The Superglue Diet: How to Make a Lighter, Fuel-Sipping Car
Carmakers are turning to airplane-quality glue for seams and thinner steel to trim weight, while looking ahead to using magnesium and coasting to save fuel.
Driven | 2016 Toyota Prius
Toyota has been promising better handling with its cars, and it has delivered with the fourth-generation Prius. While it still does not look like a conventional car, the Prius now handles more like one.
Video Review: Decent Handling in a Toyota Prius? Yes, the New One
The fuel economy of the new fourth-generation Prius is better than the departing model, and a new multilink rear suspension upgrades the ride quality.
Elon Musk of Tesla Sticks to Mission Despite Setbacks
The billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is running a private rocket company, doubling down on alternative fuels and pressing on with Tesla after a series of accidents.
Peugeot / Citroen unveil new electrification platform [VIDEO]
PSA Group unveiled their electrification strategy plans at the “Innovation Day” event. PSA Group is consolidating the development of its new electrification strategy on two global modular platforms, which will allow it to offer a wide range of internal combustion, electric and plug-in hybrid petrol models as from 2019. Both platforms will be compatible with the manufacturing resources put in place as part of the Plant of the Future programme.
The Common Modular Platform (CMP), which was developed in partnership with DFM (Dongfeng Motors), is dedicated to compact city cars, core sedans and compact SUVs. The all-electric e-CMP format co-financed by PSA Group and DFM will allow the two parties to offer a new generation of spacious, multi-purpose electric vehicles with a driving range of up to 450 km and ultra-fast charging solutions providing up to 12 km of driving per minute of charging. Four electric models will be introduced by 2021, the first of which will reach the market in 2019.
The Efficient Modular Platform (EMP2), which is dedicated to compact and premium models, was launched first in 2013 with the new Citroën C4 Picasso and Peugeot 308 and then in 2014 in China. From 2019 onwards, its innovative design will enable the deployment of the first plug-in hybrid petrol models equipped with the best of hybrid technology:
To facilitate use, the plug-in hybrid models will come with a four-hour charging system as well as an optional feature for recharging the battery more quickly, in less than two hours. Seven plug-in hybrid vehicles will be gradually introduced between 2019 and 2021.
On Innovation Day, Gilles Le Borgne said: "These next-generation hybrid and electric technologies will complement our range of internal combustion engines, thereby enabling PSA Group to offer its customers a diversified line-up of technologies that meet all of their mobility needs. This innovative strategy clearly demonstrates the Group's commitment to global, sustainable solutions that will allow us to take on the energy transition challenge."
Toyota sells 9 Millionth Hybrid car
Toyota's hybrid vehicles have saved their owners 25 billion litres of petrol - enough fuel, theoretically, for each of their cars to travel around the Earth... and then some.
The calculation was revealed by the world's leading carmaker when it announced it has sold more than nine million Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles around the world, including more than 85,800 delivered in Australia.
The latest milestone, achieved in April, comes as Toyota Australia prepares to introduce its newest hybrid, Corolla, early in the second half of this year.
Toyota's parent company in Japan has revealed that the total fuel saving from its nine million hybrids represents an average of more than 2,770 litres per vehicle compared with driving petrol-only cars of similar size.
The saving would provide enough fuel for each of those vehicles to travel at least 52,400km, or 1.3 times around the equator, based on a nominal average consumption of 5.3 litres per 100km. Three-quarters of the nine million hybrids use less than this amount of fuel.
Instead of doing that, of course, Toyota's hybrid owners have pocketed billions of dollars in savings.
Toyota has also estimated its hybrid vehicles have resulted in approximately 67 million fewer tonnes of CO2 emissions than would have been emitted by petrol-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance^.
Toyota Australia's executive director sales and marketing Tony Cramb said the extent to which hybrid vehicles had found homes in driveways around the world confirmed them as a mainstream option for motorists.
"Toyota's hybrid vehicles are renowned for their performance, reliability, durability and exceptionally low running costs as well as their contribution to the environment and to saving precious fossil fuels," Mr Cramb said.
"In Australia, we are looking forward to bringing Toyota's full hybrid technology to the country's best-selling car, Corolla - a move that will further broaden the market appeal of both," he said.
Corolla hybrid hatch will be introduced as a well-specified single grade, expanding the local company's Hybrid Synergy Drive offerings to a fifth model.
It will join Camry, which is the best-selling hybrid vehicle in Australia with 37,879 deliveries - almost double the Prius tally of 19,682 cars - followed by Prius c (7,432) and Prius v (3,430).
Globally, Toyota's total is led by the world's best-selling hybrid, Prius, with 3.7 million sales since its debut in Japan in December 1997. Prius c has reached 1.25 million sales, Prius v 634,000 and Camry hybrid 574,000.
While it took 10 years for Toyota to achieve one million global hybrid sales, it has sold eight million in the past nine years and has averaged more than one million hybrid sales a year since 2009.
The company's hybrid vehicles are sold in more than 90 markets.
Toyota has positioned hybrid advances as core environmental technologies for the 21st century. Using these technologies, Toyota is also working on improving non-hybrid cars.
TOYOTA HYBRID MILESTONES
9 million | April 2016 |
8 million | July 2015 |
7 million | September 2014 |
6 million | December 2013 |
5 million | March 2013 |
4 million | April 2012 |
3 million | February 2011 |
2 million | August 2009 |
1 million | May 2007 |
Are Friction Brakes Redundant on Electric Vehicles & Hybrids?
