This week, our sister site heads off to Paris to check out the and programs.
Vélib’ boasts 20,000 bikes and 1,800 stations throughout the city, where anyone with a credit card can check out a bike on the fly. More exciting is the EV-sharing program, which uses Pininfarina-built that are available to subscribers for rental at rates ranging between €9 (around $12 USD) and €16 per hour (@ $21). The program was launched in December 2011, with 250 cars and 250 stations, and though , the number of cars is expected to increase to 3,000 by next year.
When we last asked representatives about the production capacity of the , we were told the company’s Iwate, Japan plant could make up to 30,000 units each month. That sounds like a lot, but Toyota is currently sending just 20 percent – 6,000 a month – to the United States.
Back in December, when the car went on sale in Japan, the company received . As we , Toyota also sold 1,200 Prius C units in the first three days it was on sale in the States. The baby may not be as popular here as it is at home, but 6,000 a month sure doesn’t seem like it’s enough.
The C is made at just one plant, run by Toyota’s Kanto Auto Works Ltd. affiliate in northern Japan. A strong yen and all those Japanese orders means that the C models that do get made are mostly delivered to the home country instead of be placed on a boat to be exported. Toyota originally planned to produce just 20,000 C models a month, and is now looking at how to go over even the 30,000-unit level.
By increasing efficiencies at the plant and moving production of non-Prius C models (specifically, the not-available-in-the-U.S. Toyota Ractis) from Iwate to other plants, the unspecified increase should be in place by the middle of 2012. Thus far, there is no official talk about making the C at other plants.
From what we know today, pretty much everything about the all-electric is getting bigger and/or better in 2012. From to and , it’s clear is planning big things for its EV this year. Now, Nissan’s Mark Perry has told the The Detroit News that the 2013 Leaf will get serious improvements when it launches later this year, including a better heater, a darker interior color choice and leather seats. The new Leaf will be made in Smyrna, TN.
The Leaf’s new heater is going to help with range, even if it wasn’t designed to beat the government’s mileage test, as it were. Perry tells the Detroit newspaper, “You may not see much change on the EPA rating, but in cold-weather conditions you may see 20 to 25 miles of improvements.”
This brings us to the big question: will Leaf sales also increase in 2012? Thus far, the trend hasn’t been great, dropping to 676 sales in January and then 478 in February. In some months of 2011, Nissan sold over 1,000 Leafs. There are annual variations in sales patterns, and Perry tells The Detroit News that he expects Leaf sales to cross 2,000 a month in the U.S. some time this summer, a prediction that sounds reasonable given that the model will now be available in all 50 states.
Consumer Reports is learning all sorts of things about the now that it has purchased one for testing, only to with less than 200 miles on the odometer. After 48 hours in the dealer’s repair shop – under warranty – the car is and is starting to get put through its paces.
With that making waves, CR discovered that with their new and expensive plug-in hybrids. Things like needing a new differential after less than 1,000 miles, a car shutting itself off at 35 mph and lots of trouble with the shifter. Most of these reports were on FiskerBuzz. Of course, before CR got its Karma, the company issued two recalls, one for a and another for .
So, with all the problems, how does CR like the Karma on the track? The design is “simply stunning,” it says, but the range-extending gasoline engine is loud when the 22-kWh battery is depleted. And the Fisker’s SUV-like 5,395-pound weight doesn’t help with handling. On the inside, CR says the touchscreen is also less than ideal, with a grayscale look and plenty of menu flipping that “makes MyFord Touch look like a brilliant design.” Ouch.
Then there’s this:
Just this weekend, for example, the speedometer and energy meter display disappeared when driving, on top of having several other rogue warning indicators appear last week. It is expected we’ll be revisiting the dealership soon. We’ve had cars in the past that have been troublesome, but never anything like this.
You can see what CR wrote about the car and check out their new video review .
In yet another case of a carmaker who probably (and certainly doesn’t need it), has offered to build a pickup for Peyton Manning. Or at least it has issued to that effect.
The hook here is that the Tennessee Titans NFL franchise is wooing the former Indianapolis Colts quarterback and likely future NFL Hall of Famer, with owner Bud Adams offering Manning a lifetime contract, according to ESPN. Nissan, of course, . Manning also has roots in the state, as he attended the University of Tennessee, where he was the Volunteers’ all-time leading passer.
We suspect Manning has better things to do right now than help Nissan stage a further publicity stunt, given that he’s spent the past week working out for two other NFL teams in addition to Tennessee. That’s not stopping the PR team at Nissan from suggesting that Peyton might want a Titan, the slowest-selling full-size pickup in America, because . That’s Canton, Mississippi, rather than Canton, Ohio, where the NFL Hall of Fame is located.
And lest anyone get all up-in-arms over Nissan’s homer-ism, the company has said it will give Manning the truck regardless of which team he signs with “as a gesture of gratitude recognizing your great accomplishments and philanthropic contributions to our national community.” Click to read the full press release.
*UPDATE: If a slew of reports are to be believed, it appears Mr. Manning is . As some readers have noted in Comments, we, too, hope that takes this opportunity to build Peyton – and the rest of us – a new Bronco.
In yet another case of a carmaker who probably (and certainly doesn’t need it), has offered to build a pickup for Peyton Manning. Or at least it has issued to that effect.
The hook here is that the Tennessee Titans NFL franchise is wooing the former Indianapolis Colts quarterback and likely future NFL Hall of Famer, with owner Bud Adams offering Manning a lifetime contract, according to ESPN. Nissan, of course, . Manning also has roots in the state, as he attended the University of Tennessee, where he was the Volunteers’ all-time leading passer.
We suspect Manning has better things to do right now than help Nissan stage a further publicity stunt, given that he’s spent the past week working out for two other NFL teams in addition to Tennessee. That’s not stopping the PR team at Nissan from suggesting that Peyton might want a Titan, the slowest-selling full-size pickup in America, because . That’s Canton, Mississippi, rather than Canton, Ohio, where the NFL Hall of Fame is located.
And lest anyone get all up-in-arms over Nissan’s homer-ism, the company has said it will give Manning the truck regardless of which team he signs with “as a gesture of gratitude recognizing your great accomplishments and philanthropic contributions to our national community.” Click to read the full press release.
is pretty sure that its expanded family will drive up sales of the world’s best-selling hybrid, and the early sales returns indicate that the company is right, right, right.
After the sold , the smaller, and more efficient is also getting a lot of attention. Toyota announced today that the C sold 1,201 units in just the first three days it was on sale. That’s enough to make it “one of Toyota’s fastest-selling vehicles,” according to the automaker, which also pointed out that those three days of sales is more than either the or sold all last month.
If anything, those 1,201 sales are not as impressive as the C managed in Japan (where it is badged ‘Aqua’) – Toyota obtained , though it isn’t immediately clear how many units have actually been sold. So far, the newly expanded Prius family has sold almost 10,000 units in the U.S. through the first half of March. This certainly points to the Prius franchise doing well in 2012. Last year in the U.S., Toyota sold 136,463 examples of its (it sold 140,928 in 2010) and expects to sell 220,000 Prius models of all types here this year.
General Motors has gone on record to oppose a Washington State bill that would .
GM Regional Director Howard Lenox, Jr. wrote a letter on March 6 to Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire stating that the automaker, which makes the extended-range plug-inhybrid, is against such a bill. The state is proposing the fee as a way for EV drivers to compensate for the gas taxes that they otherwise wouldn’t be paying. The letter was on GM’s The Future Is Electric blog.
“A fee which singles out electric vehicles will be a disincentive to the growth of the electric vehicle market in Washington State,” Lenox wrote in the letter. “As a practical matter, there are so few vehicles on Washington’s roads today that their impact in replacing fuel tax revenues will, for now, be negligible.”
While drivers of the Volt actually wouldn’t be subject to such a fee because its onboard generator is gas-powered, GM appears to be looking ahead as the automaker looks to electrify more of its fleet to meet more stringent greenhouse-gas emissions requirements.
Last month, , which was introduced by Mary Haugen, the Senate’s transportation committee chairwoman. The fee, which is subject to a vote by the state’s House of Representatives, is estimated to add as much as $1.9 million to the state’s coffers by 2017. , Oregon and Kansas are among other states looking at instituting fees that specifically target electric vehicle drivers.
What do you think, should states enact taxes on EVs to recover lost gas tax revenue? Vote in our poll below, then have your say in Comments.
Heather Peters really, really doesn’t . Peters is the woman who went her own way earlier this year, suing in small claims court in Torrance, CA instead of joining a class-action lawsuit against the automaker over allegations that the company promoted misleading fuel economy numbers for the , model years 2003 to 2009. She was recently , significantly more than the $100-$200 the 200,000 Civic Hybrid owners involved in the class action suit are expected to net (their lawyers stand to make $8.5 million). Because of that perceived unfairness, Peters is going in front of Superior Judge Timothy Taylor in San Diego today to ask that the class-action settlement be cancelled.
According to the Associated Press, Peters is using her small claims winnings – which Honda said it will appeal – to prove that the settlement is unfair to the Civic Hybrid owners that had thus far agreed to the deal. Around 1,700 owners decided not to take part in the settlement and there is reason to believe Taylor is at least slightly sympathetic to their cause. He recently for state attorneys general – who – to respond to Peters’ winnings.
The original Civic Hybrid class action case arose out of the claims of , who sued Honda in 2007 because, he said, the automaker misled him about the car’s fuel economy. When , who knew the turns this story would take?
The 2013 has an appointment for some cosmetic surgery, according to a report in Car & Driver. The restyle will be minimal, with detail changes around the fascia going just far enough to let other 7 Series owners know that you have the latest model.
A more substantive change could occur under the skin of the ActiveHybrid 7, however. It’s nearly $13,000 more expensive than it’s non-hybrid counterparts but doesn’t make an equally hard-to-ignore case for efficiency: the ActiveHybrid 750i has 55 more horsepower than the standard car, but is rated at 17 city / 26 highway versus 15 city / 22 highway. Speculation is that the ActiveHybrid 7 could get the six-cylinder powertrain from the to improve its green credentials.
As we said when we first drove the Blue-e-motion, is . Given the tremendous ups and downs that electric vehicles and EV start-up companies are going through, maybe making sure you have a car where everything is working smoothly – to say nothing about - isn’t such a bad idea. And it now seems like VW is confident enough in its Golf EV, which is , to push up its estimated release date from 2014 to late 2013.
Sure, technically, that could be a difference of just one day, but we don’t think that’s what VW of America president Jonathan Browning meant when he confirmed next year’s U.S. release date with Automotive News. Late 2013 is also when the car will go on sale in Europe. A .
Even though VW is getting ready to move into electric vehicle territory, it is well behind other automakers. Perhaps that’s why it is also a bit less optimistic about the potential success of plug-ins. The automaker expects just three percent of its new vehicles to be EVs or hybrids by 2018. You can .
Send a $107,000 to the dealer – after – and get a new battery pack in return. That’s the lesson that Consumer Reports learned over the weekend and the repaired vehicle is now “operating fine at our test track” after 48 hours offline.
All that CR is saying about the problem is that the Fisker dealer said that a “fault was found in the battery and inverter cable. Both were replaced as a unit.” Also, while lots of dealers wash your car after you take it in for servicing, CR’s dealer also charged the brand-new pack. How kind. With everything back on track – for now – CR will get to what it intended to do days ago: put the Karma through its paces.
CR’s Karma is not the only one with issues. All Karmas were affected by two recalls (due to a and then ) and, as we discovered last week, owners are over on FiskerBuzz.
You may never have heard of the French carmaker . After starting out as a coachbuilder for companies like Delahaye and , Facel moved on to crafting entire cars. From 1954 to 1962, the company produced the Hemi-powered Vega. Facel closed its doors in 1964, but some intriguing sketches and renderings have stirred up a lot of chatter on the Internet of a possible revival of the brand.
Details are scarce and almost impossible to verify, but if Google’s translation of French websites are believable, the image above is a rendering of what the resurrected Facel could show off at this September’s and we might even see a production version in 2014. But rumors written in French translated by Google are not exactly credible. The images all appear to come from a constantly updated Facebook page called “.”
Swoopy fenders, and a slick greenhouse wrap the four-seater concept in a sports car disguise. The interior sketches show minimal seating that seem more suited to racing than relaxing.
Speaking of performance, there’s no mention of what would power such a car, but it sure is fun imagining that car barking with the power of . Sinister sexiness.
has chosen former designer Thomas Ingenlath to replace Peter Horbury as the head of the Swedish brand’s design department, the latter having moved up the ladder to oversee design work at Volvo’s corporate parent, Geely. Ingenlath was with the VW Group for 20 years and did stints with , Skoda and Volkswagen, leading work on concepts and production cars like the VW , the Bluesport Roadster and first-generation Skoda Fabia and Superb.
After a couple of years trying to decide where it wanted to be – or at least, how it wanted to be described – on the luxury spectrum everyone seems to be on message now. Volvo will be looking for Ingenlath to continue its progress toward being a “top-tier luxury brand,” in the words of CEO Stefan Jacoby, and “a truly luxury automotive brand” in the words of Geely CEO Li Shufu. Check out the official press release for more details.
has its i8, has its R8 e-tron, has its SLS AMG E-Cell. The electron-powered, gullwinged coupe will use batteries supplied by SK Innovations that power four synchronous electric motors into developing 525 horsepower and 649 pound-feet of torque. It is predicted to run from zero to 60 mph in 4 seconds – that’s up from a previously estimated 3.7 seconds.
Mercedes has loosed a little more info on the technology behind the SLS AMG E-Cell. Its powertrain arrangement necessitated a new front axle, so the conventional-powered car’s double wishbones have been supplanted by horizontal, pushrod damper struts. Torque vectoring to the motors mounted near the wheels, not on the hubs, aims to keep electric enthusiasm pointed in the right direction. And the Mercedes F1 team has assisted in the kinetic energy recovery system that will help to extend the coupe’s as-yet-unannounced range.
When it goes on sale sometime next year, what you see in the gallery of high-res photos will be wrapped in an SLS AMG body enhanced . for the company’s press release and have a look at the future in the gallery of high-res photos.
Following in the and , the 2012 Electric has been granted HOV lane access in California by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB not only gave the upcoming all-electric vehicle the ability to let people drive alone in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane but also qualified it for an incentive that affords buyers an extra $2,500 off through the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (CVRP).
With an , the Focus EV is what Ford calls the “most fuel-efficient five-passenger car” in the States. As it has in other marketing material, today’s press release announcing the HOV designation, Ford is touting ways its car beats the (hey, it “only” gets , remember?), as you can read . For more on the controversial HOV lane situation in California, check out from AutoblogGreen contributor Chelsea Sexton.
Electric qualifies for California HOV lane access, extra $2,500 off
Of all the excellent car chases in cinema history, the vs. g battle in Steve McQueen’s Bullit may be the most recreated. Now it looks like the crew from the TV show Alcatraz has tried its hand at paying homage to the hubcap slinging sequence. According to local news station KTVU Channel 2, the new FOX series recently spent hours on San Francisco’s Bay and Larkin streets in an attempt to painstakingly replicate each legendary scene using modern interpretations of the famous bruisers in the 1968 film. The final product will be part of the Alcatraz season finale, set to air on March 26.
We’ve seen the Bullit chase replicated for and with , but this is the first time in recent memory a TV show has tackled putting Mopar power against the now iconic Highland GreenMustang. Alcatraz is the brainchild of executive producer J.J. Abrams, and features three investigators as they look into why 302 of Alcatraz prison’s most foul prisoners and guards have suddenly reappeared in modern-day San Francisco. If you’re interested, check your local listings for air times.
Obviously, we spend a lot of time trawling the Internet looking for interesting automotive news. When we find it, we’re often curious to get a little more backstory. Sometimes we need some of that has nothing to do with cars. For that task, we occasionally rely on to help us dig up additional sources – probably just the same as you do.
Thus, we’re glad to see a Daimler employee called out for an alleged misdeed, which is not just against Wikipedia’s policies, but frankly, runs counter to the whole spirit of the not-for-profit, crowd-sourced Internet encyclopedia. According to a report by The Local, someone with a Daimler IP address altered the company’s German-language Wikipedia page, seemingly intent on removing unflattering passages. The section in question concerned a “Worst EU Lobbying Award” that the parent of the brand received in 2007, along with and , for “a concerted campaign to ‘dilute and delay CO2 reduction targets.’”
A Daimler spokesman is deflecting the incident by blaming it on employees, calling the actions “independent” and “private,” insinuating that they were not part of an official directive from the company itself. Apparently changes to other Wikipedia pages were made at the same time, those concerning the cereal muesli and Victoria, the Crown Princess of Sweden, suggesting there could be something to spokesman’s assertion.
That isn’t double vision you’re experiencing, it’s the Gigahorse. Said to be the “hero car” in Mad Max: Fury Road, the ride, , is a double-bodied ‘59 Cadillac with two supercharged V8s connected by a planetary gear, sitting on a monster-truck chassis and sporting a four-bladed cow catcher. With Charlize Theron as Furiosa alongside Tom Hardy as Mad Max, it’s unknown which hero the Gigahorse might serve but it’s certainly bat**** crazy enough for The Mad One.
Production is setting up in Namibia (because the Aussie outback has gotten too green, according the director), and peeks at have shown at least one other car as big as a semi, a couple of buggies and, of course, enough tractor-trailers to remake Convoy. A stuntman said the movie would have “.”
Speaking of Theron, last November George Miller said he’d (Mad Maxes 4 and 5, essentially) back-to-back and that production could take 2.5 years, so it might be some time before we see the Gigahorse in the local multiplex.
Odyne Systems is known for making big honking hybrid vehicles, things like the we first saw in 2008. At the 2012 Work Truck Show in Indianapolis this week, is showcasing the biggest plug-in hybrid vehicle with a J1772 connector that we know of: a PHEV F-750. Yes, that’s a big one.
Odyne adds its plug-in architecture to work vehicles after the fact. The liquid-cooled 346V lithium-ion battery from Johnson Controls that’s used in the system isn’t that outrageous – only 14.2 kWh – but a converted truck can get two packs installed for extra energy at the work site. Aside from 120- or 240-volt exportable AC power, the plug-in hybrid powertrain provides launch assist and recaptures energy through regenerative braking. The battery packs can also power the truck’s electronics to reduce idling.
With 28 kWh worth of batteries and a Level 2 charger, Odyne says a full charge takes just five hours. The hybrid system adds about 1,600 pounds, which we think is for a two-pack set-up. Johnson Controls has invested in Odyne, and the company works with Remy Motors on its powertrains.
Ford says the PHEV F-750 can save up to 1,750 gallons of fuel a year compared to a non-plug-in version, which adds up quickly when you’ve got $4 gallons of diesel. Odyne’s Louise Hermsen told AutoblogGreen that the cost for the PHEV conversion can be up to $100,000 depending on options, and it is available now. In fact, she said 15 plug-in hybrid F-750s have been delivered already because, even though $100,000 is not cheap, “the whole equation hinges on what kind of fuel use reduction they’re going to achieve. Making the decision to go with a hybrid takes a lot of data collection.”
Odyne has been selling hybrid truck conversion kits for years, but most of them on the road are the older, lead-acid models. The company introduced the advanced li-ion system last June and has been working with customers to make them operate best for each individual situation. Odyne can modify the truck’s software remotely as data comes in on how the trucks are being used, too (for example, how much time they spend at the job vs. on the road). Even with a vehicle this big, you want to keep track of every little thing.
