Detroit Preview: Fisker Karma

Just one short year after Fisker showed us its plug-in hybrid Karma show car at the "Detroit Auto Show", the house that Henrik built will be returning to the Motor City to debut the production version of its ambitious project. Fisker says the production model, which is shown in the post just-released official pic, will only vary slightly in design from the show car, including a different upper grille that's a bit larger towards the outer edges and a larger lower air intake. The exhaust pipe from the internal combustion engine will also exit from an odd place: behind the front wheels. We'll also get our first view of the Karma's production interior in Detroit next month.

Fisker announced last month that it had chosen General Motors' turbocharged, direct-inject 2.0L four-cylinder as its power source of choice, and after sampling the engine in the Chevy Cobalt SS Turbo, we're very eager to see what it will do in a hybrid set-up designed to make one very large luxury saloon move like the wind. Combined with the hybrid system's 22.6 kWh electric motor, the drivetrain as a whole is said to produce 408 horsepower and propel the car to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds and onto to a top speed of 125 mph. What sounded like vaporware 365 days ago is starting to take form, and we'll be on hand in Detroit next month to bring you more.

Dodge EV: All-Electric 268HP Coupe

At its World Headquarters in Auburn Hills today, Chrysler LLC revealed three all-electric prototype vehicles, the Dodge EV, Jeep EV and Chrysler EV, promising to have one of them available in the North American markets as soon as 2010 followed shortly after by Europe. Speaking at the presentation, Chrysler LLC’s CEO Bob Nardelli said: “The introduction of the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge electric vehicles provide a glimpse of the very near future, and demonstrates that we are serious and well along in the development of bringing EVs to market.”

Chrevrolet Volt's Innovative GPS System

There are some new  features in the new Chevy Volt. For instance, what seems to be a GPS system at first sight, actually can also tell the driver how far he is from home. This is especially helpful in an electric car that is, it usually charges at home. It is a plug-in electric computer which can calculate how much time the car can use the gas engine to charge the on-board battery pack, providing a real fuel economy.

Opel Verstion of Volt coming In 2011

Opel is coming out with it's own version of the new Chevrolet Volt, a european sister.

"Opel will have a version of the Volt that will look more like an Opel. It will be a close sister to the Chevrolet Volt," said a GM source.

"We are trying to position Opel toward the upper side of the high-volume segments and having the Volt technology will give Opel a competitive edge," the source told Automotive News Europe.

GM aims to launch production versions of the Volt in the US in late 2010. The proposed European variant, the Flextreme, was shown at the 2007 IAA in Frankfurt.

The first models to reach Europe will be supplied from the Hamtramck assembly plant in Detroit, but GM also plans to make the in Europe.

Toyota Prius vs. Chevrolet Volt

General Motors ends its first century this month. And, you'll have heard, it ain't in very good shape in the US.

So here's the car on which it's betting its second century. The Volt, on sale in 2010 is a hybrid, but not as we know it. They're calling it the extended-range electric vehicle. There is an engine, a new 1.4-litre petrol four, mounted at the front as per usual. But, unlike the Toyota or Honda hybrids, it never drives the wheels directly. In future years, that engine could be replaced by a fuel cell.

In fact, the Volt is designed to give up to 40 miles on battery power alone, with full 150bhp performance available. This, says GM after lots of study, is enough for the habitual daily mileage of 80 percent of American drivers - 12,000 miles a year at 40 miles a day, six days a week. So they'll get home at night and plug in to cheap household electricity, getting that 40 miles for 50p at US mains prices. They might go weeks or months never needing the engine.

When it does spark up, the engine simply charges up the battery - although only partially, as GM wants the car always to arrive at its destination in a depleted state so you can use the mains to re-charge. Even with the engine cycling to keep the batteries at constant charge, the Volt will do about 60mpg.

Disappointed that this doesn't look have the electric-Camaro looks of the Volt show car? Come on, it's better than a Prius. The shape has morphed from show to production to make space for four adults, and the corners had to be rounded off because every scintilla of drag kocked back the electric range.

It's only a four-seater because the upper body tapers backwards to cut drag, and because there's a big battery box running along the car like an overgrown tranmission tunnel. The lithium ion pack weighs 180kg, taking the whole Volt to 1800kg.

By 2012 or so, there will be a Vauxhall/Opel version for Europe with unique styling. The Volt uses the platform of the next Astra, which gives you an idea of its size. And because they had to develop all sorts of power and weight-saving features for the Volt, like climate control and power assists, the Astra will be a better car because of it.

I've met a lot of Volt engineers and they're absolute fanatics. I wish them well. A lot of them worked on the original EV1. Who killed the electric car? If it was GM, then we desperately need it to be GM who brings it back.

Source: Top Gear

Audi Metroproject Quatro A1 Concept

The small car market is heating up fast, even for carmaker brands like Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, the latter of which has the majority of the market cornered with its MINI sub-brand. The Bimmer competitor from Ingolstadt plans on attacking that market with its A1 subcompact, but unlike the Metroproject concept from Tokyo, the new A1 due to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show will sport four doors. Europeans are likely to get a production model spawned from the concept, which will likely be built in Brussels, Belgium and be introduced as a 2009 model. An electric model could follow shortly thereafter. Will the U.S. be blessed with another Germanic mini car? Audi's elusive Magic 8-Ball tells us "Not Likely," but with sales of the MINI going strong it's entirely too early to count it out completely.

BMW's Electric Car

BMW is coming out with it's own future electric car, it will comply with Californian regulations, which say that by 2012 a fuel cell or battery-powered vehicle must have a range of over 200 miles.

The car might look like this in the picture, "It’ll be a car with a completely new look, with two engines available. One will be a very efficient combustion engine and the other will be a purely electric model,” announce company CEO Norbert Reithofer told the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit.