Take that GM. Toyota is one of the global leaders in the field of Automobiles. Their commitment to make fuel-efficient and clean engines has fetched them an award at the prestigious International Engine of the Year Awards this year.
But don’t assume it’s because of the Prius and veer away from the rest of this article. Toyota’s Polish-made, 1-litre three-cylinder 67bhp gasoline unit as found in the Toyota’s own Aygo, Yaris, Echo and Vitz and in the Citroën’s C1, Peugeot’s 107 and Subaru’s Justy came out successful but not without some tough competition.
In the sub-one litre category things couldn’t have been any better. The final contestants were Mitsubishi’s 84bhp 999cc three-cylinder turbo and Daimler’s 45bhp 799cc diesel unit, which is recognized as the world’s smallest direct injection diesel engine. Interestingly both those engines at present serve the Smart Fortwo city car.
But that didn’t bother our winner. The main reasons behind its success was its feather like weight, tipping the scales at 67 kg, it is no wonder this is the world’s lightest internal combustion engine.
The technology that goes into making such a light package isn’t rocket science. The use of a light weight material like aluminium to construct it helps achieve this feat. Aiding the cause futher is its extra-small cylinder bore-to-bore distance (wall thickness between bores is just 7mm), and the use of a light weight resin throttle body and fuel delivery pipe. The air intake system and engine cover is an integral piece, a design first for Toyota, a weight-saving initiative.
The panel was also impressed with its Variable Valve Timing system (VVT-i) technology, which holds responsibility for the smooth acceleration, a crucial factor that won this award for Toyota.
This engine is literally a fuel-sipper. 4L/100km on a combined cycle is as good as its gets, giving it another entry in the record books as one of the most fuel efficient engines in today’s cars. A figure of 109g/km of CO2 emissions speaks for itself and strengthens the point that this victory is a well deserved one.
According to Reuters, Royal Dutch Shell and US bioscience firm Virent Energy Systems, are to research a gasoline alternative from non-food crops. The aim is to reduce CO2 emissions without increasing food prices.
Shell said that unlike ethanol, the fuel it aims to develop with Virent will be able to run in existing vehicles without the need to modify their engines. Current gasoline engines can usually only run on small amounts of ethanol blended with gasoline, typically 5%. Much higher percentages can be used with modification.
The project follows a trend of major oil companies investing in plans to produce motor fuels from crops. The focus is mainly on second-generation biofuels, which will be produced from non-food crops. These can be grown on land not suitable for wheat or sugar cane.
Shell and Virent have not disclosed the amount they are investing in the project and produced no targets for achieving commercial production of the new fuel.
Last year, Shell and Virent announced a partnership to develop processes to manufacture hydrogen from biomass, using the same technology. The companies hope this will now produce "biogasoline".
Due to the pressure in producing cars with lower CO2 emissions, Mercedes-Benz announced that is taking in consideration building a four-cylinder power plant that will be used especially to power the cars sold on the U.S. market.
Mercedes executives said that a supercharged 1.4-liter engine is already in testing. Although the engine will not be very powerfull, the manufacturer declared that the car will feature a louder exhaust and a better acceleration in order to give the driver the „perception of performance”.
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Yesterday Porsche GB continued their legal action against the Mayor of London’s decision to increase the congestion charge from £8 ($16) to £25 ($50) for vehicles with CO2 emissions of over … Even residents within the congestion charge zone will see their payments jump from £0.80 ($1.60) to £25 ($50).
Porsche continued their action by pushing forward their judicial review and have asked for it to be fast tracked in the hope of a decision before the charge is imposed.
Commenting on the filing, Andy Goss, Managing Director of Porsche Cars GB, said, “Not only is this new tax on motorists unfair, it is also a disproportionate and illegal use of power by the mayor. The Porsche case is about protecting London and Londoners from a new tax that will not only fail to reduce CO2 emissions in central London, but also increase congestion and damage air quality.”
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BMW’s Chinese partner Brilliance, has signed an initial agreement with two U.S firms Rocket Capital and McCombs, to distribute their sedans in the U.S. The two billionaire firms will also help Brilliance in finding after-sales support.
This is not the first time a Chinese car maker has tried getting into the U.S. Previous attempts were futile as the low-cost copy cars failed in meeting safety and emission norms.
A lot of money will change hands in this deal- Brilliance will trade in 10 to 15% of its shares in exchange for $100 million from both clients.
Other Chinese manufacturers like Geely and Chery are also looking at overseas markets like U.S and Europe. Their profile will then read international as they try escaping fierce competition at home. Ambitions are high for these desirous brands- Brilliance plans to acquire 1 % of the European market by 2010. It is presently doing well at home and is well on its way in completing its second plant in China, which when commences production in 2010, will churn out 100,000 cars annually.
Pathetic brand image and poor quality are the two major issues that Chinese cars have to get rid of. The expectations and requirements of a developed nation is poles apart from a developing one. Safety and eco-friendliness are other prime areas which need attention as they are the basic and compulsory needs in order to qualify selling in global markets. Cater to all that and the market will determine the rest.
Good news for petrol-heads. Your dreams of driving a gasoline-powered automobile far away in the future is not shattered after all. Two scientists F. Jeffrey Martin and William L. Kubic Jr, from the Los Alamos National Laboratory proposed a project “Green Freedom”. Their proposition looks quite possible and interesting-By blowing air over a solution of potassium carbonate, the carbon dioxide in the air will be absorbed. Then the solution is put through a series of chemical reactions that would transform it into methanol or gasoline. In the process, CO2 is capped and gasoline is produced.
The scientists have put this down on paper and are yet to present a working model. They claim that by using an electrochemical process, the gathered CO2 will be detached from the solution. Production of gasoline through this process on a large scale will consume an enormous amount of energy and the scientists believe Nuclear energy will be the best solution for the problem alongside renewable sources like solar power.
Sounds feasible, but the scientists need a $5 billion initial investment, but would produce gasoline for $1.40 a gallon. We at topspeed, wish the two scientists, all the very best with their new venture and hope and pray that the government gives them the required support and assistance for this dream project to turn into reality.
The natural gas-powered Civic GX, stood first in the list of American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) ’Greenest Vehicles of 2008’. The Civic GX wins this award for the fifth consecutive year making it the most eco-friendly car available to the public. Three other Honda vehicles that featured in the list were the gasoline powered Civic, Fit and Civic Hybrid, which made up one-third of the cars.
Introduced in 1998, the Civic GX, is the cleanest internal combustion vehicle certified by the EPA, and is 90% cleaner than the average gasoline-powered car on the road today. Equipped standard with a 5-speed automatic transmission, its 1.8-liter, 4-cylinder engine delivers 113 horsepower and 109 ft-lbs of torque while meeting federal Tier 2-Bin 2 and ILEV zero evaporative emission certification standards and carries the "Cleanest on Earth" title.
"Honda continues to set the standard for socially and environmentally-responsible automotive products and our commitment to alternative fuels will further expand with the zero emissions FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle coming to market this summer," stated John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda.
The entire list of eco-friendly winners for 2008:
HONDA CIVIC GX
TOYOTA PRIUS
HONDA CIVIC HYBRID
SMART FORTWO CONVERTIBLE / COUPE
TOYOTA YARIS
NISSAN ALTIMA HYBRID
TOYOTA COROLLA 1.8L
MINI COOPER / CLUBMAN
FORD FOCUS
TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID
HONDA CIVIC
HONDA FIT
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E85.
That’s the mantra at General Motor these days.
Not only do they want to make cars that run on it, they want to make the oil companies sell it to you. If the oil companies won’t cooperate, then they’d like the federal government to force it on them.
But, could it be a huge mistake?
That’s the suggestion that comes from two distinguished reports, one in the journal Science, authored by scientists at Princeton and Woods Hole Research Center, and the other from the University of Minnesota and the Nature Conservancy.
Guess what?
Ethanol contributes more to greenhouse gases than gasoline.
That’s what they say.
(more after the jump)
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The Chinese government has laid down a set of regulations to define what exactly a small displacement car is. The standards are also part of a bigger plan to give more preference for ‘green’ cars in the forthcoming years.
China’s National Development and Research commission (NDRC) have set standards for fuel economy, emissions and car size. This move is aimed to encourage Chinese car makers to upgrade to higher environmental protection standards and in the process, manufacture eco-friendly cars.
The following rules are to be followed by the manufacturer if their car has to be classified under small cars, which will enjoy tax benefits and other preferential policies.
Fuel Economy
For cars weighing from 1660kg to 1770kg, the car has to use less than 9.3 litres of fuel per 100km of travel. Cars weighing from 2180kg to 2280kg must use less than 11.07 litres of fuel per 100km of travel to boast benefits.
Emission Standards
All cars must meet Euro 3 tailpipe emission standards.
Car Size
To meet criteria, small displacement cars must be no longer than 4.2 meters in length and for hatchbacks, cars must be no longer than 4.0 meters in length.
Yes, the idiocy surrounding the supposed warming of the globe (which has actually been cooling since it was formed) has found yet a new level of lunacy.
You see, it turns out that “global warming” is easy to solve.
It’s the fault of sexy men in Ferrari’s.
Well, actually it’s the fault of the women who admire those men.
Yes, that’s what a “scientist” from Great Britain said.
(This goes far toward explaining why the sun finally did set on (...)
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