Automobile News

The theme of this year’s British Motor Show, taking place now, appears to be frugality and energy conservation. Other than driving less, one the best ways to save fuel is naturally to purchase a more fuel efficient vehicle, and thankfully the industry has started to offer some truly thrifty models. The Ford Fiesta ECOnetic currently being introduced at the Motor Show exemplifies this new demand for petrol saving cars, and impresses with an astounding fuel mileage of 76.3 mpg.

The Fiesta ECOnetic’s economical features don’t end there either. Other than officially being the most petrol efficient car in the UK, the Fiesta ECOnetic is not called ECO for nothing. It manages to also be one of the most environmentally friendly cars on the road as well, with carbon dioxide emissions of only 98g/km. A structural change in design, as well as a lowered suspension and better tyres, have helped contributed to this low CO2 output. Clearly, the Fiesta ECOnetic speaks directly to the needs of everyday people today, with its high emphasis on fuel conservation and the environment. The Focus ECOnetic sold particularly well in the UK and this long anticipated model can definitely expect similar success.

If there is one car brand or model that represents the antithesis of an environmentally friendly and fuel conserving vehicle, then it would no doubt be the General Motors Hummer. In fact, one site called FUH2.com has thousands of user submitted pictures of people hating on the vehicle, and it is often targeted and burned by radical environmentalist organizations.  Among other reasons, this apparent animosity arises from the perception of the Hummer as very bad for the environment. Of course, to many other people the Hummer means something else altogether.

Originally used by the US Military and then popularized by Arnold Schwarzenegger and famous American rappers, the Hummer signifies both wealth and power. Of course, it also happens to be one of the least fuel efficient cars on the market, some models only get around 10 mpg, and most drivers never use the vehicles for their original purpose, namely, off-roading. Then, due to the onset of far higher petrol prices, the Hummer became an especially expensive status symbol to own, and began facing slumping sales. So what has the company done to make the Hummer more marketable and appealing? General Motors has taken an unexpected and surprising turn by unveiling the new green (that is, environmentally friendly, not green coloured) Hummer at the British Motor Show in London.

Yes, you read correctly, the symbol of immense power and terrible petrol mileage is now being made over to symbolize green technology and fuel efficiency. The new car is named the Hummer HX and is currently on display at the Motor Show along with many other green cars, although this model is doubtlessly one of the most surprising. The major technological revolution that causes the car to turn green is its reliance on biodiesel, instead of normal petrol. According to General Motors, this shift will make the cars substantially more environmentally friendly. Of course, other companies have already made the shift to biodiesel, including most notably Saab and Ford with their Ford Focus, so the technology is hardly revolutionary.

The next generation green Hummer will also getter a better fuel mileage because of other factors, including lighter materials and a slightly smaller size. The HX is constructed from light materials like aluminium and carbon fibre, whereas the original Hummer was made firmly of heavy steel. General Motors has also decided to make sure the materials used in the car were themselves environmentally friendly, by, for example, using recyclable fibre for the seats. However, two significant questions still linger. Firstly, how much more environmentally responsible will the Hummer truly be as the result of these changes, and, secondly, will traditional Hummer consumers still want to purchase a vehicle that is smaller, less powerful, and overall more ‘girly’ because of its focus on the environment?

Electric cars seem like the new hot trend. Gordon Brown is saying the country should completely switch to them by the year 2020, and electrically powered sports cars, like the Tesla Roadster, or even the 500 horse power SSC Ultimate Aero EV, are showing people just how powerful the technology can be. Even so, the technology still has some notable drawbacks, such as expense or time spent charging the battery, that are preventing it from completely and immediately taking over the auto combustion engine world. However, one car currently being presented at the British Motor Show in London, might at least put one of these concerns to rest.

The Electric Lightning sports car, from the Lightning Car Co., was unveiled yesterday at the British Motor Show. Aside from its high performance, a key feature of the car is the battery technology it employs, which is actually quite revolutionary. Most electric sports cars, or indeed all electric cars, use lithium-ion technology, the same as is commonly found in mobile phone batteries. The Electric Lighting on the other hand, makes use of new and far more efficient lithium-titanate battery technology. In fact, the new battery technology is so efficient that the entire car can be charged in a matter of minutes (no more than 10 minutes), while drivers of ordinary electric cars typically have to charge their vehicles overnight or at least wait for many hours. This vast improvement in charging time completely eliminates one of the inconveniences associated with the electric car, namely, the time it takes to charge.

Such an innovation clearly gives the Electric Lightning an advantage over its competitors and, should the technology prove to be reliable, will probably be the future of electric cars. Of course the company themselves assert that the technology has been tested and is full-proof. Should this in fact be true, then we can get excited over a huge innovation in the electric car industry and look forward to faster charging cars in the future.

One argument against smaller, more fuel efficient cars has always been that they are unsafe. The perception is generally the bigger the car, the safer it is. In fact this has often been used as a justification to opt for large sedans and even four by fours or jeeps. However, the results of a new study might put this belief to rest, and, given out of control petrol prices, give people few reasons for not driving a tiny car.

The study occurred in New Zealand, and bases its results on analysis of over 3 million crashes that took place in both Australia and New Zealand between 1986 and 2006. Large cars and four by fours actually often fared worse in crashes than far smaller cars in some instances.

However, many parts of the report are problematic and clearly the claim that small cars are safer than larger cars cannot be made. For starters, much of the information in the study comes from vehicles that were made before the 1990s when many safety measures were installed, and large cars were dangerous because of factors other than their size; such as a lack of airbags, or seatbelt pre-tensioners. Used cars made before 1990 fared substantially worse and could skew the results of the study. Clearly more research needs to be done, but it is still interesting to see a study challenging a commonly held notion that bigger cars are naturally safer.

The day we’ve been waiting for is almost here as the British International Motor Show finally kicks off tomorrow. The show will take place in ExCeL London from July 23rd to August 3rd and we are sure to see some stunning cars on exhibition. All of the top car manufacturers are represented and over 600 cars, including premieres for over 20 new models, will actually be presented at the show.

As with any car show, we can expect all the hottest cars to be on display, including Maseratis, Ferraris, Aston Martins and Bentleys. In fact, the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed (which we reported on earlier) will actually be making its debut. In addition to cars, there will be plenty of exciting features and events on hand, including a Drift School where you can learn how to drift your car like in the movies.

Despite all the flash and glamour, many industry insiders are predicting this Motor Show will not be unaffected by the fundamental shift currently taking place in the auto industry. The industry has been receiving a lot of gloomy news lately, as car sales in Europe fall due to the sinking economy and higher petrol prices. Increases in the cost of raw materials, particularly steel, have not helped auto producers either. The shift is even more pronounced in the US where car sales have hit a 15 year low, with American manufacturers like Ford, GM, and Chrysler being particularly hard hit. What this means for the Motor Show is that we can expect to see many electric cars, and cars with green technology, in the spotlight.

Nevertheless, we here at Automobile News can’t wait to see what the Show will bring and will of course report on all the latest developments as they happen.

Speed cameras, the nemesis of most British drivers. Originally invoked to help improve road safety and lower traffic accidents, many suspect the speed cameras are nothing but another tax grab on the part of the government. It seems that even some local governments feel this way as well, including Swindon council chiefs who claim they never receive any of the revenue generated from the infamous cameras. Indeed, all proceeds from the speed traps are directly funnelled into the treasury, bypassing not only local government, but also any funding for traffic police, improving roads, or other traffic safety measures. Deciding to stand up to what they view as an indirect tax on drivers, councillors in Swindon are trying to ban speed cameras altogether in favour of other less expensive ways of ensuring road safety.

The council chiefs estimate that speed cameras cost local residents up to £400,000 per year, and we can only imagine what the national figure is. Given that all of these funds flow out of the city and directly into the government coffers, the local government feels the money could be better spent. They want to completely scrap the speed cameras and instead use a portion of the money typically generated by the cameras for cheaper, and more effective, road safety enforcement. Some suggested alternatives include speed bumps and electronic warning signs. However, local MPs fired back by saying the speed cameras do actually increase road safety and that councillors were “playing politics with lives” by suggesting their removal. Supporters of the cameras also point to statistics that show cameras have reduced traffic accidents and fatalities by 65.6%. Apparently, the battle to remove speed cameras remains far from over.

