VW to unveil new electric ID concept model in Detroit

Volkswagen will present a new I.D. family model—a multi-functional electric vehicle—at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January. Like the I.D. concept shown this year, this new concept is also based on the Modular Electric Drive Kit (MEB), and so it shows the potential and bandwidth of the MEB.

Teaser image of the new microbus-like I.D. concept to appear in Detroit. Volkswagen says that the I.D. concept vehicle in Detroit forges links between the origins of the Volkswagen brand and its electric future. (Volkswagen first introduced its legendary microbus in 1950.) Click to enlarge.

Since the presentation of the I.D. at the Paris International Motor Show in September of this year, these initials have stood for a new generation of fully connected, all-electric vehicles from Volkswagen.

This I.D. concept vehicle will also be able to drive fully autonomously in the future. Press lightly on the Volkswagen logo, and the electrically retractable steering wheel disappears into the dashboard. While the driver relaxes, laser scanners, ultrasonic and radar sensors and cameras monitor other road users and the surroundings.

Chevrolet Bolt: 55 Pre-Production Cars Made And Exceeding 200 Mile Range Target

After recent shots of the Chevrolet Bolt testing in at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds, surfaced last week, the company has now decided to get ahead of the news and give an update on the program itself.

1 Of 55 Chevrolet Bolt Pre-Production Cars Out Testing

It turns out that there are 55 pre-production Bolts now in existence and being put through their paces.

These Bolts are being assembled by hand, both at GM’s Orion plant in Michigan, as well as in South Korea (where the Chevrolet Spark EV is currently being assembled).  Over 1,000 engineers have been tasked with speeding along the program.

“Effectively these are the bones of the car that’s going to be the production Chevy Bolt.” – Josh Tavel, the Chevrolet Bolt EV’s chief engineer

GM noted that the normal tests for quality were being applied to the miles – comfort, suspension etc., as well as for range verification and DC fast charging performance.

Pam Fletcher, executive chief engineer of EVs at Chevy, said (via slashgear), “They’re running fast, the fact that we can show you fifty-something cars running is busy.”

The Chevrolet Bolt EV’s chief engineer also added that these early test cars are already exceeding 200 miles of range.

Chevrolet Bolt Concept Debut At NAIAS

Chevrolet Bolt Concept Debut At NAIAS

Chevrolet Bolt Concept Debut At NAIAS

Chevrolet Bolt 5 Door

Chevrolet Bolt PPD Car Testing

The final production version of the car will be revealed next year, and is expected to begin production in October of 2016 and arrive in 2017 (as a 2018 model) according to sources familiar with the roll-out plans.  GM also stressed that the Bolt EV will be a national offering in the US, meaning all 50 states – as well as select markets internationally.

GM’s CEO says that the target price for Chevys 200+ mile compact EV is around $30,000 after incentives.  Ms. Fletcher declined to offer further specifics on the Bolt’s ability or the (kW) size of its lithium battery pack.

First Generation Chevy Volt Production Ending Soon

The Chevy Volt made its world debut at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which would have put me somewhere in the middle of my first senior year of college. The Chevy Volt that went on sale in December of 2010 looked almost nothing like the concept, but GM still managed to sell over 70,000 of them to early adopters.

As GM ramps prepares to launch the all-new 2016 Chevy Volt, production of the first generation must come to an end. The Wall St. Journal reports the last first-gen Volt will be built next month, as GM hopes to take its extended-range electric vehicle mainstream. Since the 2016 Chevy Volt debuted as the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, sales of the first-gen model have fallen off a cliff; just over 1,800 Volts were sold in the first quarter of 2015, less than half what the Nissan LEAF sold in the same three months.

That’s to be expected, considering just how much better the next-gen Volt is over its predecessor. The 38-mile electric driving range of the 2015 Volt has been boosted to 50 miles in the 2016 model, a fifth (albeit small) seat has been added in the back, the interior quality looks and feels worlds better, among the many, many improvements GM has made. With ambitions of selling as many as 50,000 second-gen Volts per year (even more if they can swing it), the first-gen vehicles must say adieu.

