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The Concept-cX will be shown as the new ‘baby Outlander’ combining over 70-years of four wheel drive experience with an innovative global environmental strategy. The Concept-cX, when launched, will be the showcase for the CO² friendly all-new Euro 5 Clean Diesel family of engines to be launched in 2009 as well a number of other green technologies. The new engine is planned to have class-topping power output and Euro 5 emissions performance include a new high-efficiency turbocharger and high-efficiency combustion characteristics developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Motors.

Sharp in design and in dynamics, Mitsubishi’s Concept-cX boasts an excellent environmental performance to be seen in the low fuel consumption and emission levels achieved by its 100 kW (136 ps) @ 4,000 rpm / 280 Nm @ 2,000 rpm next generation 1.8-litre Clean Diesel DOHC 16 valve 4 cylinder engine. Among other technologies, it features a variable geometry (VG) turbocharger – to generate optimum boost pressure for all engine loads – as well as DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) and DOC (Diesel Oxidation Catalyst). The 1.8 liter Clean Diesel engine is mated to Mitsubishi Motors’ Twin Clutch SST technology.

Concept-cX’s further green credentials include eco-friendly “Green Plastics”, MMC’s proprietary plant-based resin technology - made from bamboo and other plant-based resins, used for interior trim materials, such as floor mats, door trim, tail gate trim and seat back panels.

Its on-road abilities are further enhanced by the use of Mitsubishi’s sophisticated AWC (All Wheel Control) technology, similar in essence to the device successfully introduced with the new Outlander.

[source mitsubishi]

Auto insurance quotes are not unlike many other products for which you shop online. You truly need to shop around for them. Take a look at this list of 3 things you should do and 3 things you shouldn’t do when shopping for the best auto insurance quotes.

First we’ll take a look at 3 Do’s:1• Make sure you get auto insurance quotes from at lease five auto insurance companies. Don’t jump at the first good rates you see. After all, you wouldn’t purchase the first auto you look at on the lot – shop around.

2• Make sure information you submit to receive your auto insurance quotes is as accurate and complete as possible. The auto insurance quote is only as good as the information you submit.

3• Make sure the auto insurance quotes you get are for similar auto insurance policies. If the auto insurance policies are different – you won’t be able to trust the quality of the auto insurance quotes.

Now, we’ll take a look at 3 Don’ts:

1• Don’t let the sales person who contacts you with your auto insurance quotes talk to you into switching to their company until you’ve had a chance to analyze the auto insurance quotes from each insurance company.

2• Don’t let flashy auto insurance gimmicks motivate your decision to change auto insurance quotes. Often these flashy gimmicks sound good – but you probably won’t even use them.

3• Don’t forget to obtain auto insurance quotes with a wide range of deductible amounts. I’ve found that by raising my auto insurance deductible amount by only a few hundred dollars – I’ve saved thousands over the long haul.

See, now that Mercedes has made numerous changes to the SLK’s mechanical bits and interior quality, its biggest problem is its image. My friend Sarah said the SLK looked like a car for lawyers’ wives. My friend Scott, her boyfriend, said it made me look like the lawyer’s boyfriend. Ouch.

Potential image issues aside, I put 200 miles on the SLK350 in a few days, and wound up not tiring of it. Which is more than I can say about some other cute little convertibles I’ve driven in the last few weeks (Mazda’s MX-5 and Mini’s Cooper S convertible, to name just two). And the best parts of the SLK were things that I never expected: the engine and the steering.

First of all, Mercedes has installed its Direct-Steer System on the SLK. The idea behind this system is that the steering ratio should be relatively slow on-center to reduce dartiness, but should quicken as you turn the wheel further. Rather than going the BMW Active Steering route, which uses a computer to control the constantly varying steering ratio, Mercedes chose the right route: the Porsche way. In place of complex actuators, pumps, and computers, the Mercedes system requires no additional parts - the rack is designed to change to a quicker ratio after a certain amount of lock.

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Reuters - General Motors Corp is not planning a sale of any of its brands other than the Hummer line of SUVs, GM’s North American sales chief said in an e-mail to the automaker’s U.S. dealers.Mark LaNeve, GM’s vice president for North American sales and marketing, said none of GM’s brands other than Hummer were up for sale or being considered as candidates for closure, despite growing speculation to the contrary.

“I have been asked by the media if other brands were undergoing a similar strategic review. My answer then and now was the same — no,” LaNeve said in his e-mail.
LaNeve said GM’s dealers would be among the first to know if plans changed for any of the company’s eight auto brands.

“Similar to the Hummer situation we would communicate with you, our dealers, very early in the process if this was the case,” he said.

A GM spokesman said the message was meant to reassure the dealers.

“What prompted the letter was all of this speculation that we might be looking to phase out or reassess some of our brands,” GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said.

Saturn, which has been named as one of the most likely brands for review by GM, has the right products in a market fast shifting away from trucks and SUVs, LaNeve said.

“A lot of dealers were concerned, so I think it was a very good thing for him to reassure dealers,” said one dealer who received the e-mail from LaNeve.

The No. 1 U.S. automaker has hired Citigroup Inc. to help review its options for the military-derived Hummer line, which it said is looking to sell or revamp.

Battered by tumbling demand for large trucks and SUVs since the spring, GM has announced deep cuts in truck production in recent weeks. Analysts are also expecting GM to take other steps to ride out a deepening industry downturn.

GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner has said the automaker is working quickly to develop plans to cut costs and improve its cash position.

Prices of gas was rising as fast as the rocket. It is a global problem and many people are suffering from this one. And in this time of crisis it is very important if you know something that can boost your gas saving. Practically there are lots of ways online that you could find. And all of them are suggesting something that you have to buy in order to have gas for less money. Some of them are not that small amount and still creating another problem and headache. Many people are changing their cars, there are an option from which you can now buy and used hybrid car. Another solution is to use water for gas. But doing this kind of things are a little bit complicated and risky especially if you really do it by yourself. Be sure that if you choose this kind of solution you should ask for help and assistance from somebody who really an expert in doing this. Because if you try and play as a scientist in just one day and try to convert your car fuel to water then you are just giving yourself a lot bigger problem.

Now, to help you save gas I just compiled 5 simple and practical way to save gas without having to do some experiment on your own car. This 5 simple steps are tested and are already proven to save gas.

1. Do something basic. Let’s start with the monthly tuned up of your car. Did you know that as your car ages it become sluggish which ads more loads to your engine. Even a shoe needs to be shine. The same thing with your car. Monthly maintenance will be a good idea. Changing oil and filter will be a great help too. Check your tire because some how it also contribute to the increase of gas usage.
2. Do not push your car to its own limit. Watch how your car runs. You are not in the battle, a competition. You have to watch the speed of your car. The more you accelerate the more gas you burn. Watch your speed and maintain into minimum.
3. If it is not necessary do not use your car air con, especially if you are just waiting inside the car for longer hours. You should limits the usage of your air con, the a/c burns up more fuel because it puts more work load to your engine. Be mindful on how and when to use your a/c.
4. Did you know that your car used over one gallon of fuel for every hour you idles? Lessen the amount of time you idle your car. Turn your car off when you are not actually driving it. Idling doesn’t mean you can save gas instead it cost you more money.
5. Last but not the least get the ultimate gas saver guide. You can find all the solution that you are looking for including water 2 gas conversion, energy saving tips, hybrid buyer guide, alternative fuel guide, and a lot more. I suggest that you get this guide because it is so complete. It really help you have gas for less money.

There are a few great guides online that can show you everything you need to know about how to have gas for less money. We all know that gas prices will never going down. If it happens to be so, it is just for a brief time. Learning tips and guidelines to save gas is really helpful. Check my bio below for more information on where you can get one of these guides.

A new sports car that is every eco-conscious car-lover’s dream arrives in Britain later this month. Powered by 30 electric batteries it can reach speeds of 130mph, accelerate from 0-60mph in four seconds and has a luxury interior to boot - but will it be the vehicle that finally cracks the UK’s eco-car market?

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DETROIT - Norway’s Think Global AS, with backing from U.S. venture capital investors, plans to produce and sell a small all-electric car in the U.S. that could go as far as 110 miles when fully charged - fresh evidence that the race to woo American consumers with electric cars is heating up and drawing interest from the same investors that helped build Silicon Valley.
[Think Car]
Think Global AS
Norway’s Think Global plans to launch an electric car, called the Think City, in the U.S. in 2009.