Electricity, solar power, diesel, ethanol, and biofuel are all highly sought after as cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives to petrol. At the elite IIT Delhi engineering college, already known for its advances in developing a bio-diesel car engine, it appears that its members are hard at work developing a car that can run purely on any type of bio-fuel. As long as the substance is biodegradable, it can be used as fuel to power the car. To illustrate how just about anything will power the vehicle, the car itself is basically just a mobile toilet on wheels. Insert the biofuel into the toilet bowl (they use bananas in the demonstration), then flush, and enjoy a full tank of fuel. This is much cheaper than loading a car up with petrol nowadays. Of course, the technology is still in its infancy, but we can hope to one day see toilet cars on every street.

Despite the sinking number of traffic deaths in Europe, the EU goal of halving the amount of traffic accident victims by 2010 hardly seems achievable at all. Only France with a 43% decrease in traffic fatalities compared to 2001, Luxembourg with 42% decrease and Portugal with a 38% decrease, even stand a chance of meeting the EU’s goal. A few other countries, including Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland, could realistically meet the goal by 2013, while the UK and Eastern Europe remain far behind.

In 2001, the EU set the goal of reducing the amount of traffic accidents deaths by 50%, or not exceeding 25,000, by 2010. A total of 43,000 people died on European roads in 2007, which is a 20% decline when compared to 2001. The average European road mortality rate at 87 deaths per one million people, is actually better than the rate of other industrialized countries, such as the US with 142 deaths per million. However, not all of Europe has uniform road safety rates, as the worst EU offender Lithuania’s rate of 218 deaths per million, is worse than the US’ rate.

Out of control petrol prices have ignited discussions regarding alternative energy sources and the future of petrol powered cars. Indeed, as we mentioned in an earlier article, electric hybrid cars are massively gaining popularity, and many companies, like Tesla Motors or SSC, are even developing electrically powered high performance sports cars. Apparently the British government has now recognised the need for solutions to high priced petrol and decided to embrace the electric car. PM Gordon Brown envisions changing the way Britons drive and hopes that by 2020 nearly all new car sales will either be electric or hybrid models.

Of course, how does the government hope to achieve this rather dramatic goal requiring huge changes in both the behaviour of car buyers and car manufacturers? The British government hopes to give consumers enough incentives and reasons to opt for an electric car, which should lead to a general shift in the type of cars people drive. Among the incentives being considered, one of the most prominent and innovative is the idea of providing customers with electric cars in the same manner as people purchase mobile phones. Essentially, you will get the car for free after signing up for a long term contract, and then pay off the car through the contract. In the case of electric cars, instead of a contract based on the amount of minutes or text messages one can use, this contract will be based on the amount of miles one drives.

The plan does, however, face a number or apparent difficulties and drawbacks that would realistically prevent the goal of a large scale shift to electric vehicles. For starters, the technology for pure electric cars currently only has a range of about 100 miles before the electric battery needs to be recharged. This limitation could quickly become an inconvenience for many drivers, especially those with long commutes to work. Another problem is obviously securing the necessary amount of funding needed to undertake such a massive project, and finally the last concern is whether this method would indeed prove less expensive or more environmentally friendly that petrol driven cars. Nevertheless, even petrol powered automobile fanatics like ourselves agree that electric cars will definitely play a prominent role in the future.

Ever get in a car accident and have people claim you were at fault, or even file charges and seek damages against you? This is obviously a bad situation to be in, and often it is difficult to prove one’s innocence, as it is just your word against the other person’s. Of course, if you happened to have an integrated car camera in your vehicle capturing the whole incident on video, then you would have something to bring to court in your defence. Introducing the Car Camera Voyager Pro, which is an in-car camera designed specifically for recording accidents, their aftermath, and even exact locations using an integrated GPS.

Putting it a step above other car cameras, the Voyager Pro manages to record the exact geographic location, time and date of any accident. The device works using G-sensor technology which automatically turns the camera on 10 seconds before any impact, and switches it off 30 seconds after the initial incident. We are naturally sceptical how the device might manage to “sense” an impact 10 seconds before it happens, and we also wonder how hard the car needs to hit something in order to activate the camera in the first place. However, these doubts can always be solved by simply leaving the camera on the entire time, or at least when driving through accident prone areas. Other clever uses for the camera include leaving it on when the car is parked to catch car thieves, or bad drivers who bump and scratch your car.