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Friday, 3 July 2009
While motown Detroit is in crisis with the Big Three running for cover, a new breed of carmakers is emerging on the scene. These pedigree carmakers are aiming high and big to manufacture greener modes of transportation in new ways. They’re scrambling for billions in government aid intended to jump-start production of vehicles that burn little fossil fuel – or no fuel at all. (You have our solidarity guys, Go ahead !!!) But who will produce these vehicles? What will they look like? Will that be acceptable? Lots of questions such as these will soon be answered in this blog. The CEO of Bright Automotive is looking forward for a vehicle that looks like a delivery van as conceptualized by Pixar Animation. “IDEA” yep, that’s the name. It is chunky, blocky, yet curved with wheel skirts and a little up-swooped at the back that adds attitude. You can almost hear it speaking in a chirpy cartoon voice!!! Inside IDEA’s silver sheet metal is plug-in hybrid technology that will power it an estimated 100 miles on a gallon of gas. If Mr. Waters has it his way, thousands of these cuddly vans will seen across the globe. Bright Automotive is hardly the only US firm with an idea like IDEA (Bright Ideas, Eh?). At least half-dozen start-up companies are struggling to build the next-generation automobile. But after recession, the car industry at least looks greener with loads of emphasis being given on hybrids. In the U.S, 13 hybrid models were available in 2007. By 2011, at least 75 models would hit the showrooms. In Europe, where fuel economy requirements are tougher, the transition could be even more dramatic. Roland Berger and J.D. Power estimate that the market for hybrids/ electric vehicles could rise to 50 per cent by 2015 – up from 2 per cent in 2007. Electric-cars are more expensive, at least for now. But in the longer run, the power source of a car may depend on its usage. Runabout cars for shopping and school drop-offs could be straight electric. Commuter vehicles that take longer trips downtown might need the extended-range capability of a hybrid. So brace yourselves for the future invasion of hybrid cars. Yes Sir, we’re all buckled up for the occasion. Labels: Car-Industry, Fuel-Economy, hybrid cars
Friday, 13 March 2009
Toyota recognized for their ‘Green car’ technology is once again working on another new eco-friendly concept. The car brand is already celebrating its high position in the green car segment with its Prius Hybrid. This time the car manufacture is thinking distinctive and productive developing a super-efficient plug-in hybrid that has frame made out of seaweed which will hit the showrooms in next 15 years. It does sound little weird but not impossible. With the new concept the car would develop on the already hypergreen 1/X plug-in hybrid concept, which weighs 926 pounds. The carbon-fibre body would be replaced with plastic derived from seaweed. Toyota will convey its green vision of the future at the Melbourne Motor Show by unveiling three green cars- New generation Prius, a cool Camry concept designed in Australia and the 1/X (Seaweed concept). Now with the people concerned for the greener nature and as long as the cars are eco friendly in nature, affordable, safer there seems to be no reason for such a smart cars not to make good sales. Labels: Car-Manufacturers, green cars, hybrid cars, Toyota Cars, Toyota Prius
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
India like rest of the world is following the trend of eco-friendly cars. Country’s lone electric car Reva will get a companion as Ford Motor Company and Magna International jointly planned to introduce an electric car in India by 2011. The car was displayed at North American International Auto Show in Detroit where it had received an overwhelming response from car enthusiasts. The car will be powered by a zero-emission lithium-ion battery which is speculated to deliver a range of up to 150 km on a single charge. It can easily be plugged into a 110- or 220-volt outlet with the charging time of about 12 hours. The most interesting fact is that without using a drop of gasoline, the car will deliver outstanding performance and thrilling driving experience. It is intelligently engineered to fulfil all the expectations of car buyers in terms of performance and ride quality. The car also ensures smooth acceleration, less noise, and zero emission. It’s meticulously designed by Ford and incorporated with all critical components like gearbox, electric motor, and battery system by Magna. Additionally, Magna is working to integrate more advanced systems into the vehicle architecture with every detail to technological excellence. Though India is slowing stepping towards the path of alternative fuelled cars but it will soon able to match the standard of other nations with more number of electric and hybrid cars. Labels: Electric-Cars, Ford-Motor, hybrid cars
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
 Hybrids and electric cars are making big news in India as fuel prices and loan interest rates go sky high. People are now looking for fuel efficient cars that are less dependent on fossil fuels. Sensing the pulse of buyers, the government has rolled out sops for hybrid cars sold in India. The Honda Civic Hybrid recently entered India while E10 cars (10 percent ethanol) cars like the Accord are already present on Indian roads. Hyundai is planning to bring its own version of Hybrid technology to India. It plans to bring in hybrid variants of the Accent, Sonata and Avante. The domestic auto giant Mahindra and Mahindra has already introduced the Scorpio Hybrid for its market abroad. Most of these hybrids are sold because of their low running costs, but there is a huge difference in the cost of hybrid and original petrol versions of these cars. However, it is electric cars that provide the best answer to saving fuel costs and recovering investment. Interestingly, it is India’s own Electric Car manufacturer Reva Electric Car Company which beats the best in the business and proves to be the most cost effective car. According to experts, the electrically charged REVAi car can save up to Rs 4,500 in fuel costs every month for a travel distance of 45 km everyday. This amount will help recover the cost of the Reva car within a few years time. On the other hand, recovery of the difference in price between a Hybrid and its petrol counterpart can take years if calculated in cost saving due to fuel-efficiency. However, hybrids do offer better power and comfort compared to the electric cars available in India today. Labels: Electric Cars, Environment friendly cars, green cars, hybrid cars, LPG cars
Friday, 6 June 2008
The Indian car market does not have any hybrid cars as of now though they have been around for over two decades in the US and Europe. Hybrid cars consume less fuel and have lower emission levels. Despite all these merits, they have not been popular with the masses because of their exorbitant prices. But now hybrids have become hot favourites with the issue of global warming and energy consumption.