The Oslo-based electric carmaker, which recently set up a U.S. office in Menlo Park, Calif., is trying to determine what geographical areas to focus its sales activities on, with an aim to launch the car - the Think City - in 2009. Think, a Ford Motor Co. unit until the U.S. auto maker sold it to a Norwegian company in 2003, is also searching for a site in the U.S. and Mexico to assemble the car.

Jan-Olaf Willums, Think Global chief executive officer, said Think plans to sell the City, to be priced less than $25,000, in densely populated cities because of the car’s limited range. The car is just hitting the market in Norway, Sweden and Denmark where a typical user drives the vehicle for a relatively short commuting distance and plugs it into an electric outlet in his garage to charge it overnight.

“What we have is a city car so we would focus on big cities,” Mr. Willums said, noting that Think may focus on markets on the West Coast such as San Francisco and Seattle. “But we think there’s an opportunity for us also on the East Coast, or any city in the U.S. that wants to encourage use of pollution free electric cars. We don’t care if it is in Texas, we will be there.”

Mr. Willums declined to estimate U.S. demand for the City car, but Ray Lane, managing partner of venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins, Caufield and Byers, which has invested in Think, believes Think could eventually sell as many as 30,000 to 50,000 City cars a year in the U.S. once production ramps up and a sales network for the model is fully established. In Norway, Think is rushing to boost production to 10,000 a year this year to meet demand in Europe.

According to a Think spokeswoman in Oslo, Think Global has raised about $95 million from an array of investors in Europe and the U.S., including GE Energy Financial Services and RockPort Capital Partners. In addition, the company also received backing, which Mr. Willums described as “substantial,” from Kleiner and RockPort to set up Think’s North American unit.

Mr. Willums said Think’s North American executives, among other tasks, are currently looking for a site to produce the City. “Because of the dollar’s extreme weakness, it doesn’t make sense to ship cars across the Atlantic.” The Norwegian executive said Think would like to see which state and city could provide the “best deal,” referring to investment incentives such as tax breaks.

In addition to the City, Think plans to add to its product lineup in late 2010 in Europe a second all-electric vehicle: the Think Ox, a five-seat car-SUV crossover. Using currently available battery technology, the car has a driving range of about 150 miles when the vehicle is fully charged. A U.S. launch is expected to follow shortly after, Mr. Willums said.

Kleiner, one of the key investors for Think, is perhaps Silicon Valley’s best-known venture-capital firm and a backer of household tech names such as Netscape Communications, Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. Kleiner and other venture-capital investors who helped build Silicon Valley are now clamoring to back the race to develop and market an electric car in the U.S., investing in little-known upstart companies such as Aptera Motors Inc. and Phoenix Motorcars Inc., both southern California companies. Tesla Motors Inc., the high-profile company that is close to shipping a $98,000 electric sports car, has raised $105 million from investors, including VantagePoint Venture Partners, Technology Partners, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Think’s planned entry into the U.S. market follows decisions by General Motors Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. and others to market electric cars with a small gasoline engine they describe as a driving “range extender.” Those small combustion engines work as generators to feed electricity to the car’s batteries when they run out.

Other companies, most notably Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., plan to go a different direction. The two Japanese auto makers believe battery technology has not advanced far enough to make electric cars practical and are focusing their efforts on making gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius, more fuel-efficient and affordable. Toyota has said it plans to test the feasibility of an electric car with a range extender, however.

The Think City, when it hits the market in the U.S., will be equipped with three optional, high-powered batteries. U.S. consumers will be able to choose from what Think describes as a “sodium battery” system with active materials composed of sodium, nickel and iron, as well as from two types of lithium-ion batteries from two U.S. companies: A123 Systems of Watertown, Mass., and Enerdel. Enerdel is the joint-venture battery company owned 80.5% by Ener1 inc. and 19.5% by auto-component supplier Delphi Corp.

Toyota has developed a new fuel cell hybrid, a green car powered by hydrogen and electricity, that can travel more than twice the distance of its predecessor model without filling up, the automaker said Friday.

The improved model’s maximum cruising range is 516 miles (830 kilometers) compared with 205 miles (330 kilometers) for Toyota’s previous fuel cell model, the maker of the Camry sedan and Lexus luxury cars said in a statement.

