Eco Trees

Bosch and Samsung have set up a new company that will produce Lithium-Ion batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. The new company, SB LiMotive Co. Ltd, make part from long-term strategy of the two companies to develop cars with electric engine.

Bosch engineers regarded as a transitional technology the combination between the internal combustion engines and electrical equipments from a hybrid. The final goal is that on long-term to be used exclusively for electricity, more friendly to the environment. This will happen if the engineers will gain significant progresses in improving the batteries performance and if drivers will accept to recharge after a distance of 100 - 200 km.

"We start from the premise that, in 2015, from a number of 91 million new cars and vans, more than three percent will be hybrid and electric vehicles," explained Wolf-Henning Scheider, president of the Board of Directors of Gasoline Systems, a division of Bosch group. Samsung and Bosch want to start production of batteries in 2011.

Against an electric motor, hybrid models equipped with the spark ignition can save up to 25 percent of CO2 emissions, and the hybrid Diesel up to 20 percent, compared with the conventional aggregates with spark ignition.

These figures indicate that the internal combustion engine will become in the next 20 years the most often used propeller.

BMW has released the first details of a hybrid concept which will start at Paris. The model is called S400i BlueHybrid and prefigured a future ecological limo.

Thus, the big auto manufacturer has disclosed the first informations about the concept that intends to attack Mercedes: 7 Series Active Hybrid. It joins the other two hybrid concepts designed by German manufacturer: Vision Efficient Dynamics, a diesel-hybrid based on the X5, and x6 Active Hybrid, disclosed in 2007 at Frankfurt.

The new BMW concept will be equipped with a V8 engine of 4.4 liters and 407 HP and a electric unity of 20 HP. S400i Blue Hybrid, the new 7 Series, will provide much more power than the model presented by Mercedes, which is propelled by an electric motor and conventional one of 3.5 liters. The difference will be made by the consumption. BMW says that it will improve by 15% while Mercedes sustain an economy of 21% for it's hybrid concept.

A production version of the concept from Paris will be available on market at the end of 2009.

Mercedes will launch its first car with a hybrid propulsion system in the summer of 2009. It's called S400 BlueHybrid and is equipped with a V6 engine on gasoline and an electric motor. The combination between these make this car to be the most economical luxury car.

The mixed consumption is 7.9 litres of gasoline per 100 km. This help in getting the lowest CO2 emissions from its class, only 190 grams C02/km. Consumption is 2.2 liters per 100 km lower against S350 model from which was start, and CO2 emissions are reduced by 21%.

The luxury car can achieve with the help of additional power obtained from electric engine, a maximum speed of 250 km per hour, electronically limited.

S400 BlueHYBRID is the first series hybrid equipped with lithium-ion batteries developed specifically for vehicles.

General Motors (GM) has celebrated the anniversary of 100 years of existence in the international automotive industry by launching the model series, Chevrolet Volt hybrid.

"Volt symbolizes the GM commitment towards the future, or the type of technological innovation that our industry needs to face the challenges of environmental and energy from the present and future," said Rick Wagoner, GM's executive director.

Unlike the concept model, the series model has suffered several changes in order to achieve the standards imposed by GM to be able to traverse a distance of 65 km without using fuel and with 0 CO2 emissions. For that the GM engineers have developed one of the most aerodynamic models in the company's history.

The new Chevrolet Volt is propelled by an electric motor with Li-Ion battery. When the battery remain without electricity a gasoline engine starts to continue the car functionality and to load the battery. This operation increases the movement distance with up to several hundred kilometers where the battery can be loaded from receptacle. The model top speed is 160 km per hour.

The vehicle's interior contains which have not been found until now at a Chevrolet model or even to the competitors from the same class. It has a touch screen display, Bluetooth connectivity, and optional navigation system with hard disk for the maps storage or for storing music.

The car production is scheduled to start from the year 2010 at the GM plant in Detroit-Hamtramck. The price has not been announced yet.

Mercedes-Benz announced that it will launch a new hybrid model per year since 2009 and hoped that 20% of sales to be from hybrid cars until 2015, informs Motor Authority.

The German maker initiative reflects the current status of legal requirements and customers demand, but at the same time help the brand to survive in case there will not be requirements for combustion engines. Mercedes considered that the conventional engines will be there 20-30 years.

"Will not be a sudden pass, will be a series of steps, from what is offered now, to the new technologies. The power and electric motors performances will amount to the ones on fuel, so we could finally give up on combustion engines " German officials have indicated.

The future hybrid models will be S400, followed by ML450 in 2009, which will enter into competition with the BMW X6 hybrid.

Renault announced that it will present in premiere, at the Paris Motor Show, a top concept called Ondelios, a hybrid crossover created for the travel lovers, according to Motor Authority.

The car measures 4.8 meters in length, 1.6 meters height and benefits of doors in "butterfly" style. On the inside, six passengers can travel comfortably, thanks to the three rows of individual seats. The fluid and aerodynamic lines of the concept Ondelios are inspired from the world aviation.

"Ondelios was inspired more by the movement than the speed and represents a new response to long trips," said Patrick Le Quement, the design director of Renault.

The elegant hybrid benefit from an engine that develops 205 horse power, plus two electric engines of 20 kilowatts, located in the back side. Renault has introduced this concept to reduce fuel consumption.

Ondelios consume an average 4.5 litres per 100 kilometers, and carbon dioxide emissions are 120 grams per kilometer. The new hybrid concept Ondelios will be presented in world premiere at the Paris Motor Show with the new generation Megane.

The first truck for the household waste collection, equipped with hybrid engines, will be put into operation in Lyon, France, from the month of October this year.

The experiment was made by a partnership between Renault Trucks, SITA (Suez Environnement) and Grand Lyon. The waste collection from Lyon using a truck with hybrid engines aims at reducing CO2 emissions by 30 percent.

The vehicle is equipped with a hybrid engine that allows a reduction of 20 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. The truck has a additional battery for the electric power supply. This battery is loaded in the vehicle braking phases.

The hybrid technology principle developed by Renault Trucks is simple: the vehicle's kinetic energy is recovered during the braking then to be transformed into electricity. Reserved in a battery, the electricity supply the electric engine of MDS type (Motor Drive System) which provides the car's inrush, feeding their electric functions and the propulsion up to 20 kilometers per hour.

Diesel engine is used then when it consumes least, namely in circulation. Hybrid technology allows, in addition to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, and limiting phonic pollution due to electric motor functioning.

Green car lovers can now build their own hybrid after a designer has launched the XR3 package which, after it was assembled, can reach speeds of 136 kilometers per hour.

XR3 is a two-person car that has a diesel propellant that will pair with an electric motor. The vehicle comes with a series of instructions on a DVD with the help of even people with average building capacities of a car, will succeed to install.
Robert Riley, the car designer pretend that it will offer a super fuel efficiency of 360 km per litre.

According to designer, the efficiency key of this car consists in its low weight, only 700 kilograms, modern design and hybrid engine.

Unlike most hybrid vehicles, XR3 has three wheels, a futuristic look and is similar to a conch that opens the front back. The car li-ion battery can upload in a per cent of 80% in just a half of hour.

Toyota iQ could win the title of "the smallest hybrid" and "the smallest car with four seats ever built" at the Auto Salon from Paris. A rumor is about that the Japanese works to a hybrid version of this model, which would appear in 2010.

The model equipped with classical variant of motorization has an aggregate of 1.0 litre, but the auto producer number 1 in the world will provide customers that are friendly with environment a propellant that will pair with an electric motor, exactly like Prius.

So far, more details are not know, but those from Toyota said that the hybrid version of iQ will be able to run at least 25 kilometers helping only by electricity.

General Motors officials have said that the car without polluting emissions could be available before November 2010, as had been originally announced.

The hybrid concept from General Motors, with an autonomy of up to 1,000 kilometers, is expected of more than 30,000 buyers. General Motors will launch official the series concept Chevrolet Volt the next weeks, write Motor Authority. Announcement was made by one of GM officials, according to the electric car could be available earlier than November 2010.

The concept hybrid version of GM was launched in January last year, when the manufacturer announced that in 2011, over 100,000 such cars will operate on the throughout the world.
The model presented in January 2007 has suffered a series of changes so far, but the new form has not been made public yet. Company representatives have stated that the changes were determined that the original was not enough aerodynamic.

Chevrolet Volt will have an autonomy between 65 and 80 km, if use only electric batteries LI-ION, loaded about four hours. The model dispose of a diesel engine or on gasolene that will charge the batteries providing a vehicle autonomy up to 1,000 kilometers.

General Motors representatives argue that the hybrid will not compete with the Prius model from Toyota, because we are talking about two cars "completely different".

The price announced by officials for a Chevrolet Volt reach up to 40,000 dollars for buyers of the United States. As regards European countries, GM announced recently that could build the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle at the plant from Ellesmere Port, both under the Opel brand, and under the Chevrolet brand, without specifying the price for Europe.

A neurologist from New York, a fan of this car, has made recently, a list of alleged purchasers of Volt model. Most potential buyers are from the United States (California, Texas, Florida, Michigan), but also from other 46 countries. More than 33,000 people have declared their intention to purchase the electric car.

The model Volt fan intends to convince the people from General Motors to treat seriously unofficial list that he made.

The Indians want to conquer the United States with the first diesel-hybrid vehicle entered on the American market. Mahindra & Mahindra will reveal between 14 and 17 april at Detroit a pick-up hybrid that would enter on the American market in 2010.

The pick-up Appalachian is equipped with a diesel propellant and a electric motor. According to Indian officials, the diesel engine of 2.2 litres and four cylinders will develop between 140 and 150 power horses.

According to Mahindra, the company distributor, Global Vehicles USA, the new pick-up will enter on the American market with the price of 20,000 dollars, followed by that amount to grow by nearly 5,000 dollars in the case of a hybrid motorization. The vehicle will be available both in the version with two doors, as well as four.

The first hybrid vehicles from Chrysler, Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen are now finally in production at the factory from Newark Delaware, followed to providing a consumer with 25% less than the gas version.

Both models have a Hemi V8 engine of 5.7 litres and a hybrid system of two-mode type to maintain the interest of Americans for SUV's, despite the high oil prices.

This system, developed together of GM, Daimler and BMW, allows the vehicle to operate either on gas or with electric component, either using the both at the same time.

Regarding the SUV's prices, these are somewhat accessible, considering the technical complexity and the costs of production rather large, Americans asking 45,340 dollars on the Durango and $ 45,570 on Aspen.

Peugeot showed some photos of the new hybrid concept that the French have made for the Auto Salon from from Paris. The car s called RC ..., the full name followed to be known only at the official presentation from Auto Salon.

The new Peugeot RC ... presents itself as a coupe with four doors and four seats, accessible and versatile, also benefiting from newest hybrid technology. The French announces that the maximum power of the car will be 313 horse power, and emissions of pollutants will be included in the value of 109 g / km when the car goes using conventional engine and zero in electric mode.

It is not known for sure if those from Peugeot have the intention to produce a series model based on this concept. They say only that RC ... will be a technological showcase that show the manufacturer possibilities at the design level, technologies of hybrid propulsion and performances.

Following the cars trend, a different green means of transport is the yacht. Island Pilot DSe Hybrid is the first green vehicle on the water, long of 12 meters which combines fossil fuel, solar energy and electricity.

It is equipped with a photovoltaic solar panel of six kw plus a battery of 20 kilowatts / hour and can travel with a maximum speed of almost four kilometric per hour with zero emissions, using only electricity. Using the diesel engine, the maximum speed at which it can reach is seven kilometers per hour. DSe model needs a total of six kilowatts to navigate six marine knots and 10 kilowatts to eight marine knots.

The yacht design is convenient to change depending on the need for alternative fuels. When diesel engine works, it becomes, at the same time, generator for the yacht battery, providing a total of 10 kilowatts.

The eco yacht will be presented in the Lauderdale International Boat Show.

Japanese company hopes that the new model to have a success more than the competitor Toyota Prius. Honda Civic hybrid version failed to impose on the market. Nevertheless, Honda Motor move ahead. The company will launch at the beginning of next year, a hybrid car that will sell in the United States with 18,800 dollars, according to Motor Authority.

At the global level, Honda Civic Hybrid sales were high last year at 55,300 units, far below market leader, Toyota Prius, which sold in 2007, 429,000 hybrid cars. The new model Honda will have a hybrid engine which will cost 50% less than the current model. Company representatives hopes that in this way, the car would become the market leader.

The price of hybrid cars :

Lexus hybrid is sold approximately 66,000 euros.

Toyota Prius can be purchased with 25,000 euros.

Honda Civic Hybrid costs about 23,000 euros.

The new Honda hybrid model will cost only 12,000 euros.

The Japanese manufacturer from Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. has launched a electric vehicle prototype and another electric hybrid, both powered by lithium-ion batteries last generation. Within the Nissan GT 2012 plan, the Japanese manufacturer has committed to become a leader in the cars segment with zero emission and has announced his plans to launch on the market an vehicle 100% electric in 2010.

Nissan EV electric vehicle is powered by a lithium-ion battery last generation, has traction on the front and is equipped with a 80 kw engine, recently developed by Nissan.
The prototype is powered by a lithium-ion battery with a compact configuration , installed under the floor, so as not to limit the space for passenger or freight transport. Serial production of the vehicle will be launched in 2010 and the body will have a unique design, which is not based on any existing Nissan model.

Nissan has a long experience in developing electro-propelled vehicles, starting with the first EV "Tama Electric Vehicle" in 1947. The company has used for the first time in the world lithium-ion batteries on the Prairie Joy EV in 1996, followed by Hypermini, an electric vehicle ultra-compact, launched in 2000. In 1999, Nissan introduced in Japan Tino Hybrid - the first authentic hybrid vehicle, which in the upcoming 2006 in North America Altima.

The most dangerous, but the most "eco" conveyance ever invented is the electric motorcycle "Uno". The inventor of this amazing vehicle is Ben Gulak, 18 years old, from Canada. Motorcycle, which has two wheels next to one other, is controlled entirely by body movement, informs Ananova.

"Uno" weight 58 kg and has autonomy in running by two and a half hours. Top speed of the bike is 40.23 km / hour. The Canadian hopes that his invention to contribute to removing the pollution and seeking investors to help it to manufacture in series this green motorcycle.

I hope to find investors and more people to follow this example of switched to electric motorcycles.

Solar cars have appeared in the'80s. Since then, the vehicles which operates one hundred percent with solar energy have become increasingly advanced and participates in international racings. This year, half of global oil consumption has been absorbed by cars and trucks. Specialists in energy are of the opinion that the revolution machine will be a huge step approach in replacing fossil fuels with alternative sources of energy.
Already occurred solar vehicles, which they say will be the future machines. Moreover, every year in various parts of the world, is organised racings with machines propelled hundred percent with… Sun. Solar panels are the basic components of most equipment to produce solar energy. They convert energy from the sun into electricity or heat.

Sun's energy potential is huge. In a general manner, the total solar energy reached on Earth in less than an hour would cover the energy needs of humanity for a year, under conditions that would be recovered in full.

In this sense, today's solar panels are located on the roofs of houses, deshert areas and most recently on the cars surface . Solar panels located on the surface of the vehicle captures sunlight, which they converted into electricity. Today, there are machines that can operate without any kilometers whole bit of petrol.

Although solar cars are still in the experimental stage, several experts in this field are of the opinion that solar vehicles will be the future cars. The first automatic electric car powered with photovoltaic cells appeared in 1981 and could reach only 30 km / h. Today, solar cars far exceed the speed of 100 km / h.

There are several racing cars propelled by solar energy, but by far, World Solar Challenge is the best known. Flight solar car World Solar Challenge in Australia this year has reached 20 years. The competition takes place every two years and since its launch in 1987, the experimental solar cars take a circuit of 3,021 km along Australia Central, between the cities of Darwin and Adelaide.

The competition promotes renewable energies

The competition brings together teams from all over the world, most part of the prestigious universities, but also inside of large cars companies. Participating teams build their solar car by entering the contest.

The story World Solar Challenge began in 1982, when the australian Hans Tholstrup has built Quiet Achiever, an electric vehicle equipped with solar cells. In 1983, he crossed Australia with his experimental vehicle in 20 days, going from Perth to Sydney, a distance of 4,129 kilometers, with just the Sun.
The first start was delivered on 1 November 1987. So were 23 teams competing, of which only seven have reached their destination. Since then, the racing became an international event, than expected. The competition supports research in the field of solar cars and people trying to make their world regarding the need to use renewable energies.

Champions in solar cars

This year, of the 17 countries competing, Nuon Solar, a team of young Dutchmen, from Delft Technical University, won the Australian racing cars propelled by solar energy. Nuna4, machine built by the Netherlands team, who travelled 3,000 kilometres and crossed the line first at 16.55 local time. Nuna4 has completed the race in 33 hours and 17 minutes.

It is for the fourth consecutive time when the Dutch team Nuon Solar wins international competition with solar cars. At the last edition, it competed with Nuna3 that, too, proved to be the worls's fastest vehicle.

High temperatures, high speed

All competing cars have gone through the town of Darwin, located in the tropical north of Australia, and the city of Adelaide, situated on the south coast of the continent. Temperatures over 50 degrees during the day they allowed cars to reach very high speeds. The average speed of the vehicle Nuna4 was 90.7 kilometers per hour.

"The cars can reach speeds and much higher, but drivers must be as much as possible between 90 and 100 km / h. This challenge did not take place to see who is faster but to ascertain the effectiveness of solar energy, "said Chris Selwood, the event coordinator of the World Solar Challenge Australia this year. Within railiului World Solar Challenge, cars must comply with traffic rules.

The solar cars have bizzare design

Maximum dimensions of the vehicle must be: 5 meters in length, 2 meters in width and 1.6 meters high. On the other hand, with the exception of external dimensions of the machine does not impose any restrictions regarding the design and vehicle construction. Therefore, solar cars have a bizzare design, some of them alike as spacecraft.

Along the route, there are check points, where cars must stationing each 30 minutes. In this break, repairs are not admitted. Further, the capacity of batteries is limited to 5 kWh. The departure of the race, auto batteries can be fully loaded and the game rule that says they can not be loaded during the competition, besides the actual situations in which these are downloaded by all. In cases where the competitors are put in a position to recharge the batteries during the race, will be penalized at the time.

The entire Earth, with a solar car

The Helvetian Louis Palmer wants to show the world that cars with solar panels are as practical in daily life, not only in the international challenge. The Helvetian intends to enter into the records book as the first person making the tour of worls in a solar car. Thus, he left in Switzerland on July 3 this year and arrived at the beginning of December, at the conference in Bali, "taxi" which works with its solar.

Nuna, May performance from year to year

This year, organizers have imposed more competitors than in previous rules. From now on, solar vehicles should be as close to those who go with petrol or diesel. Further, should work with fewer solar panels. Therefore, Nuna4 differ Nuna3 the following elements: its solar panel is much smaller, measuring 6 metres, instead of 9 metres and have Nuna3. The chair is the right driver, unlike Nuna3, where the driver had to stay close slept.

The secret to winning this competition is the balance between existing resources and energy consumption of the best car along the Australian route of 3,000 kilometers.
The speed of the machine is always changing, depending on weather conditions, but also the load of batteries. In general, solar panels are conducted perpendicularly to the rays of the sun to capture as much energy as possible. Therefore, the machines used in solar races are often inclined entirely.