Honda has taken the wraps off the final production version of the 2011 CR-Z hybrid sports car that will start hitting U.S. dealer showrooms in late summer of this year. The car has held on to many of the styling aspects that gave the concept versions a sleek modern look while clearly harkening back to the beloved original Honda CR-X.
As hinted at for the last few months, Toyota has today debuted a smaller sibling to the Prius at the Detroit Auto Show. According to a statement from Toyota, the FT-CH (CH=compact hybrid) is “designed to target a lower price point than the Prius, thus appealing to a younger, less-affluent buyer demographic.”
Translation: “This car is for you, you poor recent college graduate… who, due to the econopocalypse, settled for a job making half of what you expected to… who would buy a Prius if your parents weren’t driving one and would lend you $23K.” Oh come on, you know you want one. The FT-CH is… dare I say it… cool.
Hell, I want one… but mostly because I’m a cheap skate. Actually, I’m still positive my next car will be a plug-in, but even so, I’m having just a little bit of FT-CH lust. I might honestly be having way more FT-CH lust if the simple act of even writing that horrendous name wasn’t enough to put ice in my loins.
At a pre-Detroit Auto Show industry dinner last night, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz announced that GM has definitely green-lighted the virally popular Cadillac Converj EREV. The car, which is based on Volt technology, made its debut as a concept car at last year’s Detroit Auto Show.
The Detroit Auto Show starts on Monday and runs til the 24th of this month. Along with the EcoXperience returning to the show’s basement, a new display called Electric Avenue will premier. The “avenue” will be an orgy of electric cars ranging from the Nissan LEAF to X Prize alumni.
Toyota will unveil a new dedicated hybrid at the Detroit show on Monday. Pictured above is Toyota’s Hybrid X concept from a few years ago. Rumors say the new model is just a hybrid version of the Yaris, but Toyota claims it’s a brand new model all together.
Last September, Volvo introduced a proof of concept version of its all-electric C30 compact car. That car was more of a novelty than anything else; but now Volvo has done up the interior and added a complete set of instruments to bring the C30 EV to the prototype stage of a distant production version.
They will be debuting the prototype at next month’s Detroit Auto Show, and plan on producing at least 50 of them for a group of “selected users” to start test driving in 2011.
While seeing Chinese cars on display at the Detroit Auto Show has become somewhat common these past few years, there is one place they were hardly expected: Costco!
Yes, the big-box discount store Costco could be selling the Chinese-designed and Mexican-built vehicles says one auto exec. The CEO of GS Motors — Kathleen Ligocki — told the Hybrid Cars website that she thinks the US will follow in Mexico’s footsteps. GS Motors sold 4,000 China-made vehicles in Mexico last year at…Costco and Wal-Mart.
My first thought: If they are sold at Costco, will they come individually wrapped and in a pack of ten?
During the frenzy of PR announcements yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit down with Tony Posawatz, Vehicle Line Director for GM’s Chevy Volt. If you aren’t familiar with the Volt, here’s a short introduction: it’s a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle, capable of 40 mile trips before relying on a small internal-combustion generator to repower the battery system. For more background, see Jeff’s posts from last year (Will GM Revive the Electric Car? Part 1).
Here’s a summary of our 10 minute conversation (believe me, I had to be torn away from this interview):
What major issues are keeping the Volt from an earlier release date (I’ve been told 2010):
Posawatz: GM is relatively certain it will be the first auto manufacturer to produce a plug-in hybrid model (regardless of the actual release date), but we want it to be right. The two major factors holding back the Volt’s release are extensive testing requirements and lithium ion battery technology. The batteries aren’t cheap, and they’re produced out of country. They also require extensive testing both in and out of the car before things go into production. Basically, GM won’t release the Volt until it’s proven safe and the batteries work.
The words ‘green’ and ‘Hummer’ don’t usually occur together, except when compiling a complete list of oxymorons. But earlier today at the Saab/Hummer press conference, GM debuted it’s concept H-X Hummer, calling it the “Green Hummer”. The new model is smaller, lighter, and intended for a younger demographic, with the added capability of running on E85 ethanol. It also has an interesting modular construction that allows you to reconfigure the cab at will. Martin Walsh, General Manager of the brand, told us that the new model could get mileage in the mid-20s (although no hard numbers were available).
Ok, this isn’t exactly the 60 mpg Hummer I’ve mentioned before, but that’s a 10 mpg increase in efficiency over previous models. To be honest, it also looks a lot less like a Hummer, being smaller and sportier-more like a lunar explorer than the H2 (that’s my take). But Mr. Walsh said Hummers will continue to decrease in size as customers demand greater fuel efficiency and continue to voice environmental concerns.
Tomorrow I’ll be traveling to Detroit, MI to cover the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). Judging by the itinerary and the documented experiences of Jeff McIntire-Strasburg from last year, it should be a busy trip.
I’ll be reporting on the latest developments in greener personal transportation with a particular focus on new gas-electric hybrid models, as well as concept vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells and other electric technologies. I’ll also report on advances in fuel efficiency represented [...]
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