The Australian company behind the evMe has announced plans to expand their conversion-concept horizons to the European market. Energetique has made the trip from Down Under to Germany and signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with vehicle development firm RLE that will see the partnership develop an adaptable and affordable electric vehicle platform that can meet a variety of different customer needs. What that means in English is that they will take the approach used to turn the Mazda 2 into the evMe and apply it to other vehicle types for small fleet buyers with specific needs. The original Energetique project looks like it’s going well if one were to judge it by its website cover. The evMe internet home has been fully fleshed out since our last visit and now boasts plenty of pictures as well as links to its Facebook page and an electric car survey. They’ve also been garnering a bit of favorable Aussie press attention that’s worth checking out. As far as conversions from the land of kangaroos and wallabies are concerned, we’ve seen worse . Official press release after the break. [Source: Energetique ] Continue reading Energetique and RLE bringing evMe concept to Europe Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Mazda , Europe/EU , Pacific Region Energetique and RLE bringing evMe concept to Europe originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

It sounds like executives from the Volkswagen Group are speaking with one voice on the subject of plug in vehicles. While both Volkswagen and its premium brand Audi are working on various combinations of hybrid, plug-in and even fuel cell technology, it doesn’t necessarily follow that these technologies will be readily available anytime soon. VW of America CEO Stefan Jacoby spoke to a group of media in Seattle last week where he told the gathering that its unlikely that plug-in vehicles will go mainstream within the next decade. The issue as it is today is affordability. The problems remain mass, capacity and cost of batteries. Right now you can have any two. Jacoby expects plug-in vehicles to become more common, but until the costs come down while still meeting customer performance expectations, the masses won’t be adopting. In the near term, VW plans to focus on optimizing existing gas and diesel powertrains by expanding availability of direct injection, downsizing and turbocharging. Automatic start-stop capability will also help, along with weight reduction to achieve the goal of halving fuel consumption over the next ten years. [Source: The Car Connection ] Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Volkswagen VW’s Stefan Jacoby doubts mainstream affordability of EVs in the next decade originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 18 May 2009 08:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

One of France’s most prestigious car magazines, l’Automobile , believes that considering CO 2 as the only pollutant to adapt legislation is unfair. Hence the magazine editors came up their own list that includes all pollutants coming from the exhaust pipe. The list is actually pretty harsh on small displacement diesels, which are the ones that benefit from low-CO 2 legislation, because not also have Diesel Particulate Filters installed. This lack is something the new Euro V rules are fixing for introduction starting in September, but will not be fully mandatory until 2011. The magazine raised its hackles on this issue, stating that particulates coming out of diesel engines are the most important source of pollution, far ahead CO 2 . Nevertheless, the classification is very interesting and you can find their system and the complete list after the jump (can you spot the obvious missing car?). [Source: L'Automobile ] Continue reading L’automobile publishes own list of less polluting cars Filed under: Etc. , Europe/EU L’automobile publishes own list of less polluting cars originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 16 May 2009 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

cutaway of liquid hydrogen storage tank The first hydrogen filling station in the Czech Republic will open this fall in Prague. The liquid hydrogen station will be installed by Linde Gas. Linde is a partner with BMW on its hydrogen programs with the Hydrogen7, which can run on liquid rather than compressed gas hydrogen. The Prague station will evidently be used to fuel a hydrogen bus that is being built by Skoda for a test program to evaluate alternative fuel transport. The Institute of Nuclear Research in Prague is also part of the program, so presumably nuclear power will be used to produce the hydrogen. The station will be able to fill the four roof-mounted tanks on the bus in 10 minutes, giving it a range of about 186 miles. The €1 million station will apparently be the first of its kind in any of the newest EU member states. Thanks to Ales for the tip! [Source: technet.idnes.cz ] Filed under: Hydrogen , Europe/EU First Czech hydrogen station to open in the fall originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 15 May 2009 17:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

2009 Ford Ka - Click above for a high-res gallery To quote the famous Scottish author Sir Walter Scott, “Oh what a tangled web we weave…” In this particular case, the web in question is a global vehicle market with automakers and product lines so intertwined with one another that Fiat’s expected partnership with Chrysler could actually allow Ford to bring its small and super efficient Ka city car to the U.S. market. How so? The latest version of Ford’s diminutive Ka shares its basic underpinnings with the Fiat 500, which is one of the first small cars Fiat hopes to sell in the United States through Chrysler’s under-utilized dealer network. Early projections indicate that the little Fiat 500 may be built in Toluca, Mexico for sale in the U.S. market. In Poland, both the retrotastic Fiat 500 and modern Ford Ka roll off the same assembly line, and something similar could potentially happen in Mexico. Ford CEO Alan Mulally has repeatedly expressed a desire to sell the Ka in America , but it’s never made financial sense to do so. Maybe - and it’s still a bit of a stretch - that time has finally come. Gallery: 2009 Ford Ka [Source: The Detroit Free Press ] Filed under: Manufacturing/Plants , Chrysler , Ford , Fiat , USA Fiat’s partnership with Chrysler could bring the Ford Ka to America originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 11 May 2009 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

