Subscribe to Gizmag's RSS feed
Follow Gizmag on Twitter
Automotive
New RX 450h hybrid from Lexus
By Darren Quick
20:56 December 3, 2008 PST
Lexus debuted the replacement for both the current RX 400h hybrid and the RX 350 petrol engine models at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show. The new RX 450h will replace both models in the UK to produce an all-hybrid RX range, while in North America a non-hybrid RX 350 will also be offered. Both the RX 350 and RX 450h are propelled by a 3.5-liter 6-cylinder petrol engine which provides 205kW (275hp) with the 450h’s augmented by an electric motor to provide a combined output of 220kW (295hp). Read More
Michelin Active Wheel System to hit roads in 2010
By Paul Evans
23:06 December 2, 2008 PST
Known to our readers for transport innovations like the Tweel airless tire, Michelin has announced that it will partner to bring an affordable electric car powered by its Active Wheel System to the roads in 2010. Featuring two electric motors housed within the wheel, one for traction and braking and the other for electric active suspension control, the system has revolutionary potential - no more engine under the hood, no more traditional suspension system, and no more gearbox or transmission as all the essential components have been integrated into the wheel itself. Read More
EV batteries demonstrate 180,000-plus mile lifespan
By Loz Blain
18:02 December 2, 2008 PST
One of the key points critics have leveled at the electric car movement is that any money saved by switching gas stations for the power point will be lost when the battery fades and needs replacing. With battery costs currently still high, this is a valid concern - but how long can a battery pack last? Battery provider Southern California Edison have been testing a lithium-ion battery subpack for two and a half hears now and have demonstrated a life of more than 180,000 miles without significant performance deterioration, a figure which makes the cost equation appear more convincing. Read More
Lotus Evora attracting celebrity waiting list
By Jack Martin
00:03 December 1, 2008 PST
December 1, 2008 Lotus won seven F1 titles, and pioneered too many automotive engineering firsts to mention. Its road cars are legend for their roadholding, light weight and remarkable power-to-weight ratios and anyone who has driven one will perhaps also mention their distinctly spartan interiors and lack of creature comfort. That all changed this year with the announcement of the Evora. It will be the world’s only 2+2 sports car when it hits showrooms early next year and it has another significant world first – it’s the first Lotus with a luxury interior and, as the delicately worded press release puts it, “a more refined ownership experience.” Perhaps we’ll see a few more refinements in future Lotus models, as the order book already looks like a who’s who of celebrity car buffs – already signed on the dotted line for a 3.5-litre 206kW V6Evora are two out of the three Top Gear TV presenters (the nice ones), current and past 007s Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan, Boris Johnson (Mayor of London), Jay Leno, musician Jay Kay, supermodel Jodie Kidd, Beyoncé, Dave Grõhl, Kelly Rowland, George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Patrick Dempsey and JLo. Read More
Kia shows next generation fuel cell vehicle at L.A. Auto Show
16:04 November 30, 2008 PST
Kia has rolled-out the latest chapter in its fuel-cell research vehicle development program at the Los Angeles International Auto Show. Continuing on from the Sportage Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) technology demonstrator which made its European debut in Paris this year, the new Kia Borrego FCEV boasts significant improvements in both range (now over 400 miles) and performance (154 horsepower with a top speed of 100 mph). Read More
The second incarnation of the MINI Convertible
By Mike Hanlon
14:05 November 30, 2008 PST
The second iteration of the front-wheel-drive MINI Convertible broke cover last week and did so with a spectacular set of numbers behind it. Three convertible versions of the iconic vehicle will be available: a 90 bhp 109 mph MINI One, a 115 bhp 120 mph MINI Cooper and a 170 bhp 134 mph Cooper S derivative. With emissions and running costs now a key buying criteria, all three deliver frugality at the bowser compared to their performance – 40.4, 38.7 and 34.0 mpg respectively. All come with an alphabet soup (EPS, ABS, EBD, CBC and DSC, not to mention AIRCON) of standard technologies, but the showpiece is the fabric roof which operates in two stages – press the button once and the roof slides back 40 cm to create a unique ‘open sunroof’ effect. Press the button again and the roof retracts fully, folding itself behind the rear seats inside 15 seconds. Read More
