Toronto wants at least 300 electric cars by 2012
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy, North America
Groups in Toronto have been evaluating the benefits and difficulties of plug-in vehicles for years and some in the city were talking about having a fleet of 200 such vehicles all the way back in 2007. Now, the Greater Toronto Area is getting its act together with the EV300 program that intends to get at least 300 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and pure electric vehicles (EVs) into public and private fleets by 2012. The City of Toronto, Toronto Hydro and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation already have plug-in vehicles in their fleets. Gerry Pietschmann, director of fleet services for the City of Toronto, said that EV300 will allow fleets to:
pool their purchasing power and share information about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to electric vehicles. It also helps us to identify what needs to be done to better support the use of electric vehicles, whether it is making charging points more available or teaching drivers how best to operate this new breed of vehicles.
At the very least, cold-weather testing for plug-in vehicles will soon become a bit easier if Toronto fleshes out its charging network. More details after the jump.
[Source: Toronto Atmospheric Fund | Image: ChoudhrySaab - C.C. License 2.0] Read more…
Spkyer Saab Created, Now the Hard Part Begins
Saab Automobile’s new management is considering how it might design and produce a modern, teardrop-shaped 92 small car. “Yes, of course, we’ve been thinking about it,” says Victor Muller, chief executive officer of Spyker Cars, which completed its deal to buy Saab from General Motors, taking it out of liquidation proceedings. “At the moment, it would not fit in the business plan, because it’s not funded. We feel the market for a Saab 92 would be very attractive.”
And so, as the deal to sell Hummer to Tengzhong Heavy Industries continues to languish in Chinese politics, Saab — a brand with very loyal customers, albeit too few of them — lives to see another day. Of Hummer, Saturn, and Saab, the third was the least likely brand to find a buyer because its brand equity was in low-volume quirkiness and its production in Trollhattan, Sweden is very costly. Sell too many Saabs, and the loyal customers who want something “different” go away.
Muller and Saab Automobile CEO Jan Ake Jonsson say that the brand’s sale to a small, specialty sports carmaker gives the company more freedom to purchase components from a number of automakers and suppliers. Presumably, it also means that Spyker is happy with very low production numbers, say 200,000 per year globally — far higher than its own production numbers — although their short phone conference didn’t allow for the question.
Citroen C-Cactus too radical for customers
The Citroen C-Cactus concept car will reach production in a different form, after customer clinics questioned the car’s back-to-basics interior. 
Research has uncovered aspects of the car that potential buyers were not happy with. The lack of dashboard and the way its instruments are clustered around the steering column were said to be particularly off-putting. Citroen is also considering fitting electric windows instead of the concept’s wind-up units, which reduce complexity. But Citroën boss Frederic Banzet said the production C-Cactus will still be “an essential car”. That means its feature and equipment content will be pared back to keep the price and weight down, enabling Citroën to produce a cheap, fuel-efficient car. Banzet also said that unlike the Logan – rival Renault’s stripped-down value car, which is not part of the Renault range – the C-Cactus will sit within the regular Citroen line-up. Judging by leaked photos, the car will stay true to its concept.
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House committee releases Toyota execs’ opening statements for tomorrow’s hearing
Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Toyota
The Congressional hearings entitled “Response by Toyota and NHTSA to Incidents of Sudden Unintended Acceleration” may have started today, but the actual response by Toyoda – that’s Akio Toyoda with a “D,” head of the Japanese automaker – will come tomorrow.
If you plan on tuning in to see what interesting new information comes out in Toyoda’s testimony, please allow us to direct you to his prepared testimony after the break. There you’ll read about three separate topics, according to Toyoda: “Toyota’s basic philosophy regarding quality control, the cause of the recalls, and how we will manage quality control going forward.”
Perhaps the most telling part of Toyoda’s testimony comes at the very end:
My name is on every car. You have my personal commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to restore the trust of our customers.
Video: McLaren MP4-12C being tested in Spain
Filed under: Coupe, Performance
McLaren MP4-12C undergoing testing – Click the image above to view the video after the jump
As McLaren Automotive moves toward production launch of its new MP4-12C next year, the workload for the engineers is intensifying to make sure everything functions as it should. Since England isn’t always the most pleasant place to do high speed testing this time of year, the latest batch of prototypes have been shipped south to Spain for more work.
The so-called XP Beta cars have dispensed with the black and white camo and are now clad simply in flat black vinyl. If the production twin-turbo V8 sounds anything like it does in the video the new McLaren will have one of the best notes on the road. The beta cars feature updated engines, gear ratios, cooling and electrical systems.
These test vehicles are integration prototypes intended to make sure all systems function properly together. Some of the test units are running high-speed durability test 24 hours a day with a team of two dozen engineers watching over them. One of the goals is to make sure that the MP4-12C remains stable at its maximum speed, something not all supercars manage to achieve. We can’t wait to try it out for ourselve, but before that happens check out the video after the jump.
Rahal Letterman unveils BMW M3 racers for 2010 ALMS season
Filed under: Motorsports, BMW, Racing
2010 Rahal-Letterman Racing ALMS BMW M3 – Click above for high-res image gallery
BMW has a new, global ad campaign out this year called “Story of Joy,” and Rahal-Letterman Racing’s new ALMS racer is going to help promote it. The racer came out today for pre-season testing, with BMW’s North American motorsport manager attesting that the “Joy livery as a special tribute to our most enthusiastic fans.”
Bill Auberlen, Tommy Milner, Joey Hand, and Dirk Müller will share two cars during the race season. This is the firm’s 35th anniversary of American operations and its first major race win on American soil, the 12 Hours of Sebring. On March 20 we’ll find out if they can make it even more special. And if you like the look of the car, then joy times awaits you in the high-res gallery below, with more details in the press release below the fold.
Gallery: 2010 Rahal-Letterman Racing ALMS BMW M3
VW reveals 2011 CrossPolo
Just on the heals of the launch of the VW Polo in India, VW has revealed the CrossPolo 2010 which will be avialbe on order in Germany. Volkswagen will publically unveil the new CrossPolo model at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show.
The CrossPolo is based on the Polo five door hatch with higher stance and features number of pieces designed to look rugged. The contrasting anthracite-coloured front bumper with integrated fog lights, the large air intake in the middle, an upper chrome grille, black skirts and plastic casings are some of the items. A five-spoke design is specified for the 17-inch wheels which wear 214/40 tyres. Customers will be able to choose from six exterior paint colours which probably all look lovely in combination with the silver side mirrors and silver anodized roof railing.
Source: worldcarfans.com
