A hybrid vehicle uses multiple propulsion systems to provide motive power. This most commonly refers to gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, which use gasoline (petrol) and electric batteries to power internal-combustion engines (ICEs) and electric motors.
The next big auto show will take place at the turn of the calendar, but as early as now, we’re getting a good look at some of the concepts that are scheduled to be in attendance at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show in January.
German automaker, Smart, has never been shy when introducing zany concepts in the past and it’s looking like they’re going to unveil a new one in Detroit.
The car is called the "For-Us" Urban Pick-Up Concept that Smart is describing as a concept targeted to the "young and young-at-heart with active lives who attach importance to low emissions and taking up minimum road space."
The description is pretty much apt to all their previous concepts so there’s nothing unique there. What’s different, though, is that the For-Us Urban Pick-Up Concept comes with an electrically-powered tailboard that opens and retracts with a 900mm cargo area that’s big enough to hold and serve as a charging port for as much as two Smart E-Bikes.
This review has been updated with official details and photos that you can find after the jump
When we first saw the Subaru BRZ GT300 race car at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, the immediate question that popped into our heads was, "What’s Toyota’s answer for this?"
Images of the Toyota 86 built to Super GT specifications immediately entered our imaginations, but from what we’ve been hearing, the Japanese automaker will be fielding a different Super GT car for next season.
There have been no official statements from Toyota yet, but a sketch in the Japanese publication, Auto Sport Magazine, gave us clues as to what Toyota is preparing for the 2012 Super GT season.
At first, it was hard to recognize the Prius-ness of the race car because it looks so wonderfully beautiful, but if you look a little closer, hints and traces of the Prius are clearly visible. The Prius GT300 is expected to be tweaked to adhere to Super GT regulations, so you can expect the full boat of racing modifications. That includes a tweaked powertrain that will produce 300 horsepower, as well as a stripped down interior that will only feature racing elements like the sport sets, transmission, and the full body roll cage.
Further details of the Prius GT300 race car are expected to be announced soon. In the meantime, you can check out the sketch that was published in Auto Sport Magazine to give you an idea of what the car is going to look like.
Set among the many debuts Toyota has planned for the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show is the G’s Prius, a sportier and far more aggressive take on the Japanese automaker’s resident hybrid car.
Toyota has yet to reveal the full specs regarding the car, but it certainly looks like this model is an evolution of the Prius G Sports Concept that the company unveiled at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
Of the details we do have of the G’s Prius, we can tell you that the model has a White Pearl Crystal Shine exterior finish with red and black decorated stripes running along both sides of the car. One thing we’re thankful of, as far as the G’s Prius is concerned, is that Toyota opted for a more traditional look as opposed to the oddly-designed, rear-tire covered Prius G Concept. The interior of the G’s Prius also got a few styling tweaks in the form of a revised steering wheel, Recaro sport seats dressed in black leather with matching red stitching, a new information display, and aluminum pedals.
Under its hood, the G’s Prius will come with the same power train as that of a standard Prius so expect a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine mated to an Electronic Continuously Variable transmission. This setup produces 99 horsepower and 105 lb/ft of torque matched to an electric motor that produces 82 horsepower.
For six months, Mugen has lead us all to believe that their Honda CR-Z Concept was just for display purposes, wiping away any hopes of ever seeing a production model. Now it seems as though they have come around and officially confirmed that the Honda CR-Z by Mugen will indeed see the light of production day. It will be put on sale in February 2012, with prices in the UK starting at £23,000 or about $36,000 at the current exchange rates.
The production version Mugen CR-Z will use a supercharger and a remapped ECU to increase power for the 1.5L four cylinder engine to 197 HP and 158 lb-ft of torque, up from the standard 122 HP and 128 lb-ft of torque. Next to the extra power, customers will also have the opportunity to choose between a wide range of Mugen accessories, including stiffer springs and dampers, larger wheels, bigger brakes, and replacement carbon bonnet and doors.
Maybe it’s a coincidence that Honda has confirmed the production version Mugen CR-Z at the same time Toyota and Subaru debuted the GT 86 and BRZ, respectively, or maybe they are developing this model solely for viable competition. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
The 2012 Honda CR-Z Mugen is beginning to take shape with at least one special edition model already being announced. The 2012 CR-Z iCF Mugen is being prepared by Honda U.K., promising the kind of performance capabilities that are befitting of Mugen’s fine-tuning.
For now, the only details that have surfaced regarding the CR-Z iCF Mugen is that it will carry a modified 1.5-liter engine that comes with an added centrifugal forced air induction system and a remapped ECU that takes the output of the hot hatch to an impressive 173 horsepower. This improved powertrain system allows the car to hit 0-62 mph in just 6.1 seconds while boasting of a top speed of 130 mph.
There doesn’t appear to be any final declarations as to how many of these cars will be sold by Honda UK Mugen dealers in the coming future. But for those interested to know how much a piece will sell for, Honda has announced that one model will carry a price tag of £24,000, which is around $37,200 based on current exchange rates.
A few years ago, Porsche boss Michael Macht gave hints on the possibility of building a hybrid version of the company’s most iconic model, the Porsche 911. While it wasn’t a full-on declaration of intent and purpose, Macht did leave the door open for Porsche to explore whatever possibilities are found behind that door. But now, it appears that the German automaker is moving away from the idea of seeing a hybrid 911.
To that, we think they finally figured out it was a bad idea.
It can be argued that a lot of people are on the fence about the thought of seeing a hybrid 911. There are those that would like to see one, considering that it’s expected to be more fuel efficient than a full-on gas-guzzling version. Others, on the other hand, are weary of tainting the legacy of the 911. For these people, there’s a simple solution: If Porsche plans on producing a hybrid sports car, they should just come out with a new model altogether and leave the 911 alone.
Now, history has shown that Porsche has caved in to market demands when they introduced the Cayenne SUV and the Panamera family sedan in their line-up. But the difference between those two models and a potential 911 hybrid was that they didn’t touch any of their existing models, opting instead to build an entirely new model based on those specific platforms.
While everyone’s eyes are focused on the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, Toyota has announced details on their line-up for the upcoming Tokyo Auto Show. One of the models to be displayed in Tokyo is a new version for the Prius family. After its debut in Tokyo, the Prius C will be making its North American debut at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show.
The new Prius C will be using Toyota’s renowned Hybrid Synergy Drive technology and will deliver a fuel economy of 50 mpg in the city, which is the highest city mpg of any non-plug-in vehicle. The new Prius C will bring a more youthful expression and a sportier dynamic character that offers a more fun-to-drive experience.
The model will also be offered with Bluetooth hands-free phone connectivity, steering-wheel audio controls, and nine airbags as standard features. That being said, one of the most impressive features of the new Prius C is the addition of the new Toyota Entune multimedia system that allows users to connect with popular apps such as Bing, OpenTable.com, and movietickets.com.
UPDATE 02/08/2012: Toyta has announced that the new Prius c will go on sale on the US market in March 2012. The Prius c One will be priced at $18,950, the Prius c Two at $19,900, the Prius c Three at $21,635, and the Prius c Four at $23,230.
The Tokyo Motor Show is just around the corner - doors open in December - so it was high time that automakers started revealing their plans, including the over 20 world debuts scheduled. Mitsubishi is starting off its announcements with two new models that will be in attendance in Tokyo. One of them is a second version of the PX-MiEV Concept first unveiled back in 2009. This new concept takes Mitsubishi’s existing EV technology a step forward, delivering more environmental performance and better fuel efficiency than any existing SUV.
The PX-MiEV Concept II uses a unique plug-in hybrid system that combines a small 2.0 liter 4-cylinder engine with EV technology derived from the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. This system allows the Concept PX-MiEV II to offer an impressive economy of more than 60 km/l (141 mpg) and a cruising range of over 800 km (497 miles).
The hybrid system takes its power from high-capacity batteries that allow the vehicle to cover over 50 km (31 miles) in all-electric mode alone. The driver has a button that allows him to change from Battery Drive Mode (for those residential areas) to pure EV more (for the countryside).
Stay tuned because more details on the Mitsubishi PX-MiEV Concept II will be revealed at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show.
Here’s another Honda CR-Z that made a SEMA comeback after its debut at the 2010 SEMA Auto Show.
Courtesy of Eibach Springs, this 2011 CR-Z was retooled and modified to become the kind of car everybody has always known the CR-Z could become. The look of the CR-Z hybrid suggests the extensive work Eibach Springs did to make it look the way it does. Among the added elements on the exterior are a C-West aero kit, a Mugen spoiler, an elaborate paint scheme and graphics, a new suspension program courtesy of Eibach, and a big brake kit from Stoptech. Inside, the standard features of the CR-Z were taken out in favor of a complete racing set-up that includes Sparco seats and a full roll bar.
But the most important order of business involving this project was taking out the original hybrid drivetrain of the CR-Z and replacing it with a 2.4-liter K24 four-cylinder engine from an Acura TSX. This new engine produces 280 horsepower and gets some extra help from K&N with a new intake system. Seeing as the CR-Z’s original IMA hybrid system is made up of a 1.5-liter engine combined with an electric motor that provides a total of 124 horsepower and 131 lb/ft of torque, we’re thinking that 280 ponies is a very significant upgrade. But there’s more.
According to some folks from Eibach Springs, this particular CR-Z will still receive a supercharger after SEMA, which means that when all is said and done, it’s going to pack way more than just 280 horsepower.
If we weren’t looking at this car with our very own eyes, we would have never believed that a Kia Optima Hybridcould look this good! Kia has pulled out all of the stops at this year’s SEMA Show with two very impressive update packages based on the hybrid sedan. First, was the Optima Hybrid Griffin and now, the USTCC Kia Optima Hybrid Pace Car.
The new USTCC Optima Hybrid Pace Car will replace the current Kia Soul as the official Safety Car of the USTCC. The car was developed in cooperation with GoGoGear.com and includes a free-flow air intake system, a Magnaflow exhaust system, a coil-over suspension kit to lower the ride height, a front splitter and rear wing, and lightweight wheels wrapped around performance tires.
All of those accessories are amazing in their own right, but the first thing we noticed on the car was the stunning custom color scheme, series graphics, and array of lighting. The Optima now benefits from a crisp black exterior with neon green graphics and a plethora of lighting, including LED auxiliary lights and HID headlight. The Optima Pace Car also has strobe lights and an LED light bar on the roof to help direct traffic while on duty.
The interior was also transformed to make the job easier with a 2,400-watt audio and video system and a DVD system with dual seven-inch monitors in the front-seat headrests and wireless headphones. The Optima was also given custom leather seats with green stitching to match the exterior trim color.
The USTCC Kia Optima Hybrid Pace Car will make its first USTCC appearance in March 2012.
Updated 11/09/2011: We have added real life images of the Kia Optima Hybrid USTCC Pace Car from its official debut on the SEMA floor. Find them in the picture gallery.
