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Stimulus We Can Believe In: More Cash for Cash for Clunkers

August 10th, 2009

DETROIT - Yes, it’s an economic stimulus program we can believe in. After one week, so many American drivers have traded in clunkers for $3500-$4500 in cash toward a new car that the program is nearly out of money. The Obama administration promised Friday morning that it would fund such trade-in deals signed over the weekend, even though the government has nearly used up the program’s $1-billion funding. Dealer applications have crashed the program’s computers. Friday afternoon, The Washington Post reports, the House voted 316-109 to throw another $2 billion into the clunkers pot. The money was slated for energy loan guarantees as part of the Obama economic stimulus package.

While the aptly named Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-California) complained the money was being re-directed without any input from the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Candice Miller (R-Michigan) called the original program “the best $1 billion of economic stimulus funds that the government has ever spent.”

She’s right.

General Motors and Chrysler have received about $64 billion in federal loan guarantees so far. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) budgeted up to $700 billion in federal loans to banks, financial institutions and AIG Insurance. And nine failing banks that received $165 billion from the government last year paid more than $32 billion in bonuses to their employees. Each of the 4793 bankers received a minimum of $1 million. They may have been the only American consumers buying cars in the past few months.

So at the risk of raising the ghost of Senator Everett Dirksen (”a billion here, a billion there and sooner or later, you’re talking real money,” although the number in his time may have been a million), what’s $3 billion if it gets people in showrooms again? If the last week is any indication, the extra $2 billion in Cash for Clunkers money won’t last more than, er, two weeks. Nice problem to have: if enough of the clunkers are sputtering into GM and Chrysler dealers, the cash may help GM and Chrysler pay back their loans more quickly.

We’ll know more on Monday, when the automakers announce their July sales numbers.  If they report sales spikes after the Clunkers program commenced, it had better spur the Senate (where the $2-billion extension faces stiffer opposition) to quickly pass the House bill.

Source : http://blogs.motortrend.com/6537301/government/stimulus-we-can-believe-in-more-cash-for-cash-for-clunkers/index.html

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Audi Bucks the Trend, Promises More Product, Not All for U.S.

August 10th, 2009

Hyundai’s U.S. CEO John Krafcik said it best earlier this year: “flat is the new up.” By that measure, Audi AG is riding high. Global sales fell 11 percent in the first half of 2009, versus 18 percent for the whole industry. What’s more, Audi was comparing its number to a record-setting 2008. In North America, sales fell 12 percent in the first half of the year, versus a one-third drop in sales for the industry.

More important, Audi is making money. Its global first-half profit was 823 million euro ($1.17 billion), off 36.6 percent. Chief Financial Officer Axel Strotbeck said Friday that the company posted a “clear profit” in both of the first two quarters. “We’re the most profitable premium manufacturer, at the present.”

Audi continues its struggle for more premium market share in the U.S., of course. It’s been about 17 years since it nearly left our market. Audi’s still a pretty small player here, only its fourth-largest global market (after Germany, China and Great Britain) whereas we’ve traditionally been the second-largest market for Mercedes-Benz and BMW (though their Chinese sales undoubtedly rival U.S. sales now, too).

Nevertheless, Strotbeck said Audi will “not push sales by artificially pushing lease prices down” in the U.S. Instead, it will continue to move upmarket. In terms of features, quality and luxurious interiors, Audi’s reputation is nearly that of BMW and Mercedes. While its A4 and A5 can get very expensive with optional equipment very quickly, the A4 especially strikes many upper-middle-class buyers as an accessible step up from an entry level Lexus, Infiniti or Acura, and perhaps a step-and-a-half up from a loaded Camry or Accord.

The other element that’s working for Audi is marketing. While other luxury brands cut marketing and advertising budgets and get out of racing, Audi is a marketing powerhouse that led Super Bowl XLII advertising and spent a truckload of euro to go to Le Mans. It’s setting itself up well for the next decade, when strong marketing will pick the winners in a plethora of good new product.

Strotbeck pointed to three new models Audi will introduce in coming months: the A5 Sportback, an all-new A8 coming in calendar 2010 and a new A1 in the third quarter of ‘10. Two will not be imported to the U.S. Audi said this about future models/strategy in the North American market:

• No U.S. production plans for now. This became a big issue for models like the A4 last year when the euro’s value went past the $1.60 mark. Volkswagen is building a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which will build the Passat replacement beginning calendar year ‘1l, but Audi won’t be part of it, for now.

• No plans to bring the 2011 A1 to North America. Audi hopes to grow A3 sales with a new diesel version coming to the U.S. in December. Problem with the A3 is that it costs nearly as much as a base A4 in the U.S., and despite the Mini’s popularity, we don’t like hatchbacks here. Given the expected technology, the A1 could cost Audi at least as much to build as the A3 or even the A4. Still, if the new A1 is as cool and cutting edge as the original, won’t it be as desirable as a Mini Cooper?
• While Audi still considers diesels the best green/fuel-efficient technology, it will have a hybrid Q5 on the market in one-and-a-half to two years.
• All of Audi’s 2010 gas-powered models will have direct injection, and it claims it will be the first to achieve that milestone.

Source : http://blogs.motortrend.com/6564153/corporate/audi-bucks-the-trend-promises-more-product-not-all-for-us/index.html

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Driving the Future: Nissan’s All New Electric Vehicle

August 10th, 2009

Since April, we’ve been continually updating you on the progress of Nissan’s electric vehicle (EV) program with up to the minute news bulletins like this one.

And this one.

This one over here.

And, yup, this one.
 
Well today, Nissan essentially stuffed all of this information into one giant EV gyoza and reheated it for us at the automaker’s Advanced Technology Briefing at the Oppama Grandrive test track in Yokosuka, Japan.

Was it fresh? Admittedly, no. None of what we saw today was groundbreaking stuff, but it certainly was nutritious — especially once we chewed on it for a while and digested all the details.

The real purpose of this heaping helping of electrifying info is to build a buzz about Nissan’s latest EV — which happens to be making its debut this Sunday at the company’s new headquarters in Yokohama.

Unlike previous concept vehicles and test mules, Nissan’s newest EV will not be a Frankenstein’d mashup of an existing platform and all electric power train. This as yet unnamed EV will be based on an all new, purpose built front wheel drive platform with a plug-in rechargeable electric motor up front and batteries slung low under the belly of the car.

Nissan is not using cylindrical cell type batteries like many other electric and hybrid vehicle manufacturers opting instead for flat lithium ion (LiOn) laminate cells that look a bit like giant Pop Tarts. These batteries, developed in partnership with Japanese electronics manufacturer NEC, uses manganese as the positive electrode, instead of metals like nickel or cobalt. Manganese is relatively inexpensive and abundant in comparison to those other metals, and when oriented in Nissan/NEC’s special spinel structure (think Lego blocks) versus the standard sandwich orientation, the result is a battery that Nissan claims is more stable, reliable, and cost efficient than the competition’s.

The flat shape and large surface area of the batteries  also makes for easier packaging (in stacks) and cooling. It also means the batteries use fewer components than cylindrical type cells, which also keeps cost down.

In Nissan’s EV program, these laminate cells, about the size and thickness of a magazine are stacked four to a module. Forty-eight modules and a management system, packaged as a single lumpy unit and enclosed in a metal frame, comprise the EV’s battery pack. The idea here is that this battery pack could then be bolted up into an EV on an assembly line - as car makers do with various subassemblies. Supplying these battery packs is Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), a company co-developed by Nissan and Renault.

The battery pack slots in underneath the car, between the wheels, where you would traditionally find a driveshaft or exhaust pipes running the length of the vehicle. Some of the modules in the pack are stacked horizontally and vertically to create the base for the front and rear seats in this 5 passenger car. Others lie flat in the battery pack and compose rear seat foot well. Nissan calls the arrangement high-low-high. Though heavy (each of the 48 modules weighs roughly 7.7 lbs), the battery pack’s ground hugging orientation should provide for a low center of gravity and good handling.

So will the 80KW electric motor that sits up front in the chassis. While the inverter sits relatively high in the engine bay – about the normal height of an internal combustion engine’s cylinder head - to facilitate access to the charging ports, the electric motor sits very low, between the front wheels and far beneath the strut towers – about where you’d expect to find the oil pan of a traditional engine.

Overall, Nissan’s layout is impressive because of its elegance and simplicity. EV powertrain aside, the cutaway model reveals what is essentially a blank canvas.  With the front engine/front wheel drive configuration and all of the batteries low and out of the way, the cargo and passenger area looked like they could be configured in number of ways, without sacrifices to either. Almost any type of body style could be designed on top this platform as well.  And theoretically, you could even make this a rear or all wheel drive vehicle by beefing up the rear suspension and stuffing another electric motor in the back, low and behind the battery pack. Such speculation is all fine and good, but how does it drive?

Quite well actually. We had but the briefest taste of the EV’s performance - one lap around the Grandrive test track in a Versa-based test mule - but it made a compelling case.

