Toyota News - Toyota’s low-cost hybrid to be based on Yaris
March 26, 2009 by tsikot · Comments Off
Toyota’s low-cost hybrid to be based on Yaris
Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota, Green Daily
The speculation can finally end. After weeks of hearing rumors regarding an impending low-cost hybrid from Toyota, reports are now coming out of Japan that the automaker is working on getting a hybrid drivetrain installed in the Yaris platform. The new car will use the same Hybrid Synergy Drive technology as the Prius but will cost considerably less when it goes on sale, possibly as early as 2011.
This new development is a direct response to the new Honda Insight, a hybrid hatchback that ostensibly competes with the Toyota Prius but costs thousands less due to its slightly smaller size, including a downsized engine and battery pack. When Toyota’s Insight-fighter hits the market, we’d expect it to carry an engine that roughly matches the Insight’s 1.3 liters, a full half-liter smaller than the powerplant in the 2010 Prius.
Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius - First Drive
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Toyota’s low-cost hybrid to be based on Yaris originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[tags]toyota cars, toyota news, toyota suv, toyota[/tags]
Ford News - Magna International gets new Michigan HQ for electric vehicles, hybrids
March 26, 2009 by tsikot · Comments Off
Magna International gets new Michigan HQ for electric vehicles, hybrids
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Ford
Magna International’s contract manufacturing unit, Magna Steyr, used the Geneva Motor Show to unveiled its Mila EV concept (read more here) last month. The parent company’s strong work in the electric vehicle field helped Ford recently unveil its Focus EV mule - and it helps everyone. These concept vehicles have a new home of sorts, a place where Magna will centralize its work on electric and hybrid drive vehicles.
Magna recently announced plans to expand in Rochester Hills, Michigan (near Detroit) in order to keep working on the Ford electric vehicle program. The $20 million expansion will move people into a new company HQ next month, including 90 new employees over the next five years, and continues the work that Magna’s new acquisition BluWav is doing on electric drive systems. Magna officials also said that an announcement would be coming from Ford about the Focus EV’s li-ion batteries.
[Source: MLive]
Magna International gets new Michigan HQ for electric vehicles, hybrids originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: www.autobloggreen.com
[tags]ford cars, ford news, ford models, ford[/tags]
Mazda News - Mazda’s first Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid leases start in Japan
March 26, 2009 by tsikot · Comments Off
Mazda’s first Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid leases start in Japan
Filed under: Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mazda
The first Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrids available to the public will soon be in the hands of the first lessees. Mazda announced today that it has started commercial leasing of the vehicles, which will be delivered later this year. Unlike the fuel cell-powered Honda FCX Clarity (leases for them started last July), the Premacy uses a hydrogen rotary engine in series configuration with lithium-ion batteries and an electric motor. When the 35 MPa high-pressure tank is filled with H2, the Premacy has a range of about 200 km (124 miles). For drivers worried about range, there’s safety in knowing that the rotary engine can burn both hydrogen and gasoline.
The Premacy Hydrogen RE has been road testing since last fall. Mazda has been working hydrogen rotary engines since 1991, when it developed the HR-X engine. In 2006, Mazda began leasing an earlier hydrogen rotary vehicle, the RX-8 Hydrogen RE. More details after the jump.
[Source: Mazda]
Continue reading Mazda’s first Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid leases start in Japan
Mazda’s first Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid leases start in Japan originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[tags]mazda cars, mazda news, mazda models[/tags]
Honda News - Blue Energy is GS Yuasa and Honda’s lithium-ion batter JV company
March 25, 2009 by tsikot · Comments Off
Blue Energy is GS Yuasa and Honda’s lithium-ion batter JV company
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Hybrid, Honda
Honda and the GS Yuasa Corporation have agreed on a joint venture contract for the “manufacturing, sales and R&D of Lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles.” Called Blue Energy (apparently, the Japanese have taken to the European shift of the eco-defining color word?), the new company is the result of last December’s announcement and months of discussions on how to bring li-ion vehicle batteries to market. Hybrids will be the “central focus” of the JV, which makes sense given Honda’s distaste for plug-in vehicles. Even though the planned establishment date is April 1st, Blue Energy doesn’t smell foolish at all to me.
GS Yuasa, a battery supplier, announced in 2007 that it would work with Mitsubishi on lithium batteries.
[Source: Honda]
Continue reading Blue Energy is GS Yuasa and Honda’s lithium-ion batter JV company
Blue Energy is GS Yuasa and Honda’s lithium-ion batter JV company originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: www.autobloggreen.com
[tags]honda cars, honda news, honda models, honda[/tags]
Jeep News - Could Jeep introduce new model based on Fiat Panda Cross?
March 25, 2009 by tsikot · Comments Off
Could Jeep introduce new model based on Fiat Panda Cross?
Filed under: Diesel, MPG, Chrysler, Jeep, Fiat, USA
When Chrysler and Fiat announced that they were planning to join forces to better attack the worldwide auto market, the first question on all of our minds was which vehicles from Fiat the American side would import to the States? Much of the attention was focused on the little Fiat 500, and deservedly so. Small cars like the smart fortwo and MINI Cooper have proven that Americans will buy little machines as long as they are stylish, loaded with features and fun to drive.
Another vehicle that many enthusiasts are keenly interested in is the Fiat Panda, especially in its jacked-up off-road Cross trim. The overactive internet rumormill is now working on the idea that there’s a possibility that the Panda Cross may make it Stateside wearing a Jeep badge. As long as we’re dreaming, how ’bout throwing in the little 1.3L turbocharged diesel engine that powers it in Europe?
Chrysler’s viability plan did include the introduction of a new Jeep in 2011, and the timing would be perfect to help the SUV maker meet looming fuel economy requirements. Before any of that can happen, though, the automaker has until the end of the month to prove it can survive as a viable company that’s capable of repaying taxpayer-funded loans.
[Source: Motor Authority]
Could Jeep introduce new model based on Fiat Panda Cross? originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[tags]jeep cars, jeep news, jeep models[/tags]
