The Japanese luxury brand, has just released the first teaser image of the upcoming Lexus LF Ch compact hybrid hatchback that will compete head to head with the BMW 1 Series and other high end compacts when it makes an official debut later on this month at the Frankfurt Motor Show along with the Toyota Auris HSD concept. While we welcome the addition of the Lexus hatchback in the States, we remain skeptical as to how the car is going to perform in this part of the world, especially when you consider that hatchback cars aren’t necessarily in demand in the U.S. these days. Nevertheless, Lexus is pushing through with their plans in hopes that their new car can give the Audi A3 a run for its money.
Despite the Japanese automaker’s conviction for rear wheel drive vehicles, it appears that the Lexus LF Ch concept will be offered as a front wheel drive model and will be power by a hybrid system and will be able to run in electric only mode. However there is also talk of a hybrid powered version. It could be that the compact cruiser will be offered exclusively as a green car, powered by a 2.4 Liter four cylinder engine that, with the help of an electric motor, is set to produce a maximum output of 187 HP in the LF Ch concept.
Set to be revealed in two weeks time at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the first details on the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept were revealed during this week-end. BMW described the new concept as a "symbol for future high-performance driving dynamics and driving pleasure all with a pioneering level of efficiency".
The BMW Vision EfficientDynamics is a 2+2-seater plug-in hybrid model powered by a three-cylinder turbodiesel engine combined with two electric motors. All three of them are delivering 356 hp and a peak torque of 590 lb-ft. Fuel consumption is reduced to 75.1 mpg imp, while CO2 emissions is just 99 grams/km. The new hybrid concept can hit a top speed of 155 mph, while the 0 to 60 mph sprint is made in 4,8 seconds.
The concept is all about energy recovery; in order to do that, all the electric power generated while driving is being captured thanks to the new Brake Energy Regeneration technology, without additional fuel consumption. A further option is to connect the lithium-polymer cells to a conventional power socket for a simple and efficient charge process, using a plug-in connector in the front-right wing of the car. In electric mode the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics has an estimated range of approx 31 miles.
Earlier on this year Top Speed reported that the sporty Toyota MR-2 would be coming back in the form of a Prius Coupe in order to compete with the upcoming Honda CR-Z hybrid. However, despite our hopes and dreams of a new MR-2, the Japanese automotive journal Best Car have revealed some new news that gives us hope, but not too much. According to the Japanese magazine, the two door Prius is going to be designed by an Italian coachbuilder, names like Pininfarina and Guigario are being thrown around but no one has confirmed anything as of yet.
What we do know is that the coupe version of Toyota’s most profitable hybrid model will be approximately 4 inches shorter than the standard version and is expected to be very similar to the current Prius. We did know that a possible MR-2 would be powered by the same Hybrid Synergy Drive 1.8L 2ZR-FXE engine as the current Toyota Prius and should be tuned for a little more power as well as a sportier ride, but now we are not sure what to expect. Either way don’t expect anything before 2010, but at least we know that it will look good.
We have just received a brand new third generation Toyota Prius into the Top Speed test fleet. Wile we are usually about high horsepower rides that are in contention to set land speed records even we must bow out and admit that these little Hybrid commuter cars are only going to become more common as time goes on. Now this is not quite the prototype we saw back in May, our 2010 Prius didn’t come with the very trick sunroof mounted solar panel and we didn’t even get leather. But that’s OK, because we do have the same 1.8 Liter Hybrid Synergy Drive engine that was in the previous Prius we saw. In an effort to improve fuel economy Toyota has decided to increase the engine’s displacement giving it more torque across the rev band meaning that it won’t have to work as hard getting the Prius moving to the tune of 50 MPG.
It seems that everything about the Prius was made so that the car could cut through the air with the least amount of resistance. The bulges on the sides of the front bumper push air away from the turbulent rotating wheels at speed, which are covered with some pretty interesting plastic covers that were almost certainly included as a fuel-saving afterthought. The design team even incorporated finlets at the rear of the flat paneled under tray that are more functional that the majority of the diffusers bolted to the bottom of a rear bumper. Toyota engineers go to countless measures to squeeze every last ounce of efficiency from their flagship hybrid. A number that was being thrown around when we first spoke to a Toyota representative was one million, because that is how much the Japanese automaker spends every hour of every working day conducting drag reduction research which has led to the Prius’ .25 Cd.
You don’t need to look far to find proof that the auto industry is turning over a new leaf – no pun intended – than to look at sales figures for hybrid cars. With the world beginning to become more eco-friendly, it was only a matter of time before car manufacturers would jump at the opportunity to release their own hybrid vehicles.
The most successful car brand to take advantage of this shift in consumer preference has been Toyota, all thanks to their Prius hybrid. The car has become such a sales hit that the company even found itself running out of batteries for the car. Since Toyota is being hailed as the foremost hybrid car maker, it was only inevitable that its luxury line, Lexus, would produce its own hybrid vehicle, the Lexus HS 250h.
Now, it looks like Toyota may have rubbed some of its hybrid magic on its high-end brother after reports out of Japan have said that the HS 250h is falling short in supply due to overwhelming demand. We can’t say we’re surprised, can we? Not when you consider that the brain thrust behind the HS 250h had the best mentors at their disposal.
We still haven’t recovered from oogling over the photos of Tesla’s new Roadster Sport when the electric car makers decided to satiate our appetites even more by releasing all-new photos of its other ‘new’ car – the Tesla Model S.
Normally, we’d have to pause and catch our breaths after seeing such stunning photos like those of the Roadster Sport but in this case, it’s like getting desert one after another. And knowing us, we’ll never turn our backs on mouth-watering treats.
So here are the new photos of the Model S, which is being tested by no other than Franz Von Holzhausen, the man who designed this car in the first place.
Unfortunately for a lot us, this is the closest we’ll come to seeing a Model S out on the road until 2011, the date where the car is set to roll out of the lots. In the meantime, the two-year wait should be excruciatingly long, especially after seeing these photos that only makes us a little bit more eager to see the car out on the road.
BMW has revealed the first presentation video for the new BMW X6 Active Hybrid model. The hybrid SUV combines a 407 HP V8 gasoline engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo Technology and two electric synchronous motors delivering 91 HP and, respectively, 86 HP. Total output goes up to 485 HP and 575 lb-ft of torque. With this amount of power the new ActiveHybrid X6 sprints from 0 to 60 MPH in 5.6 seconds, while top speed is limited to 146 MPH.
The Laguna Seca hosted a number of impressive race cars over the weekend, some of them thrilling fans with their sheer speed, while others making them cringe for crashing into tire barriers. Lost in the hoopla of the vintages and exotics that drove around Seca was a car that could very well be the future of sports cars: the Fisker Karma hybrid.
The Karma – we love the name, by the way – made its driving debut at the Seca last weekend as part of the Monterey Historic Automobile Races and by any and all indication, impressed the gathered crowd by attaining speeds in excess of 100 mph without using a drop of gasoline. The hybrid sports car is unique for its twin-electric motors – which are capable of producing as much as 403 hp and 959lb/ft of torque – are connected to a 200kW lithiuim-ion battery pack that allows the car to travel by as much as 8o kmh.
The car’s performance at the Seca re-affirmed the growing belief that ‘green’ sports cars are more than just a pipe dream now. Henrik Fisker, the CEO of the company was on-hand for the demonstration and made no bones about the Karma’s impressive showing. “This demonstration represents a significant milestone for Fisker Automotive and PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) technology,” he said.
Fresh off the announcement that the Chevrolet Volt will have EPA estimated 230 MPH, General Motors has released this video of the future plug-in electric vehicle make its way down the assembly line. From body panel attachment to a fully systems diagnostic run, the American gives us a glimpse of what is to come with these preproduction Volts.
About the whole 230 MPG thing, the EPA’s new train of thought it that a plug-in electric vehicle will be traveling many more city miles than highway ones in electricity only mode. So General Motors expects the Chevrolet Volt to consume as little as 25 kilowatt hours per 100 miles when driving around town. Considering that the average cost of electricity in the U.S. is approximately 11 cents per kWh, a typical Volt driver will pay somewhere around $2.75 to travel every 100 miles. That equates to less than 3 cents per mile.
Over the past few days there has been a lot of chatter about the upcoming BMW hybrid concept for Frankfurt. Like usual we will have to wait until the vehicle’s official debut to get the whole picture, but up until now this is what we are sure of. The concept car, supposed to be called EfficientDynamics Vision will be a mix of classic BMW design and a modern, more aggressive coupé shape.
This means that it will feature the latest evolution of the German automaker’s fuel saving, emissions reducing technologies. Under the hood, there is a strong probability that BMW will use a three cylinder engine along with some form of hybrid drive train, possibly the same as the new BMW ActiveHybrid 7.
With the new concept, BMW will bring back the legendary forward leaning "shark nose" styling up front. This kind of theme will also be carried over into the next 1-Series and 3-Series models. But we will just have to wait until Frankfurt to get all the details.
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