GM HydroGen4 fuel cell vehicle to begin European testing
21:11 November 26, 2008 PST
GM’s HydroGen4 fuel-cell vehicles will hit the road in Berlin as part of the company's extensive global zero-emission test program. Having already completed over 400,000 miles of testing in the U.S. (where its known as the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell), the tests in Germany will be the first European outing for the hydrogen EV which is capable of 0-62mph in around 12 seconds, has a top speed of 100mph and a range of around 200 miles. Read More
The car key of the future - with integrated credit card
By Mike Hanlon
19:04 November 26, 2008 PST
November 27, 2008 A few weeks back we reported that BMW was working on a smartkey, and now we have images too. Contactless transactions and the cashless society are moving inexorably closer and BMW’s Research and Technology division has now released information relating to the development of a prototype for a multifunctional car key which enables cashless payment and personalised vehicle access. Clearly, car keys are one of those things you carry with you almost constantly, so it makes sense. Read More
Smart body kits: the smorsche, smerrari, smorvette, smaudi and smamborghini
By Mike Hanlon
18:21 November 25, 2008 PST
November 25, 2008 Got yourself a Smart and the fuel bills and environmental conscience under control, but yearning for something a bit edgier and more reflective of your high-testosterone self image? Here’s just the ticket! Some of the nicest work we’ve seen in a long time are these inspired Body Kits for Mercedes’ miserly smart. That’s the smaudi AWD at top left, and clockwise, the smorsche Targa, smorvette and smerrari. There’s also a smamborghini and a smorsche 911 in the image gallery. Read More
Mazda Kann wins LA Auto Show Design Challenge
19:21 November 24, 2008 PST
The Mazda R&D team has fended off some very impressive competition to take out the Los Angeles Auto Show's 2008 Design Challenge. This year's Challenge posed the question - "How will auto racing look in the year 2025?" - and Mazda responded with this rakish three-wheel design that utilizes a patented electronic tire system to draw energy from an electro-conductive road surface and achieve speeds of 250 mph with no harmful emissions. Read More
Volvo S60 Concept with Orrefors Crystal Interior
By Jack Martin
11:57 November 24, 2008 PST
November 25, 2008 In offering the world the first glimpse of the Volvo S60 Concept car which will be unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in early January 2009, the Swedish auto manufacturer is giving an indication of what the all-new Volvo S60 will look like when it is launched in 2010. Little information is available at this time, but Volvo has indicated the car will “deliver a sporty drive like no Volvo before.” The only other significant information released with the accompanying image is that the interior features a floating centre stack made of hand-crafted Orrefors crystal, “shaped in a graceful, transparent wave from the instrument panel all the way to the rear seat backrest.” Clearly a first in automotive interiors, the crystal panel “appears to float above the centre stack's ergonomically designed functionality and rests gently on rubber pads.” Can’t wait! Read More
First photos of Porsche Four-Door Panamera GT
By Mike Hanlon
08:27 November 24, 2008 PST
It seems like forever since we knew it was coming, and it’s still nine months before the launch but finally, here are the first images of the new Porsche four door, the Panamera. Porsche has developed several new V-configuration six and eight cylinder power units for the Panamera that range in power from 300 to 500 bhp. Some of the engines use turbocharger technology and Direct Fuel Injection making them both fuel-efficient and powerful all in one. The flow of power to the wheels goes either through a manual six-speed gearbox or the new seven-speed Double-Clutch Gearbox, the so called Porsche-Doppelkupplung (PDK). Read More
Toyota CNG-Powered Camry Hybrid
By Jack Martin
16:10 November 22, 2008 PST
November 23, 2008 At a time when America’s auto manufacturers are going cap in hand to the Government for donations to secure their survival, how can there still be such large gaps in the marketplace? Toyota showed a CNG-Powered Camry Hybrid Concept at the LA Auto Show, portending the filling of a gaping hole in the market for a compressed natural gas hybrid. Put simply, in the near future, the demand for liquid petroleum will exceed supply and thanks to one of those immutable laws of commerce, when that happens, petrol will cost a lot more than it does right now. Apart from the potentially reduced running costs and environmental benefits afforded by using CNG over petrol, worldwide natural gas reserves should last until at least 2100 and widespread adoption of CNG could reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil and reduce vehicle operating costs. Read More
