Tesla debuts electric car for the masses
Tesla Motors unveiled its newest and cheapest electric car Thursday, cutting the price tag to $57,000 US from over $100,000, in a move that could transform the boutique California firm into a mainstream automaker.
The Model S prototype debuted amid much hubbub at a rocket factory in Southern California, the main market for its electric cars. Automobile Magazine has described the vehicle as a cross between an Aston Martin and a Maserati.
The Model S is powered by a massive lithium-ion battery pack composed of 8,000 individual cells. The pack, which uses the same technology found in laptop computers and cell phones, weighs about 454 kilograms and generates enough heat that it needs to be liquid-cooled. It’s floor-mounted and takes up most of the car’s rear half.
2009 Infiniti G37 Sedan
Infiniti G37 Sedan has replaced the G35 Sedan. The exterior, interior and options remain identical to the 2008 G35 model range but the sedan now also sports the improved and enlarged version of the Nissan VQ engine the 3.7-liter VQ37VHR "VVEL" V6, rated 328 hp (245 kW) @ 7,000 rpm and 269 ft·lbf (365 N·m). @ 5,200 rpm (2008 G35 VQ35HR engine is 306 hp (228 kW) @ 6,800 rpm and 268 ft·lbf (363 N·m). @ 4,800 rpm) that was already introduced in the G37 Coupe for the 2008 model year. Although the engine gains only 0.2 kg·m (2 N·m; 1 ft·lbf) peak torque over the VQ35HR and this torque value arrives at a later 5,200 rpm vs. 4,800 in the VQ35HR, the torque curve itself is improved and flattened across the rpm range via Nissan’s new VVEL (Variable Valve Event and Lift) variable valve timing resulting in even better throttle response and low rpm torque. This also marks the first use of Nissan’s VVEL (Variable Valve Event and Lift) system on a production vehicle in the US market.
Greener hybrid: Toyota Camry concept for L.A. show uses no gasoline
Spinning off yet another variation on the clean-energy theme, Toyota plans to display a CNG-hybrid version of its Camry family sedan at the Los Angeles show in November. Using compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of gasoline to fuel the engine, said Irv Miller, group vice president for corporate communications, highlights the fuel’s growing emergence as a domestic energy source in abundant supply.
Development of a CNG infrastructure, Miller noted, is ahead of that for hydrogen, with 1.8 million miles of pipeline in the United States. The supply also is readily available, not dependent on imports or development of new refining methods.
The announcement was made during the company’s Sustainable Mobility Seminar in Portland, Ore., where several speakers noted challenges facing the development of biofuels and an infrastructure to support hydrogen fuel cells.
Hybrid Hades
In this terrible year for the auto industry even a lineup with several fuel-saving hybrids may not do much to improve sales. That is especially true for General Motors, which currently offers six hybrid models and has more in the works.
The big winner in hybrids is Toyota Motor (nyse: TM – news – people ), which sold 185,051 hybrids in the first eight months of this year. Of that total, 119,688 are of the Prius model, the one truly popular hybrid on the market. In fact, Toyota cannot keep the Prius in stock. The supply situation should improve in a few years when Toyota starts assembling the Prius in a new factory it is building in Mississippi.
Toyota’s other hybrid models have racked up modest sales. Through August, Toyota sold 36,633 Camry hybrid sedans, 15,651 Highlander hybrid sport utility vehicles and 111,754 Lexus RX 400h SUVs.