JFE Engineering says it is pursuing EV charge times that would be on par with equivalent refueling times typically undertaken at the fuel station. “We have shortened the charging time to three minutes, the same amount of time for refueling petrol or making a simple purchase,” an official of the company said in the report.

This could be a huge step forward towards smooth integration of the EV into our current infrastructure and way of living. Compared to the latest EV recharge offerings, some of which require an over-night charge, this new quick charge system would allow us to ‘refuel’ at the station on the go.

The company hopes their new product will be available to the public at petrol stations and other roadside vendors by the end of March, 2011.

source: CarAdvice.com.au

While the casual observer might spot a little Koenigsegg in its profile and a touch of Audi R8 in that silver blade, van den Acker says the DeZir offers a glimpse at the more ‘emotional’ styling that will figure prominently across the next-generation Renault range.

“My early source of inspiration stemmed from the liquid sensation, wave-like movement and contrasts in light associated with certain rippled surfaces,” says Yann Jarsalle, responsible for the DeZir’s exterior styling.

“By directly laying out volumes and not just joining together a number of surfaces by lines, I felt more in tune with the world of sculpture than with that of architecture.”

Featuring gullwing-scissor doors and sitting on huge 21-inch wheels, the DeZir is powered by Renault’s Z.E. zero-emissions drivetrain that includes a mid-mounted electric motor and a 24kWh lithium-ion battery behind the seats.

Together, the battery and electric motor give the DeZir 110kW and 225Nm of torque, with a driving range of around 160km and an eight-hour recharge.
Designed to offer a drag coefficient of just 0.25 (identical to the 2010 Toyota Prius), Renault says the DeZir will make its way to 100km/h in just five seconds.

A temporary powerboost can also be had via a button on the steering wheel that draws on energy stored through the DeZir’s KERS-like brake energy recovery system, although Renault has not offered specific power figures for this feature.

Renault has not indicated if the DeZir is merely a design study or a potential production prospect, but if the upcoming Audi e-tron-based electric supercar is anything to go on, anything it possible.

source: TheMotorreport

Bugatti has set a new land speed record for production cars with an even faster version of its $3.5 million Veyron supercar.

The French marque’s Veyron 16.4 Super Sport clocked an average top speed of 431km/h at parent company Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien proving ground in Germany to book a page in the Guinness Book of Records.

Representatives from the famous tome of feats were on site to verify Bugatti’s record-breaking run, which surpasses the original Veyron’s 408.3km/h run and reclaims a title it lost to the Shelby Ultimate Aero (412.3km/h) in 2007.

The Super Sport features the same quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre 16-cylinder as the standard Veyron but gains larger turbos and intercoolers to boost power and torque outputs to 882kW and 1500Nm respectively.

Engineers have revised the suspension - including firmer springs, uprated dampers and larger anti-roll bars - to improve both high-speed stability and cornering grip.

Bugatti has also improved aerodynamics and reduced the all-wheel-drive Veyron’s weight by using a lighter fibre construction for the carbon-fibre body.

Production of the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport beings later this year, with numbers expected to be limited to just 30.

The first five Super Sports will be called the World Record Edition and feature the same two-tone colour scheme - orange and exposed black carbon-fibre - as the record-breaking Bugatti.

Bugatti has sold nearly 300 Veyrons since the supercar launched in 2005, 35 of which are the Gran Sport open-roof version.

The Super Sport is expected to be the last version of the Veyron 16.4.

source: Drive.com.au

Surveying 2818 motorists across all age groups, around 16 percent (one-in-six) of respondents in the male 18-24 group saw additional safety features as a licence to push the limits of what their vehicle could handle.

“Thankfully, most motorists recognise that while vehicle safety features can provide valuable extra protection in an emergency situation, they aren’t an excuse for reckless behaviour behind the wheel,” AAMI spokesperson Mike Sopinski said.

Averaged across all driver age groups, only 5% of drivers nationally said they would drive more aggressively because their car had added safety features - although the figure does rise among young male drivers.”

He added that, on a more positive note, safety features such as ABS, pre-tensioning seatbelts and airbags continue to be among the top priorities for new car buyers.

The research showed that 64 percent of respondents consider driver and front seat airbags and ABS were the most essential features, with pre-tensioning seatbelts a high-ranking factor for 61 percent of motorists.

