Columbus Streetcars

We saw two ActiveHybrid BMW X6 Hybrid 2010 “Sports Activity Vehicle” in 2010 and 7 ActiveHybrid sedan. In the third hybrid model of BMW, which refers to several months, will be presented next week at the Motor Show of Geneva.
As a show car, its full name is the BMW 5-Series ActiveHybrid Concept. But it’s really a very thinly disguised 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 5 of the first hybrid model, the 2010 BMW 5 Series Sedan. It represents a new generation system used in ActiveHybrid 7.

V-8 with six straight
The concept of using the lithium-ion battery (capacity not specified) off the rear axle and a 40 kW (54 hp) electric motor between the engine and eight-speed automatic transmission. The hybrid engine 7 is estimated at only 15 kW (20 hp).
In this case, however, the gasoline engine is a line of bi-turbo six (Travel, without specifying and electricity), rather than the 440-hp twin-turbo V-8 used in the hybrid game of size 7 .

Pure electricity
Unlike the first generation system of the 7 hybrids, the new system allows all electric bass TRIPS on the speed of travel of the city. In most driving, however, simply add a couple to help reduce gasoline engines and fuel it uses.
The engine turns off when the vehicle is detained or subjected to a very light load, to enjoy the race. And the battery is recharged while the excesses and regenerative braking.
BMW cites improved energy efficiency of over 10 per cent of the hybrid 5 series against the non-hybrid in-line six-cylinder.
Electrically accessories including power steering and air conditioning, battery power and keep the car still running when the engine is off. This also allows the driver of the car to say cool, remote control, without starting the engine.

A hybrid future plans
BMW has added a further integration of data from the navigation system in the control software that manages global energy consumption between the engine, motor and battery.
If the chosen route includes a section of road downhill, for example, the system can use battery power more than usual – knowing that receives the charge that the car has passed through this section.
BMW says that this future “function can be extended to any range of electric cars by 30 per cent, although the company did not provide figures on how many might be.
We know that BMW plans to implement fantastic 5 in the series launch hybrid. She said that the hybrid X6 ActiveHybrid “the world’s most powerful” and copy the world’s fastest hybrid sedan hybrid 7.
BMW vs. Benz

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Mercedes Benz S400 Hybrid

Who says that blooming and affluence are two agreement that accept to be mutually exclusive? Certainly not Mercedes-Benz, which now offers the S400 Amalgam as allotment of its 2010 S-Class lineup.

Powered by a 275-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 that gets a addition from a 20-horsepower electric motor, the S400 has the adeptness to shut bottomward the gas agent at a stop or while coasting, but it can’t advance from a stop on alone electric power. Lithium-ion batteries are acclimated to ability the electric motor, and the amalgam agent mates to a 7-speed automated transmission.

We had a adventitious to booty an S400 for a quick circuit in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, and we begin that with the barring of the amalgam powertrain, the S400 is like any added S-Class. That agency it’s smooth, quiet, and loaded with affluence aliment (it had added good be, to absolve its added than $90K bulk tag). On the road, the ride is bland as glass, with nary a bang abashing the chassis. The S400 is absolutely not a baby car, and it feels like it–the car has a stout alley presence.

It’s additionally quiet. Some of that is due to the gas agent shutting off, but the S-Class belvedere itself is accepted for its abridgement of exoteric noise. Indeed, the cockpit is so hushed that it’s about eerie.

The S400 has some absorbing features, including an auto-bolster arrangement in the driver’s bench that changes the bulk of bolstering in the driver’s bench as the car corners. Mercedes’ oft-hated COMAND audio and aeronautics arrangement interface is back, but during our abrupt drive, it seemed easier to use than in the past. Speaking of easy, it’s way too accessible to appoint the cruise ascendancy while analytic for the turn-signal stalk–this was the better ergonomic blemish we noticed in our ten account or so abaft the wheel.

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While it has long been associated with British Racing Green, Lotus seems to be turning a different shade of green these days. After showing us a number of biofuel and eco-friendly Exiges, the automaker teased this image of the Evora 414E, a series hybrid which will debut next week at the 2010 Geneva motor show.

Although its debut is a week away, Lotus has spilled most — if not all — of the details ahead of time. The concept car can sprint from 0-60 mph in less than four seconds, and have a range of 300 miles. As for how it’ll look, imagine a standard Evora slathered in copper paint: The chassis remains unchanged from 2+2, thanks to the flexibility of Lotus’s Versatile Vehicle Architecture.

The 414E name comes from the powertrain’s output: 414 metric horsepower (that’s 408 horses for us Stateside folk). The power comes from two electric motors — each delivering 204 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque to an individual rear wheel — that operate independently through single-speed reduction transmissions, which live in a single housing. The two-motor set up opens a variety of torque vectoring options to Lotus, from supplanting a typical electronic stability system and limited-slip differential, to mimicking a rear-steering system without the extra mechanical components, to correcting understeer and oversteer.

A 47-horsepower, 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine acts as a supplement — it’s called the “Lotus Range Extender. The mill features an aluminum monoblock construction that integrates the block, head, and exhaust manifold in one casting. The construction means the engine is less expensive to produce, smaller, and has a lower (total weight is 187 pounds). Another plus? Its two-valve, port-fuel injection combustion system supports alcohol-based fuels and gasoline.

The Evora 414E can travel 35 miles on battery power alone. After that point, the engine becomes a generator, supplying the motors with electricity and topping off the lithium polymer battery pack that sits in the middle of the chassis. Charging is an overnight affair, and the socket hides under the rear license plate.

Though the Evora hybrid uses single-speed reduction gears, it offers a steering column-mounted shift paddles. Knock the car into sport mode, and the paddles operate like a seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox. Pop an upshift and you’ll feel the appropriate jolt through torque modulation at the rear wheels. Pull a downshift and the Evora mimics engine braking appropriate for the gear by adjusting the regeneration levels of the electric motors. Think it’s silly? You can turn the simulation off.

But if the Evora hybrid is a driver’s car, what about the noise? That’s where the sound system comes in. Developed between Lotus and Harman International, the system uses speakers inside the cabin and on the exterior to imitate engine and gear sounds. Four sound options are available to drivers: V-6, V-12, “futuristic,” and a combination of conventional engine and futuristic. The result, Lotus says, is a better experience for the driver and a safer experience for pedestrians, who will be able to hear the car zipping down the canyon road.

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