Thursday, October 7, 2010

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

ALMS Petit Le Mans Race Comes Down to the Diesels

Posted: 07 Oct 2010 11:00 AM PDT

I was lucky enough to attend the Northeast Grand Prix this year during the ALMS racing series. I’ve never been to such an amazing display of raw power, side-by-side with so much green technology. This is literally the technology that will power tomorrow’s cars… so it should come as no surprise that the race was dominated by diesel-powered cars.

This past weekend was the last race in the series, the 1,000 mile Petit Le Mans. Taking place at Road Atlanta, the Peugeot diesels that have been leading nearly every race won again. In the GT2 class though, the race came down to the final lap.

The final race for the 2010 ALMS season was also the debut race for the Porsche hybrid 911, which uses a Kinetic Energy Recovery System, or KERS. More a chance to collect data and figure out how it will race next season, the Porsche managed to finish 18th overall… a very respectable finish considering the field started out with 43 cars. The Peugeot diesels managed yet another 1-2 finish, solidifying their victory for the 2010 season.

In the highly-competitive GT2 class however, the championship was still up in the air. These are production-based cars and include vehicles such as Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs, and of course my boys at Corvette Racing. It would be Corvette Racing that would take the checkered flag on the last lap of the race… after the leading Ferrari ran out of fuel. So for all you doubters who don’t think fuel economy is important in racing, think again.

Hopefully I have convinced a few of you to tune in next season, where the stakes will be even higher as Ford enters its EcoBoost engine and Porsche brings the KERS hybrid back (hopefully) for 2011. I can’t wait.

Source: ALMS

Smart Partnering With Nissan to Produce Small Cars

Posted: 07 Oct 2010 10:58 AM PDT

Smart once seemed like a sure bet in the United States. Owned by Daimler—who also own Mercedes—the intriguing little Smart was small, European, and pretty good on gas. Not good enough though, it seemed. There have been widespread complaints about the transmission, and the entry price of $16,990 was rather steep when many of the competitors were priced around $15,000. Is it any wonder that Smart’s sales have sunk in the face of relatively low gas prices?

The company is still afloat though, and in it for the long haul apparently. Smart will be partnering with Nissan to build a B-Segment (i.e. compact) car for the United States. All we have thus far is a sketch. Does it do it for you?

Whenever I see a Smart fortwo car, I just sort of shrug. It’s a nice city car I guess… but I don’t live in the city. And frankly, for the price, you can get a fully-loaded compact from any of the major car manufacturers. Consumers seem to realize this, and most of the reviews are lukewarm at best. Smart needs a new car… and they found a partner in Nissan.

Like I said, all we really have to go on is the sketch, and that this car would go on sale sometime in the 4th quarter of 2011. That tells me that it won’t be a whole-new car, but rather a rebadge of some existing Nissan as a Smart—perhaps a reskinned Versa? Renault-Nissan and Daimler (who owns Smart, as well as Mercedes) have already announced a partnership on a number of electric and diesel automotive projects. This is just another extension of that.

I know Smart is all about the small city car, but maybe adding yet another small car to their lineup isn’t the best way to go. How about a cheap, lightweight coupe? Or maybe just a car that doesn’t have a crappy, jerky transmission?

Judging solely by the sketch, what do you all think? You can check out the entire press release on the next page.

Source: Smart

GM’s Affordable Wall Charger Costs a Lot to Install

Posted: 07 Oct 2010 10:45 AM PDT

Electric cars, quite obviously, get their power from electricity. This electricity is closely regulated, and most of our household appliances are plugged into lowly 120 Volt outlets. This is all well and good, except when it comes to charging something with a huge battery pack… like a car. It can take upwards of 15-18 hours to charge a full battery electric like the Nissan LEAF through a regular wall socket. The first company to come up with a cheap, efficient higher-speed charging unit will likely do well for themselves.

GM thinks they might have a winner, having announced that the Volt’s 240 volt charging system will cost $490. That’s not bad at all… until you factor in the installation costs.

For the record, the Chevy Volt can plug into any old 120 volt wall socket and be fully charged in ten hours. Those looking for a bit more efficiency might opt for the wall charger, which alone costs just $490. So if you’re a skilled electrician and have the certification, you can install it yourself and you’re ready to go. For the rest of us, installation will cost around $1,475, bringing total costs closer to $2,000. Yikes! And this is for a car that goes just 25 to 50 miles on an electric charge.

The cost of being an early adopter ain’t cheap. The charger is being offered by SPX Service Solutions, and it still takes four hours to refill a depleted battery. That is better than 10 hours… but the cost is steep. It is also right in line with what Nissan is offering LEAFbuyers. There’s a federal tax credit to recoup up to 50% of the cost of installation and local and state tax incentives might help bring the cost down even more, but if you’re the patient type, you might just want to wait until these wall chargers come down in price a bit before jumping in.

Source: GM
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