Indian Car Blog - Carazoo.com

Just yesterday, we reported that Volkswagen may launch its range of electric and hybrid cars in India. And here is another piece of equally interesting information. Tata Motors may launch its Indica Vista EV (Electric Vehicle) in India in 2011. Yes, you heard it correct. Rediff has reported that the electric version of the Tata Indica will finally be available to the Indian customers next year.

The Tata Indica Vista EV will also be exported to the European countries where the infrastructure for electric vehicles is great. However, things are different in India. India is yet to come up with a plan for the installation of proper facilities which are necessary for enhancing the popularity and feasibility of electric vehicles. In the past, we have heard many times that auto companies are working with the government to make it possible. But talk is cheap.

So far, India has not seen a proper four seater electric car. Though the Reva claims to be a four seater, it can accommodate only two children and two adults. And, if the adult happens to be a rather tall one, the car gets really cramped. When it comes to luggage space or features, Reva cannot match up to the standards of a petroleum powered automobile.

That’s the gap that Tata Motors is trying to fill up with its Indica Vista electric vehicle. General Motors is trying stay ahead of the competition that is expected to rise in the Indian electric vehicle market with its Chevrolet E Spark. These vehicles would offer the ease of having a proper four seater car which also bring the added advantage of low maintenance and running costs.

The Indica Vista EV has made its round at various auto expos including 2010 Delhi Auto expo and the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. The Indica Vista EV will be available at all dealer showrooms in 2011. The EV is expected to be priced between Rs 6 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. The pricing seems to be good, considering that it is spacious and costs a fraction to run. The India Vista EV will be comparatively very silent and also have extra torque.

It is interesting to note how the electric vehicle market is heating up in India. With electric vehicles finally catching the fancy of the Indian customers, major global auto manufacturers are rushing to give the customers what they want.

Just a word of advice to Tata Motors. Tata could actually hand out a few Indica EV’s to its Indica Vista diesel/petrol customers on a trial basis. Their feedback could be used for making improvements in the car. This seems like a more efficient process than selling a car, getting a feedback and then bringing changes in the car.

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So what’s up with Tata Motors these days? We mean apart from celebrating the massive February sales and making the life difficult for one German SUV manufacturer (read BMW). Another thing that is bringing in the fresh breath of air (or should we say a ‘gust’ of air) in the Tata camp is the responses that Electric Nano concept got on its recent visit to the Geneva Motor Show.

Tata Nano Electric concept was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show and the European consumers, who are waking up to the concept of eco-friendliness, made quite a fuss to get a glimpse of the car. The petrol Nano happens to be the cheapest car in the entire world and if the electric concept becomes a production car, it is sure to get a fan following, since it will have the added advantage of eco friendliness.

The electric Nano, which will first be launched in Britain and Scandinavia, is likely to hit the European markets in the next three years. However, the petrol variant of the Tata Nano is reaching the European roads next year.

Tata Nano may be the world’s cheapest car, but, in order to be launched in the global market, it will have to meet the various safety standards. This may elevate the price of the car, but it will still remain cheaper when compared to other cars.

Considering that the petrol variant Nano has already hit a chord with Indian customers, it would not come as a surprise if the electric Nano becomes an instant hit too. But, like many other good things, Indians will have to wait for their home-made electric car.

Company officials are being totally tight-lipped about the likely price tag of the electric Nano saying that the zero-emission Nano is not going to be launched in India in the near future. So that raises another question: When is it likely to be seen on Indian roads? No one is ready to reveal any secrets on that topic either.

And while we are updating you on Nano, we might as well tell you about the most recent bit of information that we came across. Nano prices are going to be hiked. Tata Nano is currently manufactured at the Pantnagar plant which is a zero-excise zone. But the Nano production will soon be moved to the Sanand plant in Gujrat, and it does not have the excise benefits of Pantnagar.

So, the world cheapest car may become a little costlier in the near future.

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Porsche, on Monday, scored a homerun when it unveiled its latest take on environmentally friendly performance technology, the 918 Spyder Hybrid Concept.

The Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Concept is an ultra-efficient, low-emission, mid-engine super sports car that features hybrid and electric drive technology. Mated to a 500 bhp V8 engine with a trio of electric motors that churn out 214 bhp, it would not be an overstatement if we called it a hyper-hybrid car.

The Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Concept is the perfect combination of high-tech racing features and electric-mobility. It has emission level that is as low as 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer and fuel consumption of only three liters/100 kilometers would definitely put any compact city car to shame. This machine with its super sports car performance, accelerates from 0-100 kmph in just under3.2 seconds and has a top speed of 320 kmph. This open two-seater has a V8 engine that produces more than 500 horsepower and a maximum engine speed of 9,200 rpm, as well as electric motors on the front and rear axle with overall output of 218 horsepower.

It has Porsche's very own seven-speed Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) transmission that feeds the power of the electric drive system to the rear axle. The front-wheel electric drive powers the wheels through a fixed transmission ratio. The electric motor is powered by fluid-cooled lithium-ion battery positioned behind the passenger cell. In this plug-in hybrid system, the battery can be charged on the regular electrical network and when brakes are applied, the car's kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy, which enhances acceleration.

The Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid offers four driving modes that include E-Drive mode, for running the car under electric power alone, the Hybrid mode, which uses both the electric motors and the combustion engine, the Sport Hybrid mode that uses both drive systems and focuses on performance, the Race Hybrid mode in which the drive systems are focused on pure performance with the highest standard of driving dynamics on the track.

Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid is one speed machine which has got it all: high performance, fuel efficiency, and long electric range. Let’s wait for the day when it goes in production.

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It is official now. The new Porsche Cayenne range will make its grand appearance at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show and the absolute show stopper would be the Cayenne S hybrid. Everyone is waiting for the unveiling of the new Cayenne hybrid which is poised to prove the green credentials of Porsche.

Cayenne S Hybrid brings the power of an 8-cylinder engine with the fuel economy and emission rate of a 6-cylinder. It features a highly sophisticated parallel full hybrid drive with fuel consumption of just 8.2 litres/100 kilometres, which means CO2 emissions of just 193 g/km. This again means that the Cayenne S Hybrid is the cleanest in the history of both Cayenne and Porsche.

The new Porsche Cayenne range is going to set new fuel efficiency and performance
standards. Compared to the former Porsche models, fuel efficiency has improved in the new Cayenne by 23%, thanks to the “Porsche Intelligent Performance” principle which strives on more power with less fuel and lower CO2 emission.

The agility and handling has been improved with the new active and extra-light all-wheel drive concept which has brought the weight on Cayenne S down by 180 kilos. These features and new technologies will increase the driving pleasure of Cayenne, both on road and off-road. The wheelbase of the 2011 Cayenne is now 40 mm or almost 1.6” longer which makes it more spacious. Nevertheless, the new generation Cayenne is far more compact and dynamic that its predecessor.

The Cayenne diesel Turbo comes with a 3 litre V6 engine which reduces fuel consumption by 20 per cent, down from 9.3 to 7.4 ltr/100 km. Fuel consumption has significantly gone down on the very torquey Cayenne S with its 4.8-litre V8 power unit. Cayenne S is even more powerful with its 4.8-litre V8 power unit and generates 400 bhp instead of the former 385 bhp.

With the intelligent combination of the three-litre supercharged V6 and the electric motor, Cayenne S Hybrid brings out maximum efficiency and performance. Depending on the driving conditions, the vehicle shifts between either one drive unit operating or both the units operating simultaneously. Shortly after its Geneva debut, the Cayenne is likely to hit the UK market in May. India will be certainly on the list after India proves it is ready for the Hybrid technology.

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Nissan Motor Corporation aims for its new Juke crossover to at the very least, match the success enjoyed in Europe by its top-selling Qashqai. The Juke will premiere at the Geneva Motor Show next month and will be launched in Europe at the end of September.

Nissan Design Europe in London created the car with intent to merge the ruggedness of an SUV with the looks and lines of a sports car. Pierre Loing, Nissan Europe vice president of product planning, described the Juke to be “roomy yet compact, robust yet dynamic and practical yet playful.” Loing said that these seemingly contradictory qualities come together in the Juke. Nissan’s factories in Oppama, Japan, and in Sunderland, northeast England, will create the Juke.

