Gas is expensive; there’s simply no way around it. And with prices continuing to climb, it’s not a particularly good time to own a large displacement sports car; in fact with gas well into the $1.00 range, it’s not a good time to own a sports car, period. But what if you could get all the performance of a Corvette, Porsche 911 or even a BMW M6 without paying a dime at the gas pumps? Well thanks to the genius of the folks at Tesla Motors, you can.
When you think of hybrid vehicles, chances are good something small and practical comes to mind, like the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. But the fact of the matter is that hybrid vehicles are, in reality, nothing new. Massive dump trucks and other heavy industrial vehicles have used diesel engines working in conjunction with electric motors for years now, and with exceptional results. Providing peak torque right off idle, electric motors are generally used to drive the wheels, in some cases individually, while the massive diesels are used as generators to power the electric motors. One company that produces such hybrid machinery is Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, the big brother to Mitsubishi Motors; so it stands to reason that Mitsubishi Motor’s most recent conceptual hybrid should use a similiar system.
It’s not a figment of the imagination. There really are more recalls now that ever before. Why? It’s not because of any greater number of quality issues with modern-day vehicles; a quick glance at J.D. Power Initial Quality Study stats or Consumer Reports survey information will attest to that, but rather, automakers are becoming more vigilant than ever in uncovering problems before they become lawsuits, and are extremely quick to remedy the various situations.
The subject of ethanol or E85 fuel (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) has become a hot topic for discussion in the automotive world as of late. Although ethanol has been used as a fuel source for vehicles in Europe and South America for many years now, it’s quickly catching on in North America, and has become an alternative source of fuel explored by several automakers including Saab, Volvo, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. And like the gasoline-electric powertrain, E85 has broken into the performance field; just last week, an E85-powered Cobalt broke a land speed record at Bonneville Salt Flats, and Lotus has now created a one-off E85-powered version of its Exige road-racer.
After pledging that it would continue to build cars in England earlier this year, TVR announced yesterday that it would be packing up production to outsource it somewhere else in Europe. Since the company’s takeover by Russian Nikolai Smolenski in 2004, the small British sports car firm has been hit by hard times. Instead of meeting its initial promise of doubling sales by 2009, and making the brand’s vehicles “more British”, it had to lay off somewhere between 75 and 150 people. TVR was also supposed to relocate to a new production facility in Lancashire, England, but the move from its current home in Blackpool did not happen.
While production of the 2007 Tuscan, Tuscan Convertible and Sagaris – bodies, interiors, suspensions, etc. – are slated to be produced in Europe (where in Europe, we don’t yet know), the powertrains of the vehicles will still be built in England. No word on the ‘Baby’ TVRs, the Tamora roadster and T350 coupe. Well, it could be worse. They could be facing bankruptcy.
Nissan CEO and Renault President Carlos Ghosn has been knighted for his “contributions to the relations between the UK and Japan.” Currently, Nissan builds many of its vehicles in the Sunderland plant in the UK, including the very popular Micra subcompact and the forthcoming Qashqai. After being in the spotlight during the time period when GM engaged in talks with Nissan-Renault, it must be nice to get some positive recognition.
But of all the perks that usually come with being knighted, he won’t be referred to as “Sir Carlos” anytime soon because he’s a foreign national. Instead, he has the ability to add the three letters KBE at the end of his name, which stand for Knight Commander of the British Order. It does make me wonder if anyone from Honda will be receiving recognition any time soon for their efforts to build cars at the Swindon, UK plant.
