula One Champions Red Bull Racing, and F1 Drivers Champion Sebastian Vettel as its Global Brand Ambassador, it was really only a matter of time. Today, we had the first glimpse of the new sports EV.

Most significantly, the sports car under development will be electrically powered, but with a range-extending gas engine, and it will also provide a preview of Infiniti's next design language.

Infiniti will provide regular teasers between now and the Geneva Motor Show next March when Executive Vice President Andy Palmer will present the high performance, low emission vehicle.

Explaining the strategy behind the concept in the following video, Palmer said, "At the Geneva Show next year, we will present our vision for a totally new kind of inspired premium performance car."

"Infiniti already has hybrid and clean diesel models on sale. And with an all-electric sedan on the way, the natural next step was to push the boundaries where performance and the environment intersect."

gizmag

Toyota planning electric car and smaller plug-in hybrid for sale in America next year

2011-11-16T14:10:00.001-02:00

From top left, the Aqua, FT-EV III, FCV-R and Fun-Vii

The world's largest automaker has been slow off the mark in the race to bring electric vehicles to market, but it is now playing catch up at a fearsome rate, and we'll see the first of its new range of electric vehicles two weeks from now at the Tokyo Motor Show, along with a host of other electric, hybrid and fuel cell models, all of which seem destined for production over the next three years.

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The first Toyota EV will be based on the Toyota iQ, as we reported in February this year, and exactly as we predicted, it will be a four-seater with a range of 65 miles (100 km) and will hit showrooms next year.

Indications from Toyota executives are that the car will be aggressively priced, and when consumers actually work out that most of their commuting needs fit well within the 65 mile range of the tiny electric vehicle, and that it is several thousand dollars below the competition, we might finally begin to see the EV market begin to get some traction.

The most practical of the vehicles to be shown at Tokyo, at least in the short term, is the Aqua, which is smaller than the plug-in Prius and will join it in American showrooms in the spring of 2012 as the "Prius C."

The Toyota Prius C (Aqua in Japan)

The Prius C, (Aqua in Japan), uses a 1500cc gas-engine in comparison to the Prius Plug-in's 1800cc engine, plus exactly the same Hybrid Synergy Drive components, in a smaller, lighter, more aerodynamic vehicle at a substantially lower price. How could it possibly go wrong?

Whatsmore, it apparently delivers in excess of 50 mpg around town, will be first seen in America at the NAIAS Show in Detroit in January, and contains a raft of premium in-car electronics, in a five-door configuration: Bluetooth® hands-free phone connectivity, steering-wheel audio controls, and nine airbags will be among the standard features on the 2012 Prius c.

So before we see summer 2012, there will be a choice of four Toyotas bearing the Prius name: the third-generation Prius Liftback hybrid, the Prius plug-in, the Prius C and a new Prius v midsize hybrid vehicle.

In the context of the Tokyo Motor Show, the Aqua (Prius C) is expected to go on sale in Japan before the end of this year, and consumers will be able to drive the vehicle at the Show.

The massive, congested Tokyo domestic market will no doubt be very interested in the new plug-in, and as an added bonus for Toyota, the Tokyo Motor Show will actually be in Tokyo this year.

The venue for the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show is "Big Site", which is just an 18 minute train ride from downtown Tokyo on an island in Tokyo Bay, as opposed to previous years when the then far-more-important Tokyo Motor Show was held in Chiba, which is an hour from central Tokyo and far less accessible for the majority of potential buyers.

The FCV-R (Fuel Cell Vehicle - Reality & Revolution)

The FCV-R concept is a family sized vehicle running on electricity provided by an onboard hydrogen fuel cell located beneath the specially designed bodyshell. Unlike battery electric vehicles, the fuel cell vehicle converts hydrogen from its 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen tank, meaning it has a much greater range - in this case, approximately 430 miles under the Japanese JC08 test cycle. The four seater also has plenty of room and luggage space.

The Toyota Fun-Vii

The Toyota Fun-Vii ( Fun-Vehicle interactive internet) concept is the most intriguing of Toyota's Tokyo exhibits is the (bottom right) Fun-Vii concept "where people, cars and society are linked".

The only image released so far shows a man with pictures of a car on his mobile phone, presumably projecting the image onto the side of the car. Toyota has a history of building concept cars which are beyond Western comprehension, so I cannot wait to see what they have come up with this time.

The company's concept vehicles at previous motor shows have included a car which displays the driver's emotions (something I thought would probably not be suitable in some markets), but many Asian countries (Japan and Korea to start with) have national psyches which seem well suited to this and ... I can't wait.

gizmag