Automobile Blog: 2009

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Tata Motors to launch electric car by September

Indian conglomerate Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata has said that Tata Motors will have an electric car in the market by September this year.

"We will have an electric car in the market in September," Tata was quoted as saying by Cornell University on its micro-blogging feed on Twitter. Tata is also a Cornell trustee.

He talked about the electric car at the Cornell Global Forum on Sustainable Global Enterprise organised by the university.In 2008, Ratan Tata speaking at the Annual General Meeting of Tata Motors said that the company was developing an electric car.

Foreign media also reported quoting Tata at the forum that Tata Nano, dubbed as the world's cheapest car, is expected to be available in the US in the next two years.

The much-awaited Nano was commercially launched in March in India and is expected to hit the roads soon. According to the university website, the Tata Education and Development Trust committed USD 50 million to Cornell in October 2008 to establish the Tata Scholarship Fund for Students from India and the Tata-Cornell Initiative in Agriculture and Nutrition, intended to improve the lives and livelihoods of India's rural poor

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Toyota To Ramp Up Prius Production To Cover High Demand

THANKS TO HUGE demand and a surge of interest in the car ahead of its US launch, Toyota will be increasing production of the 2010 Prius at the two Japanese plants that produce the car. Initial sales forecasts were pegged at 100,000 cars for 2009, but after 80,000 people pre-ordered a Prius before it even launched in Japan and 20,000 more orders were placed after the launch, Toyota’s been forced to change its plans.

Annual production will be increased from 400,000 to 500,000 units per year, which should enable Toyota to supply most global markets on time and with a minimal waiting period. However, high demand from the US could rob other markets of their allocations which, considering the popularity of the outgoing model, may be a likely scenario.

That may drive some buyers into the arms of Honda and its recently-launched Insight, however bulging order books for that model means Honda is also experiencing the same supply problems as Toyota - so much so that the Australian launch of the Insight has been pushed back to the second half of 2010.

The 2010 Toyota Prius is scheduled to arrive in Aussie showrooms next month. Last time heard from Toyota that date was a dead certainty, so at this stage it appears we won’t experience any delays in receiving Toyota’s new hybrid. Whether that changes or not, one thing’s for certain: this is definitely a good time to be in the hybrid business.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Fifth-generation Roush Mustang unleashed

When the 11-month development cycle started for the latest-generation Roush Mustang, the vehicle's chief engineer expected to see a mostly carryover 2009 engine. Reality skewed the expectation.
"The 2010 Roush Mustang has approximately 300 new parts and about 80% of those are in the powertrain," said Gary Jurick, Chief Engineer of the 2010 Roush Mustang. "We made a number of changes because Ford made a number of changes to some of the stock Mustang's components. For instance, Ford changed the cooling module and the air induction system, so we redesigned the Roush Mustang's electrical circuits as well as the intercooler radiator and the intercooler bottle, and we changed all of the associated hose routings and wirings."
Compared to the previous-generation Roush Mustang (2005-2009), the 2010 version presented a thorny problem to the intercooler system. "The aggressive styling of the front end challenged us to replace the double-core radiator," explained Erin Michael Dmytrow, Powertrain Engineering Manager for Roush Performance in Livonia, MI. "We came up with a full-face radiator that is placed forward of the stock Mustang's cooling module. We actually now have a larger low-temp radiator; by area, it's about 50% larger than the radiator we had in 2009. It also has a thinner core than the previous model."
The new single-core intercooler is paired with a relocated intercooler pump (from near the frame rail to behind the bumper beam and in front of the intercooler low-temp radiator), a new plastic injection molded de-gas bottle (replacing a blow-molded bottle), as well as molded-to-fit hoses (replacing cut-to-fit bulk hoses). "We thought it was going to be a quiet year from a powertrain standpoint, but it turned out to be a very large investment for us. Of the 45 new tooled parts developed for the 2010 Roush Mustang, 27 were for powertrain components and 18 for vehicle-level components," said Jurick.
Induction system revisions were done to reduce the airflow losses associated with piping that stretched across the engine compartment and to increase the cross-sectional area of the air induction system. "The air-inlet track length was shortened by more than half the size of the 2009 Roush Mustang's inlet track length," said Dmytrow.
Roush engineers opted to move the throttle body from its passenger side location to a driver's side position in 2010. "Since the routing path from the throttle body to the air cleaner was longer than necessary in the previous generation and because Ford changed the air cleaner assembly for the 2010 Mustang, this provided us with an opportunity to have a more direct routing path to the supercharger, reduce some of the induction losses, and free up some space under the hood," said Jurick.
Suspension changes include all Roush Mustangs being fitted exclusively with Cooper tires, including an optional wheel and 20-inch tire package. "All of the chassis tuning is different on the 2010 models. We retuned the dampers, specifically the front and rear compression curves have been changed. The spring rates are different, giving the car a more refined ride but with all of the handling of the previous model," said Terry Hendricks, Chassis Engineering Manager for Roush Performance.
The 2010 Roush Mustang production was scheduled to launch this month. The initial models are the Stage 1, the Stage 2, and the 427R. The most popular version, the 427R, is the first in the Roush Mustang lineup to have a supercharger to boost power up to 435 hp (324 kW) at 6300 rpm and 400 lb·ft (542 N·m) from 3500 to 5000 rpm. All versions of the Roush Mustang use the same engine as the Ford Mustang GT, which is a 4.6-L V8.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Hybrid Technology

A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors.

Power sources include:

On-board or out-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS)

Gasoline or Diesel fuel
Hydrogen

Compressed air

Human powered e.g. pedaling or rowing

Wind

Compressed or liquefied natural gas

Solar

Coal, wood or other solid combustibles

Mopeds and electric bicycles are a simple form of a hybrid, as power is delivered both via an internal combustion engine or electric motor and the rider's muscles. Most of the locomotives we see pulling trains are diesel-electric hybrids. Cities like Seattle have diesel-electric buses -- these can draw electric power from overhead wires or run on diesel when they are away from the wires. Giant mining trucks are often diesel-electric hybrids. Submarines are also hybrid vehicles some are nuclear-electric and some are diesel-electric.

The Honda Insight, which was introduced in early 2000 in the United States, is designed to get the best possible mileage. The Insight is no longer part of Honda's line, but it's still a good example of how a hybrid car can work.Honda used every trick in the book to make the car as efficient as it can be. The Insight is a small, lightweight two-seater with a tiny, high-efficiency gas engine. The Insight has the best EPA mileage ratings of any hybrid car on the market.
The Honda Insight is a simplified parallel hybrid. It has an electric motor coupled to the engine at the spot where the flywheel usually goes. Honda calls this system "Integrated Motor Assist." The Insight has either a conventional, five-speed manual transmission or an automatic CVT (continuously variable transmission).

You might wonder why anyone would build such a complicated machine when most people are perfectly happy with their gasoline-powered cars. The reason is twofold: to reduce tailpipe emissions and to improve mileage. These goals are actually tightly interwoven.

The most popular and efficient hybrid cars are the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, and Insight. Prices range from about $20K to $50K, depending on make and size of model. $30K will comfortably get you into a nice Prius. Toyota is also adding hybrid Camrys and additional models to their normal lineup of automobiles. There should be 50-70 different hybrids to choose from in the next fews years. Here is a list of current hybrid cars: