Toyota Prius Next Generation Hybrid Car

According to Auto Observer, Toyota is preparing the next generation for the year 2009 launch of the Prius. The new Prius will be powered by a 1.8 liter engine and will come with nickel metal hydride batteries to start. It is expected that the Prius will get bigger in size.

2011 Toyota Prius Hybrid Car

Toyota announces 2011 all new cars hybrid Prius. Backed by a four-cylinder engine 1.8-liter VVT-i offers 98 hp at 5200 rpm and 105 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm. Magnet 2011 Toyota Prius electric motor's synchronous, on the other hand, provides 80 hp and153 lb-ft of torque. It features fuel-efficient 50 mpg.

2011 Toyota Prius offers three driving modes: EV-Drive Mode allows driving on battery power alone at low speeds for about a mile, if conditions permit. There is also a Power Mode, which increases sensitivity to throttle input for a sportier feel, and an Eco Mode, which helps the driver achieve their best mileage.

Honda CR-Z: Honda so excited about winning Japan Car of the Year that gets special edition

The 2011 Honda CR-Z may not exactly be sailing to success here in the U.S., but it has managed to walk away with the coveted Japan Car of the Year title. In order to celebrate, Honda has decided to work up a new special edition version of its tiny sport hybrid.

Only available in a special "Pearl Dipusafaiaburu" blue paint, the hatch makes use of unique 16-inch alloy wheels and premium metal pedal pads inside. If the color and the wheels don't make this one easy enough to spot, Honda has also gone through the extra effort of placing a "Japan Car of the Year" commemorative sticker on the rear quarter glass behind the driver's side door.

Otherwise, the Japan Car of the Year Edition CR-Z will remain completely stock. Neither fuel economy nor power has been upped in any way. Not surprisingly, it looks like this one will remain a Japanese-only offering. Still, if you like what you see, chances are you could recreate the special edition CR-Z without breaking a sweat – or your bank account for that matter.

Honda Civic Hybrid Silver 2010

Honda Civic Hybrid Silver Pictures Gallery

2011 Ford Fusion

2011 Silver Ford Fusion

The North American Fusion also encountered naming problems. In this case, his original name was Futura, first used on the Futura 1955 Lincoln later made famous as the Batmobile 60s, and later the model designation used for a version of the 1960 Falcon, and Australia's Ford Falcon Futura models from 1964 to 2008, and last used in the U.S.

2011 Elegant Ford Fusion

on a two-door version of the Ford Fairmont, and others. Since the name had been shelved for too long, and meanwhile a tire distributor (Pep Boys) had used a court challenge by Pep Boys was decided to Ford. Thus, the two different versions of the Fusion exist.

2011 Black Ford Fusion

2011 Ford Fusion

The North American Fusion also encountered naming problems. In this case, his original name was Futura, first used on the Futura 1955 Lincoln later made famous as the Batmobile 60s, and later the model designation used for a version of the 1960 Falcon, and Australia's Ford Falcon Futura models from 1964 to 2008, and last used in the U.S.

on a two-door version of the Ford Fairmont, and others. Since the name had been shelved for too long, and meanwhile a tire distributor (Pep Boys) had used a court challenge by Pep Boys was decided to Ford. Thus, the two different versions of the Fusion exist.

Honda Civic Hybrid Silver Pictures

Honda Civic Hybrid Silver Pictures Gallery

Next Generation Nissan 370Z (Fairlady Z) will put Hybrid

For What It’s Worth Best Car Magazine in Japan reports that Nissan is developing a hybrid version of the Fairlady Z (370Z called the rest of the world). It is certainly plausible that it could be a hybrid-Z, as the automaker has recently produced its own hybrid system developed internally M. Nissan Infiniti with its own lithium ion battery for its hybrid system.

The solution to this problem would be easy, even if we think the technology can be deployedby Renault or Mercedes, the new partners. The development of the Sport model, which has already started with the Japanese engineers, will continue in the coming years in an intensive test session for transmission to customize the harsh climate and driving conditions.

2010 Toyota Rukus

Toyota launched its head rotation Rukus - hot and hip urban alternative to small vehicles sport utilities and sport wagons. New challenges Rukus rules car design with brazen square shape, which has become a landmark.

Toyota laugh Rukus - with square lines and flat surfaces - for people who "think in a box.

Toyota A-BAT Hybrid Pickup Jeep Concept

The Japanese automaker, Toyota, present A-BAT hybrid pickup concept at the Detroit Motor Show later this month.

Far from a conservative-style vehicles, which currently favors Toyota showrooms, unique look of the concept is the combination of large body surface, intersect with a hard surface planes, crisp lines and the trapezoidal profile. Toyota A-BAT in 19-inch wheels sit at the corners of the car creates a tough and is ready.