Will the earliest Chevy Volts one day cross the auction block as high-valued classics from the beginning of the green car era? This guy likes to think so.

The Lexus RC F Boasts A Hybrid-like V8 Engine

Lexus combined the fuel-efficient Atkinson-cycle engine technology with the more powerful Otto-cycle in the new Lexus RC F, which made its debut at the 2014 North American International Auto Show. This combination of engine cycles results in improved fuel efficiency without sacrificing horsepower.

It is a 5.0 liter,  450horsepower (336 kW) engine which produces 384 pound-feet (520 Nm) of torque, making it the most powerful V8 engine in the Lexus lineup. Remember, the Lexus LFA has a 550 horsepower V10. But it’s not the engine’s horsepower that is impressive, but rather its ability to switch between two different operating cycles.

The Otto-Atkinson cycle concept is not new, having first been introduced in 1982 when Tel-Aviv University and the Israel Institute of Technology published a paper on it. It showed that fuel consumption of the Otto-Atkinson cycle engine was 19% lower. Nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide emissions were also lower, but performance stayed on par.

According to Green Car Congress, there was another research papers from Ford where “…tested a modified 1.6L I-4 engine with retarded, but fixed, valve timings and increased, but fixed, geometric compression ratios to simulate the Otto-Atkinson cycle. The engine demonstrated 15% improvement in BSFC relative to the standard spark-ignition engine with 10% EGR at 1500 rpm, 2.62 Bar BMEP. Tests also revealed 50% reductions in BSNO_x and BSCO emissions but a 60% increase in BSHC.”

Lexus hopes that this new Otto-Atkinson-cycle V8 engine can get better fuel economy than the current 18 MPG Lexus IS F sedan, while still delivering a 4.7 second 0 to 60 MPH sprint. . It’s a different take on technology that is increasingly geared towards hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles, but some people still haven’t accepted that hybrids can be performance cars. Better fuel economy is always a step in the right direction though.

Apart from that, this Lexus engine is coupled to a Sports Direct Shift Transmission (SPDS), and with a Torque Vectoring Differential, the first in a front-engined rear-wheel drive sports coupe. The torque vectoring differential has three operating modes, include Standard for a balance of performance and stability, Slalom to enhance steering response, and Track for consistent cornering behavior while circuit driving and a newly calibrated VDIM that adds a vertical G-sensor to provide better vehicle stability.

The Lexus RC F will debut this fall with a price around $70,000 for a well-equipped model.

Source: Green Car Congress

The Toyota FT-1, A New Supra By Any Other Name

Toyota dropped a bright red, Supra-sized bomb onto the stage at this year’s Detroit Auto Show- immediately stealing the show from Ford’s big F-150 reveal and turning everyone’s focus to the next Tokyo Auto Salon and talk of a new Supra.

Toyota’s suits talked a lot about stepping away from the focus groups to create the new FT-1 concept and injecting “passion” into the rest of the Toyota lineup. While the idea of a Formula-nosed Camry confuses and terrifies me, however, the idea of a Lexus LF-A informed Corvette and Porsche fighter from the land of the rising sun makes me giddy in the pantaloons. Almost certainly packing a hybrid drivetrain, this new Toyota is a Supra for the 21st century, or at least it seems.

Toyota will release the FT-1′s full specs tomorrow via a download on Sony’s Gran Turismo 6, when the car will become available for download. Until then, you’ll have to settle for these pics of the new Supra from the showroom floor from young DeMorro. Enjoy!

Source:  Gas 2.

Audi wheeling out all-road shooting brake plug-in hybrid concept at Detroit show; the first e-tron quattro

Shooting brake concept. Click to enlarge.

Audi will unveil an all-road shooting brake plug-in hybrid concept at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The two-door car is a crossover; its hybrid drive demonstrates a new form of quattro drive—the e-tron quattro.

The Audi allroad shooting brake represents the first time that Audi has combined the all-road and e-tron form languages. The compact crossover plug-in hybrid has a low fuel consumption figure of 1.9 liters of fuel per 100 km (123.8 mpg_US), equivalent to 45 g CO₂ per km (72.42 g/mile) based on the relevant ECE standard. Its total driving range is up to 820 km (510 miles).

The show car combines sex appeal, highly efficient e-tron-quattro technology that produces 300 kW of power yet only consumes 1.9 l/100 km (123.8 US mpg) of fuel and cutting-edge electronic applications. We are offering very concrete glimpses of the near future in this show car.

—Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Audi AG, Technical Development

The plug-in hybrid drive also delivers impressive performance with 300 kW (408 hp) of system power and a system torque of 650 N·m (479 lb-ft). The show car, which weighs around 1,600 kg (3527 lb) without the driver, accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds, with a top speed of 250 km/h (155.34 mph).

The 2.0 TFSI engine in the Audi allroad shooting brake outputs 215 kW (292 hp) of power and generates 380 N·m (280 lb-ft) of torque. The transverse mounted two-liter four-cylinder with a large turbocharger is a high-end engine. In part-load operation, indirect injection supplements direct gasoline injection to improve fuel economy; the exhaust manifold that is integrated in the cylinder head enables high-performance thermal management.

The 2.0 TFSI operates together with a disc-shaped electric motor via a decoupling clutch; the electric motor outputs 40 kW of power and 270 N·m (199.14) of torque. It is integrated in the six-speed e-S tronic. The dual clutch transmission, which shifts at lightning speed, sends torque to the front wheels.

A second electric motor, which is separate from this drive unit, is mounted to the rear axle. It supplies propulsive power at low and moderate vehicle speeds with its maximum power of 85 kW and 270 N·m (199 lb-ft) of torque. It can also be operated in tandem with the motor and engine at the front axle if the hybrid management system decides that all-wheel drive makes sense. In such situations, e.g. on a slippery road or in light off-road conditions, this essentially makes the Audi allroad shooting brake an e-tron quattro.

Located just forward of the rear axle is a lithium-ion battery that consists of eight modules. It contributes towards a balanced distribution of weight, and it hardly affects cargo capacity at all. The liquid-cooled battery has an energy capacity of 8.8 kWh, which is enough for 50 km (31 miles) of all-electric driving. An Audi wall box is used for stationary charging; it can operate with different voltages and plug connector types, and it regulates the energy transfer conveniently and intelligently.

Drive select management offers three driving modes. There is the EV mode, which can be selected by a button on the multifunction steering wheel; it prioritizes all-electric driving. Here, the front drive unit is inactive, and the electric motor at the rear axle can rapidly accelerate the two-door car to a top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph).

In Hybrid mode, the drive sources work together in various ways as necessary. In many situations, the electric motor in front acts as a generator—driven by the engine, it charges the battery, and this extends the car’s effective electric driving range.

In Sport mode, which the driver can select via the Audi drive select sysdi, tem, the car’s full system power is available. When a high level of power is demanded by the driver, the electric motor at the rear axle works together with the 2.0 TFSI in a boost mode, in which both drive units output propulsive power.

Depending on the driving situation, releasing the accelerator pedal can cause all drive units to be decoupled, or it can result in energy recovery by regenerative braking. In the first case, the show car coasts with zero emissions since the combustion engine is shut off; in the latter case, braking energy is fed back into the high-voltage battery.

The driver can use the “Hold” and “Charge” functions in the MMI user interface to specifically influence the battery's charge state, e.g. to increase storage of electric energy so that it can be used over the final kilometers to the destination.