The FCHV-adv model, which received Japanese government approval Tuesday, will be available for leasing in Japan later this year, Toyota Motor Corp. spokeswoman Kayo Doi said. Pricing and other details weren’t available, and overseas plans were still undecided, she said.

Fuel cell vehicles produce no pollution by running on the power of the chemical reaction when hydrogen stored in a tank combines with oxygen in the air to produce water.

The FCHV-adv from the world’s second biggest automaker also comes with an electric motor and works as a hybrid by switching between that motor and the hydrogen-powered fuel cell. Toyota’s Prius hybrid switches between an electric motor and a standard gasoline engine.

Fuel efficiency in the FCHV-adv was improved 25 percent with better braking and other changes, Toyota said. The new fuel cell vehicle can also start and run in temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 30 Celsius), it said. Getting a fuel cell to work well in cold weather is a technological challenge.

Major automakers around the world are working on fuel cells and other ecological vehicles, including electric cars and plug-in hybrids, which recharge from an electrical outlet. And consumer interest in alternative fuels is increasing amid soaring gas prices and worries about global warming.

Rival Honda Motor Co.’s revamped fuel cell vehicle for leasing in California is rolling off a Japanese factory floor later this month.

For 2010, U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. is planning a Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle, while Tokyo-based Nissan Motor Co. is planning electric vehicles for the U.S. and Japan.

Fuel cell vehicles are usually marketed through leasing arrangements since the technology is too expensive for most people to buy in an outright purchase.

RENNTECH’s 722 tuning package for the Mercedes SLR McLaren supercar has been generating a lot of attention recently, as has RENNTECH’s appointment as the American agent for the Mercedes-Benz McLaren 722GT club racer and SLR.Club Trophy USA series.

Building on these runaway successes, RENNTECH has released details of an exciting new project called the 7.22. Based on the new Smart ForTwo, the 7.22 is powered by two (2) 1000cc, 3 cyl. Smart engines, each mated to its own 5-speed, automated transmission.

“One engine drives the front wheels, the other drives the rears,” explains Hartmut Feyhl, RENNTECH’s president and ex-technical director of AMG North America. “One of my employees, Jo Borras, previously worked with Mosler to build their dual-engined Cadillac TwinStar, and made the magazine rounds a few years later with his own twin-engined Hyundai Tiburon. It seemed like a good idea to try on the Smart, so we went with it.”

Each of the Smart’s drive units exists in its own subframe, complete with its own ECU and electronics, making the process fairly straightforward. Feyhl explained that once the steering mechanism was integrated into the engine’s cradle, the resulting subframe mounted directly to the existing safety cell, using the same mounting points as the original. Feyhl admits “the hardest part was getting the 7.22’s new plastic bodywork ‘right’.”

Interestingly, since each engine and transmission assembly is completely isolated, there is no need to synchronize the two. Feyhl informed us that “each engine and ECU finds its job suddenly easier, and simply acts as if it were going downhill or carrying a lighter load.”

Never ones to leave well enough alone, however, the crew at RENNTECH set to work on their pint-sized terror … but even putting out a string of 750 hp SLR McLarens and 900 lb-ft bi-turbo AMG cars didn’t prepare them for what happeed next.

The boys at RENNTECH were surprised (“shocked” might be a better word) by what happened when the software engineers cracked the Smart’s Bosch electronics and removed the engine’s rev limiters. “It revved like a liter-bike,” says Feyhl, “and none of us expected anything quite like that!”

Using the Triumph Speed Triple motorcycle’s torque curve as a guide, RENNTECH’s software engineers began massaging the Smart’s fuel maps until they achieved a totally unbelievable result: 91 raucous, twitchy horsepower at a stratospheric 11,800 rpm.

That’s right, kiddies. Ninety-one peak horsepower at eleven-thousand, eight-hundred rpm from each of the two Smart 3 cylinders … and the new, RENNTECH-imposed rpm limit? An absolutely SCREAMING 13,200 rpm.

The end result is a twin-engined, 182 hp AWD street machine that zips from zero to sixty in an astonishing (and terrifying!) 5.1 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 138 mph.