The Toyota FT-HS Hybrid Sports Concept Car

Toyota wants to adolescent dreams about work, apparently.

FT-HS hybrid sports car concept will be premiered on January 7 at the North American International Auto Show, and we can expect, 50:50 weight distribution and the 400 + hp monster of transmission is very similar to the Lexus GS 450H: 3,5 liter V6,

related to the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) system (which may mean Sulev emissions, but no word on fuel economy yet). This may be the next Supra.

Interestingly, this is not a direct effect of the car on the environment, although we can expect that it is better than "traditional" V8 gasoline engine with the sports car will compete with the (lesser of two evils). No, the interesting thing is "halo" effect, it could, making hybrids cool and desirable new public. Even if they never end up buying this model, they saw technology and associate it with something they want, not what they do not.

Hydrogen-powered Mercedes-Benz F-Cell

Driving the Mercedes-Benz F-Cell in the crowded, confusing, and twisting roads around Monte Carlo, Monaco, it’s immediately clear that hydrogen fuel cells are more than science projects. Next to the subcompacts and city cars, there’s plenty of thrust to keep up with and overtake traffic. On the highway, the hydrogen Benz ran up to 100 mph without a second thought. And from the cabin, the whole car is as natural and refined as any car on the road. To the driver, the F-Cell feels like a production-ready electric car that short circuits that issues of battery charging with a range of 285 miles and a refueling time of about three minutes as three tanks store a total of 3.7 kg of hydrogen at more than 10,000 psi.


Of course, hydrogen presents its own challenges, namely the chicken-and-egg question of which come first, hydrogen cars or hydrogen refueling stations? To motivate the refueling stations, Mercedes will launch a pilot program in spring 2010 that will place 200 F-Cell cars in the hands of customers in the U.S. and Europe. The roughly 60 cars for America will almost all be leased out to drivers in the Los Angeles area where eleven hydrogen stations already exist. A few may also make it to Washington, D.C.

The F-Cell uses a powertrain that combines two power sources, a small-capacity (1.4 kWh) battery and a hydrogen fuel cell that collaborate with a similar strategy to a conventional hybrid. From a stop, acceleration can be handled solely by the battery, while the fuel cell kicks in around 7 mph to do the majority of the work. Under hard acceleration, the electric motor can deliver 100 kW (136 hp) to the front wheels, with 80 kW coming from the fuel cell and the remaining 20 kW being provided by the battery.

The F-Cell exhibits the typical electric-drivetrain characteristics. Acceleration is best just as the vehicle leaves a stop and tapers off at speed. The absence of a transmission, however, means power response is almost instantaneous. As with a hybrid, the brakes combines hydraulic clampers with regenerative braking that spins the electric motor to act as a generator and charge the battery. There’s very little feel through the pedal, but the progression of stopping power is natural and intuitive, making modulation easy. The vehicle is also extremely quiet, with the only noises being the whine of the motor and the quiet wheeze of an air compressor. Otherwise, the F-Cell is exceptionally normal. From the interior, the only indication of the fuel cell underneath is a unique gauge cluster with a large dial indicating power. The navigation screen also shows multiple information displays including consumption and energy flow diagrams.

The test cars are all based on the European B-Class, a compact hatchback that most closely resembles a Honda Fit in shape. Chosen for its unique sandwich-floor architecture, the B-Class allows Mercedes engineers to mount the fuel cell and fuel tanks below the passenger compartment. The electric motor and an air compressor are packed under the hood, while the battery is mounted below the cargo floor.

Fuel cells have an inherent efficiency and the Mercedes unit is roughly twice as frugal as an internal combustion engine. From an energy standpoint, the F-Cell consumes hydrogen at a rate equal to the amount of energy used by a diesel car returning 81 mpg on a combined U.S. test cycle. Of course, at the tailpipe, the F-Cell only emits water, and to measure the car’s true environmental impact requires knowing how the hydrogen in your tank was separated into a pure element.

While the system is quite refined in driving, Mercedes still has a handful of improvements to build into the third-generation fuel-cell system they are currently working on for 2015. Chiefly, the company wants to triple the engineering lifespan of a fuel cell from four to twelve years. Engineers say that in a customer’s hands, the current technology would likely live well past four years, but a gradual degradation of the membranes in the fuel cell may make the 80 kW output more like 70 kW. Cost also needs to be tackled, with the goal of ultimately pricing the car equal to a C-Class.

By 2015, Mercedes intends to have a full production program to sell the fuel cell cars to customers outright. That car will be a part of the family that was previewed with the BlueZero concept at the 2009 Detroit auto show. In addition to the fuel cell vehicle, the production BlueZero family will include combustion-engine, range-extended-electric, and battery-electric vehicles based on the same sandwich architecture, but wearing unique sheet metal.

The New BMW X6 Hybrid

 

Intoducing New BMW X6 Hybrid!

The X6 is an answer to a question no one will admit to asking: It’s an X5-based SUV done up like a swoopy, five-door pseudocoupe. The sloping roofline provides a unique look, and rear headroom is still decent. It’s fast, luxurious, and drives very well.

Although BMW initially shunned hybrids in favor of clean diesels and other alternative powertrains, the German automaker is joining the electrically assisted fray next year with not one but two gasoline-electric vehicles: the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid 7—our first drive of which you can read here—and the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid X6.

Both models share ActiveHybrid badging and fall in the contradictory performance-hybrid segment, but their similarities end there. The 7 is a mild hybrid that uses an electric motor in its eight-speed automatic gearbox and a compact lithium-ion battery mounted in the trunk to assist acceleration and run the accessories; the X6 is a far more complex full hybrid. The latter’s pair of motors and advanced electronic continuously variable transmission allow it to waft up to 1.6 miles and at speeds of up to 37 mph on electric current alone. Forget about Prius-like fuel economy, though, because the ActiveHybrid X6 is the most powerful hybrid yet produced, with the electric bits combining with a 400-hp, 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 to produce a total output of 480 hp and 575 lb-ft of torque. (When pressed on why it didn’t choose to pair the hybrid system with the X6 xDrive35i’s twin-turbo six-cylinder, BMW simply says that using the V-8 made for the largest jump in efficiency. Plus, the company added, the resulting vehicle would be slower.)

Two Modes and Lots of Explaining

Based around the two-mode CVT BMW co-developed with General Motors and the old DaimlerChrysler, the X6 hybrid is similar in concept to hybrid versions of GM’s full-size SUVs and pickups, as well as the short-lived Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen hybrids and the upcoming Mercedes-Benz ML450 hybrid. That concept in a nutshell: Take a big vehicle with a relatively inefficient, large-displacement engine and pair it with an electrified transmission that keeps the powertrain at maximum efficiency no matter what the speed to improve city fuel economy without sacrificing highway efficiency.

 

Compared with the GM and Chrysler examples, which blend CVT operation with two electric motors and three planetary gearsets for a total of four fixed gear ratios, the X6’s unit stirs in three additional, “virtual” ratios, effectively making the transmission a seven-speed for better dynamic performance. As with the normal X6, manumatic shifting is performed via the console shifter or wheel-mounted paddles. The two electric motors within the gearbox—rated at 91 and 86 hp and 192 and 206 lb-ft of torque, respectively—assist with high- and low-speed mobility while also helping to recapture wasted energy through regenerative braking. The juice, stored in a 2.4-kWh nickel-metal hydride battery pack under the floor of the X6’s cargo hold (it lives where conventional X6 models keep their spare tires; run-flats are standard on the hybrid), is then fed back into the system and on to the drive wheels.

It Moves, Stops, and Turns

On the surface, the X6 ActiveHybrid feels much like the all-wheel-drive X6 xDrive50i on which it’s based. And that’s a good place to start, because although we still find the vehicle’s overall design and purpose confusing, it’s fast, agile, and immensely capable, despite weighing in excess of 5200 pounds. The X6 hybrid even retains the regular model’s torque-vectoring rear differential, which allows for physics-defying changes in direction by actively routing power to the outside rear wheel when cornering. It might not be the most efficient package on which to base a hybrid, but the X6 is one of the sportiest platforms yet to gain the ability.

However, the preview-drive route BMW chose in and around downtown Miami offered little insight into the X6 hybrid’s dynamic behavior. Cruising through the city, we noticed the engine smoothly and routinely shut off and restarted at stoplights (unless we were in sport mode or if the battery was nearly drained). Accelerating using electric-only power could be done with a fair amount of throttle, unlike in some other hybrids where the engine cuts in at even a hint of pedal movement. There occasionally was some hesitation when we quickly jumped to the accelerator and the hybrid system’s electronic brain had to decide how best to direct the power to all the gears and motors, but the vehicle definitely was quick once it got moving. Despite the added 400-ish pounds of hybrid gear, BMW says the ActiveHybrid is only 0.1 second slower to 60 mph—5.4 seconds—than the nonhybrid V-8 X6. We think a 5.2-second time is possible, given that our long-term X6 xDrive50i managed the task in 5.1. Top speed is electronically limited to 130 mph, and towing capacity is a substantial 6000 pounds.