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Ford's 2020 Explorer Hybrid adds range without losing storage capacity
While Ford already revealed its redesigned Explorer SUV, today at the Detroit Auto Show we're learning more about the new Hybrid version. Ford claims that this year it's introducing a whole slew of hybrid vehicles that combine performance and extended range via their efficiency, and this one is just the first. While we don't have all the details on its powertrain yet, the 2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid has a 3.3-liter V6 that's part of a hybrid system producing 318 HP (no word on torque -- yet), while pulling more than 500 miles of range from its 19.3 gallon gas tank. Beyond making life a little greener for SUV owners, Explorer chief engineer Bill Gubing points out that "Reduced cargo space in hybrids is a thing of the past for Ford customers." Unlike other Ford hybrid vehicles that sacrificed space for big, awkwardly-placed battery packs, this one slides its specially designed liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery into the chassis beneath the second row seats so owners don't have to give up legroom or cargo space. At 4,969 pounds it's even lighter than the 400 HP ST version Ford is also showing off today. Still, we'll want to see its storage capabilities for ourselves -- as well as the optional 10.1-inch vertically-oriented touchscreen -- and hear more about how much it tows before hooking up the boat and taking a trip up north. Update: Ford mentioned it's capable of towing up to 5,000 pounds, and the model I saw here on the show floor looked like any other SUV with three rows of seating. The battery pack is tucked somewhere under that second row and while you won't be shoving anything under those seats, there's nothing awkwardly poking out to block other parts of the cabin.
The auto industry is head over heels for VR
Virtual reality and augmented reality are all over the North American International Auto Show floor. Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are all using the tech to show off their latest cars and concepts. During the industry preview days (the show is open to the public through Sunday, January 28th) lines to try the experiences stretched around each booth. The value to prospective customers is directly tied to the quality of each experience, though, and that quality shifts dramatically from one automaker to the next. Instead of thoughtful experiences that work within VR's current limitations and are simultaneously informative and entertaining, more often than not, the VR implementations felt like cheap amusement park gimmicks with little regard for the user's comfort.
Ferrari plans to build an electric supercar after all
Despite Tesla's lead on the electric vehicle market, large automakers spent 2017 announcing they will transition their gas-powered car models to EVs. But other companies selling more elite vehicles are also throwing their hat in the ring. At NAIAS in Detroit, Ferrari stated it will build its own electric sportscar seven years after its previous president vowed the company would never build an EV.
Nissan knocks $6,400 off Leaf sticker price, sells S model for $28,800
That lower-cost Nissan Leaf we heard about? It just got a sticker price. Savvy car buyers will be able to kick off their haggling at $28,800, the Leaf S' MSRP. Don't expect the price war to last long though -- dealers will waste no time leveraging relevant tax credits, which in California, can dip the car's price as low as $18,800. The price reduction hits the entire line, too -- pricing the Leaf SV and SL at $31,820 and $34,840, respectfully. Nissan attributes the savings to local construction, dodging foreign currency fluctuations by building the vehicles in its existing Tennessee facilities. The move puts the Leaf a little closer to competing with its gas-guzzling cousins, and goes a long way to placate EV buyers put off by the car's 2012 price hike. Still too pricey? Don't worry -- Nissan promises that you can still lease it, too. Read on for the official press release.
Nissan starts US production of 2013 Leaf, vows faster charging and a lower entry price
The Leaf is quickly becoming a mainstay of the American EV scene. Nissan is very much determined to keep it that way: it's starting US production of the 2013 model year with sizable upgrades to fend off the likes of the Focus Electric. The refresh includes a lower-cost (if currently priceless) S model as well as an optional 6.6kW charger (standard on higher trim levels) that should top up the car's battery in about four hours -- almost twice as fast as the original, and more in line with newer alternatives. Nissan is also teasing us with more driving range, although it has yet to pin down just how much further we'll travel. In-cabin tech receives its own upgrade through both Google Places searches for local points of interest as well as an eco-friendly routing mode. We might glean more details of the 2013 Leaf's launch when the North American International Auto Show kicks off next week; for now, we'll have to make do with Nissan's technical details after the break.
Cadillac to reveal 2014 ELR electric coupe on January 15th
Cadillac still doesn't have a proper footprint in the world of electric powertrains. We can at last say when it will, however: the automaker has confirmed that it's unveiling the production, 2014 model year ELR coupe on January 15th at the Detroit Auto Show. Few details have surfaced in the teaser image and release, but a mention of "extended-range electric vehicle technology" supports beliefs that the ELR is still using a variant of the Chevy Volt's powerplant, not unlike the Converj concept from 2009. Clues to the bodywork (and recent spy photos) also suggest it won't be much different on the outside. No matter how much has changed, we'll have a better sense of how green GM's luxury marque can be when we're on the show floor in a month's time.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Detroit Auto Show, solar plants and hydrophobic nanocoating
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week Inhabitat hit the streets of Detroit to bring you the hottest hybrid vehicles and electric cars from the 2012 North American International Auto Show! We saw automakers unveil scores of sexy supercars like the Lexus LF-LC coupe, the Chevy MiRay, and the NSX concept hybrid, and we also showcased more realistic street-ready vehicles like Ford's Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid, VW's brand new hybrid Jetta, and Via Motors' VTRUX extended-range EV pickup. We also peered into the future of sustainable transportation as we brought you the finalists in Michelin's city car design challenge, we learned that the world's largest driverless personal transit system is set to break ground in India, and we saw the UK green light the first phase of its new HS2 high-speed rail line.It was also a bright week for alternative energy as MIT scientists discovered a way to make more efficient solar plants modeled after sunflowers and Sweden announced plans for a massive 700 megawatt wind farm in the Baltic Sea. Meanwhile, we learned that Rwanda's poo-powered prisons are able to produce 75% of their power from human waste, we showcased plans for an energy-generating rolling suitcase that charges your gadgets, and we saw the launch of several shining solar-powered devices - OLPC's XO3 tablet computer and the sun-powered Solarkindle e-reader cover.In other news, this week we rounded up our favorite eco gadgets from CES 2012 - including a hydrophobic nanocoating that makes any gadget completely waterproof. We also saw 200 Chinese works construct a 30 story prefab building in just 15 days, and we watched superman fly across a cute animated LEGO TV. Finally, we brought you the latest and greatest developments in wearable technology - including a set of smart sunglasses that merge virtual information with the real world, a set of bone-conducting earphones, and a set of motorized skates that can be attached to any boring old pair of shoes.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: 2012 Detroit Auto Show, 3D-printed geometric kite and the world's largest battery
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Green transportation kicks into high gear this week with the launch of the 2012 Detroit Auto Show -- and Inhabitat is set to bring you breaking coverage of this year's event! So far we've taken a look at 6 green cars to watch at NAIAS 2012 -- including Lexus' sexy LF-LC hybrid sports car -- Volkswagen's Beetle-inspired electric concept car, and Smart's For-US super-compact electric pickup truck. We also saw a MIT researcher explain why gas mileage is still low despite advances in fuel economy, Mexico unveiled the record-breaking world's tallest bridge, and we took Hyundai's futuristic Veloster coupe for a test drive. It was also a momentous week for energy news as China supercharged its grid with the world's largest battery and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded the first human waste to biodiesel plant in Ghana. Meanwhile, India announced plans to produce 33.4 gigawatts of solar energy by 2022, Onyx unveiled a plug and play 330 watt photovoltaic array that sets up in a snap, and we shined the spotlight on 6 of the world's most impressive solar powered projects. In other news, this week high tech designs reached for the sky as the world's first tower built by a team of flying robots rose in France, researchers developed a virtual cloud-like LED ceiling to make offices more pleasant, and we brought you a beautiful 3D-printed geometric kite. Finally, we brought you the latest dispatches from the field of wearable technology -- a set of jewelry made from recycled AK-47 rifles, a robotic exoskeleton that will help paraplegics walk again in 2012, and a LED television you can wear as a shirt.
Volvo unveils XC60 plug-in hybrid concept, claims it's 'superior to all existing hybrids'
Svelte plug-in hybrids? Practically a dime a dozen. What aren't, however, are their more boxy SUV brethren -- but that hasn't stopped Volvo from creating the concept that lays before you. Beginning with a gutted XC60, the company's fitted a turbocharged gasoline four cylinder good for 280hp up-front, and a 70hp electric motor powering the rear. Combined they produce 350 horses which scuttle the crossover from 0-60MPH in a relatively scant 5.8 seconds. Yet, when not in the mood for outright performance, it can be set to run in "Pure" electric mode via a button press on the dash, enabling hypermilers everywhere to eke out 35 miles of electric motoring from its 12kWh battery pack. After depleting that, it'll take three and a half hours to top up while tethered to 220V, or a seven and a half hours over 110V. Eager to know when the 50MPG, 600 mile range beast makes the jump from concept to reality? So are we, but until we learn more at the Detroit auto show, we've embedded PR alongside a video after the break, and a source link with a bevy of more pictures below.
Smart to unveil tiny For-US electric pickup at North American International Auto Show
Do you dig the size and efficiency of the Smart Fortwo, but need something a little more manly than that snub-nosed hatchback? Well, it looks like your prayers will be answered at January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Reports have it that will be where the For-US, Smart's plug-in pickup, will have its official unveiling. At about 12 feet long the "truck" is almost 50-percent larger than its sub-compact counterpart, but that extra room is put to good use. The bed in the back is home to a pair docking stations for the company's Ebikes. It's a pretty interesting concept, but we're wondering how lugging two heavy electric cycles will affect the range of 17.7kW/h lithium ion battery. Head on past the break for one more image, and hit up the source for even more sketches of the upcoming mini EV pickup.
Nissan responds to Leaf launch disappointments, set expectations too high
The Nissan Leaf may be dishing out achievements to hypermilers and wowing moms, but it's also proving something of a disappointment to the thousands of people still stuck on the waiting list. Nissan blew through its 20,000 pre-orders and is pledging to get 25,000 cars on US roads by the end of next year, but right now that number is rather more modest: just 19 delivered. In Detroit this week PluginCars chatted with Brian Carolin, Nissan's Senior VP of Sales, who indicates: "In hindsight, maybe we could have lowered expectations a little bit more." He does, however, dispel the myth that the cars had to be held back due to some wiring issues. How long until we can all stop fretting? "I think in five to six months time this will be kind of behind us," he says, which is actually quite a long ways away if you're really pining for your first EV.
Volvo crashes C30 EV so you don't have to, doesn't spill a drop of battery juice (video)
Try as it might to act hip and young, Volvo is still a company that's associated with the name "safety," and that's really not a bad thing. Demonstrations like this help to reinforce that, with the company taking great pride in its C30 EV holding up as well as it did in a crash. It was subjected to a 40mph offset and, while it's looking mighty deranged, no portions of the electric drivetrain were compromised. In other words: no battery goo leaked and no first responders would have been zapped. If that's all a little too ghastly for you, fear not: there are plenty of pictures of a beautiful E30 with nary a body panel askew, including a peek into its trunk, which doesn't appear to have been nearly as negatively affected as the poor Focus Electric. Update: Video after the break! %Gallery-113973%
VW Golf Blue-e-motion and Hybrid Touareg strike a pose in Detroit
Alternative means of propulsion are the norm at the North American International Auto Show this year in Detroit, and VW had a few options on display. First up is the Touareg Hybrid, the company's first, with a 3.0 liter supercharged V6 paired to an electric motor, offering a combined 380hp, 0 - 60 times of 6.2 seconds (not bad for a 5,000lb SUV), and up to 27mpg -- if you don't dip too deep in the throttle. Keep things light, and under 30mph, and you can drive it as a purely EV car so long as there's charge. It's available now. Also on display is the Golf Blue-e-motion that our friends at Autoblog previously got to spend a little time with in Germany. This is currently built on the Golf Mk VI platform but, by the time it is released in 2013, will be applied to the upcoming Mk VII platform. It's said to offer a realistic 80 miles of range and, unlike the Focus Electric, hasn't made too many sacrifices in the cargo compartment. %Gallery-113994% %Gallery-113995%
Li-Ion Motors Inizio electric supercar stops by Detroit
We already showed you a quick tour of two of the three Automotive X-Prize winners. Wondering where the third was? Hanging out in the booth of its creator, Li-Ion motors, looking green and decidedly outclassed by the second car that company is showing off. It's the Inizio, a proper supercar of the electric variety, the base model hitting 60 from a standstill in four seconds and topping out at 130 -- perhaps not Ferrari-busting but surely more than enough to get your license taken away. If that's not enough there will be multiple models with different power levels and carbon fiber construction, with the higher-end dropping that 0 - 60 time to 3.4 seconds and boosting the top speed to 200. We spent some time chatting with Li-Ion Motors Project Manager Paul Daigrepont about the design of the car, most interesting being the transmission. It's a custom-made four-speed unit that, interestingly, has no clutch. It's directly driven by the motor, shifting via paddles with the ECU dropping the torque on the motor momentarily to unload the gears, allowing an upshift to happen. At a stop the motor simply stops spinning and, if you want reverse, the car engages first gear and runs backwards! The company is accepting orders, starting at $139,000, a price that makes the Leaf feel like even more of a bargain. %Gallery-113979%
Harman Experimental HMI with netbook internals, augmented reality aspirations hands-on (video)
Yes, folks, more fun infotainment systems to hope that your manufacturer of choice picks up before your 'Ol Bessie gives up the ghost and has to be put out to pasture. Regardless of which logo you prefer on your grille there's a good chance that Harman works with them, and so maybe they'll pick up this. It's called the Experimental HMI and it's basically a netbook for your dash -- minus the keyboard and junk. It's running an Atom processor and has a Flash-based interface, making it easy to develop for. The killer app at this point is an augmented reality navigation system you can see demoed in the video below, but it'll ultimately be up to the manufacturers to do what they will with it.
