Report: GM struggling to market fuel efficient turbo technology
Filed under: MPG, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, Pontiac, Saturn
In the automotive realm, marketing can sometimes prove just as important as the actual product. Take, for instance, Ford’s well-regarded EcoBoost technology, which couples turbocharging with direct injection to produce more horsepower and reduce fuel consumption. Would it surprise you to hear that General Motors has had similar technology on the market for over three years?
It’s true. GM’s first turbocharged, direct injected powerplants hit the market with the company’s 2007 models. The 2.0-liter Ecotec mills put down an impressive 260 horsepower and a matching 260 pound-feet of torque, and they were lauded by the press in the engine bays of the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Chevrolet HHR SS. But few people outside a core group of enthusiasts actually remember this fact, and the automaker seemingly did little to promote any fuel mileage benefits with this line of powerplants.
Says Uwe Grebe, executive director of GM’s global advanced engineering, “We didn’t have a badge and say, ‘This is the most important thing we will put on all our brochures.’” Ford, however, did just that, and its EcoBoost engines are right at the tips of all our tongues when we discuss today’s most advanced powerplants. So, how does The General fix its mistake?
Well, that’s a tad complicated. “It would not be good to say, ‘This is EcoBoost, only better,’” explains Grebe. “People need to know what it is,” but “people don’t want to know every detail of the technology.” Good luck with that.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd] Read more…
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Japanese Ministry of Economy wants hybrids, electric vehicles to account for 50% of new car sales by 2020
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Legislation and Policy, Japan
2010 Honda Insight – Click above for high-res image gallery
If a certain type of car struggles to gain a foothold in the market, what can be done? Let’s use the hybrid as an example. Say you want hybrids to become a sales success, but it’s just not happening. What are your options? You could ditch them because buyers don’t want hybrids. Or you could offer up huge incentives to drive up sales for a brief time while losing money. Or the government could step in with mandates, credits and all types of different actions to almost force people to buy them.
Over in Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) issued new goals for hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) domestic sales and the numbers are quite ridiculous. The METI wants these advanced vehicles to account for 50 percent of all new car sales by 2020 and that’s no joke. Many industry experts don’t believe that even 20 percent is obtainable by that time, so why set such an outrageous goal? Because METI is certain that its policies can help get the job done. How, you might ask? The group will spend whatever it takes, and plans to dish out some dough – starting with a $135.3 million payout for charging stations countrywide this year alone – in additional incentive programs, more on charging networks, and by coercing domestic makers to pursue advanced vehicles and promote the technology nationwide.
Guess which automaker is thrilled to hear this news about spending? Yep, you got it, Toyota. It will take METI to the bank on this one. The world’s largest hybrid producer will reap a lot of rewards from the drive towards getting half of the market to be hybrids and EVs. For now, we’re gonna call METI out on this one and say that 50 percent just ain’t gonna happen by 2020.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]
Japanese Ministry of Economy wants hybrids, electric vehicles to account for 50% of new car sales by 2020 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
GM develops robot for International Space Station, mankind cowers in fear
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, GM
General Motors and NASA debut Robonaut 2 – Click above for high-res image gallery
Well, crap, James Cameron got it wrong. It isn’t Cyberdyne Systems that causes the downfall of human civilization, it’s General Motors.
The General has announced that, along with NASA, it has created human-like robots (Terminators) that will live and work and eventually turn on their human masters aboard the International Space Station (ISS). These robotic assistants will work alongside astronauts in space and, eventually, with workers at futuristic GM manufacturing plants on Earth. In a ploy to make us more comfortable with our pending overthrow by machines, GM has named the harbinger of doom “Robonaut 2″ or “R2″ for short. Don’t be fooled. These are not the droids they appear to be.
In a terrifying series of photos – see gallery below – GM and NASA show the robots holding what appear to be futuristic weapons (above), doing bicep curls, posing like attacking zombies, and oddly, performing Hamlet.
The 300-lb Robonaut 2 will launch on Space Shuttle Discovery in September. Once aboard the ISS, engineers will monitor how the robot handles weightlessness while the robot will monitor the astronauts for weaknesses it can later exploit. There’s actually already a robot aboard the ISS, Dextre, that was built by the Canadian Space Agency. Dextre is really just a giant pair of robotic arms that help take care of things outside the station so astronauts don’t have to make as many spacewalks. He has yet to rip any astronauts in half, but he’s never had an R2 unit to provoke him now, has he?