After Honda’s announcement of a launch of the Civic Hybrid in India, the world’s No. 1 hybrid car Toyota Prius is set to arrive too. Prius is the most fuel efficient car in the US. The car is likely to be available at a price tag of Rs 18-20 Lakh.
Labels: Honda, hybrid cars, Toyota
Friday, 16 May 2008
The 8th Generation Accord is a kind of hybrid vehicle in India. It gets an E10 engine which is fueled by 10 % ethanol and 90 percent petrol run. This car will be manufactured in India at Honda facilities. Thus, the car will also be eligible for benefits given for hybrids as announced by the Union Finance Minister in the Budget 2008. The 8th Generation Accord is also costlier by Rs 2 lakh compared to its previous models. The cost is increased due to the introduction of new engine which saves petrol when idling and at traffic signals. The much awaited Accord will hopefully herald the hybrid range of cars in India. The car cannot be positioned against the more powerful Honda Civic hybrid, but is in the same line as it is run by the combination of fuel (Petrol and Ethanol). Honda needs to bring in many more of such cars to India. Labels: Honda, hybrid cars
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Small car are people’s car and they are the best suited for the Indian roads. Their popularity in India is growing in a big way. Here is great and interesting news about them. The Congress UPS government has given tax sops to the Indian auto industry and this means that small car will be cheaper now. Now this is the time to rejoice for the new car buyers. Wait there is more to small cars; they will be still cheaper by Rs. 9,000–14,000 as there will be exemption of customs duty on steel too. The excise duty is also scraped from 12%to 4%. There will be a huge difference in the price now and the sales figure of the small cars are gonnna go very high. There is another segment which has also undergone a reduction in duty from 24% to 14% and that in the hybrid section. Toyota Motors will be benefited with this reduction and later Hyundai motors, as they are planning to roll out their hybrid car in India very soon. Labels: hybrid cars, Hyundai Motors, small cars, Toyota Motors
Friday, 14 March 2008
Everyone knows that luxury cars, apart from being luxurious, come with large and powerful engines that give low mileage. Luxury car manufacturers take pride in their powerful gas guzzlers and talk loudly about their cars’ power and performance. Mercedes-Benz wants to shift from that notion.
It is soon to unveil the first hybrid car to use lithium ion batteries as a power source. They are calling the car ‘S400 Blue Hybrid’. It will come with a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine that will be accompanied by a 15 KW electric motor. No more re-fuelling your luxury car. It’s expected to come some time is 2009. Labels: hybrid cars, luxury cars, Mercedes-Benz, new car launch
Friday, 22 February 2008
A recent piece of news reported that students at Delhi College of Engineering have made a car that can drive up to 170 km on just one litre of petrol. Sounds like a miracle because achieving that kind of fuel efficiency is still a distant dream for even the best car manufacturers. Perhaps this is why most of them have turned to hybrid cars. The ‘170 km’ car costs just Rs. 3.5 lakh to build and can seat only a single person at a time. Looks like universities and their students are managing to create what many qualified car engineers have been unable to achieve. Proper training and financial support will work wonders for this niche pool of talent. Labels: hybrid cars, Small Car, student projects, universities
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Honda has always been known to be an environment-friendly car manufacturer. With a whole range of hybrids and eco-cars, it is a model car maker. While the Indian government is thinking of making 10 percent ethanol (E10) blends with petrol mandatory to hold in every petrol bunk in India by October, Honda has announced it will come out with its E20 cars by December 2008 if this is the case. The Honda manufacturer stands as a favourite for many in India. Many car manufacturers are struggling to bring in hybrids and many luxury car owners want to stick to petrol guzzling engines, but a little help and nudge from the Indian government will go a long way in the acceptance of Hybrid machines on Indian roads. Article Submitted by SattyLabels: eco-friendly cars, Environment friendly car, Honda, hybrid cars, Upcoming Cars
Friday, 1 February 2008
I just read that the oil ministry has decided to give Ethanol a declared goods status, which means that its cost could go down compared to its current cost of Rs 28 per litre. I have been following up the news about the launch of the Hybrid green cars that Honda and Toyota are suppose to launch this year. Naturally, I am an eco-friendly guy and I like the idea of my kids growing up in greener city than what I get to see now!
