The 36-strong Mercedes fleet arrives in Beijing.
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According to Mercedes, the winning team managed an average fuel economy on the route of 7.19 liters per 100km (about 33mpg in old money), which is pretty impressive considering that the vehicles were driving on a variety of terrains, including frozen and unpaved roads. In any event, it is a vast improvement over the gasoline-powered E550 that we had in for review recently, and which demonstrated an average fuel economy of just more than 20mpg.

Curiously, Mercedes said that the rally was also a means of demonstrating the "outstanding performance of the diesel cars in terms of emissions." Call me an envirofundamentalist, but burning 40,000 liters of diesel (the total consumption of the entire fleet) is a strange way of demonstrating your green credentials.

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It looks as if I'll soon be coming to work with the assistance of hydrogen fuel-cell technology. The Federal Transit Administration announced today that it has selected British defense contractor BAE Systems as the recipient of a $5.35 million grant for the integration of hydrogen fuel cells in hybrid-electric transit buses.

For the program, DaimlerChrysler is supplying its Orion VII hybrid transit buses, which will use hydrogen fuel cells to power the buses' auxiliary electrical systems such as air conditioning, air compressors, power steering, cooling fans and pumps, and a 28-volt electric power generator. The project will be coordinated by WestStart CALSTART, a nonprofit consortium specializing in clean-air transportation technology. And best of all, the test market for the buses is going to be right here in San Francisco as the city's Municipal Railway has agreed to facilitate a yearlong revenue-service test of the new system.

But, while the SF hydrogen-enabled buses are an exciting development, they're not particularly groundbreaking. Chicago conducted a pilot hydrogen bus scheme in 1998, and hydrogen-powered buses have been a common sight on the streets of Europe for the last three years as 10 major cities including London, Madrid, and Reykjavik, have participated in a pilot program to test the viability of hydrogen technology in public transit applications.

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Following yesterday's Los Angeles Times article on GM's development of a new kind of gasoline-electric hybrid, Reuters is reporting this morning that the car is likely to make its first appearance at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next January. The unveiling will come exactly 10 years after the launch of the ill-fated EV1 electric car, which GM discontinued in 2002 citing lack of public interest. Since then, GM has taken a hammering at the hands of overseas automakers who have been early adopters of hybrid technology.

Recent initiatives such as the unveiling of the Chevrolet Sequel hydrogen fuel cell concept car, and a confirmed timetable for rollout of the Equinox Fuel Cell have signaled GM's reemergence on the alternative-fuel scene, with the new plug-in vehicle (the EV2..?) the first sign of a "full" or series hybrid. (While the Saturn Vue Green Line and certain Chevy Silverados and GMC Sierras are nominally hybrids, they cannot run solely on electric power).

GM boss Rick Wagoner recently said that discontinuing the EV1 program was his biggest mistake in the job: it is unlikely he will be so quick to pull the plug on this latest car, which will arguably justify the costs of its development in terms of positive, environmentally-friendly PR alone.

Source: Reuters

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The Chevy Equinox also converts onboard fuel to electricity
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General Motors is planning to mix up another combination of the gasoline-electric hybrid-powertrain cocktail. The Los Angeles Times is reporting today that GM has developed a prototype of a new kind of electric car that uses an internal combustion engine solely as an electric generator. Scheduled to be unveiled early next year, the car will run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that will be supplemented by electricity generated from an onboard gasoline- or diesel-powered motor when the charge runs low. According to the Times, the car would require charging on a daily basis, with each charge delivering a range of 20 to 30 miles, after which the IC engine would come to the rescue. No details have been released on what the prototype electric vehicle might look like, but it's within the realm of possibility that it will share some parts with the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell that we saw earlier this year, which also converts an onboard fuel source into electricity to power an electric motor.

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The Ford Shelby GT 500 is perfect for stereo upgrades.
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This year, SEMA gave the awards to the Ford Shelby GT 500 won in the Car category, the Jeep Wrangler won in the SUV category, the Chevrolet Silverado Classic in the new Hybrid vehicle category, and the Toyota Tundra in the Truck category. So if you're looking for a car to customize, you'll just have to settle for a Ford Shelby GT 500.

(Photo: Ford Motor Company)

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Quantum's ultra-light fuel tank handles 10,000psi.
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Roadholding technologies such as traction control and stability programs are becoming standard on many cars, but VW takes a further step with its steering-impulse system. When your car's tires are slipping and the car is thinking a little countersteer (turning toward a sideways skid) is called for, VWs with steering impulse give the steering wheel a little tug in the right direction. VW points out that the car is not steering for the driver, just making an almost subliminal suggestion about which way you should be moving the wheel. VW claims that stopping distance can be decreased by up to 10 percent with the right amount of countersteer. VW makes the system standard on its Golf, Jetta, Eos, and Passat.

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Participatory traffic navigation moved up another gear today with the announcement from TomTom and UK-based wireless operator Vodafone that they have developed a traffic data service for the Netherlands that relies on data transmitted in real time from Vodafone cell phone handsets to static base stations. This collective wisdom, which gives a continuously updated stream of information on the approximate locations (and therefore speeds) of the handsets, is then used by TomTom to alert drivers to probable traffic jams and congestion areas.

The partnership is the latest in a trend of devices and applications that rely on cars as individual nodes that communicate with each other and/or a central network location to pool information on traffic and other travel-related topics. Other recent examples of "navigation 2.0" include: the Dash Express, a navigation system that enables cars with equipped with the system to anonymously report their traffic conditions to other devices in the area; Honda's Internavi Premium club, a service rolled out earlier this month that lets drivers tag points of interest with comments for other drivers to read; and Nissan's partnership with Japanese wireless operator NTT DoCoMo on a trial "intelligent transportation system", which lets cars communicate with each other to deliver real-time traffic maps to in-car navigation screens.

Source: Reuters

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Hydrogen fuel cell cars still may be years away from the mainstream, but BP and DaimlerChrysler took another step toward the hydrogen economy yesterday by opening a dedicated hydrogen fueling station in southeast Michigan. The station, which will be used to fill up DCX fuel cell vehicles with hydrogen, is part of a Department of Energy field test of a hydrogen fueling infrastructure. According to H2stations.org, the Detroit area is already home to five operable hydrogen filling stations, with four more (in addition to the BP station) planned.

Source: Yahoo news

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This Audi Roadjet concept has design cues used in the Audi A5
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Source: The Winding Road

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