Tesla Chief Engineer Peter Rawlinson geeks out with us about Model S design
Did you sit through all three of the lengthy, expository videos that lovingly and exhaustively detailed every aspect of the Model S's design and engineering? If so, you'll be familiar with Peter Rawlinson, Tesla Chief Engineer and genuine car nut who, in previous lives, held the titles of Chief Engineer of Advanced Engineering at Lotus and Principal Engineer at Jaguar. His latest creation, the Model S, shares some frame concepts the products of one of those companies and some styling cues from another, but it's safe to say this is an all new car that has been obsessively designed starting with a "blank computer screen" as he puts it. He was kind enough to spend some time talking tech with us, and you can read the highlights below. %Gallery-113678%
Johnson Controls Connected Center Stack plays nice with a quartet of smartphones, we go hands-on
Smartphone integration in your car's head unit isn't of all that much use if it's only going to play nice with one brand or another (we're looking at you, Mini Connected). Johnson Controls is being rather more open with what it's calling the Connected Center Stack, basically a framework that OEMs and aftermarket radio makers can build upon to create their ultimate infotainment system. It quite naturally connected and played audio over USB or Bluetooth, augmenting that with support for Pandora and even Terminal Mode, as implemented on a Nokia N97, replicating the phone's UI exactly. There are both touchscreen and jog dial controls, and the unit can get data either directly from a smartphone or through a USB connected 3G modem. Or that's the theory, at least. The unit on display was a little buggy and not reliable enough for us to get a video of it in action, but with any luck it'll be cleaned up and hitting production center stacks... eventually. %Gallery-113993%
A tour around the X-Prize winning Edison2 Very Light Car (video)
A few months ago, three teams split $10 million in prizes, finally claiming the Progressive Insurance Automotive X prize. They're all at CES, and we got a chance to speak in detail with one of the men behind one of them, Edison2's Oliver Kutter, about the design of the car and, ultimately, what's going to come next thanks to that $5 million in cash the company walked away with. Read on for the details from that conversation, including why this tiny thing could actually be safer than a traditional car, as well as a video walkthrough, and pictures of the winner of the two-wheeled X-Tracer too. %Gallery-113929%
Ford takes us on the world's shortest test drive in the Focus Electric (video)
When offered a chance to take a Ford Focus Electric for a spin we jumped at it, though were admittedly a bit perplexed when told it would be on the show floor. As it turns out the company set up a loop upon which a Transit Van and Focus Electric were driving, one after the next, up a steep incline and over the heads of fellow journalists, stopping at a little dyno to see just what this thing was putting down, and then back around to where it all started. No shocking information was gleaned, and we still can't get anyone to confirm or deny the ability for a 480v quick-charge, but it sure beat walking.
Toyota puts Prius C on a pedestal, we go back for more
Sorry, we can't help ourselves. You see, we like the Prius. A lot. But it's just so... well... boring. Not the Prius C. It's just a Concept, but it's a Curvy one, a Cute one, and a downright Catch. Call us anytime. Toyota. You have our number. %Gallery-113924%
