Monday, September 20, 2010

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Jaguar Wins Big In Green Vehicle Cash Handouts

Posted: 20 Sep 2010 04:49 PM PDT

Jaguar Land Rover has scooped a big slice of $80m in grants made available by the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board to further low and zero carbon motoring.

The grants were shared out between six projects; Jaguar are the lead developer for three of them and a consortium partner for another one. All consortium partners will be expected to bring their own funding to the projects as well.

Other big name manufacturers winning grants include Ford, Nissan and Lotus and consortia members include EVO Electric, Axeon, BP, Johnson Matthey and a range of UK universities.

The projects are as follows:

Highly Integrated Urban Commercial Vehicle: a lightweight and highly maneuverable refuse collection truck designed to halve carbon emissions per tonne of waste collected. Lead developer: Dennis Eagle.

Vehicle Integrated Powertrain Energy Recovery: a system to harness, store and use the heat generated by a typical  powertrain, thus driving overall emissions down further.  Should be available to all vehicles by 2020.  Lead developer: Jaguar Land Rover.

Evolution of REEV (or EREV, a lá the Volt) Technologies: a follow up to a previous project to extend the range of hybrid cars to over 600 miles while keeping emissions below 50g/km.  Advanced electric powertrains are expected to be completed by the end of 2012.  Lead developer: Jaguar Land Rover.

Lightweight Ultra Low Emissions Van: an urban delivery vehicle designed in conjunction with the Royal Mail and including ergonomic seating.  A hydrogen fuel cell version is expected to be available by 2017.  Lead developer: Intelligent Energy.

CO2 Reduction Through Emissions Optimization: the next step after catalytic converters, a project to reduce the energy drain of emissions control systems while maximizing CO2 emission cuts, which will be cut by 15% by 2025.  Lead developer: Ford.

Aluminum Matrix Composite Materials for Vehicle Weight Reduction: a project to investigate strengthening aluminum with fibers so that it can give the protection of steel but at a fraction of the weight (and therefore emissions).  Lead company: Jaguar.

A further $65m was also announced to provide a retail-side subsidy of $7,500 per plug in car until April 2012.

Mercedes to Get Toyota Hybrid Power?

Posted: 20 Sep 2010 04:45 PM PDT

Mercedes has been developing its own hybrid tech for years, but—like Nissan and Mazda—has seen its hybrid powertrains lag far behind the sophistication of Toyota’s. Could Mercedes-Benz really be the next major automaker to get Toyota’s hybrid synergy drive?

Industry reports coming out of Japan indicate that negotiations between Daimler AG and Toyota began more than a year ago, and that the final details are nearly ironed out, with a formal announcement expected soon.

Toyota’s heavily-valued (and strategically defended) position as the industry’s hybrid technology leader has helped the company line up a number of hybrid IP deals already, and adding Daimler’s name to the company’s customer list will surely be a massive ego-boost to Toyota’s recently battered brand-image.

It seems that precious few details about which Daimler models will receive Toyota’s hybrid components remain before the deal gets officially announced (the smart money is on compacts like the new Mercedes A Class, which won’t dilute the brand’s ultra-lux image).

Time will tell if these speculations are being built on firm foundations. Stay tuned!

SOURCE:  Nikkan Jidosha, via Reuters.

Motive’s Cannabis-Composite Kestrel Electric Car Revealed

Posted: 20 Sep 2010 01:36 PM PDT

This is the face of the made-from-hemp Kestrel EV being built by Canadian car-maker Motive Industries, who made a big media splash last month courtesy of the car’s “controversial” composite construction.

As you can see (above, rendered in a raw “composite hemp” finish) the Kestrel’s design photos show a modern city car that manages to package 4 adults into a (seemingly) ultra-compact footprint, without looking as cartoonishly small as a Smart ForTwo (or a Peel P50!). In this photo (below) the Kestrel’s strong fender lines – necessary to build structural strength in the composite panels – cleverly play up the size of the car’s wheels.

Motive showed the first production body panels at this weekend’s EV 2010 VÉ Conference and Trade Show. I’ve included a link to a promotional video of the show featuring a number of electric vehicles and a close-up look at a Kestrel’s door – Motive’s official press release, meanwhile, is on the next page.

SOURCE:  Motive Industries, via Autoblog.
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