Kia brings “RAY” as a concept

Kia introduced its new plug-in hybrid concept car at the Chicago Motor Show. Ray is aerodynamically designed thus giving the fuel efficiency beyond expectations of 202mpg. The electric power system is equipped with lithium ion battery packs while the solar cells on the roof top energize the air conditioning system of the car.

The windshield frame extends towards the roof and meets the tail lights with the sun screening technology. The front air deflectors which may be termed as air vents cool the engine under high temperature operating conditions.

The passenger seats are completely separated by the arm support while the interior seems simpler enough.

Tokyo Motor Show: Suzuki brings Swift Plug-in Hybrid and SX4 Fuel Cell Vehicle

Tokyo Motor Show brings some exciting eco-friendly technologies this year. Suzuki is going to show its new concepts like Swift Plug-in Hybrid and SX4 Fuel Cell Vehicle. These new technologies seek their importance in the consumer market who is becoming a victim of energy crises day by day.

Plug-in Hybrid Swift
Swift plug-in hybrid is featured with the plug-in hybrid system. The car gets the initial 20 miles drive solely on an electric motor. The new plug-in Hybrid Swift employs 0.66 litres (660cc) engine and a generator that is used to charge the lithium ion battery. The car can be charged in your homes via plug-in socket. The compactness of the car makes it light in weight. More details will be revealed in the show.

Swift Plug-in Hybrid

SX4 Fuel Cell Vehicle
SX4 Fuel Cell Vehicle is also a part of the coming Tokyo Motor Show. The fuel cell produced by general motors is used with the Suzuki designed high pressure (10,000 psi) hydrogen tank and a capacitor. The functioning of this car resembles with plug-in Swift with the exception of the battery charged by the fuel cell instead of an engine.

SX4-FCV

Tokyo Motor Show will help in promoting Green technologies world wide.

Google working on Smart Plug-in Hybrid Charging

Google, a well renowned company especially known for its search engine, is presently working on an efficient way of plug in Hybrid charging for plug in vehicles. The idea is to integrate the the plugin vehicles to the power grid and to manage the plugin charging load when millions of people in future after going back to homes from their offices will plugin their vehicles at the same time.

This project is being taken owing to the increasing public interest in the electric vehicles.
Google has so far worked on software for managing such a large number of vehicles integrated on a power grid. After having done this, google will be heading forward to set up an infrastructure. Dan Reicher, google director of climate change and Energy Initiatives, says:"We have begun some work on smart charging of electric vehicles and how you would integrate large number of electric vehicles into the grid successfully.We have done a little bit of work on the software side looking at how you would write a computer code to manage this sort of charging infrastructure".
Google has been taking interest in the auto sector previously as well.In 2007, google announced to test the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape plugin hybrid vehicles. If the google successfully sets up a software that could manage such a large number of plugin vehicles, then this charging technology is going to be quite efficient.
Reicher says: "We got to be careful how we manage these things. On a hot day in July when 5 million Californians come home, you don't want them all plugging in at the same moment."
Google is dedicated to bring such technologies in the market which are ecofriendly and make this earth a place to live for the next generations to come.

GM starts the production of new Opel Ampera from 2011

GM has released the new Opel Ampera in the 79th Geneva Motor Show this year with the stylish exterior and an upgraded interior. Though the car was released a couple of months ago but many people may not have seen it before. The company intends to start its production by 2011.

Owing to the increased energy demands, this car has plug-in hybrid technology. The car has 40 mile plug-in range (it can be driven upto 40 miles without using a single drop of oil) and 300 mile total extended range. Lithium ion battery is used in the new Opel Ampera which makes it run upto 60 km. The car can go upto 500 miles via internal combustion engine that drives the generator which further runs the electric motor.

Front End View

The head lights are beautifully designed giving it a unique front look. The new Opel Ampera is a four door passenger car with a hatch back. The car has got enough luggage capacity. The narrow tail LED lights are properly aligned giving a new Ampera a well composed look.

Rear End View

The new Ampera has two LCD screens, one just behind the steering and the other one above the button panel. What unique in this car is that the rear seats are completely separated like the front seats. Like the other plug-in cars, it can be charged from the sockets beside the side view mirrors.

BMW releases its new concept Vision EfficientDynamics

BMW Vision EfficientDynamics is a new concept plug in hybrid car that is to be displayed before public in the Frankfurt Motor Show. I just said “WOW” when I came across this car. The complete innovative exterior design with some awesome features has brought this car to the platform of top rated concept cars. The four seater BMW has the typical two grilled front frame with the BMW logo in the center. The headlights are a bit narrow. The side view mirrors are positioned a little above than where they normally are. This is done to reduce the drag and improve the aerodynamics.

Front View

The new BMW concept is a plugin hybrid technology with 1.5 litres 3 cylinder turbodiesel engine. 163 hp engine when combined with two electric motors give it a tremendous 356 hp with 590 lb-ft of torque. The car has two hybrid systems in general. Rear wheel hybrid system, being composed of the electric motor and the engine, powers the rear wheel axle where as the front one powers the front wheels with the aid of the second electric motor operated on battery. The car uses a highly efficient typical lithium ion battery. The battery can be charged in just 2.5 hours with the total capacity of 10.8 kWh.

Front End View

The astonishing attribute of this BMW concept is its very low fuel consumption of 62.6 mpg. The car can go from 0 to 100 kmph in 4.8 secs. The chassis made of aluminium keeps the car very light, it is only 1395 kg.
This left hand drive has a single door when viewed from the side which look like the butterfly wings when opened. The car has an extremely low profile. The tyres are beautifully designed which give the look of the rotor attached to the center of the it. The side cuts lower the overall drag with enhanced performance.

Side View

The new BMW concept has innovative taillights. These are kept thin to improve the aerodynamics of the car. The taillights are projected towards the side body of the car which look extremely fragile from their appearance.

Rear End View

Will this concept remain a concept? This depends on the success of the new BMW. What do you think??

Let us enjoy the animated video!!