We learned today that the Fiat 500 will launch in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2010, so we'll start calling it the 2011 Fiat 500. It will debut with Fiat's Multiair 1.4-liter four-cylinder presumably making in the neighborhood of 100 horsepower. A turbocharged version will come later on, though no word if the resulting car will get Abarth badging.
Other interesting news: Chrysler's family of four-cylinder engines (1.8-liter, 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter) from the now defunct alliance with Hyundai and Mitsubishi will live on but will be modified with Fiat's Multiair system and direct-injection technology.
Multiair is the Italian automaker's variable valve timing technology, and it's among the most advanced of its kind. Fiat's powertrain expert, Paolo Ferrero, describes the Multiair system as, "variable valve timing on steroids." We'll bring you more details on the tech side of it at a later date.
The other bit of powertrain news is that Fiat intends to share its 6-speed dual-clutch transmission with Chrysler, though it hasn't said which model(s) will get it.
Aptera has resubmitted its application for federal loan money after the Obama administration extended its Advanced Technology Vehicles program to include three-wheeled vehicles. The Aptera 2e is a lightweight, electric vehicle that is expected to sell for around $25,000. The company plans to start producing the vehicle next year if it can secure an additional $75 million from the government.
As expected, Fisker Automotive announced today that it plans to buy GM's Wilmington, Delaware plant for the purpose of constructing a new, mid-priced plug-in electric car. Fisker says it will pay a mere $18 million for the shuttered plant and then spend an additional $175M to get it ready to build Fisker's next car.
A Fisker spokesman also told Green Car Advisor that it plans to use union labor. "We are looking to establish a mutually beneficial partnership with the UAW."
This all sounds great on the surface, but they are plenty of reasons to remain skeptical. Fisker has yet to deliver a single working version of its first car, so its viability as a manufacturer has yet to be determined.
And then there's the issue of cost. Fisker says its next vehicle will be a "mid-priced" vehicle, think closer to $50K, but union labor in a plant in Deleware won't be cheap. Fisker is going to have to reduce its costs substantially to make it all work, so there's still plenty of difficult decisions still to be made.
A reader named Lars H. sent this shot of a demolished Tesla to Autotopia, which is part of Wired. The Tesla collided with a VW Touareg and ironically a Toyota Prius. According to Lars the accident happened in Denmark.
For a larger and more complete version of the image, click here.
Today was not a day to get all immersed in technical details about Mazda's new global direct-injected Sky-G gasoline and Sky-D diesel four-cylinder engines. But we now know that the Sky-G gas engines will range in displacement from 1.3 liters to 2.0 liters and will debut in Japanese models in 2011, with a worldwide launch coming shortly after.
The Sky-D turbocharged diesel-4 will be a 2.2-liter only, so far as we know, and it will be clean enough to enter the U.S. market without an AdBlue urea tank. The particulate filter alone will suffice, company officials tell us. This is a fully modern diesel with an all-aluminum block and a two-stage turbocharger. The Sky-D goes on sale worldwide in 2012; it will be the first diesel Mazda has ever offered for sale in Japan.
New engine technology always sounds good, but if it's stuffed into increasingly heavier cars, is it really a net gain? It appears the Sky engine family will be if Mazda sticks with its new diet. The company announced today it will slash curb weights by 100 kg (220 pounds) for each next-generation model starting in 2011. "In addition," says Mazda, "from 2016 we think it will be necessary to reduce weight by a further 100 kg or more."
The Mazda 2, it says, will serve as the model for this intitiative, as this car proves weight can be cut without swapping in all sorts of expensive materials.
More on the diet and the Sky-Drive automatic transmission after the jump.
Affordable zero-emissions vehicles are here. That was Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn's message at his 2009 Tokyo Auto Show press conference this morning. Prius owners can suck it, he added. OK, I made that last part up.
First, there's the Leaf -- a five-passenger, C-segment-size hatchback equipped with Nissan's proprietary lithium-ion battery pack. The Leaf is an EV from the ground up -- it doesn't share its chassis with any other vehicle. Range is said to be 160 km (100 miles), and Ghosn insists the Leaf will be price-competitive with gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size.
Want one? If you live in the U.S. or Japan, you'll be able to buy one in late 2010.
