This past weekend EcoModder was in Madison, Wisconsin, attending the ever-fun GreenDriveExpo powered by HybridFest. Though EcoModder was also in attendance last year, this year marked the first time members had competed in the MPG Challenge.

The course was challenging rural/downtown loop of approximately 25 miles that took the drivers on both low and high speed roads, which were peppered with with stop lights and stop signs. It was the sort of course that is perfect for hybrid owners with auto-stop, but less perfect for those of us with traditional gassers.

To ensure that drivers completed the loop at normal speeds without annoying the heck out of other drivers, a time limit of 51 minutes was imposed. Both of the competitors from EcoModder came in well below this time limit, but not so much as to suggest it is unreasonably slow.

In the end, the two EcoModders in attendance came in at 62 MPG and 65 MPG, which were a bit low due to rain and wet roads that affected the drivers that went out later in the day. Because the competition was run based on percent over EPA rating and not standard MPG, the 1991 CRX with 65 MPG came out on top, scoring something like 160% over EPA due to some advanced ecomodding.

Overall, a fun competition that brought out the best mileage in some cars and drivers. Hopefully we will see some of you in attendance next year!

This weekend is the 4th annual Hybrid Fest Green Drive Expo, a great event in Madison, Wisconsin, highlighting the present and future of environmentally-conscious motoring. For more details on the show itself, check out the Green Drive Expo homepage.

This marks the second year of EcoModder’s attendance, and this year promises to be even better. If you are in town, come check out the EcoModder booth, featuring my 1991 Honda CRX and the now-famous AeroCivic, both of which will be competing in the MPG Challenge Friday afternoon.

Discover the Truth About Green Transportation Options at the Fourth Annual Hybridfest Green Drive Expo

SAUK CITY, WISCONSIN   July 14, 2009   Automotive News    Print this News Release  RSS
(PRLEAP.COM) Madison, WI – The fourth annual Hybridfest Green Drive Expo begins in Madison this weekend. (July 18 & 19) It is one of the nation’s largest clean and sustainable transportation events. Visitors to the two-day show will be able to check out unique vehicles including hybrid cars, hybrid buses, plug-in hybrids, biodiesel, electric cars, electric bikes, propane conversions and more.

Hybridfest Green Drive Expo’s purpose is to promote awareness and understanding of hybrid electric automobiles and other alternative fuel vehicles. For more information about activities and festival times visit www.GreenDriveExpo.com.

At a panel discussion during the 2009 New York International Auto Show, the inevitable question came up: should we focus on one green technology or continue our scattered approach to things? Henrik Fisker, the charismatic man at the helm of Fisker Automotive, had an answer that surprised me: we should explore every avenue, except mild hybrids. According to him they were a short term solution at best, and much of the investment in them is wasted money.

Since then I have been thinking about the pros and cons of investment in mild hybrid technology. While hybrids like the Toyota Prius have certainly enjoyed their fair share of commercial success, there are good arguments on both sides of the issue.

3 Reasons Mild Hybrid Investment is Wasted

1. Mild hybrids may reduce our fuel consumption, but they are not a substitute for petroleum based fuels. Using less gas may be great, but is it worth money that could go to developing non-petroleum transport technologies?
2. Fuel efficient technologies already exist. Small cars and diesels have had the potential to get great fuel economy for decades; it would require less money and less waiting to just cut the fat.
3. Hybrid technology is still a bandage for inefficient vehicles. While the Prius may be popular, more money is being spent on making SUV, trucks, and luxury cars into hybrids than vehicles with any decent fuel economy potential. Cadalac Escalade hybrid, anyone?

3 Reasons to Keep Investing in Mild Hybrids

1. They save fuel. Like it or not, internal combustion engines are going to be in the United States and the world for decades. We might as well develop the technology to save fuel over that long term.
2. Mild hybrid technology is profitable and affordable. Compared to other technologies like battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell, it’s actually possible to purchase and afford mild hybrids.
3. The technology builds consumer acceptance of environmental automobiles. Unlike many skeptics predicted when the Insight first came to the United States, people aren’t getting shocked to death by their cars or having the electric motors blow up and fail on a daily basis.

So, is Fisker right? Is money invested in mild hybrid technology a waste? It’s clear that he has an agenda to sell his own plug-in electric vehicles, but I think he may be on to something. The economical Geo Metro is still competitive with the Prius in terms of fuel economy, but such conventional technology has all but given way to modern hybrids. Perhaps a return to the basics and renewed focus on conservation would do more than all the world’s advance hybrid drivetrains put together.

What do you think?

The 2009 New York International Auto Show was a mixed bag for green car enthusiasts. On the one hand, there were some exciting small cars on display; on the other were a whole bunch of new SUVs. Here are our posts in no particular order:

• 2011 Ford Fiesta: An Unexpectedly Impressive Car

• 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid: Built for Ecodriving

• Fisker Karma: Even More Impressive in Real Life

• One Global Emissions and Efficiency Regulation to Rule Them All

• Kammback Creator to be Inducted into Automotive Hall of Fame

• Automakers Getting Back Into the Sub-prime Loan Business?

• Chrysler Showcases Electric ENVI Concepts

• Ford Highlights Fuel Economy with Interactive Display

• The SUV Strikes Back

• Mazda2 Officially Coming to Canada

• VW Golf Wins World Car of the Year Award

• Breaking News: Mitsubishi Announces the i MiEV will be Sold to the US Public

• Fiat 500 Wins World Car Design of the Year Awards

• Honda FCX Clarity Wins World Green Car of the Year Awards

• GM and Segway’s New PUMA Project in Action

• Chrysler Stuns with Fiat 500 Drive Out

• Scion Announces iQ Concept

For more photos of the Fisker Karma, check out our gallery at the bottom of this post.

Before I saw the Fisker Karma in person at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, I didn’t think much of the car. To me, it was just another high-priced, luxury eco-mobile competing with Tesla Motors for the top spot as most expensive gasoline alternatives.

However, I’ve come to realize that Fisker is a lot more than another car company. Unlike Tesla Motors, the company is headed by an actual car guy, Henrik Fisker. As a former designer from Aston Martin, you can see Fisker’s style at work in the design of his cars. Unlike his counterpart at Tesla, Elon Musk, his efforts are put into designing beautiful cars and not calling critical reporters bad names.

Yes, Fisker is also designing expensive cars. Yes, they are series hybrids and not fully electric. Yes, they are relatively impractical vehicles for the average person to own. And yes, they’re not even on sale yet.

However, Fisker has a longer lead time with their cars, because unlike the Tesla Roadster, the Fisker Karma is all Fisker Automotive’s design from the ground up. Their efforts are also complicated by the series hybrid design, which takes more effort to design than a straight up electric vehicle.

So, why am I so excited about this car? Well, it will be shipping to consumers in about a year for around $80,000, and should provide about 100 mpg when it passes the 50 mile electric-only range and the gasoline engine kicks in to charge the batteries.

For all intents and purposes, you can think of the Karma as the luxury version of the GM Volt that will be on the market sooner and in much lower quantity. Unlike Tesla Motors, Fisker Automotive will attempt to be a brand of green supercars, not the everyman’s luxury sedan.

If a green car lover could ever be excited about a supercar, they will likely be excited about something from Fisker Automotive. Anyway, to end a meandering post on a somewhat coherent note, I think that Fisker is now the company to watch. Free of pesky lawsuits, I expect the company to begin producing the kind of unattainable auto that everyone loves to love.

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For more pictures, check out our high resolution Ford Fusion Hybrid gallery at the bottom of the post. Click on the images for bigger versions.

