Lisa Van Pay of the National Science Foundation meets Will Lark, an MIT graduate student working on the CityCar project. The two discuss the technologies that make this vehicle unique and explore the relationship between art, science and design. The CityCar team hopes that their ideas will someday be part of the solution to problems common to many cities: pollution, traffic and lack of green space. This story effectively illustrates the engineering design process, allowing the viewer to see how researchers identify problems, brainstorm to come up with new ideas, build models to represent a possible solution and test them to see if they will really work, and repeat this process until the original goal is attained or a new way of thinking emerges. Will also describes how he became interested in design and the path he took to become an engineer.

Vauxhall Ampera

Extended-Range Electric Vehicle

175 mpg 

The Vauxhall Ampera is an electric car, with a zero-tailpipe emission range of up to 50 miles. When that range is reached, it can then switch to its onboard petrol range-extender generator, which charges the battery rather than powers the wheels, and keep on driving. So it’s an electric car with no range limitation. The Ampera’s official fuel economy is 175 mpg, equating to 40 g/km CO2, but this really depends on how the car is used in real life; the idea is to drive the Ampera in its electric mode for as much of the time as possible and avoid using the petrol generator. Even though it’s not on sale in the UK until early 2012, if you’re thinking of buying an ultra-efficient new car in the next year then you need to be aware of the Ampera. It’s eligible for the government’s £5000 plug-in car grant; even after this it will still cost £28,995, but it should be much cheaper to run than a conventional car.

For further details on this, and a full report on the other 9 cars listed, go to the green car guide here >>

Opinion maybe divided about the smart fortwo which has been a low emission car pioneer ( a sub-100g/km of CO2)for more than ten years. Some hate its appearance, others love it for its easy urban motoring manoeuvrability. Well those who have scoffed at its toylike quality may be surprised by the results of a facelift recently given to the smart fortwo.

Smart says: ‘The new model generation for 2012 represents the continuation of a unique success story for smart: as a trendsetter the smart fortwo has been redefining individual urban mobility for more than ten years now. It combines responsibility to the environment and high ecological standards with joie de vivre and a high fun factor. With its compact dimensions the two-seater takes up less road and parking space than any other car around.’

There will be a range of cars,styles and colours,including white which is expected to be popular among buyers.The newlook smart fortwo is available in April, in the UK, and to read more…at smart

honda-nsx-concept at 2012 Detroit Motor Show

Hard to believe that the first generation hybrid Honda Insight came on the road over a decade ago. Since then low emission hybrid cars have grown in number of models and manufacturers, as the call for cleaner technology, and therefore lower co2 emissions, became a clamour.

Honda has sold more than 800,000 hybrid vehicles since the first generation Honda Insight hit the road in November 1999. Honda was the first manufacturer in the world to launch a hybrid model and reported the Insight delivered 83 miles per gallon giving it the highest fuel economy among all petrol powered vehicles at the time.

In the UK, Honda has sold more than 22,000 hybrids since the original Insight was launched in 2000 and the current hybrid line up now consists of the CR-Z, Jazz Hybrid and Insight.

Honda now sells seven hybrid models in 50 countries and they all come equipped with Honda’s original lightweight and compact IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) hybrid system.

Annual worldwide Honda hybrid sales for 2011 were up 30 per cent on 2010 at approximately 200,000 vehicles. Honda’s total hybrid sales during the last three years exceeded 500,000. In Japan, the ratio of hybrid vehicles exceeded 45 per cent of all new Honda vehicle registrations for the month of December 2011.

The Honda-nsx-concept ( above) shown at this year’s Detroit Motor Show is a glimpse of things still to come? Standing still in the drive for even better and different low emission cars seems not to be an option.

Kia receives Low Carbon Award from What Car?

So in order to reduce carbon emissions in cars we must devise ever more sophisticated technologies using the likes of hybrid powertrains, electric motors…well,not so, according to Kia Motors.

Kia reports it has scooped the What Car? Ultra Low Carbon Award for the environmental contribution made by all its latest new car introductions.

What Car? singled out the all-new Kia Rio with its class-leading 85g/km CO₂ figure – the cleanest non-electric vehicle in the world – at its annual Awards at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. But the magazine had previously praised the also all-new Picanto back in the summer at its Green Awards ceremony – on the eve of the EcoVelocity Show that focused on environmentally-friendly technologies – naming it Green Supermini of the Year.

Praised for its “dramatic progress” in launching cars with the “lowest average CO₂ emissions” over the last 12 months, Editor in Chief, Chas Hallett said Kia was making “leaps that catch us out!”

Hallett commented: “Kia models that were launched in the past year have the lowest average CO₂ emissions of any launched in the past 12 months. Best of all Kia’s engineers have managed to achieve these figures without resorting to expensive hybrid technology.”

Paul Philpott, Chief Operating Officer of Kia Motors Europe received the award and said: ”Kia has been striving over recent years not only to deliver exciting, attractive, high-quality cars but also to deliver real benefits to customers in the form of cleaner technologies that don’t carry a price premium. We are delighted that What Car? – one of Europe’s leading consumer magazines – has recognised our efforts.”

•  Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain to star in latest model of the Yaris

Yaris, Toyota’s best-selling car in Europe, the second core model after the Toyota Auris to be given full hybrid technology, is the first to be introduced into to the largest volume segment in the European market.

The first pictures of Yaris Hybrid have been revealed ahead of its world premiere at the Geneva motor show in March.

Delivering identical occupant and luggage space as conventional Yaris models, this will be the most affordable full hybrid on the European market. There will be no compromise on performance, and it is claimed it will also deliver on segment-leading levels of CO2 emissions.

Peugeot announce that in June 2012, the new Peugeot 208 arrives in the UK and will be available in two distinct body styles; 3 & 5-door with an extensive range of petrol and diesel engines including an all new 3 cylinder petrol power unit and the latest generation of Stop & Start System (e-HDi) diesel engines.

Key low emission benefits include:

•  New 1.0l 3-cylinder petrol engines emitting just 99g/km of CO₂
• Latest generation e-HDi diesel engines emit CO₂ levels from just 87g/km
• New 208 is smaller on the outside, bigger on the inside

Volvo Car Corporation will unveil an innovative petrol plug-in hybrid at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit,

The Volvo XC60 Plug-in Hybrid Concept is an electric car, a highly economical hybrid and a powerful high-performance car all rolled into one.

At the touch of a button, the driver decides how the available power from the combination of the high-performance petrol engine and the electric motor is to be utilised.

“The technology in the XC60 Plug-in Hybrid Concept is as ingenious as it is unique,” says Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation. “You can make really green progress on the road without compromising on any of the luxury car’s renowned properties. No other manufacturer has succeeded in delivering fuel economy and electrical range on this level in a capable, spacious performance car with 350 horsepower on tap.”

“This world-class petrol plug-in hybrid technology, featuring a state-of-the-art four-cylinder engine from our upcoming Volvo Environmental Architecture engine family, will reach our American showrooms in a couple of years. However, it is too early to say which model will be the first to feature this solution,” Jacoby says.

Volvo XC60 Plug-in Hybrid Concept – Headline features are:

Pure Hybrid Power – three cars in one

Four cylinders with the same power as a six-cylinder unit

Reduction of parts, weight and fuel consumption

Integrated Starter Generator – no conventional starter motor

Charge the battery at home

Constantly online

Mobile application

Muscular appearance

Electric four-wheel drive

Saves battery power for later

To continue reading a fuller report >>

Saving money with greater fuel efficiency, and so reducing CO2 emissions,  is not all always about new technology engines, dedicated electric motors, hybrids or whatever. Sometimes it about rethinking other systems within a vehicle, and concentrating on recycling energy produced by it. Though not a new concept, Mazda Motor Corporation has developed a regenerative braking system for passenger cars capable of improving fuel economy by approximately 10 per cent.

The new system known as the i-ELOOP system is the first of its kind in the world to use a capacitor, and will begin to appear in Mazda vehicles from 2012.

i-ELOOP efficiently converts the vehicle’s kinetic energy into electricity as it decelerates, using the electricity to power the climate control, audio system and numerous other electricalcomponents.  The unique capacitor technology in i-ELOOP can store large volumes of electricity and, unlike batteries, can be charged and discharged rapidly and is resistant to deterioration through prolonged use.

The name i-ELOOP is an adaptation of ’Intelligent Energy Loop’ and represents Mazda’s intention to efficiently recycle energy in an intelligent way.

Regenerative braking systems are growing in popularity as a means of saving fuel. They use an electric motor or alternator to generate electricity as the vehicle decelerates, thereby recovering a portion of the vehicle’s kinetic energy.  Unlike the regenerative braking systems found in hybrid vehicles, Mazda’s highly efficient solution avoids the need for a dedicated electric motor and battery.

This key concern is now being addressed, and this should greatly help to remove a great stumbling block in the marketing of EVs.

It is reported that:

‘The locations of charging points for plug-in vehicles are to be systematically mapped across the country to make it easier for motorists to go electric, Transport Minister Norman Baker and Business Minister Mark Prisk announced today.’

The National Chargepoint Registry, to be developed by POD Point – a UK-based chargepoint manufacturer – will be a publicly-accessible database of chargepoints across the UK. Alongside this, a new system – the Central Whitelist – will be created to make it easier for motorists to access each chargepoint without having to sign up to new schemes each time they charge in a different location.

The development of a National Chargepoint Registry and Central Whitelist was a commitment made in the Government’s Infrastructure Strategy published earlier this year, which can be found here; http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/plug-in-vehicle-infrastructure-strategy

 POD Point (www.pod-point.com) has been awarded a contract worth £89k (excluding VAT). They will be hosting the data on a server, and are creating systems that will allow plug-in vehicle recharging schemes to easily upload and download information. They will also place data from the National Chargepoint Registry on data.gov.uk and will create a system that allows real time interrogation of this data by mobile devices such as mobile phones and in car navigation systems.

Schemes interested in adding their information to the systems should get in touch with POD Point: flora.heathcote@pod-point.com.