Hybrid Cars

Description:

The simplest way to reduce the environmental impact created by the by of CO2 emissions is by shifting over to light weight and smaller vehicles. The problem in such a step is that compact cars do not sell so well in the United States. Is there are way by means of which the Americans can be coerced to cut down on the size of their vehicles and accept sporty and attractive hybrids? Honda had tried this approach a long time back when it introduced the CR-Z Concept (Compact Renaissance Zero Concept) at the Tokyo Motor Show for the year 2007. With this move Honda signified their wish to launch a new age for compact cars. This car is sporty, futuristic and light in weight.

First time viewers will be awed by the oversized front grille that boasts of small openings on both side of the front panel. Using glass on the hatchback and roof, all of which give an aura of spaciousness, has further enhanced the looks of the car. The same effects are achieved in the interior, thanks to the use of meshed materials. The instrument panel is hi-tech and sleek. It won’t be wrong to assume that the shape of the Honda CR-Z looks somewhat like the Honda CRX sports car. In fact the CR-Z borrows much of its shape from the Honda CRX, a version of Civic that remained in production from the year 1984 to the year 1991, that had a light and small profile that made it look both speedy and sporty.

The CR-Z Hybrid looks more like a mixture of the CRX and the Insight, a teardrop shaped and 2 seater hybrid from Honda which is not produced anymore. Nowadays, Honda is not looking backwards at the CRX design. In fact it has set its sight on the new 2010 Honda Insight that is expected in 2009. Honda plans on selling 200,000 units of this car. The launch of this car may well redefine the way we all look at compact cars. There is no specific launch date announced for this car, but there in no denying the fact that Honda has increased the stakes. It is likely that more car manufacturers will soon follow this trend if the car lovers of America accept the 2010 Honda Insight.

Thanks to technology that is increasing at a fast pace, newer and lighter hybrid versions of vehicles are being seen every month. Each one is offering better miles per gallon that their predecessor without sacrificing on the speed and seating capacity, whereas making every horsepower count. The day is not far off, when one will see more and more small cars zipping around rather that the huge fuel guzzlers we see today. Imagine making the same trip for far less fuel and at the same time contributing to the global community by reducing the amount of CO2 emissions. This is what the future will be and Honda has clearly shown that it plans to be the leader.

Description:

Several new cars were introduced into the American market during the Detroit Auto Show held in 2006 that included the Nissan Versa and the Honda Fit. Ford too had launched a huge truck concept vehicle named Super Chef, which is co-incidentally the name of a historic and large size locomotive, the eye-catcher during this show was really a small and 2 seater car that also had another seat situated in the rear meant for a kid. The Ford Reflex that is a silver colored sports coupe is regarded by most as an unusual and unexpected variation of a hybrid electric powertrain. The Ford Reflex couples the same 1.4 turbo-diesel engine that is used in the European Fiesta model, to the prototype and new-generation of hybrid drives by Ford.

The result of this coupling is evident by the remarkable fuel economy achieved by this car and also its excellent speed pickup. The Ford Reflex can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour within 7 seconds and offers mileage between 40 to 65 miles per gallon. Both the fuel engine and the electric motor drive the front wheels using a 6 speed automatic drive. If this is not enough, the Ford Reflex also boasts of an additional electric motor, providing 15 KW or 20 hp, to drive the back wheels thus providing an all-wheel drive, just as in the Lexus RX400h. Having peak power of 55 horsepower with the gas engine or 41 KW with the electric engine, along with torque of 129 foot pounds at 6000 rpm with the gas engine and 4000 rpm with the electric engine, this car outperforms the older diesel engines.

Apart from this the electric motor can be prepared for the high torque necessary for starting the diesel engine during cold days. In cold days the diesel oil tends to get thick and it helps to have an electric motor that can assist in meeting the extreme demands of power without resorting to the diesel engine that invariably results in output of nitrous oxide. This hybrid can help cut down the stigma caused by diesel engines in North America is the public is willing to accept a sporty and high-mileage hybrid coupe. There are many other features in this car and they include an interior that is quieted using recycled scrap much like the ones that are used in Nike athletic shoes.

Then there are the special mini airbags incorporated in the seat belts that inflate in the case of an accident, helping to broaden the restraint area. The solar cell panels on the surface of the car powers a small fan that sucks away the hot air from the interior when the car is parked. These photovoltaic cells also assist in supplying power to the lights and other systems of the car when it is running just on electric mode. Overall, this car sports many innovative features that will pave the way for the cars of the future. Ford is also planning to add more innovative features in the future including regenerative braking efficiency.

Description:

While the Dodge Ram pickup is quite a well-known vehicle, a gasoline engine powers it. Nowadays most car manufacturers are being compelled to bring out hybrid cars, keeping in the mind the CO2 emissions that are released by the standard vehicles, that contribute greatly to earth’s pollution, along with the fact that the prices of gasoline has shot up tremendously and that the supplies too of the same are slowly running out. Only hybrid cars can survive in the long run and keeping these facts in mind, Chrysler too has announced its intention to release a hybrid version of the Dodge Ram sometime in 2010.

This is quite a delayed release and it puts Chrysler about 2 years behind General Motors who are expected to release their GMC Sierra Hybrid and Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid pickups later this year. Chrysler has notified the press that it plans to use the hemi-powered hybrid system, that are already being used in Chrysler Aspen Hybrid and Dodge Durango Hybrid to power the Dodge Ram Hybrid. This is a smart move since the Hemi powerplant, when used in the hybrid mode, will keep on featuring Chrysler’s multi-displacement system. This system allows the engine to seamlessly change between V8 modes when power is required and the 4 cylinder mode (4 cylinders are turned off) when the demand for power is less. According to Chrysler, its new hybrid vehicles will deliver 18 miles per gallon in the city and 19 miles per gallon on the highway.

Though hybrid technology is making its presence felt in the home vehicle segment, they have not been used fully in the full size and high volume pickup trucks. This will soon change in the near future when consumers will consumers will demand higher fuel efficiency. Once the demand picks up, one can expect to see hybrids penetrating all segments of vehicles including subcompacts, minivans, pickups and wagons, most of which currently lack high miles per gallon hybrid options. There is an immense competition going on between different car companies as each one tries to outpace the other in order to achieve better hybrid efficiency faster.

Description:

Thanks to the rising prices of fuel and the crash in the global economy, more and more people are looking towards vehicles that will give them more for their money. They want cars that will not consume too much of fuel and will not harm the economy. Keeping these things in mind, most manufacturers are changing over the SUVs. These cars run on both electricity and gasoline and have a lower CO2 emission. Therefore, it is not strange to note that BMW too is switching over to manufacture SUV cars. It looked strange when BMW grouped together with DaimlerChrysler & General Motors in 2005, with an aim to build up hybrid technology.

During that time, both DaimlerChrysler were developing hybrids aimed at heavyweight vehicles. This technology was being developed to make available higher quality fuel efficiency on 3 ton full sized SUVs that were intended to have a carrying capacity of 7 to 8 passengers along with extra cargo and the capacity to tow tons of extra weight. Burkhard Göschel of BMW had assured that those technologies would also be used on individual models too. He had also mentioned that the brands that would participate would keep their distinctive characteristics. First shown at the Frankfurt auto show held in 2007, the BMW Concept X6 ActiveHybrid shows what the company means by full hybrid technology.

It could very well be the first hybrid by BMW to appear in the U.S. market and it is expected to hit the market sometimes during 2009 or 2010. However, the standard X6 is expected to hit U.S. markets in 2009. BMW prefers to call this car, which is a crossover SUV a `sports activity coupe’. It is very easy to distinguish this car due to its sleep profile, a stance that is low-slung, it sloping roofline, an overhang that is short in the front and long at the rear, the powerful wheel arches, 4 wheel drive, large wheels, stability control along with tons of performance. It is expected that the engine of the X6 will match the 4.8 liter 350 horsepower V8 engine that the X5 is equipped with.

This new offering from BMW will improve fuel efficiency of the car by 20 percent, thanks to its gear sets, 2 mode motors, and batteries along with its sophisticated software. According to the Tom Purves, who is the chairman and chief executive officer of BMW in North America, BMW customers are generally not worried about paying for their gas bills, but they will be able to brag that their new 7 series vehicle not only uses less fuels, it runs fast too. The BMW Hybrid goes to show the company’s movement towards a car that will focus both on performance and luxury and at the same time have slow and steady efficiency improvements of fuel. There is no doubt that most owners of BMW’s will be awaiting the release of the MBW X6 Hybrid with baited breath, because they too love to brag about fuel efficiency.

Description:

It has just been a few years since hybrid cars were introduced. These cars are planning to reduce the fuel emissions of a car by constraining its fuel usage. Such cars run on electric current provided by rechargeable batteries when they run at lower speeds. The electric power supplied to the electric motors of these car easily permit the user to complete their day to day neighborhood chores without using a drop of gasoline. However these cars still require gasoline when they are shooting through the highway, thus polluting the earth’s atmosphere with their CO2 emissions. Basically speaking these cars have managed to cut down the usage of natural fuels to a great extent, but not completely.

On the other hand there are cars that run on biofuel and do not pollute the atmosphere of the earth. The problem of driving such cars is the lack of sufficient number of biofuel outlets. This will be increased in the future and then there will be adequate supply of biofuel. Car manufacturers are quite smart and a few of them have married together both these technologies and have taken the best of them and put them in a single fuel saving, environment friendly package. These cars will do away totally with conventional fuels. The Volvo 3CC concept car is such a vehicle. Having a seating capacity of 3 persons, this vehicle can accommodate electric, hybrid, bio-fuel and traditional gasoline too.

This is the car of the future that can also run in present times. According to the director of Volvo Cars of North America, this car should be available within a decade. This car will derive its electric power using 3000 lithium ion cells, the same as those that are used in laptop computers, providing the car with 105 horsepower. The current generations of hybrid cars are facing problems with the traditional lead acid cells and Ni-MH (nickel metal hydride) cells. The costs of lithium ion cells are expected to fall down to 30 cents by 2015 from its current price of $3.50 per cell. The coefficient of drag of this car is just 0.26 and this combined with the lightweight (just 2,300 pounds) carbon fiber and steel structure of this car.

These features permit the batteries to accelerate the car from standstill to 60 miles per hour speed under 10 seconds. If this is awesome, just consider the 180 miles per gallon this car will provide, and you will understand why people are waiting eagerly for it. The four-point harness of this car provides additional safety to its occupants. Volvo has reduced the size of this car by 2 inches from the S40 Sedan, with the size of the 3CCC being just 153.5 inches. Even the height of the roofline has been lowered by 4 inches. Volvo has managed a feat by trimming the width of this car by 4 inches with the widest point of the 3CCC being just 64 inches. This car can accommodate 2 adults in the front and 2 kids in its rear single seat, making it an ideal car for a small family.