Lamborghini’s new 200mph Gallardo LP 560—4 Spyder
By Jack Martin
15:21 November 22, 2008 PST
November 23, 2008 Lamborghini appropriately held the worldwide debut of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560—4 Spyder at the Los Angeles Auto Show – Southern California accounts for approximately 30 percent of all Lamborghini sales in the United States, the brand’s largest global market. As the successor to the best-selling Lamborghini of all time, the new LP 560-4 Spyder combines the Coupé’s design, performance and handling characteristics with the open-air pleasures of a soft top super sports car. The 560-4 Spyder offers a new 5.2 liter engine with 40 additional horsepower than its predecessor; allowing it to sprint from 0-62 mph in only four seconds with a top speed of 201 mph. Read More
Rossi still eyeing Formula 1 drive
By Jack Martin
14:57 November 22, 2008 PST
November 23, 2008 Only one person has ever reached the pinnacle in both MotoGP and Formula 1 (John Surtees), the respective motorcycle and motor racing premier championships, and for the last three years, the greatest ever motorcycle racer (Valentino Rossi), has been teasing us with the prospect that he might switch to four wheels and attempt to emulate Surtees. Though he insists he’ll be staying in MotoGP for another five years, he spent two days punting the Kimi Raikkonen’s F2008 Ferrari this week and got within a second and a half of Raikkonen’s best time (see extensive image library). Fingers crossed! Read More
Honda FC Sport Design Study demonstrates Hydrogen Fuel Cell performance potential
By Jack Martin
13:21 November 22, 2008 PST
November 23, 2008 Honda pulled the wraps off a Fuel Cell Sport design study model at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week, The hydrogen-powered, three-seat FC sports car concept emphasizes the design flexibility and potential of Honda's V Flow fuel cell technology - already deployed in the Honda FCX Clarity sedan - and reconfigures it into a lightweight sports car design with an ultra-low center of gravity, powerful electric motor performance and zero-emissions. The design study concept is claimed to offer supercar levels of performance through low weight and a high-performance, electrically driven fuel cell powertrain. Read More
MINI E unveiled in Los Angeles
02:41 November 20, 2008 PST
Following a preview a few weeks back, the all-electric MINI E has hit the boards at the LA Motor Show for its world premiere. With its lithium-ion powered 150 kW (204 hp) electric motor driving it from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.5 seconds, an electronically limited top speed of 152 km/h (95 mph) and a range of 156 miles, the MINI E will make an impressive test bed for the BMW Group as it heads towards series production of all-electric vehicles. Read More
James Bond's aqua-car up for sale
23:13 November 19, 2008 PST
November 20, 2008 The release of Bond film number 22 - Quantum of Solace - has again made the uber-cool British secret agent the flavor of the month, but of all the iconic scenes from the long running series, the sight of Roger Moore as 007 navigating the briny deep in his white Lotus Esprit come submarine in the 1977 flick The Spy Who Loved Me must rate as one of the most memorable. Now the car in question is set to cross the block in London where auctioneer Bonhams expect it to fetch upwards of £100,000. Read More
Porsche’s next generation Boxter and Cayman
By Mike Hanlon
22:57 November 19, 2008 PST
November 20, 2008 Porsche has unveiled its second generation mid-engined Boxster and Cayman sports cars at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The highlights of the new generation are the new flat-six boxer engines which offer both more power, and greater fuel efficiency than their predecessors and the new double-clutch gearbox which will be known as the Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK). Read More
Reinventing the wheel – the airless tire
By Jack Martin
03:42 November 19, 2008 PST
