Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Nissan Leaf “Aero” Concept Coming to Tokyo Auto Show

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 03:46 PM PST

Want an electric car, but the Nissan Leaf's looks don't do it for you? Well worry not. Nissan will be unveiling nine new models at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Show in January, including a Leaf "Aero" concept.

The Tokyo Auto Show is a lot like our own Detroit Auto Show, in that it is among the biggest auto shows of the season and manufacturers use it as a launching stage for bold new products. The Leaf is sure to take center stage, and judging from the looks and name of the Nissan Leaf's "Aero" concept, this bodykit is all about aerodynamics. The Leaf is based on the Nissan Versa hatchback, which itself has a drag coefficient of 0.31. The Leaf has a slightly better drag coefficient of about 0.29, which is good, but not great (for comparison, the 2010 Toyota Prius has a drag coefficient of 0.25.)

The Nissan Leaf's Aero Style concept is said to "express an image of futuristic sport EV driving." Uh yeah, if you say so. Looks like an aerodynamics kit to me. I just hope for Nissan's sake, it's actually functional. Imagine a bodykit that gave your Leaf an extra 10% range? I think plenty of people would be down for that. Nissan, are you taking notes?

Source: Inhabitat

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

Ford to Tear Down Torture-Tested EcoBoost Engine

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 01:18 PM PST

To prove the reliability of the F-150's EcoBoost engine, Ford placed a engine through 164,000 miles of brutal tests. At the Detroit Auto Show, Ford will publicly tear this motor down to see how well it withstood the torture.

After spending the equivalent of 150,000 miles on an engine stand, Ford sent the engine off (in an F-150 of course) to haul logs in the Pacific Northwest. Then they ran it at wide-open throttle for 24 hours around a NASCAR track while hauling 11,300 pounds of stock cars and trailers behind it. For the final test, the engine was dropped into Mike McCarthy's Baja F-150 racer, and tackled the Baja 1,000, a 1,061 mile race across Mexico's Baja peninsula in 45 hours or less. It's regarded as one of the most brutal races in the world, and the engine performed admirably. It got almost three times better gas mileage (8.5 mpg) than the average racer (about 3 mpg) and at no point did it experience mechanical issues save for a clogged fuel pump from some dirty Mexican gas.

After what amounts to basically ten years of difficult work, this engine is going to be torn down in front of a public audience at the Detroit International Auto Show in January. Pretty ballsy of the Blue Oval if you ask me. For almost three decades, Ford has had the best-selling vehicle in America but sticking with a tried-but-true formula.

Trying to convince Ford fans to give up their V8 in favor of a smaller V6 is a risky move, but I like it. I'm pretty damn convinced that the EcoBoost V6 is as tough as any V8 engine, and it makes just as much horsepower and torque as the 5.0 liter naturally-aspirated V8 engine. I can't wait to get a good look inside this bad boy.

Source: Ford

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Trucks Coming to Los Angeles Ports

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:01 PM PST

In a partnership with the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Vision Motors is helping fund a $1 million demonstration project involving a fuel cell semi-truck and yard tractor.

The truck and yard tractor, both built by Vision Motors, will be delivered by mid-spring, when they will begin an 18-month trial run to test the viability of these vehicles. The two ports are each throwing down $425,000, with another $575,000coming from Vision Motors for a total of $1 million.

Vision motors will be providing a 500 horsepower Tyrano fuel-cell semi that can make up to 3,200 ft-lbs of torque from its electric engines, and has enough hydrogen for about 200 miles of driving before requiring a fill-up. The big drawback with hydrogen cars is the lack of infrastructure, so I do understand why the ports are cautious about these vehicles longer-range vehicles.

But the ZETT yard tractor (pictured above), which can operate for two eight-hour shifts on a single tank of hydrogen, never leaves the port, so the addition of a refueling station solves those problems. Ford is leasing eight electric yard tractors at one of their plants in Michigan, so why just one for the nation’s busiest ports (which combined brought in almost 12 million shipping containers last year, and over 600,000 containers last month alone) testing out just a single semi and yard tractor? Weak sauce.

With the nation's worst air quality, Los Angeles and Long Beach really need to clean up their air lest they continue to deal with pervasive health problems and environmental issues. How much impact a single truck and tractor will have is negligible, and the ports have no plans to buy any more fuel-cell vehicles right now. It's a shame, because once businesses start going green, they end up saving green (in the form of cash). I'm sure their lungs will thank them one day.

Source: Green Car Advisor

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)