Acceleration is surprisingly brisk; the 80 kW electric motor doles out all of its 207 lb ft of torque in less than 100 milleseconds once you hit the throttle, providing the sensation of instant response. Nissan engineers claim it accelerates better than an Infiniti G35 by leaving the line quicker and getting up to speed more smoothly. Its top speed of only 87 mph is quite a bit off the pace of the G. On the other hand, it’s much quieter than that car or any for that matter. The electric motor and single speed gearbox mean it’s nothing but quiet thrust when you put your foot down. The only sounds come from the tires as they hum over the pavement and the greenhouse as the wind rushes over and across it. As for the rest of the ride, well, Nissan’s EV mule drives pretty much like a standard issue Versa.  Shrunken joystick shifter and tab style parking brake lever aside, the rest of this test mule’s controls feel the same as a standard Versa. Same goes for the ride and handling; the cars pushes back if you ask it to corner too fast, but it does feel more planted and less tippy as it turns. Perhaps the battery placement providing the extra stability.

With a range of 100 miles on a full charge, Nissan claims its EV will suit the average commuting needs of approximately 80% of Americans. What happens when the battery runs down?  Well Nissan has clearly thought a lot about that as well; they not only have a plan for how you can charge the car at your house at night, but how you’ll manage during a busy workweek or weekend.

Nissan’s EV battery pack can be charged in a number of ways.  A home recharging kit allows you to power up the EV from standard 110V or 220V outlets. Simply connect an SAE standardized pistol-like charger to the port at the nose of the car and wait. Charge times at 110V are claimed to be approximately 8 hours; half that for 220V.  Nissan has also developed special three phase, 200V quick charging stations can deliver 80% battery charge in 30 minutes – though it requires a larger, specially shaped charger and receiver port.

To reduce any anxiety associated with the limited 100 mile range and long recharging times, Nissan has also given its EV a special monitoring system they call EV-IT. This system monitors the battery level and provides range information on a navigation screen, so users will never have to wonder how far they can go or where they can juice up.  Nissan claims EV-IT will also provide a whole host of smart features to the EV driving experience and set up an animated clip to showcase what living with its EV might be like:

You wake up to find an email on your smartphone from your Nissan EV providing a update on the battery charge – a benefit of the networked EV-IT system. Assuming you’ve had it plugged in for 8hours at 110V or 4 hours at 220V, your car should be fully charged. At this point, you can remotely turn the A/C on (and in the future, and engine oil warmer) to get the car up to suitable operating temperature while it is still plugged in.  This conserves energy for your morning commute.

While you recoup some of the power on the way to work via regenerative braking, the bulk of recharging takes place at work – via the 110V/220V system, or a quick charger. After a long day of work, you pull into your garage, click her off and plug her in. But you don’t start charging right away. Via your smartphone, you program a start time for the charging cycle; late in the night when demand and electricity rates are lowest.
 
For longer weekend trips, EV-IT will help you plan your route, by keeping up to date on your remaining battery power and driving range and locating charging stations nearby. In Nissan’s future, shopping centers and restaurants along your route will have quick charging stations, so you can continually keep your EV’s batteries charged with minimal disruption to your journey. Further off are plans for non contact charging via electromagnetic induction. Imagine being able to top off your car’s batteries by simply pulling your EV over a special recharging pad built into the ground. Whether you’re parked for hours at the local mega mall or for just a minute at a red light, the battery charge goes up.

Sound too good to be true? Perhaps. This Sunday, (Saturday for America), Nissan will unveil the first step towards this future, when it reveals its as yet unnamed, zero emissions electric vehicle at its new headquarters in Yokohama.  We’ll be there for a complete update, so stay tuned.

 

Source : http://blogs.motortrend.com/6564081/green/driving-the-future-nissans-all-new-electric-vehicle/index.html

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On the Trail of the Orient Express: Day 6

July 30th, 2009

I have never motored over the Stelvio Pass in the Italian Alps. After driving up the Transf?g?r??an Road in Romania on Day 6 of our journey along the Orient Express, I’m not sure that I need to. You see, the Transf?g?r??an climbs to the highest altitude in all of Romania — 6099 feet, to be exact — right near the shoulder of 8346-foot Moldoveanu Peak, which happens to be the tallest mountain in the country, and the turquoise-hued Bâlea Lake. Better yet, the 57-mile Transf?g?r??an treats drivers to innumerable esses and hairpins, over two dozen bridges and viaducts, and, at half a mile, the longest tunnel in Romania (the Capra-Bâlea). Scenery? Only if you count alpine lakes, cascading waterfalls, rock-strewn rivers, and some of the most daunting summits in the world. MacKenzie comes over the radio: “If they closed down this road, it would make for an amazing World Rally stage.” Indeed.