UPDATED November 20, 2008 One of the more fascinating developments in the history of the automotive tire is the modern concept of the airless tire. Dunlop produced the first pneumatic tire for bicycles in 1888 and Michelin did likewise for cars in 1895, and for the last century, pneumatic tires have ruled. Michelin announced its airless Tweel technology three years ago (Gizmag’s biggest story ever with more than a million page views) and won the Intermat Gold Medal for Innovation in 2006, though we have yet to see a commercially available automotive product from the French giant. Now a new airless tire using a flexible, honeycomb-like internal structure could again prove to be a disruptive technology in one of the world’s largest industries. With development funded by the U.S. DoD, the initial aim of the project was to replace the Achilles heel of the military vehicle, but now the technology looks like going commercial for the rest of us. Read More
New system for Overweight and Overheight Vehicle Photo Enforcement
By Mike Hanlon
02:48 November 19, 2008 PST
November 19, 2008 If you are already beginning to yearn for the days when road law enforcement and vigilance on the roads was merely token, the long term prognosis is not good. Attendees at this week’s World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems in New York City had a sneak peak of a new photo enforcement technology that is designed to help cities solve the problems associated with overweight and overheight trucks. American Traffic Solutions’ (ATS) Axsis WIM-300 (Weight-in-Motion) system uses a combination of quartz weight sensitive sensors embedded in the road and a roadside system that automatically monitors and isolates heavy vehicles. The sensors read the weight of a vehicle and can detect an overweight vehicle while the Overheight photo enforcement system uses a laser to measure the vehicle’s height and detect violations. Read More
Gordon Murray's T.25 wins Idea of the Year
By Mike Hanlon
14:28 November 17, 2008 PST
November 18, 2008 Celebrated automative designer Gordon Murray was last night awarded the prestigious ‘Idea of the Year’ accolade at Autocar magazine’s annual awards ceremony for the T.25, a radical, innovative design for a new type and class of personal transport vehicle. Autocar’s editor Chas Hallett said, “Gordon Murray is looking to completely reinvent the cars that we buy and the way they are made. And from what we’ve seen it doesn’t get a much better idea than that”. Three of Murray's diminutive T.25 vehicles will fit in a single parking space. Read More
24 carat Gold- and Platinum-leafed Aston Martin DB7
By Mike Hanlon
00:27 November 17, 2008 PST
Gold leafing vehicles isn’t new - the Egyptians mastered the technique more than 3000 years ago and Tutankhamun’s chariot was decorated with gold leaves. Gold plating your car is however, new and a sure-fire way to differentiate your ride. London-based Alchemist created a unique 24-carat gold and platinum-leafed Aston Martin DB7 for the recent MPH Prestige and Performance Motor Show at London’s Earls Court. Read More
The Bentley Azure T – top down for four at 180mph
By Mike Hanlon
00:08 November 17, 2008 PST
Readers will no doubt find it surprising that the time-honoured Winged-B Bentley brand, which had its heyday in the thirties, had its most successful year in history last year measured in either profitability (EUR155 million) or production numbers (10,000). One of the models in the ever broadening range that has driven the company’s success is the Azure T, billed by Bentley as “ world’s most elegant convertible.” The new T is much faster than its predecessor, delivering 500 horses from the twin-turbo 6.8 litre V8. The characteristic Bentley “wave of torque” now peaks at 1000 Nm. If you like thunderous performance, driving a Bentley and experiencing being flung at the horizon whilst surrounded in absolute luxury is a treat – and with the Azure T, you can have the top down and share the experience with three friends, all the way to 179 mph. Read More
BRABUS customized Tesla Roadster gets space-age soundtrack
19:59 November 13, 2008 PST
The era of the electric car is dawning and BRABUS isn't about to be left behind. Often gracing these pages with its high-performance adaptations of Mercedes Benz and other vehicles, the German tuning specialist has announced the formation of a new Zero Emission division which, as its first order of business, has produced a customization program for the Tesla Roadster EV that sets out to "define a potential limited edition as well as an individual tuning program for the Tesla driver". For the pilot concept, the electric engine and drive-train remain untouched but almost everything else gets a dose of cosmetic surgery - new matte white paintwork, new wheels, splashes of carbon fiber bodywork and yes, a sound-generator that not only simulates the noise of a V8 or racecar engine, but also gives drivers the option of cruising to truly 21st century sounds dubbed ‘Beam’ and ‘Warp’. Read More
Keith Lawhorn
- November 11, 2009 @ 03:07 UTC