Emergency brake-assist technology also ranked highly at 55 percent, followed by traction control with 50 percent.

Other vehicle safety features which were rated extremely important by Australian motorists included electronic stability control (44%) and active head rests (43%).

AAMI’s research also showed that added safety features could have a positive impact on drivers’ attitudes behind the wheel.

“Almost half of drivers surveyed (46%) said they drove more confidently because their car had added safety features,” Mr Sopinski said.

source: TheMotorreport

Well, no. Not all manufacturers are on the same gravy train. You see, any brand, and any model, that is short of 16.7 percent growth, is losing market share.

And while it’s easy to get a cut of meat when there’s a feeding frenzy going on, when the market settles (and more about that in a moment) that loss of market share will really bite. What may surprise is who is losing out.

Let’s start with the main segments, we’ll take the top five in each: what’s up, what’s holding its own, and what’s on the slide.

In most segments, in terms of growth in market share, the story is all Korea. Hyundai and Kia are rampant.

With their extraordinary growth of the past 18 months continuing unabated, this too appears to be an embedded trend. And it will be scaring the crap out of everyone.

Light car segment

• Hyundai Getz 2327 sales for June 2010 - up 25.5 percent YTD
• Toyota Yaris 1866 sales - up 9.7 percent YTD
• Kia Rio 1582 sales - up 15 percent YTD
• Mazda2 1342 sales - up 6.6 percent YTD
• Holden Barina 1245 sales - up 33.4 percent YTD

Of those, only the Getz and the Barina are really winning. The Rio is holding its own, but the Mazda2 and Yaris are losing market share.

And where’s Ford’s brilliant Fiesta? There is only one car its equal in that top five, the Mazda2, but with 981 sales for June it’s behind nearly everyone - even the Micra, Jazz and Swift are doing it over. Ford, where’s that DSG transmission? It’s time it got a decent auto.

Small Car Segment

• Toyota Corolla 4194 sales for June 2010 - up 8.8 percent YTD
• Mazda3 3680 sales - up 9.0 percent YTD
• Hyundai i30 3209 sales - up 69.6 percent YTD
• Holden Cruze 2987 sales - (up 999 percent, as a new entrant)
• Mitsubishi Lancer 2538 sales - up 46.1 percent YTD

Just outside that list is Volkswagen’s Golf with 2527 sales, up 36.0 percent. Notable, and a surprise in that segment is that the Mazda3 has lost traction.

If the i30 maintains its current sales growth (17.0 percent growth for June), it will swamp the 3 and move into second place within two months, and displace the Corolla in top spot in three months. Double yowch for Mazda and Toyota.

Also notable is that the Impreza would appear to have stiffed. With 1045 sales, it is way down the list; worse, it is in negative growth with sales down 33.4 percent for the month, and down 8.4 percent YTD.

Medium Car Segment

• Toyota Camry 2302 sales for June 2010 - up 35.0 percent YTD
• Honda Accord Euro 732 sales - down 9.3 percent YTD
• Mazda6 708 sales - down 4.0 percent YTD
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class 674 sales - up 4.0 percent YTD
• Subaru Liberty 551 sales - up 54.4 percent YTD

Interestingly, BMW’s 3 Series comes in at six, with 431 sales, beating the Mondeo into seventh, with 385 sales.

Also interesting is that the 3-Series was walloped by the C-Class on a monthly sales analysis. For June only, the 3-Series was down 41.3 percent, the C-Class up 18.9 percent.

Overall, the medium car segment continues to perform poorly. Its slide from favour would now appear to be an embedded trend.

Families have clearly lost interest in the medium car as a cost-effective solution to family motoring. And where have they gone? Into compact and medium SUVs - up 33.0 percent and 33.2 percent respectively.

Of the main players, it will be Ford Australia who will be scratching its chin hardest on this one. Its plans for the Mondeo in the local market, and especially for the wagon (replacing the Falcon wagon), may have to come in for a rethink. There is just no traction in this segment.

Large Car Segment

• Holden Commodore 4697 sales for June 2010 - up 7.1 percent YTD
• Ford Falcon 2651 sales - up 10.4 percent YTD
• Toyota Aurion 1290 sales - down 7.4 percent YTD
• Honda Accord 651 sales - down 30.1 percent YTD
• Mercedes Benz E-Class 256 sales - up 83.1 percent YTD

Interesting here is the E-Class slipping into the top five in the large car segment, and the C-Class at number four in the medium segment.