Getting all of the RENNTECH Smart 7.22’s newfound power to the ground are a set of specially-designed 17” RENNTECH forged Monolite wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot sport tires. Hard, fade-free stops are made possible by RENNTECH’s 14” 2-piece rotors and Smart-specific 4 piston calipers, while RENNTECH’s new “Go-eco” exhaust system makes use of futuristic technology to ensure that the 7.22’s only emissions are a blend of pure oxygen and a potpourri of fresh lilacs and honeyuckle.

The RENNTECH Smart 7.22 is available today for $39,990. Contact RENNTECH for more (please check today’s date before ordering).

source: [renntech]

Bmw announced its latest competitor to the severe CO2 restrictions: the Bmw Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel. The car features a V12 internal combustion engine (ICE) engineered to run exclusively on hydrogen. The new vehicle delivers no CO2 and can be produced using renewable, clean technologies like solar, wind, geothermal, and bio-processes. Although today’s hydrogen is mainly derived from natural gas, hydrogen can and will be “green” from renewable and clean sources in the future. 

• Press release:

BMW announces its latest milestone in its pursuit of the hydrogen future, the BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel. Based on the BMW Hydrogen 7 bi-fuel version (gasoline and hydrogen), the mono-fuel vehicle’s internal combustion engine is optimized to run solely on hydrogen and shares the performance, comfort, and safety qualities of every production BMW 7 Series. The BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel will be featured at both the 2008 National Hydrogen Association Conference in Sacramento, CA (Mar. 30 - Apr. 3) and the 2008 SAE World Congress in Detroit, MI (Apr. 14 - 17).

The BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel is equipped with a V12 internal combustion engine (ICE) which has been engineered to run exclusively on hydrogen . Compared with the bi-fuel version, this vehicle achieves incredibly low emissions, increased engine performance, reduced consumption and greater range.

“The mono-fuel Hydrogen 7 is the of more than 25 years of hydrogen development by BMW,” noted Tom Baloga, Vice-president of Engineering for BMW in the US. “It demonstrates BMW’s support for a hydrogen infrastructure by producing an internal combustion engine that produces truly near-zero emissions and simultaneously cleans the air of certain pollutants.”

In BMW’s view, hydrogen is the most logical energy carrier of the future for three reasons. Firstly, it has no carbon and therefore emits no CO2, HC’s and other pollutants. Secondly, it can be produced using renewable, clean technologies like solar, wind, geothermal, and bio-processes. Lastly, it can be produced in stable areas of the globe as necessary for energy security. Although today’s hydrogen is mainly derived from natural gas, hydrogen can and will be “green” from renewable and clean sources in the future. Unlike batteries, which will likely also play an important role in future transportation, hydrogen vehicles can be refueled rather quickly for long trips, don’t require powerlines across the landscape, and hydrogen can be generated and stored 24/7 when wind is greatest or electrical demand is low.

The BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel is a demonstration production vehicle, not a prototype. It was created to showcase the zero CO2 and low emissions potential and feasibility of a dedicated hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE). In addition, the BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel helps deliver additional experience in the everyday use of hydrogen beyond what has already been learned with the nearly 100 bi-fuel Hydrogen 7 Sedans that have been used in a customer test drive program since November 2006.

The Hydrogen 7’s V12 mono-fuel ICE produces no CO2 and near-zero emissions, while not sacrificing performance. In fact, the tailpipe emissions are so infinitesimal they pushed the limits of current emission testing technology.

Independent authorities, including the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), have confirmed these results. ANL conducted emission tests on BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel vehicles in early March 2008.

“The BMW Hydrogen 7’s emissions were only a fraction of SULEV level, making it one of the lowest emitting combustion engine vehicles that have been manufactured,” said Thomas Wallner, a mechanical engineer who leads Argonne’s hydrogen vehicle testing activities. “Moreover, the car’s engine actively cleans the air. Argonne’s testing shows that the Hydrogen 7’s 12-cylinder engine actually shows emissions levels that, for certain components, such as Non Methane Organic Gases (NMOG’s) and Carbon Monoxides (CO’s), are cleaner than the ambient air that comes into the car’s engine.”

BMW and ANL will hold a joint press conference about the ground-breaking results at the SAE World Congress. Christophe Huss, Vice-president - Development Abroad, Type Approval and Traffic Management for BMW will be present at the SAE World Congress. [source bmw]