Jack Martin

A thinktank headed by Volkswagen Group Research has re-conceptualized the delivery vehicle and come up with a thought-provoking commercial EV concept vehicle named the eT! The eT! drives semi-autonomously on voice commands such as "follow me" and "come to me" and the driver can also steer from the passenger side using a joystick. There's an electric sliding door that opens in two stages for quick walk-on access, reducing the need for walking around the vehicle. For even quicker turnaround, the passenger side features a standing seat.  Read More

It's a well known fact that simply driving a new car away from the dealership is one of the most horrifically expensive things you'll ever do. ALG measures automotive residual values in the American marketplace - that is, the value of a car when you sell it, three years after purchase. Depreciation of the value of a car is often the largest part of the cost of ownership, and hence a good performance in ALG's Annual Residual Value Awards is a strong indication of how much that brand will cost to drive, and for the average man in the street, the current retained-value king is Subaru. Fuji Heavy Industries Subaru brand has now won the award three years running, with Lexus regaining top spot amongst luxury brands. The report suggests that German and American manufacturers are a long way behind Japanese (11 of the 21 awards) manufacturers in this critical but often overlooked aspect of real car ownership costs.  Read More

Russian Aircraft Company's MiG is best known for its fighter planes which have been used by the USSR, China, North Korea and North Vietnam since the beginning of WWII. These days, the former Government-owned RAC MiG is a publicly traded entity and competes on the open market with its technologies, having more than 1600 of its MiG-29 fighters in operation in 25 countries. Now MiG is claiming a major first in military aviation with the launch of a 3D flight simulator at the Dubai Air Show, providing volumetric visualization of beyond-the-cockpit space for trainee top guns. The simulator comes complete with the MiG-29’s cockpit and actual control systems.  Read More

Daihatsu is Japan's oldest car maker, celebrating its sixtieth year of production this year, having honed its skills in micro-vehicle design in an environment where space is at a premium, and the roads are as congested as any country on earth. Toyota's controlling interest looks set to pay off as the world is belatedly realising that small cars are the future. The three new concept cars it will exhibit at the Tokyo Motor Show two weeks from now point the way to the future in several ways.  Read More

Subaru's biggest announcement for next month's Tokyo Motor Show was expected to be the BRZ sports car, but now news has arrived that it will also show an “Advanced Tourer Concept” powered by its trademark horizontally-opposed engine and Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive (AWD), but with turbocharging and direct fuel injection, plus a single-motor hybrid system, all driving through a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). Paradoxically Subaru has fitted the car with its EyeSight driver assist system, and a steering wheel which incorporates a “large monitor” for access to “maps, television and internet services.” Perhaps news about the carnage resulting from distracted driving hasn't reached Japan yet.  Read More

Boeing has now produced more than 1200 of its fearsome US$20 million AH-64 multi-role attack helicopter, but with the first deliveries of the latest AH-64D Apache Block III this week, the capabilities of the 36 year old design have been lifted significantly. The Block III Apache incorporates 26 new technologies, a vastly improved 3,400 shaft horsepower drive system with a split-torque face gear transmission, a new composite main rotor blade, an enhanced digital electronic control unit, better performance and more payload, which effectively equals either more range, or more firepower.  Read More

It feels like we've been waiting for Subaru's BRZ concept forever. The BRZ is a joint development effort between Toyota and Subaru, using a 2.0 liter version of Subaru's signature horizontally-opposed engine with Toyota's direct injection system. Toyota will sell the car as the FT-86 which it showed as a concept two years ago at the Tokyo Motor Show and has since shown with revised styling. The near identical BRZ concept will be seen for the first time at the Los Angeles Auto Show two weeks from now and can be expected in showrooms in the United States spring of 2012.  Read More

Another high-performance electric sportscar broke cover last week from an unlikely source. To be built by a 125 year-old Australian company specializing in aerospace, defense and electric vehicles, the less-than-US$215,000 gull-winged Varley evR450 was on display at the Third Annual Australian Electric Vehicle Conference. Composites will enable the evR450 to be "featherweight" and development relationships with other EV specialists Tritium and Ultramotive have yielded an "ironless" AC motor with 300 kW of peak power and 1100 Nm of torque. The company is claiming a 0-100 km/h time of 3.8 seconds and an electronically-limited top speed of 200 km/h (125 mph). The evR450's range of 150 km (93.21 miles) can be doubled with an additional (but obviously heavier) lithium-ion battery pack and ...  Read More

The FIA, governing body of internal-combustion-engined motorsport, appears to have finally recognized the bleeding obvious (that electric vehicles will become mainstream) and is planning a high profile electric racing championship series beginning in 2013. The FIA Formula E Championship series has not been publicly framed as yet so it is not known if the series will be run at the same venues as the Formula One series but it can be expected to be held at a range of international venues and will logically serve as the first official championship for electric vehicles. Whether the series will have world championship status ...  Read More