If anyone - like, say, the Reserve Bank - was looking for signs that there might be some over-heated buyer exuberance behind the current record car sales figures, the performance of the three-pointed star would surely be one sign worth noting.

Also interesting is that the Holden Cruze has now passed the Falcon in total sales. We’ve been watching it closing on Falcon for a month a two - and this month it nudged ahead.

With local production of the Cruze soon to begin, this will surely be heartening for Holden. It is also evidence of yet another shift in the rapidly evolving Australian car market.

SUV Compact Segment

• Subaru Forester 1690 sales for June 2010 - down 2.0 percent YTD
• Toyota RAV4 1534 sales - up 12.3 percent YTD
• Mitsubishi Outlander 1018 sales - up 33.0 percent YTD
• Honda CR-V 1009 sales - up 26.1 percetn YTD
• Nissan X-Trail 972 sales - up 20.7 percent YTD

Once again, just outside of that list, but closing fast is Wolfsburg. With 948 sales, and up 57.5 percent YTD, Volkswagen’s Tiguan is headed for a top five spot next month (especially with the Dualis - up 278.8 percent - surely eating into X-Trail’s sales in Nissan showrooms).

SUV Medium Segment

• Holden Captiva 1675 sales for June 2010 - up 25.5 percent YTD
• Toyota Prado 1644 sales - up 44.1 percent YTD
• Ford Territory 1320 sales - up 18.8 percent YTD
• Toyota Kluger 1230 sales - up 8.9 percent YTD
• Mitsubishi Pajero 804 sales - up 57.4 percent YTD

This month the Captiva has finally done it: it’s knocked the Prado off top spot. Interesting also that the ageing (but ageing gracefully) Territory is hanging onto its lead over the Kluger. Is the Kluger just too damn big for family buyers? The performance of the Captiva and Territory would suggest so.

SUV Large Segment

• Toyota Landcruiser Wagon 780 sales for June 2010 - up 23.8 percent YTD
• Mercedes Benz M-Class 331 sales - up 36.5 percent YTD
• Nissan Patrol 320 sales - up 15.2 percent YTD
• Land Rover Discovery 272 sales - up 41.2 percent YTD
• Lexus RX 259 sales - down 2.8 percent YTD

So, on these numbers, it might be inferred that everything is well with consumer sentiment and, ipso facto, the Australian economy. Yes, bumper June sales, thanks to all the discounting that goes with that ‘EOFIS’ thing, has 2010 looking very healthy indeed.

And therein lies the problem. The Reserve Bank Governor, Glenn Stevens, will also be looking at those figures and wondering what to make of them.

Of course, with the Chinese economy slowing, and indications from Europe that a ‘double-dip’ recession is on the cards, Mr Stevens may choose to hold a watching brief and keep his hand off the interest rate trigger in the short term.

But a warming economy, or any signs of buyer exuberance - such as these vehicle sales figures indicate - will inevitably result in a lift in interest rates down the track.

So it’s too early to make the call on a record year. Especially as business sales are still lagging.

With clouds now hovering over the recovery in the world economy, and some real warning signs emerging, what happens in the next two or three months will be interesting indeed.

source: TheMotorReport

BMW has seen some rather odd looking cars roll off the production line over the past 10 years, but Khalfi Oussama’s new X9 off-roader concept coupe takes oddball Beemers to a whole new level.

The 18-year-old designer hasn’t offered any information about his concept that could be a proposal for a new Batmobile, but since he hails from the sandy desert landscape of Tunisia in northern Africa, it’s fair to say that this is the equivalent of a modern day dune buggy.

The X9 Concept blends the sporty bodylines of a coupe with the rolling stock of an off-roader - much like BMW’s chunky yet sporty-looking X6 soft-roader.

The X9’s massive wheels and excessively wide (not to mention oddly patterned) tyres combined with its colour-matched side-steps and heavy-duty crash plates front and rear definitely showcase the car’s intentions.

Confusing the off-road look, though, is the car’s bulging fins, which are a tad reminiscent of Cadillacs of the 1950s - except that the X9’s fins stick out, rather than up.

The X9 coupe also carries a new interpretation of BMW’s signature kidney grille, although Oussama’s version is considerably smaller than the current flock of BMWs. T

he grille sits alongside a set of unique twin-headlights, as well as a pair of tiny foglights that are set into the bumper.

source: Drive.com.au

The Riversimple is an extremely light-weight (350kg), carbon-fibre bodied hydrogen car, that uses a 6kW Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies fuel cell and a 1kg hydrogen tank to power it along.

The car is said to be capable of reaching 80km/h and will keep going on a single tank of hydrogen for 390km - equivalent to about 0.8L/100km.

The tour down under is all about expanding awareness for the potential production of the open-source vehicle - the car does not have a designated manufacturer for its components or production line. Company founder, Hugo Spowers, hopes to have around 84,000 Riversimple examples toddling about UK roads by 2020.

Spowers said in a recent interview with GoAuto that Australia doesn’t have the constrains of much larger, competitive manufacturers in the market, and sees our country as a prospective foundation to launch the vehicle. He says countries such as Germany, already have an ultra-expensive, Mercedes-Benz hydrogen trial going on, and wants to push the fact that the Riversimple is a much cheaper alternative that can be built and bought at much lower costs than the overshadowing rivals.

The car is yet to be released to any market, as testing and production-backing is still under development. Any takers?

source: CarAdvice.com.au

In fact, it’s the most powerful TT Audi has ever built, but according to Buckingham based performance electronic experts Superchips it’s not quite fast enough.

After a detailed remap of the TT RS’s Bosche ME9 ECU by the Superchip wizards, power is up from 252 kW to 300 kW and torque rises from 466 Nm to 551 Nm.

Not convinced? Did I mention that 500 of those Newton-metres are available between 2500-5700 rpm?

These are substantial upgrades, which should see an increase in acceleration over the standard 4.7second 0-100km/h sprint time, but it begs the question of reliability and general day-to-day usefulness around town.

Superchips are quick to point out that their ECU remaps place a strong emphasis on drivability and user friendliness and the TT RS project is no exception. Hence, the factory spec top speed of 250km/h has been left unchanged for safety reasons.

The company also says that if the car is driven in a ‘like-for-like’ manner with the standard TT RS, then owners should see no change in the car’s fuel consumption, despite the extra performance.

The actual implementation of the ECU remap does not need any particular skill set and is simply a matter of plugging a bluefin handset into the Audi TT RS’s OBD11 port and following the on-screen instructions.

The original factory settings are also stored on the handset and can be restored to the car in a matter of minutes, says Superchips.

The cost of the Superchips remap is £445 and is available from any of the 100 dealers in the UK.

The company also covers the car with a customer service guarantee and a full 12-month/30,000 kilometer supplementary warranty.

source: CarAdvice.com.au

Dubbed Operation Clear View, the operation follows a number of recent collisions in the city involving vehicles with heavily-tinted windows.

According to Leading Senior Constable Steve Hillman, the Melbourne CBD has the highest rate of collisions in the state, with many leading to injury for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

Ldg Sen Const Hillman did not indicate what proportion of these accidents were attributable to motorists.

“We intend on checking a large number of vehicles for roadworthiness, in particular we will be checking the level of tint,” Ldg Sen Const Hillman said.

“If we see any that are deemed un-roadworthy, we will issue a defect notice and request that the driver reduce that level of tint.

“We are serious about enhancing road safety for our vulnerable road users, and this is one way we can do that.”

He added that aggressive enforcement in the CBD has seen a 44 percent reduction in collisions over the same period last year.

source: TheMotorReport.com.au

So, is Ms Gillard a closet drifter? Has she been busted at 160km/h in a 40 zone? Not so far as we know. You’re probably thinking: Relevance of the whole recent political knife-fight bizzo to Car Advice? Zip? Less than zip? Well, not quite. In her acceptance speech, Ms Gillard, 48, solemnly intoned: “… I believe in climate change. I believe human beings contribute to climate change.” She also said: “If elected as Prime Minister I will re-prosecute the case for a carbon price at home and abroad.”