Chassis. An electro-mechanical steering system is at work in the chassis of the Audi allroad shooting brake; it works together with a MacPherson front suspension and a four-link rear suspension. For off-roading, the crossover features high ground clearance, compact wheelbase, short overhangs and electric quattro drive. It has a taut and sporty stance on the road, and the Audi drive select vehicle dynamics system offers various modes to the driver. Size 255/40 tires are mounted to its 19-inch wheels.

Source: Green Car Congress

Cadillac teases camo'd ELR ahead of Detroit debut

PRESS RELEASE

2013-01-08

DETROIT – The Cadillac ELR electric vehicle with extended range, to be revealed January 15 at the North American International Auto Show, was photographed driving through the mountains of Southern California during development testing.

"Cadillac customers are going to enjoy the unique features ELR will bring to the market. We're going to change the way people think about luxury and electrification," said Chris Thomason, ELR chief engineer.

Cadillac has been a leading luxury auto brand since 1902. In recent years, Cadillac has engineered a historic renaissance led by artful engineering and advanced technology.

Detroit Auto Show Preview: Honda 'Urban SUV' Concept

Honda has teased the first image of a new conceptcar, due at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show.

The 'Urban SUV Concept' will make its debut at Detroit in January, hinting at the look of a smallSUV designed for city driving.

Honda says it combines "a sporty and dynamic SUV profile with a spacious, functional interior". That spacious and functional interior is the hallmark of the Honda Fit, the next generation platform of which will lend itself to the small SUV, when the next version starts production at Honda's new Mexico plant.

The range will include a regular five-door hatchback, plus a sedan, and a small crossover based on the concept.

Though only a teaser image, it's clear to see the small crossover has a striking profile, with dramatic creases unseen on any Honda beyond the CR-Z hybrid coupe.

It's certainly a more convincing effort than Brazil's Honda Fit Twist--a standard Fit with some plastic cladding--and could prove a worthy rival to the Nissan Juke in the small crossover market.

More details will be revealed when the Detroit show opens in January. You'll be able to follow all our Detroit coverage on our dedicated show page.

GM to Reveal 2012 Buick Verano at NAIAS in Detroit

GM will reveal the new 2012 Buick Verano compact luxury sedan, the brand’s third new model in the past two years and first in the compact luxury segment, at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) next week in Detroit. Verano goes on sale in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The 2012 Verano. Click to enlarge.

An Ecotec 2.4L engine with dual-overhead camshafts, variable valve timing and E85 capability coupled with a Hydra-Matic 6T45 six-speed automatic powertrain combination is standard. It delivers an estimated 177 hp (132 kW) and 170 lb-ft torque (230 N·m), 0-60 mph performance of 8.0 seconds and an estimated 31 mpg (7.6 L/100km) on the highway, 22 mpg city (10.7 L/100km). A 2.0L turbo engine will be offered in the future.

Direct injection technology helps it produce more power with less fuel and lower emissions, including up to 25-percent reduced hydrocarbon emissions when compared with a multi-point fuel injection engine. Electric power steering and a more efficient transmission design help optimize fuel economy.

The front suspension uses decoupled MacPherson struts for better isolation, providing greater separation of extreme road conditions—large potholes, for example—from everyday driving conditions. At the rear, a technically advanced Watts Z-link design helps center the rear axle during cornering, which helps keep the Verano’s handling responses symmetrical on both left-hand and right-hand turns. The linkage’s capability to center the axle during cornering delivers a more-balanced driving experience because the rear suspension better follows the lead of the front suspension.

The Z-link design is also lighter and requires less space than a typical fully independent rear suspension. The lower weight contributes to Verano’s fuel economy, while the compact design enables more trunk space.

Steering inputs are executed by a fuel-saving electric power steering system, featuring a dual-pinion rack. Engineers tuned the speed-sensitive system to provide quick, direct reaction to steering actions and a strong on-center feel. The system has a ratio of 15.5:1 and requires only slightly more than two turns, lock to lock.

Source: GM via Green Car Congress