Open from July to October — although weather in the Carpathian Mountains can sometimes alter the open season — the twisty Transf?g?r??an usually dictates a pace of around 25 mph. But on our travel day, the traffic is relatively light and the weather is positively gorgeous, so we’re able to push our two Hyundais at a brisker clip. Much of the road, which was built under the rule of Communist leader Nicolae Ceau?escu in the early 1970s as a military route, is rough and bumpy, and the firm springs suspending our Genesis sedans are creating a ride that seems somewhat unsettled.

My car is suffering from a lot of vertical motion, making me long for a quick ride that can better absorb bumps at speed — a Subaru STI would do nicely, thank you. That said, the Genesis is just a few chassis tweaks from being a stellar driver’s car.

Our impetus for taking the Transf?g?r??an was simple: it connects the city of Sibiu, our overnight stay the day prior, and the village of Arefu, which happens to be where a certain Count used to reside. Yep, I’m referring to none other than Dracula himself, or as the locals know him, Vlad ?epe?. In Romanian, ?epe? means “The Impaler,” a name Vlad received from the way he used to punish those who upset him. King during parts of the 15th century, Vlad was the son of Vlad Dracul, whose surname translates to dragon or devil. Thus, ?epe?’s last name was Draculea — son of Dracul or, as most know him, Dracula.

Bram Stoker, who wrote the 1897 book Dracula, based his antagonist — very loosely, of course — on ?epe?. The novel’s protagonist, Jonathan Harker, traveled the Orient Express so he could meet with Count Dracula in Transylvania. While Stoker’s legendary Dracula lived in the Bran Castle, located near Brasov some 50 miles east of Arefu, the real McCoy called Poienari Fortress home. Read more »

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Coolest, Classiest Electric? Mercedes SLS AMG eDrive

July 30th, 2009

While at the Nurburgring for a first-ever drive of the coming 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing, I also had the opportunity to sit down with Volker Mornhinweg as the AMG CEO showed-off some highlights of his next new vehicular baby: an all-electric version of the Gullwing.

The eDrive version, says Mornhinweg, “will use exactly the same white body as the gasoline-powered car. There’s plenty of room in the existing structure to put electric motors at each wheel and batteries on the floor, ahead of the firewall, and just aft of the seats. The only change is up front, where we’ll have to change the front axle to a pushrod suspension to accommodate the motors.”

Mornhinweg is clearly excited about the eDrive project. “This is not a concept car. The SLS eDrive will be on the road perhaps as early as 2013—certainly by 2015 at the latest.” As such, it’ll be a continuation of AMG’s goal to reduce fleet-average C02 emissions by 30 percent by 2012. “The challenge for the future is to deliver superb performance, but also social acceptance,” says Mornhinweg. “The internal-combustion engine is going to be around for a long, long time, but to improve its efficiency we’ll be using more and more direct injection, downsizing displacement while adding turbocharging, incorporating stop/start systems, and more. You’ll see more four-cylinder engines in the future, too.”

The AMG boss sees myriad benefits to the SLS eDrive. “The SLS’s lightweight aluminum body and structure will help to offset the heavy batteries we’ll need for maximum performance.” Zero to 60 mph, Mornhinweg adds, will take around 4 seconds flat, with a top speed of about 125 mph. Because each wheel will be driven by its own motor, electric four-wheel drive is inherently part of the design. “By tailoring the software that guides the motors, we can also do exciting things like torque vectoring and dynamic stability control,” Mornhinweg says.

The three modular high-voltage batteries in the SLS eDrive will be lithium ion—powering the four electric motors through two transmissions (one per axle). Peak output is equivalent to 526 horsepower (392 kW) and nearly 650 pound-feet of torque—the eDrive should be a formidable player in stoplight Grands Prix. Range won’t be outstanding—only about 95 to 110 miles—but the batteries will recharge to 80 percent of capacity in around five to six hours (plug in when you reach work if you have a long commute home). Plugging-in overnight will deliver a full charge. (Regen brakes, of course, will help to freshen the batteries when driving.)

Mornhinweg is confident that no major hurdles exist in bringing the eDrive to market. And he emphasizes that the eDrive will not replace the SLS’s 6.2-liter gasoline V-8; the two versions will coexist. “Our biggest challenge,” he notes, ”will be adding the emotion that’s so crucial to the enjoyment of a sports car. For instance, with electric drive there’s no vroom vroom during downshifts, which is a sound every enthusiast driver enjoys. So we’re experimenting with various ways simulate the experience using the two transmissions and the electric motors. I’m confident, though, that when we’re finished we’ll have what many enthusiasts will find a very desirable car.”

Which is to say, with its speed, those show-stopping gullwing doors, and that zero-emissions powertrain underneath, the SLS AMG eDrive promises to offer driving sex without the guilt.

Source : http://blogs.motortrend.com/6563064/editorial/coolest-classiest-electric-mercedes-sls-amg-edrive/index.html

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