The North American international Auto Show was supposed to be low key, but it impressed with many surprises. (more…)
January 14, 2009
North American International Auto Show Surpises
January 13, 2009
Marketing Confusing Electric Car Types
Is it a hybrid, HEV? Or a plug-in hybrid, PHEV? Or an electric vehicle, EV? Or how about an extended range electric vehicle, E-REV? (more…)
January 10, 2009
2009 Electric Car Prospects
Prospects for 2009’s electric vehicles, EV are promising. (more…)
November 23, 2008
La Auto Show 08, Dodge EV
Hum, what can we say about the little yellow screamer that is 100% electric, will blow out of the water a big hunking Challenger 6.1 hemi? Not such a Challenger, after all. Yes, we like it!
The gist, do you remember when Chrysler was testing out responses to electric vehicles with it’s Zeo? The final product, in the shape and form of the Dodge EV really took many by surprise. And the best video of it was pitting it next to Chrysler’s other challenge in this market, the Challenger 6.1 Hemi. The Dodge EV left it behind.
The car smiles at you with its perfect size that keeps the original appeal of the Lotus Europa, upon which it is based.
The side looks equally as well,
Technically speaking, the Dodge EV stacks it’s lithium-ion battery pack behind the two seat, along its controller and electric engine which is neatly tucked under. How feasible is the production of the EV? According to the Dodge folks, it could be ready to roll out by 2011. However, the conscencious is that one of the three hybrid, HEV and electric vehicle, EV prototypes, the Dodge HEV Minivan, the Jeep HEV will take priority. Any takes? As much as we loved the Dodge EV, it might make more sense to ring an HEV Minivan out to the market.
The Dodge EV is a re-engineered Lotus Europa S has a 200 kilowatt electric motor that produces 268 hp with 480 pound-feet of torque. As a comparison point, the Tesla Roadster uses a 184 kilowatt electric engine which puts out 200 pound feet of torque with 248 hp. It would be nice to see both cars tested, as it seems the extra weight of the Dodge EV could be offset by the extra power.
There were two other vehicle we were looking forward to, the other 2 prototypes, the plug-in hybrid, PHEV minivan and Jeep. The Minivan seemed particularly big, though that might have been due to the fact it was elevated on center stage. The Jeep was also a bigger version of the smaller Jeeps we see out on the streets today. Which begs us to ask, why hybridize big vehicles when smaller once would have better performance numbers? Another thing we noticed, which seems to really confuse people at the show is calling hybrids, electric vehicles. We will go back more on this later, but the Jeep had big EV letters on it and there was confusion as to whether it was really an electricity vehicle or not. It is a hybrid, albeit serial HEV where the engine only recharges electricity.
For the Minivan, or should we say bigger than mini, and for the Jeep,
It’s hard to say if it will come out and we believe Dodge could open up a niche market with the delivery of this car. However, will it be enough to sustain the car company? Certainly not. If Chrysler can managed to produce fuel efficient minivans, what helped it once bounce back from uncertain times, along more economical to own and operate vehicles, it would stand a chance. At this stage, anything is possible.
November 22, 2008
2008 Los Angeles Auto Show
Well, the Auto Show in Los Angeles is here and, well… it is here.
Where to start? The show is much, much different than it was even a year ago. It’s scaled back, smaller and given an educated guess, we would say maybe a third less while not as glitzy. The last part is a good thing. Glitziness can get too much with these folks.
The main hall was where all the usual suspects were to be found, Nissan to the right and Hummers to the left. The rumors that GM was only presenting the Volt were exaggerated but not far from reality. What was probably the most striking about this show was that truck, big SUVs, Corvettes and Mustangs were left behind a slew of smaller, fuel efficient cars. None of the behemoths took center stage. In fact, center stage were honoring break through technology in the form of plug-in hybrids, PHEV and other advanced concept cars.
Off the beaten path, the Kentia hall is where you will find the goodies, the after market makers, the little companies innovating and one-off concepts. We found a company that injects hydrogen safely in cars, a little shop that builds a 40 mph electric cars in Van Nuys and the Mecca of sounds, waxes, glimmer and bling bling.
The West hall was mainly FORD, duking it out with Toyota and Honda, along the Scions and other smaller niche market players. The Concours hall is where Ferrari had their skewer of the latest high-performance, with a very beautiful 430 in the right colors and right dark golden colored wheels. Lotus was also there but strangely enough, still does not have an electric car. Bizarre, bizarre…
Our overall impression of the show was mixed. People were not as enthusiastic about big cars, though some social communities still gravitate towards what is big, in the form of gas guzzlers. Yet, clearly the majority stood there, listened but showed little sparkle. The German show floors, a.k.a BMW, VW and Audi were so bright and white, it was almost impossible to read the signs. It was a little too much. Too bad, they had some interesting cars but nothing electric and little in the works of hybrids.
The biggest disappointment was how little electric cars and advance hybrids were represented. We hoped Nissan would bring their NV-02, given their active presence. We saw the electric Mini, the Mitsubishi’s iMIEV, Dodge’s very beautiful EV and other PHEV concepts. Fuel efficient cars took center stage and along with smaller sedans, and a very beautiful hard top version of Pontiac’s Solstice was displayed, much to people’s delight.
We are sad to hear the never stopping RP marketing machines at work describing PHEV as not being hybrids but electric cars with gas engine. Wait a second, isn’t that the definition of hybrid? This has the negative effect to confuse people even more who ask if an electric vehicle, EV has an on-board gas engine. Again EV are 100% electric and are called electric car while hybrids use a gas engine to either propel the car or recharge the battery, and are called… hybrids. You can search our advanced technology 101 and more to find understand the linguo and technology behind.
We were happily surprised with the amazing Alfa Romeo BAT11 concept car next to a recreation of a Scarab by none other than Don Devine. The good news is that the Scarab is ready for sale while the Alfa will get the amazing Alfa Romeo’s 8C Competizione chassis and engine. What was surprising were the amount of younger people who expressed clear enthusiasm with these old and beautiful cars. This proves, again that there is a market segment totally ignored by mainstream manufacturers.
Our personal highlight was driving AFS Trinity’s absolutely amazing 150mpg SUV. We were deeply impressed with the vehicle’s responsiveness, ease of use and stellar performance compared to the stock offering of mainstream car makers. It is befuddling why no big company hasn’t snatched that team of impressive researchers to mass produce their off-the-shelf technology. But then again, big corporations have very strange ways of operations.
We will have pictures ready this afternoon as well as more insight. Stay tuned.