The smallest Honda we can currently get here in North America is the B-segment Fit. Back in Japan however, Honda has always offered smaller A-segment and the even smaller 660cc Kei-class cars. These have not been available outside of Japan but that could soon change. Honda will apparently be introducing an A-segment model to challenge the Toyota iQ, Volkswagen up! and Hyundai i10. There’s still no word on whether the new mini will make it to the US. We’ll probably have to wait and see whether the iQ and up! come here and if they sell well.

Honda will try to keep the price of its new small car down and less subject to volatility by sticking to conventional products rather than some more advanced materials. It’s possible the new car will even get equipped with Honda’s IMA hybrid system. We may see the new car in concept form at the Tokyo Motor Show this fall.

[Source: PaulTan.org]

Rendered Speculation: Honda to intro A-segment car, challenge, iQ, up!, smart originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The temporary home of many one-of-a-kind cars, eBay has been giving shelter to this factory-converted 1982 Ford Exp EV for some time now. Currently having one bid of $8,000, it’s reserve unmet and only hours to go before the auction ends, we thought we’d give our readers a heads-up on this rare opportunity to own a piece of EV history. This Exp, along with 3 others, was built by EVA in Cleveland on a Ford-supplied glider using Soleq components and boasts (though not loudly) a big ol’ honkin’ 34 hp General Electric shunt-wound DC motor and regenerative brakes.

Said to be capable of 70 mph, the Batterymobile.com-emblazoned coupe has only 7,857 miles on the odometer and though its aged batteries may only be good for a 20-mile range, a fresh set of lead-acids could carry you 65 miles. No word whether its internet domain is included in the deal. Feel free to peruse the gallery below for more pics. Thanks to Terry for the tip!

[Source: eBay]

eBay Find of the Day: 1982 Ford Escort Exp EV originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Following the report on Friday that Lotus was planning to introduce an electric car of its own, we contacted Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk for a comment. Tesla and Lotus collaborated on development of the Roadster and Lotus builds the rolling chassis at its Hethel factory. The FT story did not come as a surprise to Musk. Lotus apparently let Tesla know of its plans in advance and Tesla is hoping to sell some powertrain components to Lotus for the new car.

Tesla already has one powertrain supply deal with a company that has not been disclosed yet. Musk hopes that customer will be willing to make a public announcement in the next month or two. That customer is widely believed to be Daimler and the powertrain is destined for the second-generation Smart ED. Musk will be in Detroit the week after next to deliver a keynote about working with automakers to supply powertrain systems, components and software.

With the current financial situation being what it is, Musk also wants to play nice with Detroit as evidenced by the following comment, “I’ve made some about Silicon Valley being a lot more competitive on the world stage than Detroit, which few would disagree with and I think is a fair criticism, but that has been misinterpreted as anti-Detroit. The right move here for Detroit is to harness Silicon Valley innovation and work with companies like Tesla. It is ironic that our first major automotive partner is not American.”

Photos copyright (C)2008 Drew Phillips, Sam Abuelsamid, Sebastian Blanco / Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Tesla CEO on Lotus EV report

Tesla CEO comments on Lotus EV report originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back last spring, Audi began offering an optional all-LED headlamp cluster on its R8 sports car as a $5,600 option. The new R8 V10 that was announced in early December will incorporate these LED lamp clusters as standard equipment. The R8 V10 is the first car in the world to get LEDs for both the high and low beams. The LEDs use only one quarter of the energy of conventional halogen lamps and Audi expects that energy consumption to drop by another half over the next decade. That amounts to significant reduction in electrical load on the vehicle. While this may not be particularly significant to ABG readers with respect to the 520+ hp R8, it will matter a lot as we move to electric vehicles. Those rather unspectular range numbers that most EVs get today are all based on driving with the lights off. A lot of driving gets done after dark and that cuts heavily into the battery range. Technology like LED lighting will play a big part in making electric vehicles viable.

[Source: Audi UK]

Continue reading New all-LED headlamps are standard on Audi R8 V10

New all-LED headlamps are standard on Audi R8 V10 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mitsubishi didn’t need a survey to find out if Lawson likes the iMiEV. The Japanese convenience store chain has ordered 150 of the electric jelly beans to replace some of its commercial vehicles starting in the summer. The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that this might be the first step in Lawson’s electric shift: all 1,500 Lawson vehicles will probably go electric “in the future.” An even bigger deal is that Lawson is considering installing electric vehicle chargers in its parking lots. There are about 8,000 Lawsons in Japan, and the availability of public charging stations could quickly become a non-starter with that kind of infrastructure. Lawson’s “corporate social responsibility” platform includes carbon-reducing efforts and collecting donations for a tree planting campaign.

[Source: Yomiuri Shimbun via EVWorld]

Japanese convenience store chain orders 150 Mitsubishi electric cars, could install 8,000 chargers originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After the engineering side of Lotus has spent over a decade working on electric vehicle technology, the production side finally looks ready to take advantage of it. Lotus CEO Michael Kimberley recently told the Financial Times, “Don’t be surprised to see an electric Lotus shortly,” which could appear as a concept car at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

The first electric Lotus is expected to be a range extended EV with a smaller battery to provide some plug-in range and an internal combustion engine to stretch the driving distance out to 300-400 miles. That would put Lotus in direct competition with the Fisker Karma. It’s not known what vehicle layout Lotus will use, but given its limited resources, the new Evora is likely to be the donor platform. That will likely mean a mid-mounted battery pack with an engine directly behind.

Lotus Engineering consults with many automakers around the world on a wide variety of projects, most of which we never hear about. However, in the past two years, the company has been prominently involved with both Chrysler and Tesla Motors. Lotus developed the chassis of the Tesla Roadster as an evolution of its own Elise and manufactures rolling chassis for the California Company. Lotus also built the battery-powered Dodge EV based on its Europa sports car. What impact this new car will have on either of those projects is not clear right now. However, building its own EVs without a middle man would likely give Lotus a big financial advantage over Tesla.

[Source: Financial Times]

Lotus set to challenge Tesla and Fisker with extended range EV originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want to prove that ponies like ethanol? Give Oklahoma corn farmer Brent Hajek a call. He helped get a FR500C Ford Mustang running on E85 up to 252.78 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats is Utah back in September. The record-setting drive (well, almost. It still needs to be duplicated to make the books) handily beat the previous record of 246 mph. The Mustang used a 5.4L Ford GT block, heads and various performance parts from Ford Racing, but that sort of support was not a given. NewsOK reports that there was little enthusiasm for the Mustang record attempt until Hajek suggested using the corn-based fuel. Once the biofuel was part of the plan, they [Ford] were hooked.”

There’s a video of the event -rocking guitar soundtrack and all - after the jump. For more alt-fuel Mustangs, check out these biodiesel and electric versions.

[Source: NewsOK via Domestic Fuel]

Continue reading Ethanol-powered Mustang reaches 252 mph

Ethanol-powered Mustang reaches 252 mph originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Way back in October at the Paris Motor Show, Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa raised a few eyebrows when he asserted that Ferraris produce fewer emissions than Priuses. On the surface, it’s true - the total amount of fuel used in and all the emissions from every Ferrari in the world combined is less than those of all Priuses combined. Sadly, many people seem to stop right there, forgetting that mile-by-mile, the Prius is vastly more efficient. On average, Ferrari’s aren’t driven all the much, so of course they don’t burn that much fuel. When they are running, though, they are anything but green.

Car and Driver waited a few months to pick up the story, but here it is on their pages today with the title, “Save the Earth: Drive a Ferrari.” We’re not fans of perpetuating an obvious myth, and this seems like one of those stories that’s set to pop back up once every few months, much like the HUMMER versus Prius myth that still infects the internet from time to time. Shouldn’t C&D be above this?

[Source: Car and Driver]

Car and Driver gets in on the “Ferrari’s are greener than Priuses” myth originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mazda is in a unique position in the automobile world with its rotary engine. The Wankel engine happens to run rather well on hydrogen and is not as susceptible to many of hydrogen’s shortcomings as other internal combustion engines. The Japanese automaker has had hydrogen-fueled rotary-powered cars on the roads for the last few years and the automaker has previously suggested that it hopes to have a hydrogen-fueled car in production within the next five years.

Auto Motor und Sport is now suggesting that Mazda’s next-gen rotary-powered sportscar will feature a dual-fuel arrangement, being capable of running on both gasoline and hydrogen gas. If these rumors are accurate, we can expect Mazda’s first production hydrogen car to hit the roads in 2012 and revert back to a standard 2-door body style. The current RX-8 uses a set of reverse-hinged doors just aft of the normal front portals. We’ll see.

[Source: Auto Motor und Sport (translated) via The Truth About Cars]

Hydrogen RX-9 rumors pop back up originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We found a story yesterday that seemed to indicate that Ford might not be able to get enough NiMH batteries for its Fusion (and Milan) hybrids. We asked Ford if they had anything to add to the story and this is what a spokesman said

“We have planned to double our volume with the addition of our new hybrids, the Fusion and Milan, joining the Escape and Mariner. If customer demand requires more, we will work with our supplier partners to meet the demand.”

So, not quite the “We’re offering a good-mileage mid-sized car in America, and WE CAN’T BUILD THEM FAST ENOUGH!” that a reader recommended, but a much more solid answer to the question of whether or not Ford’s spring 2009 entry has enough power to help keep the Blue Oval in the black next year.

[Source: Ford]

Ford says Fusion hybrid batteries will be available if needed originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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