The Nissan Juke raises the question: is this an SUV..? Especially since the lower part of the new model gives it the looks of an SUV, with bold shapes, large wheels and black moldings around the wheel wells and on the door sills. Its off road image is enhanced by big round head lights, that might make you think the Juke is bound for the Monte Carlo Rally.

Alfonso Albaisa, vice president of Nissan Design Europe, based in London, said: “We did not want to do something that is evident in this segment, like a copy cat. What we wanted was to create a design that is not common in this segment, bold and sporty. Something that people will like at first sight.”

So, the bottom part of the Juke was combined to a sporty upper part with a dropping roof line, broad shoulders and boomerang tail lights, that all hint to Nissan’s popular 370 Z. So in total, we can just sum it as a crossover.

Albaisa points at the upper section of the doors with their somewhat convex shape and says: “This is not only a styling cue taken from the Z, but it also provides more interior space. The interior looks fresh and the materials used for the seats are contemporary with mesh in a contrasting color on the outsides of the seats and back rests.

The new thing in is the soft cover for the luggage compartment that is attached to the hatch and moves upward when the hatch is opened. The advantage of using soft material is that it will not rattle when the trunk is completely full. Another new feature is de luggage floor: you lift it up and by moving it vertical, it slides out of the way between the back rests of the rear seats and the trunk. That way you can use the depth of the luggage space that under the floor panel is divided in smaller compartments.

The official premier of the new Juke will be at the Geneva Motor Show on March 2, while the North American debut will be at the New York Auto Show in April. The Juke will hit the European markets in September and can be expected in North America in fall. During our first test drive, we will find out if the driving experience is as exhilarating as Nissan promises.
Well, Nissan Juke might take a while to make an entry to the Indian shores if at all it’s coming.

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In a twist of fate, exactly 110 years after Ferdinand Porsche developed the world’s first car with hybrid drive, a similar visionary drive has been taken up by Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart to bring out the concept in production-based GT racing.

Come this Geneva Motor Show and Porsche will debut their Porsche 911 GT3 R with innovative hybrid drive, which also opens up a new chapter in the history of Porsche with more than 20,000 wins in 45 years scored by the extremely successful Porsche 911 in racing trim.

The innovative hybrid technology featured in the car has been developed especially for racing, standing out significantly in its configuration and components from conventional hybrid systems. In this case, electrical front axle drive with two electric motors developing 60 kW each supplements the 480-bhp four-litre flat-six at the rear of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid. A further significant point is that instead of the usual batteries in a hybrid road car, an electrical flywheel power generator fitted in the interior next to the driver delivers energy to the electric motors.

The flywheel generator itself is an electric motor with its rotor spinning at speeds of up to 40,000 rpm, storing energy mechanically as rotation energy. The flywheel generator is charged whenever the driver applies the brakes, with the two electric motors reversing their function on the front axle and acting themselves as generators. Then, whenever necessary, that is when accelerating out of a bend or when overtaking, the driver is able to call up extra energy from the charged flywheel generator, the flywheel being slowed down electromagnetically in the generator mode and thus supplying up to 120 kW to the two electric motors at the front from its kinetic energy. This additional power is available to the driver after each charge process for approximately 6 - 8 seconds.

Energy formerly converted – and thus wasted – into heat upon every application of the brakes, is now highly efficiently converted into additional drive power.

Depending on racing conditions, hybrid drive is used in this case not only for extra power, but also to save fuel. This again increases the efficiency and, accordingly, the performance of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, for example by reducing the weight of the tank or making pitstops less frequent.

After its debut in Geneva the 911 GT3 R Hybrid will be tested in long-distance races on the Nürburgring. The highlight of this test programme will be the 24 Hours on the Nordschleife of Nürburgring on May 15th and 16th. The focus is not on the 911 GT3 R Hybrid winning the race, but rather serving as a spearhead in technology and a “racing laboratory” providing know-how on the subsequent use of hybrid technology in road-going sports cars.


The 911 GT3 R Hybrid is a perfect example of the Porsche Intelligent Performance philosophy, a principle to be found in every Porsche: More power on less fuel, more efficiency and lower CO2 emissions – on the track and on the road.

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The Italian sports car brand with prancing horse logo, Ferrari is doing what might be the most extreme thing ever. Coming up with a hybrid, Yeah, You read that right. Ferrari is expected to reveal a hybrid version of the 599 GTB during the 2010 Geneva International Motor Show in March.

Coinciding with the same "green" strategic direction as some other notable supercar makers, fans of the Italian marque might not find this news too disappointing or at least not much of a surprise. If this is the case, then a hybrid Ferrari 599 concept would usher in a new era for the sports car manufacturer starting with the first ever prancing horse from Maranello to feature a gas/electric power train that is intended for public use.

The car’s hybrid system will combine a set of highly efficient lithium ion batteries and an electric motor mounted in the rear transaxle. This electrified prop shaft will generate its maximum torque at zero RPM, thus cutting the extremely inefficient around town fuel consumption by up to 35% which may be translated as equivalent to about 17 litres per 100km.

The future Ferrari concept will make the most of what the Scuderia has learned from the F60’s Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS ) that was developed throughout the 2009 Formula One season. The KERS-like brake regeneration system, start/ stop technology and electric boost will also be installed.

A hybrid 4x4 Ferrari technical illustration first appeared a few months ago and was reported to be the real thing. It seems in the absence of a sedan from the prancing horse the more family-oriented V12-powered 599 GTB would be the perfect candidate for a hybrid powertrain.

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The rumours have been laid to rest by Lamborghini officials, who confirmed the release of the new Superleggera during a presentation in London last week. Although the ‘570-4′ number designation has not yet been confirmed, it is safe to assume it the new car will carry the number combination in line with its performance figures.

The Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera LP570-4 will share the same gearbox options as the LP560-4. As the name suggests, there will be a modest 10 bhp power increase, pushing total power output up to 560 bhp. In keeping with the Superleggera tradition, 70 kilograms will be shed to bring the overall weight down to 1,430 kg’s. The latest Superleggera is expected to sprint from 0-100 km/h in just 3.5 seconds and will no doubt benefit from a slightly higher top speed than its ’standard’ LP560-4 sibling.

The car will be offered in six colours i.e Orange, Grey, Lime Green, Yellow, Black and White, with exclusive green, red and white ‘Superleggera’ decals along the side skirt.

There will also be the opportunity for owners to match the leather stitching of the interior to the colour of the exterior in green, orange, and yellow Superleggera’s. White, grey and black Superleggera’s will have the same option but with grey stitching instead. The Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera will have its official release at this years Geneva Motor Show, starting on 2 March.

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The news is out and official. Porsche, which has kept in wraps the information about the new Cayenne has now been leaked. Spy pictures of a test mule of the new 2011 Porsche Cayenne has been spotted with minimal camouflage.

This new Porsche SUV that we are talking appears to be leaner, meaner and fitter and looks much more desirable than the current Cayenne. The stand out feature in this SUV is the LED daytime running lights which are almost a must for the European car these days and four tailpipe exhaust system hinting that it could be the top of the line Turbo version.

The prototype also showed that the new Cayenne will come with black plastic body cladding, recessed fog lights, ‘power dome’ hood, wider grille and ‘Panamera’ style headlamps.

The interiors have also been inspired by the Porsche Panamera with almost the same central console with larger shifter and a large LCD screen which would be used for the entertainment system and satellite navigation.

Engine options will include a naturally aspirated 4.8 litre V8 with 400 bhp and 369 lb-ft of torque, a force inducted version of the same engine with 500 bhp and 516 lb-ft of torque for the Cayenne with the Turbo S moniker. The engine range will also include two Audi sourced power trains, the 3.0 litre V6 supercharged with 300 bhp and 310 lb-ft of torque and 3.0 litre turbo diesel V6 with 240 bhp and 405 lb-ft of torque. Porsche may also introduce a hybrid version with the 3.0 litre V6 petrol with combined power output of 333 bhp and 324 lb-ft of torque.

The takeover by Volkswagen of Porsche seems to have done some trick as the all new Cayenne shares the platform with the 2011 Volkswagen Touareg and might adopt the same street focussed setup. This would mean that Porsche may strip the current model’s heavy off-road equipment in favour of a lighter and more responsive overall drive which to us is a bit of a downer. The ‘Off-roadbility’ of the first SUV from Porsche is one of its USP. An SUV which can do a four wheeled drift just as well as a four wheeled mountain climb is what we know and love the Cayenne for.

We will have all the information once the new Cayenne is officially revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2010.

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