Other Nissan EVs will follow the Leaf. The second one planned will be targeted at commercial use and is based on the company's NV200 multipurpose vehicle.
The third will be a compact, high-performance luxury four-seater badged as an Infiniti. The fourth EV planned is the Land Glider, which I'll be bringing to you in a follow-up post.
At a roundtable media dinner in Tokyo, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn fleshed out the company's strategy regarding zero-emission vehicles. The short of it is that battery electric vehicles (EVs) will dominate Nissan's efforts in the immediate term, with fuel cell vehicles "five to ten years down the road."
Ghosn's aggressive plans for battery EVs are rooted in the goal of converting 10 percent of the global car market to EV by 2020. He cited three primary reasons for pursuing zero-emission vehicles: national security, the instability of future oil prices and that EVs already have consumer demand.
Ford is getting serious about this whole electric car thing. So much so that it even created a whole new position to oversee the effort.
Today is announced that Nancy Gioia, who was Ford's director of Sustainable Mobility Technology and Hybrid Vehicle Programs,has been given the new role of Director of Global Electrification.
According to Ford, "Gioia will direct strategy and planning for Ford's global electric vehicle portfolio, touching all aspects of electrified transportation, including product planning, supplier partnerships and collaboration with the energy industry and government."
Ford reiterated its plans for alternative drivetrain vehicles in the release, noting that an all-electric version of the Transit Connect is still planned for next year and an all-electric Focus is planned for 2011. An unspecified "next-generation hybrid vehicle" is planned for 2012 along with an unspecified plug-in hybrid vehicle.
No big surprises here. The 2011 Chevrolet Volt has already been shown in production form, but this is the first time we've seen multiple prototypes on the road at once. In this case, they were in Death Valley undergoing some hot weather testing.
Heat is a big problem with electric cars. Not how well they can take it, but how much the batteries produce on their own. Safe to say that if these Volt prototypes managed to stay cool in these conditions they should do fine just about anywhere else in the U.S. Video after the break.
Daimler officially announced that it will begin series production of the electric Smart starting in 2012. In a ceremony at Daimler's Hambach, France plant, Chairman Dieter Zetsche made the announcement along side a smiling and curiously small French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The electric Smart will use lithium ion batteries and go on sale to the public next year in limited numbers. Full scale production will begin about 18 months after that.
Although not exactly a new concept, the leaning car idea used by the Nissan Land Glider always looks kind of cool. In this case, the ultra-compact city car can lean up to 17 degrees, all of it calculated by on board computer to make you don't lean yourself right into the pavement.
Powered by an all-electric drivetrain, Nissan sees the Land Glider as fun-to-drive commuter car with an ultra-small footprint to make it easy to park. At just 122-inches long, the Land Glider is slightly bigger nose to tail than a Smart Fortwo.
Infiniti officially joined the hybrid race today. The company announced that it will sell a hybrid version of its upcoming M35 sedan starting in the spring of 2011.
The 2012 Infiniti M35 Hybrid will use a hybrid system developed in-house that combines a 3.5-liter V6 with a single electric motor. The electric motor will assist the gas engine under heavy load applications, but it will also be capable of propelling the car on its own in limited circumstances.
A newly developed lithium-ion battery pack will provide the power for the M35's motor. Infiniti says that it's physically the same size as current battery packs, yet produces twice the power. The pack is also laminated for improved cooling and utilizes manganese positive electrodes for improved long-term reliability. We'll have to take Infiniti's word on that for now.
Finalists for the annual Green Car of the Year award have been announced. The Audi A3 TDI, Honda Insight, Mercury Milan Hybrid, Toyota Prius and Volkswagen Golf TDI all made the cut.
The Volkswagen Jetta TDi won last year, so we can't help but think the Audi and Golf have a slim chance of taking home the prize this year. And given that the Ford Fusion didn't win last year, it seems unlikely that the Mercury Milan stands much of a chance either.
So that pretty leaves the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius. Got any guesses which one will win?
Along with the much anticipated FT-86 sports coupe, Toyota will also unveil the FT-EV II concept at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show. A four-passenger city car, the FT-EV II will be able to travel roughly 56 miles on a charge at speeds up to 62 mph. Unique sliding doors on each side allow for easy access while the lithium-ion batteries stored in the floor maximize space.
