Chrysler LLC Does The Electric Boogaloo

Chrysler Firepower Concept

Later this month, Chrysler will offer a preview of the three electric car prototypes it plans to produce over the course of the next decade. Currently working with battery suppliers both at home and abroad, Chrysler’s primary focus is developing an electric plug-in hybrid vehicle capable of averaging 300 miles per charge. “Fuel cells are in the future, ” said Chrysler co-president Jim Press, “but probably more in my kids’ future than my own.”

Jeep Hurricane Concept

Full Chrysler Concept Gallery After Jump

Riding high on the crest of the temporary success of the new Dodge Ram 1500, Press said Chrysler intends to continue producing fuel drinking titans like the Ram and Dakota regardless of the sales figures, and he doesn’t expect Chrysler to generate a positive cash flow for 2008. Press views the current hardships in the industry as merely temporary and with sights set firmly on the future, fully expects the market to right itself by 2010 - just in time for Chrysler’s anticipated release of 8 brand new models.

[News Source: Auto News]

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VW Jetta BlueTDI to bring 60mpg to North America

Volkswagen announces that their BlueTDI technology is now ready for the North American market, but is America still unprepared to embrace a diesel car?

The announcement came from VW at the International Vienna Motor Symposium in Austria. The clean burning diesel trumps its own 2006 TDI model in fuel savings by 12%. The reworked 2.0 liter diesel will bring 60mpg to the market while still being 50-state legal. VW had already been approved for Europe by meeting or exceeding their 2009 Euro-5 standards. Now that the VW BlueTDI engine has passed the EPA’s Bin 5/LEV 2 Emissions rules it will now be permitted to stamp its passport for a voyage across the Atlantic.

The new BlueTDI Jetta arrives on the North American shores pushing 138-hp and 236-ft lbs of torque; both superior improvements in performance over the 2006 model. The last TDI engine for the VW sold in 2006 had 100-hp and 170-ft lbs of torque. As the 2006 model sold for about $24-26,ooo in the US when new, what will the mark-up be on the new BlueTDI? Reports say that the diesel engine will be a scant $2,000 over the MSRP of its gasoline brother.
…Photos and Fuel Mileage comparison after the leap… (more…)

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Honda’s Hybrid Heat Recapture System: Improves Highway Efficiency But Not Enough Yet

Across the Pacific over in Japan Honda has been putting in extra effort on the hybrid initiative as they push to knock the Prius off its pedestal by 2010. Along with an improved hybrid image in their designs, Honda is also looking to provide their hybrids with something the Prius and no other hybrid on the market today has achieved: improved highway mileage. While the Prius and other hybrids are great around town and under 40 mph, their highway miles, when the car is running solely on its gasoline motor, are not as compelling. Honda is exploring the use of the Rankine System as a means of harnessing the heat that is typically lost via the cars exhaust and turning it into electricity, and thus electric motor horsepower.

The Rankine System is rather complex and would easier be explained by a Science Professor than a car junky, but here is the nutshell version. The heat produced by the internal combustion engine passes through a cylinder that recaptures that heat and uses it to create steam by passing it through water. The steam is then captured and rotates a turbine that generates electricity. The electricity is then harnessed to produce horsepower for the electric hybrid motors of the car (very nutshell version). (more…)

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Hyundai to Show i-Blue Fuel Cell Vehicle at Frankfurt Auto Show

At this years Frankfurt Auto Show that begins on September 13th Hyundai will reveal their first vehicle designed from the ground-up that was built specifically  around their fuel cell technology. The i-Blue is an electric vehicle that is fueled by Hyundai’s 3rd generation hydrogen fuel cell technology clothed in a CUV auto armor that represents the future forward thinking behind their alternative technology.

The i-Blue is a bold step toward future design and future fuels while following suit with the theme of this years Frankfurt Auto Show: “See What is Driving the Future.” Hyundai’s R&D team have developed a hydrogen fuel cell that is more compact than prior generations while building a safe, crossover-styled body around it.

Hyundai’s i-Blue is their current design that is to help transition us over the next decade toward the greener technology of hydrogen. Yet to many of us hydrogen fuel cells still seem quite a ways away from being close to taking over for the combustion engine as what motivates the majority of todays cars. Despite the advantages that Hybrids, Plug-in EV’s and alternative fuels may have by being more road ready today the exploration toward hydrogen fuel cells is still an important one.

There are two other supposedly radical designs that Hyundai is planning to reveal at the Frankfurt show. Hyundai’s Volester is said to be a roadster aimed directly at the Y-generation with what seems to be some futuristic designing cues. The i-30 Crossover Wagon is designed as the exact opposite of the Volester. With the i-30 Hyundai is returning to the 5-door hatchback model that is an important segment in the European market. More significant details and photos of all 3 of the vehicles Hyundai plans to unveil at the Frankfurt Auto Show are sure to come in the weeks ahead.

Source[topspeed, PureGreenCars]

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