The Toyota Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, went on sale in Japan in 1997. 18 years later with sales surpassing 8 million vehicles, we're starting to get a clear picture of how durable vehicles powered by electric powertrains are.
The humble Prius has proved so durable, with regular news of taxi operators surpassing 1 million km (the record stands at 1.5M km), there is even a thread on the priuschat website designated for Prius owners who have passed 299,999 miles (480,000 km).
Not only are most Prius achieving these distances on the original battery pack (dispelling that urban myth) but in many cases they are also still on the original factory fitted set of brake pads!! With a Prius able to use brake regeneration down to 10 km/h, industry standard hydro-mechanical friction brakes move from being a system made up of consumable parts to being a durable system that last the life of the vehicle.
Typical brake pad life expectancy on an ICE car is between 50-100,000 km with brake rotors needing replacement every 100-200,000 km so the increase in Prius pad life is in the 10x region.
If the relatively low powered 50 kw electric motor / generator in the Prius has made friction brakes 95% redundant, then vehicles like the BMW i3 with a much more powerful electric motor (125 kw) and aggressive speed variable brake regeneration capable of bringing the car to a complete stop, make friction brakes entirely a legacy system whose only function is to provide very low duty cycle safety functions such as Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC).
Taxi operators running fleets of Nissan Leaf are also reporting high mileage on original brake pads and no doubt given enough time will also pass 500,000 km without a pad &/or rotor change. Leaf owners have the added benefit of not having an ICE to service (Prius ICE's reportedly consume excessive oil above 500,000 km) and with typical electric motor life measured in the 20-40,000 hour range, electric only powertrains could last in excess of 2 million kilometres of trouble free motoring, compared to a typical ICE car life expectancy of 320,000 km (200,000 miles).
The more brake regeneration becomes a standard in the automotive world, the more inevitable the elimination of the dead weight and costs associated with legacy friction brake systems seems. In order to allow electromagnetic braking to functionally replace all mandatory safety systems like ESC, each wheel requires an electric motor to drive / brake each wheel independently.
Technologies that we take for granted these days — like stability control and anti-lock brakes — paved the way for computer-controlled cars, and these long-established safety technologies are mandated by NHTSA etc. Automakers today agreed to make automatic emergency braking standard in US by 2022. Automatic braking, like lane keeping and dynamic cruise control, is considered a precursor to fully autonomous vehicles.
The convergence of vehicle electrification and self-driving cars will accelerate the need to consolidate all vehicle dynamic controls for propulsion and braking within a single system, i.e. Software Eats the Automotive Powertrain.
Porsche aims to offer hybrids across model range
Porsche aims to offer hybrid versions of all its models in the foreseeable future, Porsche Chief Executive Oliver Blume told a German newspaper.
A plug-in hybrid of the 911 model with a range of 50 kilometers (31.1 miles) will hit the market in 2018 already, Westfalen-Blatt quoted Blume as saying in a summary of an interview to be published on Monday.
Porsche said last month it would spend about 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) on production facilities at its biggest plant to make its first ever all-electric sports car, reflecting parent VW's growing commitment to increase its electric offerings as it struggles to overcome an emissions scandal.
Porsche plans to bring the Mission E model, with more than 600 horsepower and a range of over 500 km, to market by the end of the decade.
At the same time, CEO Blume said he did not believe driverless cars were in Porsche's future, saying "an iPhone belongs in your pocket, not on the road", and that Porsche did not need to team up with any big technology companies.
"Partnerships are generally not a bad idea if one's own competencies are insufficient. But we are on the one hand part of a strong company and on the other hand have no plans to lead the charge in this area. We'll leave that to others," he said.
2016 Audi R18 LMP1 Prototype caught testing @ Sebring [VIDEO]
Following the new Audi R18's world premiere at the Audi Training Center Munich last month, the now battery powered R18 Audi Le Mans Prototype LMP was recently caught testing at Sebring International raceway in Florida USA.
The 2016 R18 retains the 4.0L TDI engine but moves up into the 6MJ class; the 2015 R18 raced in the 4MJ class, up from 2MJ the season before.
2016 Audi R18 celebrates world premiere in Munich
The new Audi R18 made its world premiere on the occasion of the Audi Sport Finale at the Audi Training Center Munich on Saturday. Audi Sport has fundamentally re-designed the Audi R18 for the 2016 season.
The LMP1 race car that will compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours and in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2016 features innovative aerodynamics; represents the next stage in lightweight design; and has a modified hybrid system with lithium-ion batteries for energy storage, plus an efficiency-optimized TDI engine. The 2015 R18 e-tron quattro racer featured an encapsulated WHP flywheel energy storage system that sat in the cockpit alongside the driver.
The 2016 R18 retains the 4.0L TDI engine. The 2016 R18 will race in the 6MJ class; the 2015 R18 raced in the 4MJ class, up from 2MJ the season before.
Further technical details will come later.
In the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) that will start at Silverstone (Great Britain) on April 17, Audi Sport Team Joest will be fielding two new Audi R18 cars. In the interest of cost efficiency, Audi and its Volkswagen Group sister brand Porsche, have both agreed to each compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours, the WEC season’s pinnacle event, with only two instead of the most recent three cars.
