Geneva Preview: Lotus formally introduces Evora 414E Hybrid
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Lotus, Geneva Motor Show, Green Daily
Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid teaser – Click above to enlarge
Lotus has just formally introduced a new 400-plus horsepower sportscar concept. That news in and of itself would be enough to pique our interest, but the rest of the car’s spec sheet makes the Evora 414E Hybrid an astonishingly intriguing concept vehicle. As you surely surmised by now, this two-seat sportster is a hybrid, specifically an extended-range electric vehicle that features a pair of rear-mounted electric motors and a 1.2-liter three-cylinder gas-powered engine. Why not fully electric? According to Lotus:
With regard to the total lifetime CO2 emissions of the vehicle, including the energy required to manufacture and run it, the range extender solution has a lower overall CO2 footprint than a fully electric car of comparable performance and operating range running with a larger battery.
That 47-horsepower gasoline engine never actually sends power directly to the Evora 414E Hybrid’s wheels. Instead – as with other cars such as the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and the Fisker Karma – the mill is used to recharge the onboard 17 kilowatt-hour lithium polymer battery pack, which is centrally mounted down the middle of the car for optimal weight distribution. That battery pack can provide up to 35 miles of gasoline-free driving per full charge.
Because each rear wheel has a separate connection to its own electric motor, Lotus has programmed in torque vectoring for stability control of the vehicle. This means that a complex set of software algorithms can provide the same kind of benefits as rear-wheel steering and exaggerated toe-in without the expense or efficiency losses of a mechanical system. Each rear wheel puts down 204 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque.
Spyker 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.
Tesla Roadster now available in RHD (UK)
Tesla’s all-electric Roadster is now available in right-hand drive. The Tesla Roadster right-hand drive features a few improvements over previous left-hand models including a new sound system and new noise-reduction materials.
Cristiano Carlutti, Tesla’s Vice President for European sales and operations, said there had been strong interest from UK customers for a right-hand drive model.
“The right-hand-drive model is our response to growing demand from high-performance car buyers in the UK who are also interested in their impact on the environment,” he said.
“Tesla is dramatically expanding its retail footprint in Europe, we look forward to building our community of owners and fans throughout the continent.”
The model is available now from Tesla’s Knightsbridge showroom in London and is priced from £86,950. Tesla’s all-electric Model S saloon will be available in 2012. Read more…
BREAKING: GM announces Hummer sale cannot be concluded, brand to be wound down
Filed under: SUV, GM, Hummer, Earnings/Financials, Off-Road
Although it has been evident for some time that General Motors’ sale of its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd., we didn’t expect for word to come down today that the negotiations are dead and the brand will be wound down. Unfortunately, judging by a press release just issued by GM, that’s exactly what will be happening. According to John Smith, GM’s vice president of corporate planning and alliances,
“One year ago, General Motors announced that we were going to divest Hummer, as part of focusing our efforts on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac going forward. We have since considered a number of possibilities for Hummer along the way, and we are disappointed that the deal with Tengzhong could not be completed.”
As we learned from the Saab sale saga, GM announcing that the brand will be wound down does not completely extinguish hope for another buyer to slip in in the 11th hour, but it does seem highly improbable that a new party will pick up where the negotiations with China’s Tengzhong left off.
In the statement available after the jump, GM does not specify what killed the planned sale of the brand, but rumors in recent months suggested that the Chinese government was not keen to sign off on the deal. At the moment, it is unclear what will happen to Hummer’s H2 and H3/H3T models, but it is likely that the tooling and manufacturing rights will be sold off to other companies. It is also unclear how many employees will be out of work as a result of the closure.
As with the wind-down of its Saturn and Pontiac brands, GM has pledged to honor Hummer warranties and continue to supply service and parts.
Scan Leak: First images of new 2011 Porsche Cayenne dribble onto information superhighway
Filed under: SUV, Geneva Motor Show, Porsche, Luxury
2011 Porsche Cayenne leaked scans – Click above for high-res image gallery
The 2011 Porsche Cayenne won’t officially debut until next week at the Geneva Motor Show, but it appears that leaked images of the production-ready SUV have already made their way onto the Internet.
The folks at Le mag de l’Auto have gotten their hands on these magazine scans from the French publication L’Auto Journal, and if earlier leaks and information are anything to go on, we’re pretty confident that the pictured Cayenne won’t look much different from the vehicle we’ll see on the Geneva show floor next week.
We’ll have more details as they arise, but in the meantime, click through our attached gallery to see both scans from L’Auto Journal.
The New Hyundai Sonata 2011 commercial
The new Hyundai Sonata 2011 will be launched shortly in US and India is not far away as well as Hyundai is trying to bring in latest prodcuts here. Hyundai is creating a log of buzz for the new stylish car, and the good example is the commercial above.
The new Sonata is capable of taking over the maket leaders Camry and Accord. In India too is likely to give stiff competition to Camry, Accord and Skoda Superb as well. If priced competitvely here in India, who knows even the Corolla and Civic too might bite the dust. We are waiting Hyundai…
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All new 2012 Chevrolet Aveo – first photos
In the Internet appeared the first photos of a fundamentally new Chevrolet Aveo, which will be available until next year. Moreover, in the network were not just pictures of cars in the sedan, but images salon!
The new Aveo will be so-called “global” model of Chevrolet. That is, it will sell not only in Europe or Asia, but even in the United States. It is expected that the serial car gets a stylish exterior and interior are very high quality made with a lot of various “bloat”.
Incoming search terms:
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