Over the past few years, has teased us with that the automaker’s next-generation A2 may be offered with an electric-only powertrain, or maybe with some type of plug-inhybrid option.
Back in March, the rumormill blazed with reports that the upcoming “state-of-the-art” A2 will tip the scales at a scant 1,800 pounds. Here’s hoping such a low weight target doesn’t imply that Audi’s use of unobtanium materials will interrupt the debut of the A2.
New rumors have popped up that Audi will unveil its European-only electric A2 e-tron concept at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show this September. We’ll believe it when we see it.
According to internet buzz, deciding on powertrains to pack into the compact A2 and setting an aggressive weight target has pushed back the vehicle’s launch until… well, sometime before the end of this decade.
“They are trying like hell to resurrect . Well, I might as well tell you, you might as well sprinkle holy water. It’s over.”
So says CEO Dan Akerson, speaking to reporters from The Detroit News. Fightin’ words to be sure, though it seems the suits at Lincoln, Ford’s luxury brand that competes with here in the United States, have declined to comment on Akerson’s statement.
The dismissal of the Lincoln brand seems especially interesting given Akerson’s reported take on the current state of Cadillac. Akerson is said to believe that Cadillac isn’t yet where it needs to be, saying the brand needs another 12 to 24 months of gestation. By that time, there ought to be bookends to the current in place in the form of the (smaller) and (larger, replacing the and ).
Still, Akerson doesn’t expect to “blow the doors off” Cadillac’s competition, saying instead that “they will be very competitive.” We’d think Caddy would be aiming squarely at something more like “class leading,” but what do we know?
The GM CEO also weighed in on alternative powertrains, suggesting that the plug-in extended-range electric will be “old, old technology and old news” five years from now. “In the next 10 years,” he said, “this company has to break the code on advanced propulsion and that’s going to be a multifaceted solution.”
That multifaceted solution will apparently include dual-fuel engines that run on either compressed natural gas or gasoline along with various hybrids and electric drivetrains. What we won’t see, though, are a ton of vehicles running on ethanol or hydrogen. Interesting sentiments (though we don’t necessarily disagree), considering that GM currently has scads of machinery that’s E85-capable and has made it through its fourth generation of hydrogen fuel cell technology.
For the rest of the tidbits uttered by Akerson, check out on The Detroit News.
Fisker Karma at Monaco – Click above for high-res image
The may have been driven for “a couple of laps” by Prince Albert of Monaco in late May, but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to hit dealerships in the U.S. anytime soon. In fact, word is the of the plug-in has been pushed back again. Sort of.
According to , Roger Ormisher, Director of Global Communications for , says that the “first dealer [demonstrator vehicles] and customer cars will arrive on these shores in July.” Of course, that means the automaker will log zero sales in May and, as Ormisher told GCR, “probably not June either.” Previously, that:
We will start shipping cars to retailers and importers in both U.S. and Europe to arrive during May/June and the first deposit holders will be in their cars in the June/July timeframe.
Let’s hope this is the last of the Karma’s already numerous delays.
Possessing the elegant style of a fashionable fat kid, the Escalade Hybrid manages to produce brutish noises and surprising bursts of speed. Call it the anti-Prius.
We only have a few angles (so far), but the 2012 BMW 1 Series hatch looks to be a polarizing design.
2011 Chevrolet Volt – Click above for high-res image gallery
The has , and new tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s New Car Assessment Program prove that the earlier results were not a fluke. The Volt scored a five-star overall safety rating, which is the highest-possible score in NHTSA’s new and more strict safety tests for 2011 model year vehicles.
says that a comprehensive system of safety features – specifically the StabiliTrak electronic stability control system and a bunch of air bags – helped the Volt become the first electric vehicle to get five stars.
The “first” part might be simply because NHTSA has not yet tested a . , and we expect the all-electric hatch will match ’s plug-inhybrid for safety – . Until then, we can view with fascination the Chevy Volt crash videos .
Your smug neighbors clean their clothes with Method laundry detergent, they’ve laid down cork flooring on their first floor and they have organic cotton shower curtains hanging in all four of their bathrooms. Driveways around the country are filled with neighbors swapping prideful mile-per-gallon figures instead of Junior’s latest little league stats. Yet we fear that the term “green” gets tossed around far too easily these days. We see hybrids and electrics all around us, but most aren’t designed to compete against the green yardstick that is the .
The 2011 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, for example, relies on similar tech, yet it’s effectively the Toyota’s polar opposite. Possessing the elegant style of a fashionable fat kid, the Escalade Hybrid manages to produce brutish noises and surprising bursts of speed. An expensive eight-passenger luxury barge, this full-size hybrid SUV could easily be dismissed as an overpriced dinosaur – especially as it has been getting a bit long-in-the-tooth while the competition has continued to evolve. GM knows this, and it’s recently committed to this Caddy rides upon.
A replacement may be on the way for 2014, but we still couldn’t help but feel that there’s something compelling about this generation’s sharp fenders, large rolling stock and singular swagger that’s worth revisiting. Not wanting to mess about with anything less than full kingpin spec, we requested a week with the hybrid Platinum model seen here. Click past the jump to see if this baller still has game.
As the successor to the egregiously disappointing Aveo, the Sonic needs to prove that GM can do more than unload Korean hatches at the dock. We hopped in a pre-production model for a brief spin.
In addition to the larger 2012 Prius V , Toyota is working on a smaller version of its illustrious hybrid. Our trusty spy photographers have just spotted the first Prius C prototypes running about.
Toyota Prius C spy shots – Click above for high-res image gallery
In addition to the larger (which we for the first time), is working on a smaller version of its illustrious hybrid, previewed by the from this year’s . Our trusty spy photographers have just spotted the first Prius C prototypes running about, and while the original concept was a decidedly sporty-looking thing, the production model’s design seems to have been softened a bit.
Because the Prius C is so much shorter than the standard hatch – about 20 inches has been chopped from its overall length – our spies believe that these prototypes ride on either a brand-new chassis or on modified underpinnings. Under the skin, we expect the Prius C to use a 1.5-liter hybrid powertrain, or perhaps a version of the 1.8-liter unit found in the larger Prius.
Regardless, Toyota has long said that the Prius C will be the most efficient non-plug-in hybrid on the market when it launches next year, with prices expected to fall around the $20,000 mark. Get ready, and . This one’s coming right for you.
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Join Chris, Zach and Dan for Episode #232 of the Autoblog Podcast. We cover the momentous coming of a new BMW 3 Series, a Jaguar crossover, who the auto bailouts left behind and whether talk of a hybrid Mazda RX9 is nonsense or plausible. Your feedback and questions finish it off, and we’ve re-posted the Q&A at the bottom of this post so you can play along at home, too. Thanks for listening, we’ll see you next week!
Autoblog Podcast #232: Next BMW 3 Series, Jaguar crossover, bailout fallout, Mazda RX-9
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Runtime: 01:25:37
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Mercedes-Benz finally intends for the coupe body to play a much more serious role in its C-Class lineup, despite the next-gen C-Class lurking only a couple of years away.
Subaru is reportedly planning on a longer-than-average lifecycle for the coupe, with multiple packages popping up down the line to keep the car fresh… including an STI model.
Overall, auto sales were down a bit in May, though there certainly were a few bright spots in the industry.
Also of interest:
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is recalling 106,000 models built between 2001 and 2003. A total of 52,000 of those units were sold in the States.
Toyota says that if the steering wheel is strongly turned to the full lock position over and over again, the electric power steering pinion shaft nuts may become loose. Over time, that may result in the driver having to exert more force than typically necessary to turn left.
Owners can expect to be notified of the recall in early July, and the repair (in which dealers will replace the electric power steering pinion shaft nuts with new equipment) is expected to take around four hours.
In addition, the Japanese automaker is recalling a handful of and all-wheel drive models for improperly heat-treated front drive shafts. The recall covers a total of 34 Venza models and 16 Sienna units produced in 2011, and owners can expect to be notified of the problem by June of this year. for the full press blast.
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We’re recording Episode #232 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, so check out our discussion topics below. You can also use the forum below to drop us your own feedback and questions, or vote on your fellow readers’ submissions to help determine what else we discuss this evening. You can subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast if you haven’t already done so to hear your question answered by our esteemed panel of ‘casters.
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Nissan’s “Gas Powered Everything” ad – Click above to watch video
’s latest -related ad asks: “What would the world be like if gas powered everything?”
Well, according to the spot, a middle-aged man would wake up for work to the burning whistle of his gas-powered alarm clock, and with a few fierce tugs at his coffee maker’s rip cord, he’d manage to fire up the gas-gulping machine. That same man, while at the office, would walk up to a miniature gas pump to refuel his laptop computer.
Oh, and the owner of a , while standing at the gas pump refueling his plug-inhybrid, would watch in envy as another man across the street unplugs his and drives off.
Well, as you may have guessed, some execs aren’t too thrilled that Nissan has taken a public shot at the Volt. says that in a “rare, but delicious unofficial reply on Twitter,” GM’s Executive Director of Product and Technology Communications, Jason Laird, tweeted:
“A carmaker poking gentle fun at our product ignores tow trucks they need and rental cars they recommend as backup to their product.“
On the other hand, GM spokesman Rob Peterson, called the commercial “cute,” but says that it’s “misleading and damaging to the electric vehicle movement,” according to Autoevolution.
to watch Nissan’s now-controversial “Gas Powered Everything” clip.
2011 Cadillac SRX – Click above for high-res image gallery
In December, 2010 that a plug-inhybrid electric vehicle was in some pipeline somewhere, and that it would eventually plop into some sort of consumer reality. The same outlet that reported that story, Reuters, now cites six GM Deep Throats as saying has killed the SRX PHEV program.
Overlapping timetables were apparently the problem – by the time the vehicle was ready, the Theta platform that supports it would be at the end of its life. And it didn’t help that the SRX PHEV was expected to lose money. That made GM’s decision to cancel it, in spite of having spent money to develop the powertrain for three different vehicles so far, a little easier. On top of that, the program was never officially made public, so it’s not like GM has anything to apologize for.
The suggestion in the Reuters report, though, is that GM isn’t walking away from it altogether. A spokesman said, “I’m not going to comment on specific products or timing for applications, but we still see promise in the technology,” and it is known that GM CEO Dan Akerson wants to get range-extending tech into other models, pronto. But after , and haven’t made the cut, what’s next?
2013 Porsche 911 – Click above for high-res image gallery
Sources within Porsche told us that KERS would be , but now, a executive calls it “nonsense.” While the automaker is developing ways to make electric range extenders work in some Porsche models, a hybrid 911 reportedly isn’t in the cards – for now.
When and if there’s a hybrid, it will be a long way down the line and will likely employ a plug-in system rather than a KERS-style regenerative braking setup. The reason the 911 won’t get a hybrid drive anytime soon is pretty simple: Porsche has no interest in homogenizing its driving experience across the entire lineup.
Since electrics deliver all their power from zero rpm, they offer an extremely predictable power curve, and Porsche would rather each of its cars vary from its stablemates in power delivery and behavior. For now, it seems hybrid technology will be limited to the likes of the and .
Nissan’s “Gas Powered Everything” ad – Click above to watch the videos
What would the world be like if everything were powered by gasoline?
Renault-Nissan has kicked off intended to highlight the advanced technology of electric vehicles with the debut of a pair of videos that bang home the point that consumers depend upon electricity to power items used everyday and that using gasoline is, in some instances, utterly ridiculous.
In one spot, a middle-aged man wakes up for work to the burning whistle of his gas-powered alarm clock and with a few fierce tugs at his coffee maker’s rip cord, manages to fire up the gas-gulping machine. That same man, while at the office, walks up to a miniature gas pump to refuel his laptop computer.
Oh, and the owner of a , while standing at the gas pump refueling his plug-inhybrid, watches in envy as another man across the street unplugs his and drives off as onlookers watch in amazement. Yep, that’s how Nissan sees the world if “Gas Powered Everything.”
Since the videos are, in our humble opinion, absolutely hilarious, we’ll refrain from revealing too much. to view the clips clip. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Mugen Honda Fit/Jazz – Click above for high-res image gallery
As the pseudo-works tuner of choice, Mugen has tricked out models for decades. They’ve also dabbled in the occasional , are preparing to debut their and have even had their way with the – powered as it is by Honda engines. So what’s next for Mugen? It could be the .
The five-door hatchback, known in other markets as the Jazz, has received some attention from Mugen in the form of aftermarket body kits and such, but the tuning house’s British garage could be looking at something a little more comprehensive, according to a fresh report from Autocar.
According to the British mag, the hot Fit’s engine program could incorporate either the 2.0-liter VTEC four from the or the supercharged hybrid 1.5 developed for the Mugen CR-Z. Tempting options, both, but whichever way the Honda tuner goes, the likelihood is that the result won’t make the trip over to these shores, anyway.
CEO Takes Us For A Spin In This Innovative One, Two, Three-Door
2012 Hyundai Veloster – Click above for high-res image gallery
“How about a ride in the Veloster?”
While the experience falls seriously short of taking a few orbits in the Space Shuttle, those seven words were enticing enough to motivate us to cross the dreaded Los Angeles basin during rainy rush-hour traffic last week. The Veloster is Hyundai’s latest addition to a rapidly expanding lineup that now encompasses everything from the modest $12,000 to the -fighting $58,000 . The new hatchback – uniquely configured with one driver door and two passenger doors – is parked on the low end of the model range, promoted as a compact coupe offering fun-to-drive chassis dynamics, a long list of standard innovative technology and hybrid-beating fuel economy in one cool-looking package.
isn’t letting anyone drive the Veloster yet, but like proud parents, they are more than willing to show us around the car, from top to bottom, and take us for an extensive drive around the block – as passengers.
However, this isn’t just a simple low-level meet-and-greet, as our host will be John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai Motor America. Understandably, we had a slew of questions swirling around our minds before our ride: How comfortable is the cabin? Do tall adults fit in the second row? What does the engine sound like? How does it handle? Lastly, why does everyone keep comparing the new Veloster to the old CRX?
2012 Volkswagen Passat – Click above for high-res image gallery
has officially announced pricing for the company’s . Buyers will be able to jump into the mid-size sedan for as little as $19,995 (*plus $770 in destination charges). At that price, you can expect to be met with a 170-horsepower, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission riding on 16-inch steelies. Dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth connectivity and a host of other gadgets are standard equipment on the base model, though customers can step up to SE trim for $23,725 plus delivery. The extra coin will net buyers an eight-way power adjustable seat, flashy 17-inch alloys and a leather-wrapped steering wheel, among other kit.
But here’s the only number we want to know: VW will politely ask for $25,995 plus delivery for the Passat TDI, complete with its 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine and up to 43 mpg highway. That’s just $200 more than the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid.
Finally, 3.6-liter V6-equipped vehicles will start at $28,995. There are just 16 buildable configurations for the Passat, and each engine choice is available in three trim levels: S, SE and SEL. for the press release.
Infiniti Etherea Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, took the wraps off its concept, showing its vision for a future premium hatchback. Now reports from across the pond suggest that the premium division could be preparing to unveil something decidedly sportier at next year’s Swiss expo.
The report comes from Auto Express, and it suggests that the new sportscar will be targeted at the likes of the and Audi TT, yet slot in below the in the company’s lineup. A two-seater in front-engine, rear-drive configuration is being mooted for the project, leaving questions as to where such a model might fit in the corporate hierarchy vis-à-vis Nissan’s .
No word on potential powertrains, but a hybrid setup could be part of the mix. Rumor has it that is being brought in to consult on the chassis setup – a role often taken up by the British sportscar-maker and engineering consultancy. Us? We can’t help but wonder if this isn’t where could be brought to bear as well.