Ethanol is the favoured fuel for these hybrid green cars and if this policy goes through, then ethanol will become the cheapest fuel for cars. So, like nowadays, Diesel cars cost more than Petrol cars because diesel is cheaper than petrol, similarly these Hybrid cars may be the most expensive of the lot, but the fuel and daily expenditure on the car will be comparatively the least. These green cars keep sounding better and better! Labels: Environment friendly cars, Honda, hybrid cars, Toyota
Thursday, 31 January 2008
The government should stress on research for Hydrogen vehicles. Hydrogen is abundantly available in the world. Harnessing this energy for vehicle consumption will free the world not only from pollution but also the green house gases. The Scandinavian country, Norway, will be testing Hydrogen-powered vehicles sometime this summer under the project named ‘Hynor’. The test will be conducted over a 580 km route from the national capital Oslo and Stavanger. The cars will be supplied by the Japanese car manufacturer, Mazda Motor Corporation. Other car makers who are already researching in this field are Honda Motors and Toyota; both of these manufacturers have already churned out successful Hybrid cars. If the project becomes a success, then such tests can be conducted worldwide and replicated. This will ensure a greener tomorrow for the future generation and Indian car manufacturers should start thinking about developing these factions in their upcoming R&D facilities. Article submitted by Rajiv ShuklaLabels: Honda, hybrid cars, Toyota
Thursday, 17 January 2008
The green car concept is fast catching up with Indian companies. Mahindra and Mahindra will be investing US $ 25.4 million to adopt better emission standards. The new range of hybrid vehicles is likely to be implemented in the hugely popular Scorpio and Bolero vehicles.
The newly engine will be developed in accordance with the US emission norms. Mahindra has entered the US market in 2007. The demand for green vehicle is rising in US and more and more companies are adopting the green car concept. It has already come up with a newly improved engine M-Hawk, which is currently under production. The company is investing in research for bio-diesel variants and battery powered cars. Labels: Emission-free, hybrid cars, Mahindra and Mahindra, Scorpio
Monday, 7 January 2008
Here is another version of car that is going to hit Indian roads soon. With the increase in fuel prices, India is making an effort to manufacture the cars with Compressed Air Technology (CAT) and will be green in every sense. Now, CAT is little technical, let us brief you about it. This technology uses compressed air as energy storage and can be combined with hybrid gasoline/ diesel or electric plant and regenerative braking. Compressed-air vehicles are as good as electric vehicles. Advantages of this technology are that it provides high torque for minimum volume, simple mechanical engine, and easy maintenance besides; these air-bottles can be disposed or recycled. At time when the pollution became one of major problems in the country, these environmental-friendly vehicles come as boon to make the country free from pollution. Labels: Air-Cars, hybrid cars, Pollution
Friday, 21 December 2007
World’s first mass produced hybrid car Toyota Prius celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. It indeed is a time for celebration! Prius’ immense popularity since its introduction in 1997 encouraged Toyota to develop hybrid variants of other models as well. It even went one step further by adding hybrid technology to its luxury brand ‘Lexus’. The reason for worldwide acceptance of hybrid technology has been its eco-friendly nature and low running costs. At this anniversary of the Prius, Toyota boasts of having made the world cleaner by selling nearly a million such cars. Truly, the Prius has brought joy to many. A 2007 J.D. Power and Associates UK Customer Satisfaction Survey rated Prius a “top-ranked individual mode”. After a decade of its existence, Prius still remains a leader in the hybrid car segment. Kudos to the much-celebrated car on its birthday! We hope to see hybrid cars on our roads very soon. We are eagerly awaiting a Civic Hybrid model from Honda in the coming year. It has already made an announcement regarding the model. Labels: hybrid cars, Toyota
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