Thursday, March 31, 2011

New posts from Gas 2.0!

New posts from Gas 2.0!

Chevy Volt Convertible Leads the April Fools Day Charge

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 05:19 PM PDT

Road & Track jumped the gun on April Fools Day with this lovely photoshop of a droptop Chevy Volt. Looks good if you ask me. Even better? It's solar powered. Oh if only it were true.

Nerdy, yeah. Wouldn't it be cool if GM came out with one of these though? The Road & Track guys turned the sedan into a two door, and added solar panels that would power interior cooling fans in hot weather. Awesome idea; why hasn't a car company thought of this and applied it to their own car?

...could have used a longer door

The dreamiest part is the supposed price of just $43,000. That’s just fantasy land; a droptop Volt would probably be closer to $50,000. I don't know if Chevy plans to offer a Cruze convertible, but if they do, than there might be a chance of a Volt Convertible…some day.

I hope y'all got some good pranks planned.

Source: Road & Track

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can read about his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout or follow his non-nonsensical ramblings on Twitter @harshcougar.

Audi Previews New Hybrid Quattro

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 03:02 PM PDT

Audi released photos of its new e-Tron Quattro system frolicking on (what’s left of) the winter ice.  The prototype hybrid system is based on the current Audi A5, but earns its “Quattro” moniker not with a conventional all-wheel-drive system, but with what Audi is calling an “electric rear axle”.

The innovative new hybrid Quattro system is markedly different from what companies like Honda and Toyota are offering in that it isolates the production-standard internal combustion engine with Audi’s usual transaxle, set up (in this instance) for front-wheel-drive “only” use.  The center tunnel – which usually houses a prop-shaft that taxes motive force to the rear axle – is filled with batteries that power an electric motor which, in their turn, can power the Audi’s rear wheels “on demand”.  The Audi also features a second electric motor placed between the gasoline engine and FWD transmission, which adds another 40-ish hp to the front wheels.

The Audi’s clever layout is illustrated in Audi’s diagram, below.

Click to Enlarge

Audi claims overall fuel-economy to be in the 85 + mpg range (2.7 liters/100 km), and that the hybrid Quattro can sprint to 60 mph in under 6 seconds, on its way to a top speed in excess of 140 mph.

No word yet regarding the car’s Geico-inspired graphics … or whether or not that amazing mpg number is some kind of early April Fool’s joke.

Source:  World Car Fans.

Ford: Interest in CNG Vehicles on the Rise

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 06:48 AM PDT

With so much focus on hybrid and electric vehicles right now, it's easy to overlook that many other alternatives companies are working on. Ford says that with the recent rise in gas prices, more fleet owners are buying CNG vehicles.

The Big Three have offered CNG engine options for over a decade now, but they never really pushed the cheaper, cleaner, even during the last gas price run-up. With CNG prices around $2 for a gallon equivalent, it's about half the cost of gasoline in some parts of the country. That means huge savings for fleet owners like Bill Scalzi, from my home state of Connecticut. His company, Metro Taxi, just bought 20 CNG Transit Connect taxis. I may have to pay Mr. Scalzi a visit. Connecticut, it seems, is installing more CNG fueling stations. I can get down with that, as CNG is the least refined fuel, mostly made up of methane, and puts out much fewer emissions (with the obvious exception of methane) than do other comparable fuels.

President Obama mentioned natural gas in his speech yesterday, so Ford is obviously paying attention this time around. However, their CNG offerings are limited to fleet vehicles right now, namely the E-Series vans, F-Series Superduty, and the aforementioned Transit Connect. Fiat and Chrysler are said to be investing in CNG vehicles, including Ram pickup trucks, but for now the Honda Civic GX is the only passenger car with a natural gas engine option. I'd love a CNG Mustang, but I doubt anything like that is in the cards. If I really want a clean-burning Mustang, I'll go to ROUSH for some propane power. Hank Hill would be proud.

Source: Autoblog Green | Ford

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can read about his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout or follow his non-nonsensical ramblings on Twitter @harshcougar.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)