GM has been hinting about their ambitions to build Terminators since at least the early ’80s. Remember the Chevrolet Chevette? Well, it had a cousin over at Pontiac. Anybody remember the name? That’s right, freaking T1000. Hello? T1000? “Have you seen this boy?” Liquid metal. Stabbing weapons for hands.
Ward’s: Nissan Leaf is a multi-billion dollar gamble that faces risky odds
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Nissan, Green Daily
Nissan Leaf – Click above for high-res image gallery
If the Nissan Leaf was a glitzy casino game inside a Las Vegas hot spot, Ward’s Auto suggests that few people would be willing to place their bets in hopes of hitting the jackpot. The odds for the Leaf would, in typical Vegas fashion, be in the house’s favor. Stepping away from the lights of Sin City and back into reality, Ward’s, like Forbes before it, believes the Leaf is Nissan’s multi-billion dollar investment that may end up going down as a great effort that never pays off.
What are the odds of success for the Leaf? It’s hard to say exactly, but if hybrids and their success (or lack thereof) is any indication, the Leaf has quite a challenge ahead. As Ward’s guest commentator John McElroy points out, after a decade on the market, hybrids have captured only a marginal amount of sales – just 2.5 percent. That’s ten years, seven brands and 20 different hybrids, yet only a minor fraction of total sales. McElroy adds that electric vehicles (EVs) are expected to face an even more difficult time cracking the market. But, even if you assume that EVs can match hybrids, the Leaf’s impact appears minor, especially when you consider that other electric vehicles will compete for their piece of the pie.
Here’s our take on it. Renault-Nissan has poured $6 billion into electric vehicle development and will likely hold the biggest chunk of that 2.5 percent. But a big piece of 2.5 percent is still mighty small. Leading us to wonder if Nissan is placing a risky bet on future success or just intent on using the vehicle as a marketing tool to show off just how “green” it is. If it’s the latter, $6 billion is quite the chunk of change to get a point across. Still, the Leaf could lead to an electric future with the odds strongly in Nissan’s favor – and that’s a gamble worth taking.
2012 Tesla Model S
Tesla is planning to introduce a sporty EV sedan, currently called the Model S, for the 2012 model year. The Model S will be Tesla’s second model which will join the Roadster sports car. Tesla has not announced the on-sale date, but the new vehicle will go into production in late 2011 and [...]
Via New Car Blog
Video: Ken Block teases Gymkhana 3 with his new Ford Fiesta
Filed under: Videos
Click above to watch the video after the jump
Ken Block and his Monster World Rally Team seem to really get it. If you’re going to show us a seven minute infomercial, it’s best to sell product and perform astonishing feats of drift at the same time. Block’s annual drifting extravaganza has quickly become one of the few must-see videos on the Internets, with nearly 14 million viewers tuning in to absorb Gymkhana II.
And if you’re worried that Block’s switch from the Subaru WRX STI to the 2011 Ford Fiesta means that the breathtaking drift videos are dead, think again. The driftmaster is in tease mode for Gymkhana III, and the post-jump video gives an all-too-brief glimpse of what’s to come later tonight. Hit the jump to watch the 24-second tease for yourself. The video tells us that Gymkhana III Ford Fiesta will be unveiled this evening at 8 p.m. PST at San Francisco’s Taverna Avenue.
Gallery: Ken Block’s Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta
Saab 9-5 gets (another) ill-fitting nose job – at hands of China’s BAW
Filed under: Concept Cars, Sedan, Saab, Beijing Motor Show, Luxury
Chinese carmaker BAIC paid $200 million late last year for parts from General Motors’ parts bin for Saab: the previous generation Saab 9-5 platform and the pre-2006 Saab 9-3 platform, along with a third mystery platform, two engines and two transmissions.
The Beijing Motor Show is upon us, and the company’s BAW division is apparently advertising what it has Photoshopped done with the 9-5 so far, called the C71 Concept. It’s almost a neat looking nose, although we aren’t sure it belongs on that particular body as opposed to, oh, a Mazda. The outgoing 9-5′s last facelift, you’ll recall, wasn’t much better. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what they end up revealing on the show floor – who knows, this could be real progress.
[Source: AutoSohu.com via The Tycho]
Saab 9-5 gets (another) ill-fitting nose job – at hands of China’s BAW originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
