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Updates from April, 2012

  • BMW has unveiled its i8 Concept Spyder as a representation of  “the future where intelligent thinking, advanced materials and innovative construction techniques fuse together to create a high-performance roadster that is outstandingly efficient and environmentally aware.”

    In effect, what BMW is trying to say it that the i8 Concept Spyder possesses the performance of a sports car with the fuel consumption of a subcompact.

    Although closely related to the original i8 Concept, BMW says the Concept Spyder is strictly a two-seater, with a shorter wheelbase and upward swivelling, windowless doors. It also features a fresher interior design with additional on-board equipment, including a pair of electric scooters housed under a transparent tailgate.

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    The Concept Spyder’s occupants sit in a very light but strong carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic cell. The car’s lithium ion batteries are housed in an “energy tunnel” that joins the front and rear axles, thereby maintaining a low centre of gravity and ensuring 50/50 weight distribution.

    The upward-opening doors pivot forward around the axis of the A-pillar, giving the Spyder a distinctive appearance with them open. BMW says a two-section roof is planned for when the weather is less favourable.

    A plug-in hybrid, the Concept Spyder is powered by an eDrive drivetrain combining a high-performance electric motor with a turbocharged, three-cylinder gas engine. The lithium ion batteries can be charged quickly from a domestic power socket. The car uses a 131-horsepower electric motor to power the front axle, and a 223-hp turbocharged three-cylinder engine to power the rear axle. Both have been developed in-house by BMW. With its lightweight construction, BMW says the combined power output of 354 hp propels the Spyder to 100 kilometres an hour in five seconds, yet delivers an outstanding combined fuel consumption of three litres per 100 km.

    The electric motor gets its energy from the car’s lithium ion batteries and can be fully charged via a home plug socket in under two hours. BMW says the Spyder has a range of 30 km running on electric power alone, while a high-voltage generator hooked up to the gas engine can generate additional power if needed and store it in the battery. The Spyder can run in front-wheel, rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, the vehicle’s electronics deciding on the optimum drive depending on the situation.

    BMW says this third vehicle gives the clearest indication yet of how the company’s fourth brand will appear when it is revealed in 2013.


    1:00 pm on April 3, 2012
     

  • Carmel, Calif. • The Lexus GS has, until now, been more about luxurious transportation than it has about being a serious driver’s car. For 2013, its pedestrian ways change — not only for the GS 350, especially when dressed in the optional F Sport package, but also for the hybrid version. Yes, even as it conserves fuel when driven with a soft boot, the fourth-generation GS can be transformed into a formidable sports saloon at the turn of a knob.

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    The new look, which now brings the mandatory LED daytime running lights, has been freshened to the point where the GS is, dare I say, attractive. The pronounced face and flowing form certainly earned the Hybrid more than its fair share of admiring glances on the drive through Steinbeck country and along Cannery Row. It’s been a long time since that happened to me in a Lexus.

    Beneath the brightwork, which can be painted in the horribly named Surprised Outstanding Novel Invented Coating (SONIC, as it is known, is a multi-level paint process that really does add depth to the lustre), is where the real work has been done. To begin with, the hybrid system has been extensively reworked to improve both fuel economy and overall performance.

    It all starts with the 286-horsepower 3.5-litre gasoline-powered V6. It now operates on the more efficient Atkinson cycle. As before, there are two electric motors. One motor captures otherwise waste energy through regenerative braking and charges the main 1.4-kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery, while the other contributes 52 hp to the drive. This combination brings a net system output of 338 hp. While Lexus does not give a torque figure, based on the power curves of the engine and motor, the net twisting force available is likely in excess of 350 pound-feet.

    The Hybrid’s power is put to the pavement through an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission and the rear wheels. While I am not a fan of CVTs in general, the 450h’s is easier to live with than most. It not only has a manual mode, it also features paddle shifters that are always active. Pull back on a paddle and you can make use of the engine braking that comes with the downshift.

    Sadly, it does not work in reverse, meaning it doesn’t do away with the monotonous drone that accompanies wide-open throttle acceleration. That said, in this instance, it’s not such a bad thing as the engine actually sounds fairly racy and not like a sewing machine gone mad.

    All of this technology brings enviable performance and economy. On one hand, the GS 450h runs from rest to 100 kilometres an hour in less than six seconds and it eclipses the more important 80-to-120-km/h passing move in 4.3 seconds. Conversely, it consumes 6.5 litres of fuel per 100 km in the city and 6.2 L/100 km on the highway. That, for the record, is a whopping decrease of 2.5 and 1.6 L/100 km, respectively,  when compared with the outgoing GS.

    The Hybrid also features Lexus’s Adaptive Variable Suspension as standard fare. This system, which works with the double wishbones up front and multiple links at the back end, varies the damping characteristics according to the road conditions. The setup is an integral part of the Drive Mode Select.

    Here, a rotary dial situated behind the shift lever gives the driver access to four different modes — Eco, Normal, Sport and Sport+. From a practical perspective, the Eco mode is way too soft — at least for my taste. The Normal mode is well suited to an urban environment. In both modes, the right dash dial shows whether the Hybrid is consuming power or harvesting it through regenerative braking.

    The better settings are found in the Sport modes. In Sport, the drivetrain is tweaked to give the GS a greater sense of purpose. It also changes the aforementioned dial into a tachometer. The Sport+ mode goes even further — it not only sharpens the drivetrain, it also firms the damping and imparts a faster, crisper feel to the steering. The net result is a car that handles exceptionally well for what is, ostensively, a hybrid-powered luxury car.

    There are two other modes — the EV function forces the GS to work electrically for as long as possible, while the Snow mode softens the throttle in an attempt to prevent unwanted wheelspin.

    As for luxury, the Hybrid, which starts at $64,650, arrives with all the usual kit. However, if one wants to enjoy the finer things in life, it mandates ticking the luxury and technology option boxes. The former adds items such as a heated steering wheel, a 17-speaker Mark Levinson sound system, 18-way power front seats, heated rear seats and full leather. The tech package includes a driver monitoring system, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, night vision, park assist, heads-up display and LED headlamps. Phew. The premium for these niceties pushes the price to $77,100.

    The Hybrid’s only real compromise is found in the trunk. As the seatback is fixed (the main battery sits between the seat and trunk),  the cargo capacity is capped at 16.4 cubic feet, which is 2.3 cu. ft. less than that of its gas-powered sibling.

    The Lexus GS 450h really does represent the best of divergent worlds. It is a frugal operator that has a Mr. Jekyll side to it when an open race track beckons. Sure, the lapping session at Laguna Seca put a massive crimp in the Hybrid’s economy, but what a hoot. Even charging through the famed Corkscrew, the GS 450h hung in there as well as its gasoline-powered sibling. That is something one can rarely say of a hybrid.


    9:00 am on March 2, 2012
     

  • It’s been a long, sweet ride, this decade-long rant against all things hybrid.

    The monumental lack of return on complication — my new copyrighted term denoting the futility of automakers adding more gizmos with little effect — of the first generations of gasoline/electric vehicles has allowed me to offend enviroweenies, castigate the media and ridicule Hollywood celebrity shills alike, all to great glee. We journalists — or maybe it’s just me — are obvious creatures: Give us windmills to tilt at and our inherent righteous indignation gives our fingers the strength, or at least the stamina, of a thousand hands.

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    Unfortunately, I may be losing my favourite whipping boy. Oh, don’t worry, I am not about to change my opinion on hybrids past. But there’s a new electrified vehicle and, alert the media, it lives up to the hype of the last 10 years, providing real-world fuel economy gains at an economical price and in a package that’s actually sort of fun to drive.

    That car, the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid.

    OK, so it’s no surprise. After all, two-thirds of all hybrids sold in Canada since the introduction of the first Prius in 2001 have been Toyotas. The reason for my change of heart — conversion, if you will, since environmentalism is quickly becoming a religion — is simple. It’s the result of just one number: 6.6. As in the number of litres per 100 kilometres I averaged over a 10-day-long, almost-2,000-kilometre test. It’s such a phenomenal figure — remember I am a lead-footed gear head — outshining all cars of even remotely equivalent size/performance that I actually reset the darned mileage meter numerous times so skeptical was I that the onboard computer was lying to me. The end result, despite that leaden foot, was always the same, the electrically boosted Camry averaging 6.6 litres per 100 kilometres regardless of the type of driving — urban or rural — or, within reason, the speeds involved. It is the most impressive instance of fuel-sipping stinginess I can recollect.

    The biggest surprise of the 2012 Camry’s performance is that its highway fuel economy — at, say, 120 kilometres an hour or higher — was excellent if not quite stellar. Hybrids have long eked out some in-town fuel savings, but they have floundered on the open road. Their electric motors have little or no effect at sustained elevated cruising speeds and, since little braking occurs, there’s no battery rejuvenation. Despite all the hype surrounding the advantages of electrification, at highway speeds, hybrids are essentially gasoline powered.

    And, yet, the new Camry Hybrid regularly posted fuel economy ratings of 6.0 L/100 km at a steady 120 km/h and barely more than seven while cruising at 130. Eagle-eyed readers with long memories will note that those numbers still trail a diesel-powered Passat by a tick, but the diesel’s normal long-haul advantage is much reduced, enough that my normal admonition that long-distance commuters should always opt for oil burners is no longer necessarily true.

    The Camry Hybrid, for instance, regularly racked up more than 850 km from its 64-litre tank before needing refuelling. Indeed, more intrepidly light-footed testers than I achieved an amazing 5.0-L/100-km average, extending that range even further.
    What’s perhaps more surprising is that there’s been no radical rejigging of the hybrid’s inner workings. Most of the tricks improving the highway fuel economy are garden-variety internal-combustion upgrades. The intake and exhaust manifold plumbing has been improved, there’s lighter-weight oil in the crankcase (for reduced drag) and the engine is beltless, i.e., the air conditioning system, power steering, et al are powered electrically rather than via a serpentine (and drag-inducing) belt off the motor. And Toyota has also resorted to the oldest trick in the automotive engineering handbook — the 2012 Camry Hybrid is almost 120 kilograms lighter than the old.
    There’s no magic to the Toyota’s dramatically increased parsimony; the Camry’s 1.6-kilowatt-hour battery is still old school nickel metal hydride as opposed to the lithium ions that are all the rage in electric cars these days. Indeed, as a dedicated skeptic, it’s hard to come to terms with Toyota’s ability to claim a whopping 39% increase in fuel economy with such simple evolutionary — not revolutionary — changes.

    The other alluring piece of the puzzle is that the new Camry Hybrid is actually enjoyable to drive. Despite that big boost in fuel economy, Toyota actually increased the displacement of the Camry’s gasoline engine to 2.5 litres from 2.4, bringing with it an increase to 156 horsepower and 156 pound-feet of torque. Combined with the Hybrid Synergy System’s electric motor, Toyota Canada claims a 200- horsepower total output. That means the Camry is now the hot rod of the hybrid set, sprinting — OK, jogging really fast — to 100 km/h in just 8.1 seconds.

    Even the Camry’s comportment has been improved. Toyota still uses one of those infernal continuously variable transmissions — they are more efficient! — that normally has small engines droning on long with the endless monotony of a funeral dirge. But thanks to the extra torque, which sees the 2.5L engine spinning slower, as well as extra sound deadening, the Camry Hybrid doesn’t start sounding busy until the throttle is matted for maximum acceleration.

    There’s also a surprise in the pricing department. My normal criticism of hybrids, as I have mentioned, is not only their paltry fuel economy gains but the relatively large price hikes all their electronics engender. Well, the new Camry flips that equation on its head as well, offering the fuel economy advantages I’ve detailed yet costing $26,990, a figure that would have barely bought you a Prius five years ago.

    Only one aspect of the new hybrid’s performance disappoints. Toyota claims that by flipping an “EV” button one can get up to two kilometres of electric-only propulsion; I never made it past the end of my block, the disappointment enough for me to suggest that Toyota should remove the switch. But the 2012 Camry Hybrid delivers where it counts: superior real- world fuel economy at an affordable price.
    Numbers don’t lie and, in my estimation, 6.6 is a very powerful number indeed.


    7:42 pm on February 24, 2012
     

  • Toyota Racing today announced more details of its forthcoming FIA World Endurance Championship participation, including an intention to race two hybrid-powered cars in specific races.

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    The new team, which is based at Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) in Cologne, Germany, will make its race debut May 5 in the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Toyota Racing also intends to enter two TS030 Hybrid cars at the Le Mans 24 Hours June 16-17. Participation in further rounds is yet to be confirmed.

    A driver lineup of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima has already been confirmed for one car while discussions are still ongoing to finalize the driver lineup for the other.

    The TS030 Hybrid is Toyota’s successor to the TS010 and TS020 cars that participated at Le Mans with some success during the 1990s,  TS being an acronym for ToyotaSport.

    Toyota says it is the first manufacturer to confirm its participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship using a hybrid system. The THS-R (Toyota Hybrid System – Racing) powertrain and features a new 3.4-litre V8 gasoline engine and hybrid system with capacitor storage developed by official team partner Nisshinbo.

    The team will use the TS030 Hybrid’s first test to evaluate the front motor and rear motor system within current race regulations. Those regulations limit hybrid systems to recovering a maximum of 500 kilo-Joules between braking zones while restricting deployment to only two wheels.

    Toyota first competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 1983. The automaker’s race cars have raced in 13 Le Mans 24 Hours races, finishing second three times.


    3:25 pm on January 24, 2012
     

  • Detroit • The role of the “concept” show car used to be so simple. Invariably outrageously sculpted, the concept car was intended to wow audiences into an automaker’s display area so they might then be tempted into one of the company’s less striking but eminently more practical production automobiles. Jet cars, motorcycles with car engines, phantasmagorical off-roaders with gun turrets and not even a hint of on-road practicality were all rendered with the same final destination — the museum or the scrap heap.

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    Then Dodge had the audacity to actually produce the Viper, a totally off-the-wall roadster we all assumed was just the musing of another testosterone-fuelled stylist yet to have his, er, cojones chopped off by the realities of the real world. The world of concept cars was forever changed.

    Now there are concepts just for display purposes, still others looking for public acceptance so that their backers will develop the testicular fortitude to produce them and still others that are concept in name only, the only difference between them and what will hit showroom floors in a few months being the location of the badge and the colour of the inlays in their alloy wheels. Hell, this year, Chevrolet even introduced the “virtual” concept car — two whose final styling it plans to palm off on the social media network as some sort of mass-market focus group trial by Internet.

    Nonetheless, the bottom line is that a concept car must thrill show goers, professionals and consumers alike. And at this year’s North American International Auto Show, the car that did that best was the return of Acura’s evergreen NSX. Never mind that it was the worst-kept secret of the entire show — or that it is unlikely that even the wheels will change before the revitalized supercar goes on sale later this year. And pay no mind to the Hybrid badge on its side, Honda making much of the fact that the car’s 3.5-litre V6 is backed up by an electric motor. The reason crowds of normally sanguine autojournalists flocked to Acura’s booth is that the NSX is just so hot — as in Ferrari, Lamborghini and, yes, even Audi R8 hot. If the new one is at all as technically competent as the original, Acura dealers are going to have to start booking appointments to prevent showroom overcrowding.

    Acura had another so-called “concept” on the floor in the form of the ILX, essentially Acura’s newest entry-level sport sedan. Far funkier than Honda’s stillborn Civic, if Acura futzes with the ILX’s styling at all, it would be very silly indeed.

