Japan may add noise to quiet hybrid cars for safety

Japan's near-silent hybrid cars have been called dangerous by the vision-impaired and some users, prompting a government review on whether to add a noise-making device, according to an official.

The petrol-electric vehicles, which in recent months have become the country's top-selling autos, hum along almost soundlessly when they are switched from fuel to battery mode.

"We have received opinions from automobile users and vision-impaired people that they feel hybrid vehicles are dangerous," a transport ministry official said.

"Blind people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed" and on the electric motor, he said.

The ministry has launched a panel of scholars, vision-impaired groups, consumers, police and the automobile industry to discuss the matter.

"They decided to consider introducing a sound-making function" in petrol-electric hybrids when the 13-member panel held its first meeting Thursday, the official said.

They have not decided on what kind of sound should be used, only that it should induce a response of caution, he said.

"On the other hand, we should pay attention to residents (along roads) as hybrids are excellent in reducing noise," the official added.

The panel is expected to draw up a report by the end of the year. Its proposal will be discussed at the ministry's committee on automobile safety before it could be drafted into legislation.

Toyota Motor launched the world's most popular hybrid, the Prius, in 1997.

A cheaper, revamped Prius, rolled out in Japan in late May, has been a huge hit, drawing orders for 200,000 units, according to Toyota. It recently became the best-selling car in Japan's domestic market.

Source: AFP via Google

Toyota to start commercial production of plug-in hybrids in 2012

The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor Corp. plans to begin commercial production in 2012 of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Output for the first year is estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 units.

The plug-ins will use Li-ion batteries produced by Toyota’s joint venture with Panasonic Corp., Panasonic EV Energy Co. (PEVE). PEVE provides the NiMH packs for current Toyota hybrids. The report suggests that the 2012 plug-in hybrids will have an all-electric range of 20-30km (12-18 miles).

Through economies of scale, Toyota hopes to sell its new plug-in hybrids at a price comparable to Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s i-MiEV electric car, which is slated to debut later this month with a price tag of 4.59 million yen [about US$47,700].

Toyota foresees demand for its plug-in hybrids from not only businesses, but also consumers. And it plans to sell them in overseas markets as well, such as the US, Europe and Asia.

In June, Toyota announced that it will begin leasing approximately 200 plug-in versions of its third-generation Prius equipped with lithium-ion battery packs in Japan starting at the end of this year (earlier post). This will be the first time a lithium-ion battery is to be employed in a Toyota vehicle for propulsion.

Source: Green Car Congress

Insight sales down 25% since 2010 Prius release

It looks like the new Honda Insight is in for some hard times, sales-wise. Honda sales figures for June show that Insight sales dropped 25% from 2,780 units in May to 2,079 units in June. Over the same period the Prius' sales have risen from 10,091 units to 12,998. It's hard not to point out that the Prius' increase from May to June was greater than the number of Insights sold in June.

At this rate, it's going to be tough for Honda to reach their 90,000 sales goal by the end of the first model year.

Launched in April with great initial reviews, the Insight has been a tough sell with dealerships already offering discounts to move them off the lot. Reviewers have also come out considerably negative against the Insight including benchmark Consumer Reports who found it "the most disappointing Honda Consumer Reports has tested in a long time."

Source: PriusChat

Recycling of new Toyota Prius (batteries included)

Long before the first new Prius reached the showroom, Toyota had plans in place to ensure that when the car reaches the end of its useful life it can be disposed of in an environmentally responsible fashion.

When its driving duties are done, more than 85 per cent of new Prius’s can be recycled and more than 95 per cent of its materials can be recovered in a process that only accounts for a tiny proportion (approximately two per cent) of its full lifecycle CO2 emissions.

Special attention has been paid to the efficient recycling of new Prius’s high voltage nickel-metalhydride battery with a new process that allows 95 per cent of the battery components to be recovered for re-use with near-zero emissions.

At the vehicle’s end-of-life, the battery is removed at an authorised Prius service centre. Toyota has appointed authorised waste management companies in each country where the car is sold, which are responsible for transporting the batteries to one of three European Final Treatment Companies (FTCs): SNAP, Accurec and Umicore.

The recovery process begins with the removal of the battery’s outer casing, which itself can be re-used in steel making processes. All the wires and electronic parts are sent to a specialist recovery company, while the power cells themselves are recycled using an induction-based vacuum thermal system.

This is an evolution of the traditional waste heat treatment process, but it consumes less energy, is almost emissions-free and is highly secure. The cells are put into a sealed container from which all air is removed, significantly reducing internal pressure. The container is then heated to 800°C. When the temperature reaches 400°C all organic materials break down into a mixture of oil and water, which is sent on to a licensed water treatment company for processing. The power cells are then exposed to hydrogen, which helps break the oxides down into metals.

What is left after the process is a highly concentrated nickel alloy which can be re-used as a raw material in the production of new batteries. All the other metallic elements recovered can be used in the manufacture of stainless or other specialist steels.

Source: Toyota GB Media Website

Official Honda newsletter: CR-Z to be available for sale end 2010

TOVA member WongKN provided the following information regarding the launch of Honda's sports hybrid CR-Z (CR-ZX according to Japanese Best Car magazine):

"The latest issue of Honda Malaysia's 'With Dreams' newsletter has a feature on the CR-Z. Inside, it quotes a speech by the Honda Motor Co. Ltd. CEO in December 2008 that says that the CR-Z will be 'available for purchase by the end of 2010'. This suggests that the original target of a JDM launch at this year's Tokyo Motor Show has been cancelled and postphoned."

Source: Vtec.net

Toyota said to consider οffering version of Prius hybrid to GM

Toyota Motor Corp. may offer to supply a version of its Prius hybrid car to General Motors Corp. during a meeting between the companies’ chief executives, two people familiar with the plan said.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda and GM’s Fritz Henderson will meet in Michigan in August said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan isn’t public. A GM-badged car based on the Prius is among the options for new products at a jointly owned factory in California after GM said it would end assembly of the Pontiac Vibe at the plant earlier than planned.

A version of the world’s top-selling hybrid car may help bankrupt GM win U.S. customers and would give it an incentive to keep open the joint-venture factory. Toyota is also considering the plant as a Prius production site after shelving plans to make the gasoline-electric car in Mississippi, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg earlier this month.

“Having a stronger line-up is an urgent matter for GM,” said Yoshihiro Okumura, who helps oversee the equivalent of $365 million at Tokyo-based Chiba-gin Asset Management Co. “Demand will continue to shift to small cars.”

GM currently has eight hybrid models, two of which are Saturns, a brand that GM is selling to Penske Automotive Group Inc. Of GM’s remaining six hybrids, only one, the Chevy Malibu, is a car, according to its web site.

Pat Morrissey, a spokesman for GM, declined to comment on any technology-sharing relationship with Toyota.

GM will launch the plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt next year and plans to have 14 hybrid models in 2012, the automaker said June 1 as part of its bankruptcy filing.

Nummi’s Fate

GM said earlier this month it will stop building Vibes in August at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., the only large auto-assembly plant on the U.S. west coast, ahead of the Detroit-based company’s initial plan to cut the hatchback in 2010. Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, and GM, the second largest, have shared the factory, known as Nummi, since 1984.

“We have been in discussions with Toyota about potential future products. We have not figured out a product that meets the needs of Toyota or ourselves,” Troy Clarke, president of GM North America, said during a June 26 conference call. “That dialogue continues.”

Clarke told reporters on June 19 that GM is not in current talks to license Toyota’s hybrid system.

“Nothing has been decided other than halting the production of the Vibe at Nummi,” said Hideaki Homma, a Tokyo- based spokesman for the company. “A meeting of the executives is also not under consideration.”

Ford Arrangement

Ford Motor Co. licenses Toyota patents as part of its hybrid program, while GM has turned down those opportunities in the past, said Jim Hall, principal of 2953 Analytics auto- consulting firm in Birmingham, Michigan. It might make sense if GM also shares component development for its sedans with Toyota, he said.

“Toyota is not normally in the practice of giving away the crown jewels,” Hall said.

It probably doesn’t make sense to put a hybrid vehicle in Nummi, Hall said. For GM, it would make more sense to share mid- sized pickups such as the Chevrolet Colorado with the Toyota Tacoma, which is built in Nummi now, he said.

Toyota and GM have shared the Fremont, California, plant since 1984. While GM owns half of the plant, Toyota models accounted for 76 percent of output through June 27, according to trade publication Automotive News.

The factory has capacity to make 420,000 cars and trucks a year and employs about 5,400 people, according to the plant’s Web site. In addition to Vibe, which is a version of Toyota’s Matrix hatchback, Nummi builds Corolla small cars and Tacoma pickups.