With the trend towards smaller, more economical cars, Skoda really needs a minicar in it’s lineup if it’s gonna be taken seriously. This is what it could look like. http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x187/samburfordking/Cars/SkodaJoyster.jpg

VW up! - Click above for a high-res gallery Volkswagen Group CEO Dr. Martin Winterkorn has announced that the first of its New Small Family (NSF) micro-cars will start production in early 2011. The new models, based on the series of up! concepts from 2007, will initially be built the company’s plant in Bratislava, Slovakia. The company plans to build three- and five-door hatchbacks based on the new architecture with variants for the Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda brands. Previously, Volkswagen has also indicated its intention to build the new mini-cars in multiple locations around the world, so this is likely just the beginning. So far, Volkswagen hasn’t confirmed whether or not the cars will be offered in the U.S. market. Gallery: Volkswagen up! concept [Source: Volkswagen ] Continue reading Volkswagen new build new micro-cars in Slovakia Filed under: Volkswagen Volkswagen new build new micro-cars in Slovakia originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

Click on image for a complete gallery of the Chevrolet Matiz In Europe, you can get a Chevrolet for less money than some scooters. In fact, the price is lower than even the Tata Nano is expected to get when it’s on sale in Europe: Starting with an MRSP of about €10,000, the price can be dropped to €2,900 with various incentives (for those of you in Lombardy, Italy, anyway). Part of these incentives are due to the LPG (Liquiefied Petroleum Gas) conversion kit. The car is a Chevrolet Matiz, soon to be replaced by the local version of the Spark, and this is how the numbers break down: there’s a €1,500 discount from Italy’s scrapping plan , €2,000 for purchasing a LPG vehicle, €800 direct from Chevrolet, and €3,000 from the Lombardy region to stimulate the purchase of new cars. And, if the Matiz is too small, you can get an Aveo for about €4,400. Gallery: 2008 Chevrolet Matiz [Source: Le Blog Auto ] Filed under: Chevrolet , Legislation and Policy , Europe/EU Tata Nano beater in Lombardy: The €2,900 LPG Chevrolet Matiz originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

Click above for high-resolution gallery of the Škoda Superb GreenLine According to Carscoop , the government of the Czech Republic has procured 27 Škoda Superb GreenLine sedans from VW’s Czech subsidiary that will be used as official vehicles for the upcoming European-American summit in Prague. This will be President Obama’s first official trip to the European country since being elected. Despite the presence of the eco-friendly cars, Obama is likely to have his own transportation arrangements. According to Škoda PR Manager Radek Spicar, “We are pleased that the Superb GreenLine is to be used as the official vehicle when Barack Obama visits the country. We are aware of his positive attitude to environmental protection and giving environmentally-friendly vehicles political support is very important in terms of increasing the number of such vehicles in general.” The Super GreenLine features a 1.9L turbocharged diesel engine that makes 105 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque. Fuel economy registers at 46 U.S. mpg (5.1 l / 100 km) in the combined cycle with carbon dioxide emissions of 136 g/km. [Source: Carscoop ] Filed under: Diesel , Legislation and Policy , Europe/EU EU-US summit delegates to ride in Škoda Superb GreenLine originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

Click above for high-res image gallery of the IMiEV Fresh off of successful trips to Monaco and New Zealand , Mitsubishi is getting ready to crank out more copies of the tiny iMiEV. Just how many people will want an electric-powered jellybean? Mitsubishi thinks about 20,000 a year. That’s the number of iMiEV vehicles that the company will be able to make each year by fiscal 2011, if unsourced reports in the Japanese newspaper Nikkei are correct. 20,000 is about twice as many as Mitsubishi initially thought they would make each year. 2,000 are on the drawing board for delivery to corporate clients this year. Starting next fall, the lithium-ion battery joint venture between Mitsubishi and GS Yuasa will add another production line at its Shiga prefecture facility and the iMiEV will go on sale in Japan in fiscal 2010. Gallery: i-MiEV in HD [Source: Nikkei via Marketwatch , Bloomberg ] Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Mitsubishi , Green Daily Mitsubishi reportedly doubling iMiEV output to 20,000 a year originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments