The development and production take place in-house at Volvo Car Group and form a vital part of the company’s strategy for independence.

The strategy of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines and driveline electrification is the path that Volvo Cars has chosen for the future.

With total control over the development and production of engines and drivelines and by reducing the number of engine variants, Volvo said the result is increased flexibility and greater ability to influence quality.

­”This marks a milestone in Volvo Cars’ history. With our new engine family we are focusing on two additional vital properties – driving pleasure and fuel efficiency,” says Derek Crabb, Vice President Powertrain Engineering.

The new Volvo Engine Architecture (VEA) engines were developed by a Swedish team of engineers. The new, smaller engines are optimized and deliver higher performance than today’s six-cylinder units, while offering lower fuel consumption than the current generation of four-cylinder units.

“During the development of VEA the starting point was our customers and what we wanted to offer them in regard to good fuel economy, low environmental impact and immense driving pleasure at an attractive price. At the same time, however, it’s also about the fact that Volvo Cars gets a sound basis for developing future-generation technologies featuring fuel economy of absolute world class,” says Derek Crabb.

The VEA family consists of four-cylinder gas and diesel engines.

Combined with driveline electrification, the VEA family replaces the previous eight engine architectures on three different platforms.

Gone will be the previous four, five and six cylinder engines.

The new VEA engines will be introduced between 2013 and 2015.

Volvo expects almost 20,000 engines will be produced in 2013, and by the end of the year the production pace will be 2000 units a week.

The first variants will be found under the hood of the Volvo S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and S80 in the autumn of 2013.

The post Volvo Starts Production Of New Engine Family appeared first on HybridCars.com.

This highly esteemed award recognizes dealerships worldwide who are paving the way for a greener future, while supporting BMW AG’s worldwide commitment to not only be the most innovative automotive manufacturer in the world, but also to tackle the fundamental issues relating to sustainability.

Auto West BMW opened its doors in 1986, however the history of this family-run business dates back to the late 60′s as the original importers of BMWs into Western Canada.

After opening its new state-of-the-art dealership in 2007, Richmond-based Auto West BMW is now considered one of the top dealers in the world, while leading as the most sustainable one.

The dealership group said Joachim Neumann, Founder and President of Auto West BMW and the Auto West Group, is devoted to promoting environmental awareness and sustainability through his dealership network.

Neumann has confronted a wide range of modern challenges at the forefront of a growing ecological battle within the automotive industry.

“This sustainability award plays a crucial role in promoting the principles of environmental responsibility to an industry that’s considered to be very wasteful,” says Neumann. “Auto West Group is committed to developing a greener environment for Canada – one project at a time.”

Auto West BMW has successfully embedded many fascinating sustainability features into their “DNA”, including:

• A green roof concept consisting of 8 gardens with 2,200 plants in total. Maintained by Auto West BMW’s staff-led “Team Green”, includes a community garden which grows vegetables that are donated back to the local food bank in Richmond.
• Building a rooftop honey bee apiary to help combat the worldwide phenomenon of Colony Collapse Disorder. The apiary consists of 5 colonies that house approximately 150,000 bees which pollinate the green roof gardens and surrounding community.
• Installation of BC’s only commercial vertical axis wind turbine, standing 53′ tall and producing up to 3,500 watts of power to create natural energy.
• A series of rooftop solar panels producing 2,300 kWh to help power their facilities and reduce overall power consumption, minimizing their carbon footprint.
• Geothermal heating and cooling technology to provide natural insulation, eliminating harmful chemicals to the environment inherent in HVAC systems, and providing a steady ambient air room temperature.
• Reducing overall water consumption through water recirculation. 90% of storm water and car wash runoff is collected, filtered, and reused during car wash cycles.

Auto West Group’s commitment to sustainability continues beyond BMW.

The dealership group said that in 2012, it opened the largest Mini dealership in Canada – Mini Richmond, who is also taking the sustainability lead in the automotive industry.

With the installation of 168 rooftop solar panels, it is considered the largest solar panel installation on a dealership in Canada.

In addition, a large exterior green wall was installed at MINI Richmond to reduce the temperature within the dealership, generate oxygen, and is perceived as outdoor public art with a honey bee design incorporated through selected flowers and plants.

Reclaimed storm water is also used in the washroom urinals and water closets to irrigate both the green wall and landscape.

Furthermore, to meet the future demand of electric cars, a public EV charging station was recently installed in front of MINI Richmond, furthering Auto West Group’s commitment to support sustainability in their community.

In an effort to continue incorporating green technology within the Auto West Group and serve those who are urban e-motorists, Auto West BMW – one of only six dealerships in Canada with the eligibility to sell the BMW i franchise – is currently undergoing an expansion to accommodate the arrival of the BMW i3 and i8 models.

This will also include the addition of public charging stations with the expected completion of the Auto West BMW i showroom in Fall 2013.

“We have made all of these investments without the expectation of an immediate financial return. This is about being good corporate citizens within our community by doing what is right for the environment, while also setting an example as a sustainable leader in the automotive marketplace,” says Pete Sargent, Project Manager for Auto West Group.

http://youtu.be/P6G8DQ6UVJM

The post Auto West BMW Awarded Most Sustainable Dealership Worldwide appeared first on HybridCars.com.

As head of the country’s 11^th largest city, Ballard signed an executive order in December requiring Indianapolis to replace its nearly 500 non-police vehicle fleet with electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

New vehicles will be purchased as older ones are retired, and the city plans to completely transition its current 3,100-vehicle fleet to post-oil alternatives by 2025.

Indianapolis already has been recognized by Toyota, Ford and the U.S. Department of Energy as one of the top communities for deployment of plug-in vehicles and charging stations with more than 200 charging stations installed across Central Indiana.

“The movement toward post-oil transportation technology is making considerable leaps,” said Ballard. “These advancements give us greater opportunity to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and strengthen our national security interests.”

Echo launched EchoDrive in late 2012, as a bolt-on easy-install system that converts existing fleet vehicles to electric assist, aimed at providing rapid return on investment through easily attainable cost-saving performance.

The post Mayor of Indianapolis Test-Drives Echo’s Ford E-250 Hybrid – Video appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Sandwiched between those classic American pony cars? The Toyota Prius.

In the interest of full disclosure, editors at Autoweek.com, admit that the Prius doesn’t get their blood pumping. Yet, as auto enthusiasts covering the full spectrum of the four-wheeled-world, the site’s staffers can’t deny the staying power of Toyota’s market-leading hybrid car.

Without postulating why the Prius rated so high in a publication that values performance facets of cars as much as practicality and comfort, the editors simply let the search results chips fall.

“All assumptions aside, the numbers don’t lie,” wrote Sherrice Gilsbach of Autoweek.com.

Reading (electronic) tea leaves

What does the number two out of 12 position say about the Prius?

There’s no end to the number of ways we could extract meaning from AW’s search results, and what they say about the Web site’s readership, or those merely doing informational searches on the site. To say that the influences of creeping numbers at the pump and the ever-increasing acceptance of alternative-fuel vehicles also likely play roles in boosting the Prius’ profile aren’t stretches of probability.

If you’re the cynical type, weary of a something as simple as a tally of search results telling the greater story of the popularity of the Prius, you need look no further than sales data to see how it is that apparently so many people might hunt down info on the Prius nowadays.

Model-year 2013 marks a commendable 17 years of Prius production, with first sales starting in Japan in 1997. In April 2011 Toyota had sold its 1 millionth Prius in the U.S. since the car first went on sale here in 2000.

For a more current perspective, peeking at our November Dashboard sales totals for the hybrid market you can see that the Prius Liftback’s 8,925 sales is more than twice as many as the next best seller. And 2012 year-to-date Liftback sales of nearly 135,000 units is more than three times the next best selling hybrid in a market of more than 40 models.

First in line

In the U.S. the car has essentially reached cult status; it has transcended from a practical means of personal transportation to being an icon. The Prius has been synonymous with green car technology for most of the past decade and a half.

While not taking anything away from Toyota’s design and engineering prowess behind the Prius, a key factor in the car’s success is often lost in the boiling enthusiasm for the green car market: the Prius got here first.

Yes, we know Toyota didn’t pioneer the technology of hybrid powertrain vehicles; the premise of such a machine has existed for decades. But Toyota was the first mainline automaker in years to make the green car leap into an American auto market traditionally in love with displacement, eye-candy appeal, and a long-running ethos of bigger is better.

Not only did Toyota jump into a red-hot caldron spilling over with fuel-swilling Escalades and Expeditions, but it also stuck the landing, and hasn’t looked back since.

2012 Prius c.

Being first to market with a product can pay immense dividends. A savvy company can leverage a product’s first-to-market status as a tremendously strong marketing and branding tool. If the product is viable and its image managed, a company can leave a positive indelible mark on the market that may reap rewards for years to come.

If you’re a hybrid car enthusiast old enough to remember, think back to a time before you were so enthusiastic. Think also of those friends, family, and casual acquaintances that even now only have cursory knowledge of green cars. When the term “hybrid car” first crosses eardrums, what comes to mind? Probably an image of a Prius.

As a brand the Prius is so well managed that it allowed Toyota to grow the Prius line. Now consumers can pick from among three hybrids: the Prius Liftback, Prius c, Prius v, and a plug-in hybrid, called simply enough, the Prius Plug-in.

Toyota has capitalized on its reputation of building reliable, user-friendly vehicles, and parlayed that cache of credit with consumers – as well as the Prius’ ability to do what Toyota implied the car could do (use less fuel, lower emissions, and save customers money) – into an image for the Prius that goes beyond Toyota.

2012 Prius v Five.

“Prius is a Prius first and a Toyota second,” said Toyota’s Group Vice President of Global Sales, Bob Carter, when the Prius family of cars became a top-three seller earlier this year.

Not universally loved, but loved by a loyal following

The car was, and still is, often derided for being a treehugger’s car of choice. Yet, despite no major departures in the car’s core styling theme that gives diehard auto enthusiasts the willies, the Prius has moved beyond being an automobile.

It’s hard to argue against the notion that for a portion of Prius owners the car is as much a badge of honor, an affirmation of lifestyle, or a 3,000-pound representation of ideologies, as it is a way to get from A to B.

2012 Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle.

In 2007 the <em>New York Times</em> cited a marketing survey that saw 57 percent of respondents say they purchased a Prius because it made a declaration about them as a person, while far fewer (36 percent) purchased the car for its fuel economy.

However, like people and their ideals the king of hybrids isn’t infallible. The Prius has seen its share of safety recalls and negative press.

In November of this year Toyota issued a recall for certain 2004 to 2009 model-year Prius vehicles in the U.S. to inspect and in some cases replace the steering intermediate extension shaft. A total of 670,000 Prius were subject to the recall. In 2010 a similar number of cars were recalled for a coolant pump glitch, and the Prius was also caught up in the floor mat public relations nightmare in 2009.

More recently the Prius c was dubbed by Consumer Reports as a car to avoid.

The consumer watchdog publication reported that the c model it evaluated provided fuel economy figures far below the car’s EPA-rated 53 mpg city rating; the magazine also opined the c had poor ride quality and a chintzy interior. And just last week the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rated the Prius v “poor” for its performance in the Institute’s new small overlap frontal crash test.

By and large, however, the Prius family of cars is generally regarded as a safe, economical, and reliable choice of vehicles.

Quietly storming the gates of automobile conventionalism

While the alternative-fuel powertrain vehicle market is currently but a sliver of the larger automobile scene, it is trending upward. Yet it’s virtually impossible to surmise the future of the green car merely by how many people visiting <em>Autoweek.com’s</em> searched for the Prius over the period of one year.

One the other hand, with the Prius surpassing the Corvette, not to mention the many other fuel-efficient, economical cars like the Ford Focus and Kia Optima that faired well in the AW.com top 12 searched list, you have to wonder if practicality is storming the gates of power and passion that for so long have underpinned the often emotional act of purchasing a car.

Had Toyota not so effectively implemented its Prius program, chances are that another manufacturer would’ve stepped in and had cracking success with some form of alternative-fuel vehicle.

Commercially successful green technology cars, like the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Tesla Model S, or Fisker Karma, stand fully on their own merits, and appeared in their own good time. But the path to success for these, and the dozens more alt-fuel vehicles now on the market, were made smoother and more accessible by the Prius’ early and continued success.

How long, then, before the Prius and its contemporaries reach the top of everyone’s search list?

Autoweek.com

The post Prius Ranked 2nd In 2012 Top Searched Cars On Autoweek.com appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally

Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford, pledged yesterday to form an alliance with the Edison Electric Institute to work on plug-in cars. Speaking at EEI’s annual convention in San Francisco on Thursday, Mulallly outlined his company’s path toward high fuel-efficiency, which included—but by no means was limited to—electric vehicle technology.

Mulally said improving the current internal combustion engine through technologies such as turbocharging and direct injection—the core of the Ford “EcoBoost” program—is Ford’s top priority. Beyond that, Ford will pursue smaller vehicles, such as the upcoming Fiesta, as well as lightweight materials and transmission improvements. Mulally said that, contrary to conventional wisdom, “the US does appreciate smaller vehicles,” citing the success foreign automakers have had bringing in small, high-quality vehicles. Ford’s diminutive Ka, though popular in Europe, “might be too small for here, but we can have it here right away” if the market shifts.

Ford will utilize $5.9 billion in low-interest government loans, awarded earlier this week, to pursue its “improvement” strategies.

Moving down what Mulally called his “road map,” Ford will pursue alternative fuels and hybrids—exemplified by the E85-compatible plug-in hybrid Escape on display in San Francisco. “Our technology is such that we’re on our second, third, fourth generation of hybrid vehicles,” said Mulally. “Progress on battery technology is encouraging us that these technology advances will continue.”

Finally, Mulally said that the company is pursuing pure battery electric vehicles, which Ford will introduce starting with the Transit Connect small van next year, followed in 2011 by the Ford Focus EV. The Focus EV will be built in the same plant as the gas version, a facility converted from its former duty producing SUVs.

Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles come further in the future, Mulally said. He reinforced his company’s ongoing commitment to hydrogen technology, despite the fact that US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, who spoke right after Mulally, recently cut funding for fuel cell and hydrogen research. Mulally acknowledged that the “decreased federal investment pushes out the timeframe for commercialization” of fuel cell vehicles.

Mulally did not mention diesel technology in his list of technologies, but he was pressed on the subject in follow-up questions from the audience. He called new diesels “phenomenal” and said, “We will continue to improve them.” But he added that he doesn’t see sufficient market demand for them now.

Chu announced on Thursday $3.9 billion in federal funding for a “smart grid” to more efficiently distribute electricity—and to reduce peak loads while still supplying power for plug-in cars expected in the next few years. Funding for upgrading the grid will also be used to improve power lines and two-way transmission so plug-in cars can feed energy back into the grid. He commented that “nothing had been moving (in this area) at the Department of Energy” even though the money had been allocated for this purpose in 2007.

The post Mulally Prioritizes Ford’s High-MPG Technologies appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The post Toyota Prius Hybrid Synergy Drive appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The post Saturn Vue Green Line appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The post HybridFest in Madison, WI appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Summary: GM’s last hybrid attempt fell flat. The Saturn VUE Green Line was almost universally held in contempt for the low quality of its and fit and finish. The car’s NVH—noise, vibration, and harshness to automotive engineers—was unacceptable, sales were abysmal, and Saturn decided to discontinue its production in March.

“But a mild hybrid’s advantage is less weight and mechanical complexity and a much lower price. The hybrid Aura costs just $1,700 more than the gasoline model, making it the least expensive mid-sized hybrid sedan.

“The Aura goes on sale in early May with a sticker price of $22,695 and an EPA fuel economy rating of 28 mpg city and 35 on the highway. The fuel economy figures are the same as the Honda Accord Hybrid, which has a base price of $31,685. The Camry Hybrid has a base price of $26,820 and an EPA rating of 40 city/38 highway. All prices include shipping.”

Those EPA numbers are last year’s, by the way, because the Aura Hybrid will be introduced as a 2007 model. Using 2008 numbers, the Accord Hybrid (best known for its muscle, not its green credentials) is estimated at 24 mpg city and 32 highway, while the Camry Hybrid clocks 33 and 34 mpg, respectively. The EPA site has no listing for Aura Green Line, so it is impossible to tell whether it will retain the same fuel economy estimate as the Accord if it reaches production in 2008.

Can a low price lure buyers to a product that is clearly inferior? Hybrid-hankering consumers with $23k to spend might prefer the proven technology of a slightly smaller Civic Hybrid or a mid-size base model Prius hatchback. GM’s experience with the VUE Green Line would argue against sticker as the great equalizer.

But if a quality car can be delivered at a lower price, the Aura may just attract some interest.

***

> Read Full Story

> More Hybrid Cars News

The post Low Price for Low-Tech Aura Hybrid appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The 2007 Toyota Prius squeezed 30 more miles from a gallon than its nearest mid-size competitor, the Nissan Versa, according to the old EPA fuel economy ratings. Beginning in 2008, things aren’t so rosy.

Mileage tests were developed when we more or less channeled our grandmothers’ driving. Cars are run in a lab on a treadmill. The air conditioner is turned off, test speeds are conservative, and there are no fast starts. In 1985, after an EPA study found that drivers were achieving lower fuel economy than predicted by the tests, the agency concocted a formula on paper to lower the official figures. But the formula didn’t bring the numbers down far enough, and in 2002, the environmental group Bluewater Network (a division of Friends of the Earth) petitioned the EPA to update its procedures.

The new standards will get closer to reality by factoring in higher speeds, stop-and-go driving, more-aggressive acceleration, use of air conditioning and driving in colder temperatures. Mileage will still vary, but the tests will reduce estimated city mpg by 12%, on average, and highway mpg by 8%, according to the EPA. Hybrids’ fuel economy is likely to get a haircut of up to 30% for city driving and 20% for highway.

Fuel economy for the Prius (EPA’s highest-ranked vehicle) dropped 20% overall to 46 mpg, a number that owners are likely to cheer. Most of them either come close or exceed it, according to those reporting on greenhybrid.com.

This new window sticker will begin appearing on model-year 2008 vehicles.

The changes will certainly help consumers looking for fuel efficiency. Still, it seems ludicrous that a luxury car like the five-passenger Hummer H2—the darling of business owners who covet a tax break meant for farmers—is spared from testing because it exceeds the 8500 pound gross vehicle weight limit. Maybe such random thresholds should be the next target of groups like Bluewater Network.

You can see how your vehicle fares under both the old and new regimes using a calculator supplied by the EPA.

> Read Full Story

> More Hybrid Cars News

The post Your Mileage Will Vary a Bit Less appeared first on HybridCars.com.