This means - basically - carbon dioxide, greenhouse, the environment, etc., will be the subject of ongoing public debate in the medium term in this country. And that means there’s a fair old chance the car will be once again unfairly and publicly demonized - in some quarters to a degree way, way beyond its actual contribution to the nation’s CO2 emissions. Crackpot greenies are on it right now, you can bet.

This column isn’t a debate about climate change - I’m not a climate scientist. So how the hell would I know? If the consensus view of climate scientists is that we need to cut CO2 emissions, fair enough - let’s do that. But let’s do it in a rational way, by targeting the biggest emitters, and by picking the lowest-hanging of the fruit first. That seems like a reasonable way to go about it.

Thankfully, in May this year the Federal Government’s Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (a name that demands landscape-format business cards…) published its latest National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (NGI), which you can download as a PDF. It lists all the big CO2 emitters. It’s very interesting reading if you’re a car enthusiast (or a cow - we’ll get to that).

According to the NGI, the country’s total CO2 emissions for the year to December 2009 were 537 million tones (Mt) of CO2-equivalent. Huh? Basically, there is more than one greenhouse gas. There’s your basic CO2, your oxides of nitrogen, your methane, and your halocarbons (think: refrigerants). All these gasses have different greenhouse-causing potentials (they don’t contribute equally to the problem - a tonne of methane is a bigger greenhouse problem than a tonne of CO2, for example). What the NGI does is convert the methanes, NOx and halocarbons to the equivalent amount of CO2 in terms of the greenhouse contribution, for fairness. All the figures quoted in this report are in million tones of CO2 equivalent.

So, according to the NGI’s official data, of that total national annual emission of 537Mt, passenger cars emitted just 42Mt - or 7.8 per cent. Take a look at electricity - a mind bending 202Mt, or 38 per cent. That’s right: electricity emits five times the greenhouse gas of the humble passenger car. Got any extra lights burning in the house right now?

Agriculture emits 84Mt - double that of the passenger car. And, according to the NGI, of that 84Mt, 56Mt is the product of the ‘enteric fermentation’ of livestock. This is a very technical term for what is basically the contribution to greenhouse of millions of cows and sheep farting. That’s not a joke. It means cows and sheep farting is a bigger greenhouse issue than all of Australia’s passenger cars.

Fuel consumption in the mining of non-energy resources (think: iron ore, bauxite, gold, lime, etc.) is 49Mt - 17 per cent more than passenger cars. Exploiting resources is a bigger greenhouse issue than passenger cars.

Industrial processes - refining minerals (producing cement, for example), emissions from the chemicals industry, and metal production (making aluminium from bauxite, for example) - account for 31Mt worth of emissions. So-called ‘fugitive emissions’ - gasses that escape from the production of coal, gas, oil and solid fuels - total 40Mt. And, of those, 29Mt comes from coal mining and decommissioned coal mines. Industries that can’t control their leakages is the same as passenger cars from a greenhouse perspective.

Lastly, deforestation releases 50Mt worth of annual greenhouse emissions, though this is offset by reforestation schemes, which sequester carbon and bring that total down to a more respectable 23Mt.

What utterly gobsmacks me about all these different sources isn’t really the size of the problem. Nope, what’s got me 100 per cent stumped is public perception. I mean, if you say ‘climate change’ or ‘CO2′ or ‘greenhouse problem’ to your average Joe in the street, plenty of times the gut reaction will be ‘car’. I mean, what are these people running their computers on? Petrol?

We’re never going to make a real dent in CO2 by demonizing the car. Or by reducing the fuel consumption of passenger cars without targeting all the other emitters in a similar fashion. If we could cut the fuel consumption of passenger cars by 15 per cent overnight (and we could do that, theoretically, just by driving smarter) it would make just over one per cent difference to the national greenhouse emissions picture. But if we could cut electricity consumption by 15 per cent (also possible in theory) it would make almost six per cent difference.

Frankly, you’d be doing the greenhouse problem a bigger favour by using less heat in winter, less air conditioning in summer and turning off the lights when you’re not in the room, than you would by ditching the car you love.

You wait and see the well-intentioned greenhouse crackpots amp up into full-tilt car demonization when Ms Gillard starts getting the electorate all hot and bothered over the fair price for carbon as the only option to prevent envirogeddon. It’s cool in some circles to point the finger at cars and label them evil devices, but doing so is far from the truth. Also, it won’t get the job done.

source: CarAdvice.com.au