    Another “concept” almost assuredly heading for production, albeit much later (possibly in 2014), is Volvo’s XC60 Plug-In Hybrid. Though the Swedish-cum-Chinese automaker is late to the hybrid game, it is throwing the entire gamut of fuel-conserving technology hardware into the electrified XC60. First, the four-cylinder engine is a small 2.0L turbocharged unit (à la Ford EcoBoost) with a whopping 280 horsepower. It drives the front wheels through an eight-speed transmission for even more miserly fuel economy. A 70-hp electric motor, meanwhile, drives the rear wheels (making the XC an all-wheel-drive, through-the-road hybrid) and combines with the gas motor for a very impressive 350 hp.

    All that horsepower doesn’t mean poor fuel economy, however. Volvo’s PHEV features three driver-selectable modes — Pure, Hybrid and Power — that allow the driver to tailor the XC60’s performance/consumption balance on the fly.

    Pure is an all-electric mode good for 102 MPGe (miles per U.S. gallon gasoline equivalent) and 50 kilometres of range thanks to a 12 kW-h lithium ion battery. Hybrid combines gas and electric motors for minimal consumption, said to be in the range of 4.7 L/100 km. And Power, as the name suggests, combines the full effect of the 280-hp gasoline and 70-hp electric motors to scoot to 100 kilometres an hour in less than six seconds, fuel economy be damned. Volvo may be late to the party, but the XC60 is an impressive first effort.

    Not (yet) scheduled for production — but it probably should be — is Lexus’ fantastic LF-FC roadster concept. A 2+2 coupe worthy of comparisons with BMW’s 650i and even Mercedes’ SL, the LF-FC is daring in a way we haven’t seen in a long time from a Japanese luxury automaker. The “spindle” grille’s lines are exaggerated to good effect, the side sightlines are classic Euro coupe and the rear end features tail lights that look they should be on an F-16. The LF is a hybrid, although Lexus will not detail the powertrain. We are, of course, hoping for big horsepower to accompany its projected parsimony. Inside, there’s more of the connectivity that’s making the rounds of the Detroit auto show, with an iPad-like tablet built into the Lexus’s centre console.

    Less likely for production but no less comely is the Smart-for-us pickup. Of course, North Americans like their pickups writ large, but the Smart topless roadster is just too cute to ignore, even if the bicycles stored in the display model’s rear bed seem to dwarf the micro car. The for-us is also electric powered, with a 73-hp motor said to accelerate the micro car, er, pickup to 100 km/h in approximately five seconds. Don’t go to your local Mercedes dealers asking when you can buy one — there are no plans for production.

    Yet another twist in the concept format was Chevrolet’s introduction of two cars — the Tru 140S and the Code 130R — it hopes to design by consensus. The 140S is a classic coupe, albeit one with a whole bunch more Italian influence than anything we’ve seen out of Detroit in a very long time, while the 130R looks a little like an original M3 that’s been seriously butched up with massive fender flares and a big trunk-mounted rear wing. Both look to be powered by conventional 1.4L turbocharged Ecotec motors. Less conventional is that Chevy is looking to social media input to further solidify design and content. I’m not sure about this “focus-grouping” of the young; had GM asked me the same questions in my youth, the 130R would have ended up with about a bazillion horsepower, no trunk and speakers the size of a house. Be careful what you wish for.

    But, for the ultimate in futuristic design at the Detroit auto show, you have to head to the displays that cultivate the industry’s future automotive stylists, namely design schools such as the College for Creative Studies and the Lawrence Technological University. Both offer coming designers a forum to display their wares for the established automotive world to see. I can tell you that Lincoln, for one, should take some of their futuristic designers very seriously. With youth comes enthusiasm and, Lord knows, Ford’s luxury brand could use some of that.


    2:19 pm on January 13, 2012
     

  • Motegi, Japan • Honda is set to introduce a new plug-in hybrid and an all-electric version of the Fit. The two are part of an exercise that falls under the company’s Earth Dreams Technology umbrella. Both will be launched in the United States next year. At this point, Honda Canada is still evaluating the viability of bringing one or both to Canada. Put my vote in the bring box!

    The new plug-in hybrid uses an entirely new drivetrain — a gasoline-powered engine that is teamed with not one but two electric motors. This is a significant move that vaults Honda into the full-on hybrid league. As such, the plug-in hybrid can run on electric power, a combination of the gasoline and electric power sources or on the gasoline engine alone.

    The new 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle engine uses direct injection along with i-VTEC and variable cam phasing. The combination boosts torque and horsepower considerably while reducing fuel consumption by five per cent compared with the current 1.5L engine used in the Civic Hybrid.


    As it stands, the gasoline engine produces 134 horsepower and 111 pound-feet of torque (although one should expect slightly better numbers in the production car). The main electric motor chips in with another 161 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque. The second electric motor plays the role of a generator.

    Where this system differs from others is that the plug-in hybrid is designed to run on the electricity stored in the six-kilowatt/hour battery — which requires 1.5 hours to recharge using 220 volts — for the first 24 kilometres of the drive. When it’s depleted, the gasoline engine kicks in and drives the generator, which then provides the electricity consumed by the main electric motor.

    At highway speeds, the plug-in decouples the electric side and runs on the gasoline engine alone. The interesting part is that, in each case, the motor and engine drive the wheels directly as there is no multi-speed gearbox.

    It sounds complicated, but the system is remarkably seamless in the manner in which it operates. Launch is strong thanks to the motor’s low-end torque, and the delivery of power remains linear through the mid-range. Push on a little harder and the gasoline engine fires up and keeps things rolling along nicely.

    The test drive of the new hybrid system was conducted in the current Accord sedan — which model will see the production version of the plug-in hybrid system is still up in the air (although my money says Accord).

    Outwardly, the Honda Fit EV looks (graphics aside) exactly like its gasoline-powered sibling. In fact, it is only when climbing behind the wheel does one find the first big difference — step-in height is taller because the car has been raised to accommodate the 20-kWh main battery beneath the floor, where it is protected as well as provides a lower centre of gravity. Recharging the battery is done through an onboard charger. The 6.6-kW unit is capable of fully recharging the battery in three hours when using a 220-volt outlet. The downside is the 18 hours it takes to accomplish the same with a regular 110-volt outlet.

    In lieu of the 1.5L four-cylinder engine, the EV adopts a derivative of the electric motor that currently sees duty in the fuel cell-powered Clarity. In this instance, it delivers 123 hp and 189 lb-ft of torque. The output is such that the Fit EV enjoys the same sort of acceleration as its regular compactsized counterpart equipped a 2.0L gasoline engine — credit the early arrival of the torque and the fact it stays with the program through the mid-range and on to the top end.

    The Fit EV has the potential of delivering a city driving range of 195 km and a highway rating of 150 km. The difference in the distances is due to the lack of regenerative braking when the Fit is driven at a constant speed.

    However, Honda is up front and admits that these are ideal distances. As such it takes the ideal and multiplies it by 0.7 to arrive at a real-world number. The multiplier takes into account the power needed to drive the electric air conditioner and power steering, provide heat in winter and supply the power requirements for everything from the radio to the wipers and heated seats. In the end, the Fit EV can provide 125 km of everyday real-world fun.

    The EV also features a three-mode drive system similar to the one found in the CR-Z. In economy mode the throttle is much softer (actually too soft for most situations). The caveat to this is that if the distance to empty is getting tight, selecting the eco mode might just be the difference between getting home and not.
    Selecting the sport mode sharpens things appreciably, but it does so at the expense of driving range (it reduces the driving distance by up to 25% when compared with the economy mode). As such, normal mode is the best, as it balances the desire for performance with the need for a usable driving range.

    As for the rest of it, the EV is every bit a Fit. It does not suffer because of the additional mass added by the battery, nor is there any compromise in the utility aspects.

    The all-too-brief test drives proved both plug-in hybrid and Fit EV are road ready. Both offer surprising performance and have a ton to offer in terms of reducing the toll the automobile places on the planet.


    2:19 pm on November 30, 2011