Dr Automotive Design and Tools

Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc.is hoping to bring its first electric vehicle to market for under $30,000 before federal tax credits, company officials say at the auto show here today.

The MiEV small car is due to go on sale in the U.S. in 2011. The ballpark price is similar to what buyers will pay for the car in Japan.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Wednesday announced it was cutting the MiEV’s price in Japan, reportedly from ¥4 million ($42,612) to ¥2.8 million ($29,828), including tax credits.

“We’re targeting sub-$30,000 for the U.S. when it launches,” MMNA spokesman Maurice Durand says of the iMiEV following Mitsubishi’s press conference at the show.

The MiEV went on sale at retail in Japan today, and Durand says it will launch in Europe this summer.

The i-MiEV’s price cut in Japan came one day after Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. announced retail prices for its Leaf EV in the U.S., which goes on sale late this year, for $32,780. With a $7,500 federal credit, and a $5,000 EV credit offered by the state of California, the Leaf could cost buyers as little as $20,280.

Durand says many details of the MiEV’s U.S. retail launch still need to be worked out, including what company will supply and install the car’s home-charging units. MMNA is talking with several companies about the chargers.

AeroVironment Inc., supplier of the home charger for the Leaf in the U.S., recently told Ward’s its charger is compatible with any forthcoming EV, because its meets SAE standard J1772.

Giù il velo: ora è ufficiale. La prossima Panda verrà prodotta nello stabilimento di Pomigliano d'Arco. "Nell'ambito del previsto programma di investimenti del Gruppo per complessivi 8 miliardi - spiegano alla Fiat - sarà realizzato un radicale intervento di ristrutturazione dello stabilimento Giambattista Vico di Pomigliano d'Arco per predisporre gli impianti alla produzione della futura Panda, di cui è prevista l'uscita sul mercato nel secondo semestre del 2011". "Con un investimento di circa 700 milioni di euro - concluduno alla Fiat - lo stabilimento disporrà delle più moderne soluzioni tecnologiche e dovrà raggiungere risultati di eccellenza diventando un World Class Plant. I nuovi impianti, all'avanguardia per innovazione tecnica, avranno una impostazione che consente una alta flessibilità e quindi una naturale predisposizione alla produzione di futuri modelli. Questo allungherà nel tempo il ciclo di vita tecnologica degli impianti . Elevata sarà l'attenzione dedicata all'organizzazione della produzione, secondo i principi del World Class Manufacturing e del World Class Logistics, per poter sfruttare al massimo le potenzialità dello stabilimento".
(Fonte: www.repubblica.it - 1/4/2010)

The potential return of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) to Formula 1 for 2011 is set to dominate the agenda of a meeting of team principals in Malaysia later today.

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) is holding a get-together this evening to discuss the lessons of the first few races, and begin evaluation of improvements that could be made to the sport to improve the show.

Although some of the talks are expected to revolve around technical changes to the cars, sources suggest that one of the main areas of focus to help improving overtaking will be in getting KERS back on the cars.

The green technology was abandoned at the end of last year when teams agreed amongst themselves not to run the devices for 2010, because of the vast expense in successfully developing it. The use of the system remains in F1's technical regulations, however.

The teams will look at all options for a KERS return in 2011 - ranging from a standard supplier to freeing up the technology totally. Teams will also look at exactly how much, or how little, power the KERS should have.

The momentum behind getting KERS back has been increased because of the difficulties that drivers have faced in overtaking this season - and providing a push-to-pass system once again would help with the racing.

There is also a high chance that revisions to the cars already in the pipeline will help the situation further. Double diffusers have already been banned for 2011, which should cut downforce levels, while it is understood that the FIA is looking at increasing the width of F1's rear tyres to 18 inches for next year - up from the 13 inches of the current generation.

This will produce much more mechanical grip, which should be another factor in helping boost the racing spectacle.

The first customer for the Chevrolet Volt also happens to be its largest investor — the Obama administration.

The White House said Wednesday that the government will “purchase the first 100 plug-in electric vehicles to roll off American assembly lines” before the end of the year.

The Volt, which GM describes as an extended-range electric vehicle, is the only model that fits that description. GM began building its first production Volts at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama has set a target of putting
1 million plug-in hybrids on U.S roads by 2015. In announcing a new plan for offshore drilling Wednesday, Obama also said the government would double its purchases of hybrid vehicles to 5,000.

“We’re going to lead by example and practice what we preach: cutting waste, saving energy and reducing our reliance on foreign oil,” Obama said.

But one year ago, Obama’s auto task force questioned whether GM was spending too much to develop the Volt, saying “it will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short-term.”

GM has said it will build a few thousand Volts in its first year, with output eventually ramping up to 60,000 annually. The Volt’s battery pack offers an all-electric driving range of 40 miles, with a gas engine that extends the range to that of a typical vehicle.

Japan's first mass-market electric car went on sale in showrooms Thursday as the futuristic technology becomes more affordable amid a burgeoning price war.

The four-seater bubble-shaped i-MiEV from Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Japan's fifth-biggest automaker, costs 2.8 million yen ($30,500) after government incentives are figured into the price of 4 million yen ($43,000).

Proud i-MiEV buyer Chitoshi Okunuki, 72, placed an advance order at a higher price in August and was thrilled at Mitsubishi's decision Tuesday to cut the price by 620,000 yen ($6,700). That came the same day rival Nissan Motor Co. announced it will take orders for its own electric car, the Leaf.

"I'm so happy," said Okunuki, who runs a convenience store, during a visit to a Mitsubishi showroom. "It's so quiet, and there are no emissions."

With concerns about the environment growing, electric vehicles — long an expensive, experimental technology used in Japan mainly by government-related groups — are suddenly all the rage.

The key to their becoming widespread is certain to be pricing, and that is likely to continue a downward slide as competition intensifies.

Nissan, Japan's No. 3 automaker, said the Leaf, due to go on sale in December, will cost 3.8 million yen ($40,500) but that will fall to 3 million yen ($32,000) with government incentives.

The Leaf gets even cheaper in the U.S. at just over $25,000 because of a $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles.

Mitsubishi says it got about 2,000 advance orders in Japan for the i-MiEV, which stands for Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle. It is based on the company's gasoline-powered "i" minicar.

Also this week, Chinese automaker BYD started retail sales of its new electric car, the F3DM, for the equivalent of $25,000.

Ford Motor Co. is planning an all-electric Focus compact car for sale in late 2011.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest automaker, is planning an electric car for 2012. Prices have not been announced, but they are likely to be more within reach than the two-seater Tesla Roadster's $100,000.

China's first large electric charging station for electric vehicles—the Tangshan Nanhu EV Charging Station – was put into service on March 31. The station was built by the North China Grid Company, Ltd. in accordance with government-mandated design criteria.

The Nanhu Charging Station, with investment capital of more than 19 million yuan, is equipped with two large DC chargers, eight medium chargers and 10 charging spots and is able to charge 10 electric vehicles simultaneously.

On March 31, North China Grid and Tangshan municipal government signed a strategic cooperation agreement to promote the construction of electric vehicle charging facilities. Tangshan has put 19 electric vehicles into service on two demonstration electric bus routes. In addition, North China Grid has concluded agreements with five cities in northern Hebei province—Tangshan, Zhangjiakou, Qinhuangdao, Langfang and Chengde – to build three charging stations and 100 charging poles in 2010.

Perde la denominazione in cifre e guadagna il nome di una famosa Jeep Wrangler. E' la Fiat Cinquecento Rubicon, concept presentata questo pomeriggio nel corso di un incontro a margine del Salone di New York. 1 Aprile 2010 L'unica immagine disponibile mostra le curiose forme della prima Fiat 500 che sbarca negli USA, pronta a coniugare la voglia americana di una rude offroad con l'impellente necessità di sfruttare il downsizing dell'alleanza strategica Fiat-Chrysler. Con qualcosa di Jeep e molto di Fiat 500, la Cinquecento Rubicon sfrutta l'eclettico pianale della Fiat Panda (4x4) per assumere le vesti di un'inedita fuoristrada estrema da "passaggi difficili". Il massiccio fascione paracolpi anteriore e posteriore, la griglia a feritoie verticali e persino la configurazione "open air" della zona posteriore fanno di questa Cinquecento Rubicon un'autentica piccola Jeep Wrangler, di origini italiane e di ambizioni internazionali. Per la micro-fuoristrada italo- americana è già facile prevedere un roseo futuro fra gli appassionati d'oltreoceano di guida su terreni sterrati e sabbiosi. Nonostante l'aspetto da vettura rustica ed "ecologicamente scorretta", la nuova Fiat Cinquecento Rubicon vanta già al debutto due motori dell'ultima generazione di casa Fiat, vale a dire il 1.4 Multiair Turbo da 170 CV (quello dell'Alfa Giulietta) e il 2.0 Multijet 16v, con 135 CV e filtro DPF della Fiat Sedici. Gli interni seguono lo spirito e il design della 500 nostrana, ma i materiali e le finiture sono state adattate all'uso estremo di questo tipo di veicoli, compreso l'utilizzo di fibre hi-tech altamente resistenti e lavabili con facilità. Anche il sistema di analisi dei dati di guida e di consumo viene declinato nella nuova tipologia "eco:Drive fool 4x4", in grado di registrare e valutare a posteriori le prestazioni nella guida in fuoristrada. Ancora incerti i tempi di produzione, sebbene nelle intenzioni della Casa ci sia l'intenzione di commercializzarla entro i prossimi due anni.
(Fonte: www.omniauto.it - 1/4/2010)