At the New York International Auto Show I got the opportunity to test drive both the 2011 Ford Fiesta and the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and check out their gas mileage. The Ford Fiesta test drive went well, and I was very impressed with the small car’s feel and performance. Next up was the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the Fiesta’s larger, more expensive sibling.

When the car was release at the LA Auto Show, I was a bit skeptical of it. How could such a large, expensive vehicle put up any kind of decent fuel economy numbers to make it worth driving? Even after the car scored a 41 mpg EPA estimate I remained skeptical. Was it really capable of that mileage, or was it optimized for the EPA testing cycle?

Ford Fusion Hybrid – Impressive Gas Mileage for a Large Car

As the Ford tech I drove with was keen to point out, this car is designed for ecodriving. It takes advantage of the two-mode hybrid system in order to exploit the most common techniques that are used to get better gas mileage. Also important are several aerodynamic tweaks on the hybrid version that allow the car to passively get better fuel economy without changing the overall look of the car.

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However, the most striking feature of the Ford Fusion Hybrid is Ford’s new Smartgauge, an all-digital dash display that almost gives you too much information. Besides the expected standard gauges (including fuel economy), you get an ecodriving skill rating and a very helpful EV mode gauge. The EV mode gauge, which is perhaps my favorite thing about the entire car, tells you how much work the electric engine is doing. Most importantly, it indicates the small window in which the car will run completely on the electric motor, allowing precise control of the vehicles two-mode hybrid system.

The Smartgauge is what made this car such a pleasure to drive. Even though I didn’t pay attention to the ecodriving rating, trying to keep the car in EV mode while monitoring the battery charge became quite a fun game. During the test drive, I wasn’t paying attention to my fuel economy but rather testing out the many functions of the car. Even so, it was hard to ignore the temptation to ecodrive, especially considering how easy the car makes it.

Not only is the car roomy and comfortable, but it offers as good of a drive as you can expect from such a large sedan. Not considering fuel economy at all, this impressed me as a quality car from Ford. When you toss in the Smartgauge and two-mode hybrid system, the Ford Fusion Hybrid is an absolute pleasure for any ecodriver looking for something larger that can still throw down some good fuel economy. On my full-throttle test drive around midtown I still managed 40.4 mpg, better than I would’ve expected with any car.

Perhaps this car will be a real winner for Ford.

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For more photos, navigate our gallery at the bottom of the post. Click on the image for an even larger version.

Last week at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, I got the chance to drive the all new 2011 Ford Fiesta. The folks over at Ford have been able to generate a lot of buzz around the car with their innovative marketing campaign, so I was excited to get a chance to drive one at the show.

The Ford Fiesta, which is now on sale in Europe in a variety of packages, is based on the Mazda2, which should be coming to Canada fairly soon. No one knows what engine/trim packages will be available in the United States yet, but I was grateful to be able to take my test drive on the 1.6 liter, 5-speed manual Titanium edition.

My first impression of the Fiesta was that it had a very high level of fit and finish. Playing with it on the showroom floor I was surprised that I could fit in the back seat easily and that the rear hatch had lots of cargo room (for a car that size). None of the knobs or buttons felt cheap and nothing fell off in my hands while I was yanking at it. My only complaint is that the gauge cluster seemed a bit cramped. Unfortunately, this seems to be the style of the times, and I felt a bit better about the cluster after playing with the built-in fuel economy gauge.

Driving the car felt almost as good as playing with it on the showroom floor. Having driven a lot of different cars in the time that I have been working on EcoModder, I’ve developed a sort of sixth sense about what is and is not a good car. I’m sure many of you have experienced: sometimes you get behind the wheel of a car and think “wow, something’s missing.”

I’ve experienced this with many cars in the past, including many Fords, but when driving the new Ford Fiesta I felt very confident. The engine feels strong and smooth, and the manual transmission shifts precisely. Driving the car is comfortable but not so comfortable that you don’t feel connected to the road.

Steering is tight and responsive, and the vehicle handles turns well, even in midtown Manhattan traffic. To be honest, I didn’t get the longest test drive, but I didn’t feel any major flaws with the car. Even though we sat parked in traffic for half an hour and I made no effort to ecodrive the car, we still managed a bit under 30 mpg, which is a great number for the kind of driving I did. Though there are no official numbers, I’m told we can expect high 30s for the EPA rating on the 2011 model.

So, what are the flaws? Well, it’s a small, efficient car. While that might mean a lot of good things to most ecomodders, it also means that you won’t be able to haul much cargo and you will have a tough time cramming many people into the back seats. Also, it doesn’t have the power you are used to in most new cars. The Fiesta can get you up to speed, but you shouldn’t expect any self-induced whiplash.

In any case, I wish I could give a more thorough review, but I haven’t had as much time with the car as I would’ve liked. Nevertheless, the Ford Fiesta is now up there with the Scion iQ and Smart fortwo in terms of eco-friendly personal transportation.

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Recently, at the New York International Auto Show, I was involved in a few discussions with the Auto Alliance regarding the current issues surrounding emissions and fuel economy regulation in the United States. While the Alliance and manufacturers are not necessarily opposed to stricter (i.e. California) regulations, they are opposed to having multiple standards in this country.

I know that many people see this as industry road-blocking, but the Alliance has a good reason to oppose state-level emissions and efficiency regulations, which I came to realize after learning more about the difficulties in bringing fuel-efficient European cars to the United States.

How Multiple Regulations Affect the U.S. Auto Market

For decades, California has had it’s own emissions regulations, which are much stricter than the emissions regulations in the rest of the country. In response, many automakers created separate models for CA and non-CA markets. Notable among these efforts were VW’s diesels and Honda’s lean-burn equipped cars.

However, a more common response was to build cars for the larger, non-CA market, that wouldn’t be available in California or to build cars that could meet California standards and be sold in any state. While this seems like a fair compromise, it added a layer of complexity in the design of U.S. vehicles. Automakers are forced to decide which markets their cars will be sold in and what technology they will use depending on constantly changing state regulations.

While there is only one federal government, as long as states can create their own regulations automakers potentially need to compromise with 50 different government bodies.

The Benefits of a Federal Regulation

Federal regulation allows automakers to build one car for the entire United States. Even if the government were to adopt CA standards nationally, automakers (and consumers) would save money because of reduced complexity in standards. Automakers can design one car with one set of engine options and one set of emissions controls that can be applied nationally.

For used car buyers, federal regulations will make it easier to buy cars across state lines or bring your vehicle with you when you move. Used car emissions are still up to state and local governments, but with each car having the same new standards it will be easier to unify after market emissions testing.

World-wide Regulation

Sure, we Americans like to have things our way and remain independent from the rest of the world. But we also like it when our global auto industries succeed and when foreign companies can bring their ridiculously fuel-efficient cars to the United States.

Unfortunately, they can’t do that yet. Why not? Because it takes a lot of work to pass emissions and safety standards in different markets.

Take for example the Ford Fiesta, which is being brought to the North American market for model year 2011. In Europe, where lots of attention is paid to pedestrian safety, the front end of the Fiesta is designed to push people out of the way without hurting them too badly. However, to bring the car to the United States the front end needs to be redesigned in order to comply with slow-speed collision regulations. This means new bumper and headlight design, which has to be created, tested, and then mass-manufactured before the car will be ready for sale.

So far, we have seen that the European Union is able to cooperate on vehicle regulations. If the auto market is going to be truly global, perhaps we should all start to get along and design global cars with global standards. It may be difficult and costly to implement, but the money spent will be saved elsewhere.

Every year, the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan adds a few influential people to their archives. The Automotive Hall of Fame has the task of preserving the most important ideas and moments in automotive history, so it’s quite an honor to be inducted.

That’s why I was happy to hear at the New York International Auto Show that Wunibald Kamm, designer of the Kammback, will be inducted in 2009. In 1938, he helped BMW design the first Kamm-Coupe, a 328 with a .25 drag coefficient, matching the first generation Honda Insight.

Clearly, his ideas were ahead of his time and never widely adopted, but with fuel economy coming back to the forefront of automotive design, Kamm is finally getting some attention.

This is of special import to us ecomodders, since the Kammback is one of the most effective and possibly coolest looking aeromods around. For some more reading on actual Kammbacks (including the one in the picture above), check out these threads:

• Geo Metro Kammback Design and Construction: Step by step.
• Better Minivan Gas Mileage with a Kammback: 3.7% better, to be exact.
• Civic VX Kammback: Clean looking install on a Civic VX.
• Building a Del Sol Kammback: The Del Sol is a perfect Kammback candidate.
• Another Civic Hatch Kammback: Another clean-looking Kammback

At the opening breakfast of the New York International Auto Show, I was struck by one thing: GM is getting back into the sub-prime loan business. This one tidbit was mixed in with a few hours of talking, and I don’t even remember who mentioned it anymore.

However, it clearly stuck in my mind. The speaker not only mentioned getting back into the sub-prime loan business but also noted that it would be a good thing for consumer confidence. This is why I got hung up on the whole situation.

Sub-prime loans are very important to the auto industry. Financing direct from the automakers not only helps put people in cars, but it helps the automakers keep both the sales and the financing all under one umbrella, which increases profits for the company.

Right now, global auto sales are dipping to long-time lows. The recession has not only hurt the public’s ability to afford cars but freezing credit markets have made it even harder to get financing for those cars. Sub-prime loans help the automakers reach another market, a market that could not afford new cars without large loans.

But, does anyone really think this is a good idea? Sub-prime loans were at the heart of the beginning of this crisis. Right now, people are losing jobs and benefits; others are having salaries and hours cut back. Sub-prime loans were kept afloat for so long by good markets and good luck, but how will these risky loans do in a bad economy?

Now, I’m no expert at the economy, but if GM is expecting this announcement to add confidence to the marketplace among consumers, I can confidently say that I’m not so sure.

What do you think? Is this a good thing? Better yet, is it a good thing to advertise?

Unlike most automakers with EV concepts, Chrysler is not focusing on just one electric car. Instead, the company is trying to cut costs and improve quality by designing a full line of electric cars on a common platform.

While the concept vehicles are not ready to hit the road yet, you can see them at this year’s New York International Auto Show.

Chrysler Showcases 3 Electric Cars in New York

Dodge Circuit EV Concept
If you wondered where Tesla’s competition would be coming from, this is the car that is set to do it. The Dodge Circuit also sports Lotus styling and will be able to go 150-200 miles on a single charge. This is one car I’d like to see in a race with the Tesla Roadster.

Chrysler 200C EV Concept
The 200C is Chrysler’s answer to the GM Volt: a sleek looking car that will be able to drive 40 miles on electric power alone before a gasoline generator kicks in to recharge the batteries. Chrysler is also advertising the car’s “social media” capabilities, which, to be honest, sounds like something that we should leave to phones instead of trying to integrate into our cars.

Chrysler Town & Country EV Concept
This is the minivan that started it all. Now, Chrysler is hoping that it will be the first minivan to head into our alternatively-fuelled future. Built on the same ENVI platform as the other vehicles, the Town & Country will, like the 200C, be a parallel hybrid with range extending capabilities.

More than other automakers, Ford designed its floor space at the 2009 New York International Auto Show to highlight the company’s efforts to produce new, fuel efficient vehicles.

Ford used its corner positioning to mount two very large displays on the wall, both highlighting the company’s move towards fuel efficiency and away from fossil-based fuels. These displays, which hang above the vehicles, set the tone for the entire floor.

On the floor was the Ford Fiesta, examples of EcoBoost technology and vehicles, as well as a Ford Fusion hybrid driving game and SmartGauge demo. As you would expect, you can crawl into and explore the Fiesta, a full year and a half before it even hits the showrooms in the United States. This gives you a real sense of the car and the fact that it will be in the U.S. before we know it.

However, the Ford display was not just shiny cars parked on a white carpet. Ford has built a driving simulation game to help prospective buyers understand how to get fuel economy by exploiting the hybrid system of their Ford Fusion. While the game is a little wonky, it’s also a good way to teach the basic of hybrid driving to new consumers.

So, if you are in town for the rest of the show, be sure to check out the Ford display on the main floor!

Recently, auto news has been dominated by green car coverage. No one has been immune to this, nor has it been hard to ignore that currently automakers will have to innovate and take environmental responsibility to the next level in order to survive.

However, you wouldn’t know this if you had seen many of the press events at this year’s New York International Auto Show. Chrysler wowed the audience at first by driving onstage in a Fiat 500, which won the 2009 World Car Design of the Year award. However, after a brief introduction of the car, Chrysler began a long introduction of their all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Like many other automakers, Chrysler is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Perhaps the knowledge that small, efficient cars do not have the profit margins to bring the company back into the black is motivating the company. Perhaps the company is too far away from offering some of Fiat’s small cars in the United States to make any concrete promises for the coming years. However, the focus on SUVs extended well beyond Chrysler.

Like it’s American counterpart, General Motors also tried to wow the press with the release of another SUV, the Terrain. Like Chrysler, GM highlighted the expectation that SUV and crossover markets will continue to expand in the coming years, even given evidence that gas prices will increase once the current economic downturn ends.

However, the American makes are not the only ones that are trying to turn the clock back to the 1990s. Japanese automaker Honda highlighted their Element and new Pilot SUVs while Mazda unveiled a new CX-9 crossover SUV. The German manufacturers followed suit with a new X6 SUV from BMW and a hybrid SUV from Mercedes.

Will the SUV make a comeback?

It’s hard to say. Gas has gotten cheap again and large trucks with steep discounts are beginning to sell again. Not only are there plenty of SUVs left on the lots, but the automakers are still pushing new models onto the market.

What’s worse is that we are meant to believe that these new SUVs are not just SUVs, but the solution to our environmental and fuel efficiency problems. Greenwashing: yes. Greenwashing with a hint of truth: not quite.

While GM was busy pushing it’s hybrid SUV with EPA ratings of 21/22 mpg, Ford notably took another tack, allowing test driving of its Fusion hybrid and the coming 2011 Ford Fiesta, both of which will offer EPA ratings nearly double that of GM’s hybrid SUV.

The message from the automakers was seemingly clear: we’ll have efficient cars in a few years, but for now, buy our SUVs.

What do you think: Will the SUV market experience a resurgence? Are automakers turning back to these vehicles in an attempt to increase profit margins? Are fuel efficient cars just too far off to be viable?

When speaking to Canada’s Globe and Mail, a Mazda representative confirmed that the Mazda2, the car off of which the Ford Fiesta is based, will be coming to Canada. Though specifics were not put on the record about when, we can expect that the car will make it to market in time to compete with other micro-compacts such as the Ford Fiesta and Scion iQ, which will be arriving in the next few years.

Though there is no word about whether or not this car will be coming to the United States, it is encouraging for us to see it in the Canadian market, which has much of the same crash testing procedures as the U.S.

Source: Globe and Mail

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRHY6dmZmGI

Today, at the New York International Auto Show, the new VW Golf took home top honors as the World Car of the Year. The award was decided by a panel of 59 jurors from many countries and reflects the industry’s shift towards smaller, more functional vehicles.

Also in the running for the award were the Ford Fiesta and the Toyota iQ, two other small, fuel efficient vehicles. While the Golf has the worst fuel economy of the three, it is still above average and has been a proven model in the VW lineup for many decades. Congratulations to VW for the honor. Check out the video if you’re interested in the awards ceremony.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37UqQa8ik1o

This morning at the New York International Auto Show, Mitsubishi announced that they would be beginning sales of their i MiEV electric car to the public in the near future. The car, which will begin to roll off the line in Japan in July expects to reach production goals of 2,000 units in 2009 and 5,000 in 2010.

Since Mitsubishi announced the car’s sale to fleets they have already gotten purchase orders for all 2,000 units that will be produced this year. This is a strong indicator of desire in the Japanese for small, electric cars. That’s why Mitsubishi has finally announced that it will sell the car to individuals in Japan and other markets as the vehicle becomes available there.

Mitsubishi has plans to sell the car in both Europe and North America, but those sales are slowed by lack of production capacity to satisfy all markets. However, in a not so shocking move today, Mitsubishi has announced that they will release their electric car in the United States before 2012.

The car is currently selling for about $40,000 in Japan, and we should expect a similar price in the United States. If you’re interested, check out my i MiEV test drive. This car really is ready to go on the world market.

This morning at the New York International Auto show, the Fiat 500 was awarded the prestigious World Car Design of the Year Award. The award was decided by a panel of jurors from around the world, who picked the Fiat 500 from a group of three finalists.

The Fiat 500 took top honors for this award because of it’s smooth Italian styling, as well as innovative design that is perfect for not only the Italian market, but that has captured audiences around the world.

This morning at the New York International Auto show, the Honda FCX Clarity was awarded the prestigious World Car of the Year Award. The award was decided by a panel of jurors from around the world, who picked the Honda FCX Clarity from three finalists.

The three finalists for 2009 were the Toyota iQ, Honda FCX Clarity, and Mitsubishi i MiEV. To win the award the car needs to be all new and have been released for fleet or consumer sales during 2008.

Also weighing in on the decision were three green panelists, one each from North America, Europe, and Japan. The FCX Clarity was selected for its prominence as a pioneer in new technology as well as a leader in bringing that car to market.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sswhzuNgXFQ&feature=channel_page

The other day when I first saw the P.U.M.A., a combination of efforts between GM and Segway, I was skeptical. Who would want to buy this ugly, awkward, and flimsy excuse for a car? Even though it was electric, I didn’t think it was much of a vehicle and didn’t think it would go anywhere.

Well, after seeing it in person today, I must say my tune has changed a little bit. Not only is the little EV quiet and quick, but it operates smoothly and deftly. There is no question that this vehicle will be good at what it is intended to do.

Not only that, but GM is working on the technology to allow these vehicles to network with each other, allowing them to travel together in sync without driver input. This could lead to self-driving transportation pods that eliminate the driver completely.

However, safety is still an issue. If the above networking model is put into place, accidents might not be such an issue. Until then, it is still troublesome to imagine this kind of vehicle in an accident. Besides being incredibly small, I doubt the PUMA could remain balanced during an accident, putting the occupant at risk of serious injury.

As you can see in the video above, all they currently have is a driving prototype. In the coming months we will see an electric vehicle with a full body and more safety features.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEy7DidnKeg

Today, Scion unveiled their new Scion iQ Concept. The car, whose release in the North American market after sales in Japan and Europe has been much anticipated, appears to be a standard Toyota iQ with a few body upgrades.

Like most of Scion’s products, the iQ Concept is a “polarizing” car. It features 18″ wheels that can barely fit in the micro-compact’s tiny wheel wells and a radioactive paint job that from different angles can look either yellow or green.

However, edgy and impractical the car looks, do keep in mind that it is still a concept. During the release, Scion made it abundantly clear that, like in other markets, they intend the car to be an urban machine, owned mostly by young adults. This leads me to believe that not only will the concept make it to market, but it will make it with a look more reminiscent of the Toyota iQ.