Posts Tagged ‘Hybrid’

Car-puccino – The Car That Runs on Coffee

Car-puccino is an interesting project developed by the team from BBC1’s “Bang Goes the Theory” science program.

It sounds like an interesting concept that might drastically change the way we look at fuel, but in reality, this coffee-powered vehicle isn’t cost-effective at all. The appropriately named car-puccino was created using a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco, chosen for its resemblance to the legendary DeLorean, used in “Back to the Future”.

Car-puccino will make a 210 mile journey, from Manchester to London, powered only by coffee. Very dry coffee will be placed in the cylinder at the back, heated at 700 degrees Celsius, until it breaks down into hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The gas is then transported to the engine, where it burns, pushing the vehicle along.

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Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid sounds very promissing

Lotus Evora 414 E Hybrid

The Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid Concept Car is a plug-in petrol-electric hybrid car in keeping with Hethel’s performance credentials: it’ll hit 60mph in ‘less than 4sec’. The range of the Evora hybrid testbed is said to be more than 300 miles.  This concept develops 414ps, so this is where the name comes from. Though it is a hybrid, it runs only on electric power. The ‘hybrid’ refers to the range-extending 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine, used only to top up the battery in the same way as the Chevy Volt.  

Apart from the very promissing performance figures, there are features that make the Evora really interesting: there’s a gadget to give the electric Evora the feel of a seven-speed transmission, and something called HALOsonic sound synthesis so you can make yourself heard when running on EV silent mode. The latter was developed in conjunction with Harman. (more…)

Mitsubishi lines up: Evo XI Hybrid

Hybrid or electric cars have become a world wide frenzy. At every carshow, in every newspaper, on the news, all over the internet there are hybrid or battery-powered cars with zero emmisions. OK. I understand that the air is poluted and car manufacturers squeeze their brains to come up with green solutions, but what happens to the legends? To those cars that we love, the classically powered bauble?  Can you picture an electric H3? Or a Mustang? It’s like taking a delight in a juicy stake and all of the sudden someone snatches it from your mouth and replaces it with some boiled, saltless, floppy, almost green vegie – ’cause it’s better for your health, it’s go fibers and it’s cholesterol free.

Things are even worse when the “Go green” program’s target is beloved Evo. Mitsu hasn’t exactly touched a string with its cars. I’m talking about Galant, Montero, Diamante or Eclipse. And now, Mitsubishi is planning to make the next Evo a hybrid with an electric motor providing primary motivation via the front wheels, a 2.0-liter MIVEC four-cylinder would drive the rear wheels when needed. Thinking of the Endevour, for example, we can only keep our eyes wide shut and hope the slap won’t be very painful.

New Honda CR-Z or “What the hell were you thinking?!”

You like simple, compact, sporty, Japanese cars that go for more than 50mpg? Well, aparently Honda have been trying to prove us that simple, compact, sporty Japanese cars can go up to 37mpg! And they’re tooting their own horn for this!

It is new, it looks new…new, rejected first edition Honda.  It is a new kind of hybrid, the manual six speed paired to the 1.5-liter i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine belting out 122 HP and 128 lb-ft of torque at a low-low 1,000 to 1,500 RPM (123 lb-ft for the automatic CVT version).  A hybrid having all available torque at 1,000-1,500 rpm is interesting, and I would like to see how that translates into the driving experience. No production hybrid has been designed for sports in sacrifice of milage, but…37mpg highway?!?! Now I finally understand why rice-eaters go by bike!

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Golf TDI-Hybrid concept won’t make it to production

We all know that Hybrids and Diesels are rivals in a world with high fuel prices.While people are wondering why no automaker has ever thought to combine them, Volkswagen(who looked to be the first to realise this) announced that Golf TDI Hybrid concept won’t make it to production.

According to Volkswagen,Gold TDI-Hybrid concept is capable of 89g/km of CO2 emissions and returns 69mpg (Imperial) at the pumps thanks to a 220V electric motor and 1.2 liter inline-3 diesel. Drive is delivered via VW’s newest 7-speed DSG transmission.

Even if the Golf TDI-Hybrid concept won’t make it to production,VW is planning to release it in a few years.

Hybrid System on all F1 cars by 2013

The F1 hybrid system is not the same thing as the hybrid system you’d see in street vehicles.This hybrid system is known as KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System).
KERS doesn’t store as much energy as the standard hybrid system,but it only weighs 55 pounds and the limited energy storage capacity is well suited for Formula-style racing.

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GMC presents Denali XT hybrid

The giant American car manufacturer will unveil the Denali XT concept at the Chicago auto show in an attempt to prove they can make cars that don’t eat up huge quantities of fuel.

The new Denali XT is aimed exclusively at the American market, but it was designed and developed in Australia by General Motors’ Holden Division. The look of the pick-up is very futuristic and aggressive, with LED headlamps resembling the Audi A5’s, large grille and enormous 23 inch wheels, sheltered by bulging wheel arches. The spacious inside is dominated by leather and aluminum and can easily fit 5 people.

The most important feature of the GMC Denali XT is its hybrid drivetrain, an electric engine and a 4.9 direct injection V8, running on bio-ethanol, help the Denali produce 326hp.

A production version of the Denali XT is expected by the end of 2010. (more…)

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