Toyota on Dec. 15 said it would halt work on the $1.3 billion Blue Springs, Mississippi, factory after plunging U.S. sales created excess capacity at its North American plants. The company early this year said it would pay the interest on bonds issued by Mississippi for plant-related infrastructure.

Source: Bloomberg

Toyota iQ to be donor for Aston Martin's £20k Cygnet city car (革新的なコミューターコンセプトカー アストンマーティンが放つ「Cygnet」)

This isn’t a joke, but a concept for Aston Martin’s new £20k city car. Called the Cygnet, it’s a tiny Toyota iQ-based commuter car redesigned inside and out, and will be sold to existing and future Aston owners from the end of 2010.

The Cygnet concept does actually look like an Aston Martin

Well, an Aston city car. The Cygnet is much more than a badge and stickers special edition – the concept features a redesigned front end with the trademark Aston grille, a vented bonnet, plus air intakes around the iQ’s lights, all of which help to differentiate the concept from its donor car. There are also new door skins and Aston’s famous pop-out door handles, plus revisions to the rear.

Aston won’t be drawn into revealing details of the Cygnet’s interior, but promises the changes inside will be even more extreme that the tweaks outside.

And when can I have one?

Not until the back end of 2010, when Aston reckons it’ll have the project ready. In the meantime it still needs to finalise the styling, especially inside, and figure out exactly how it’s going to make the car. At the moment the company is planning to buy iQs from Toyota, then change them at its Gaydon HQ, but it still needs to decide the details, including what engine/gearbox combination it’s going to sell.

Let’s get this straight – can I buy an Aston Martin Cygnet instead of a Mini?

Not unless you already own a ‘proper’ Aston. Aston reckons around 50% of its customers also own a city car like a Smart for their day-to-day transportation needs, and wants to capitalise on that market.

Rather than have its customers pootle around in £10k city cars, Aston is designing a unique and exclusive city car, so the Cygnet will be offered to all existing Aston owners, and anyone in the future who orders a DB9, DBS, Vantage, Rapide, or even the One-77.

Where did the idea come from?

Aston CEO Dr Ulrich Bez, of course. ‘Now is the right time for Aston Martin to take this first bold step to embark on this special project,’ said Dr Bez. ‘This concept - akin to an exclusive tender to a luxury yacht - will allow us to apply Aston Martin design language, craftsmanship and brand values to a completely new segment of the market.’

‘Much work is still required, but I am confident that this project could become reality in the not too distant future. The offering of a Cygnet with a DBS, DB9 or Vantage is a unique combination of opposites and a novel transport solution allowing intelligent and sensitive mobility on an exclusive and innovative level.’

The tie-up with Toyota came after a chance meeting at a Nurburgring 24hr race. Akio Toyoda, recently announced as Toyota’s new boss, was racing at the ‘Ring and his team was sharing a garage with the Aston works team. Bez and Toyoda became friends, and the pair have helped form the project.

Source: Car magazine

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Text in Japanese

ゲイドン、2009 年 6 月29 日、月曜 アストンマーティンは新しいラグジュアリーコミューターコンセプトを開発しました。「Cygnet (シグネット)」と呼ばれるこのコンセプトカーは、流行と贅沢さが求められる都会での移動手段として開発された、個性ある知的でエクスクルーシブな車です。

このコンセプトカーはアストンマーティンのトレードマークに則ったデザインを持つ、非常に高い評価を得ているトヨタ iQ をベースとしたコミューターで、ユーロ NCAP の 5 つ星をクリアーする安全性も備えています。

「Cygnet」コンセプトは独創的で環境に優しい高い燃費効率を誇る、小さくても存在感のある車で、さらにラグジュアリーなアストンマーティン独自のプレステージ性も与えられています。

　

このコンセプトカーは、高級でニッチな技術力で世界をリードするアストンマーティンと、品質と信頼性において世界をリードするメーカーであるトヨタのコラボレーションモデルです。両社はメーカーとしての規模は全く違いますが、車に対する強い情熱によって支えられる卓越した技術力とイノベーションで構築されている信念を共有しています。

アストンマーティンのウルリッヒ・ベッツ最高経営責任者（CEO）は次のように話しています：「アストンマーティンにとって、今こそこの特別なプロジェクトへ向けて思い切った行動を取る時です。 このプロジェクトは成長を遂げた実力のあるトヨタの協力、そして iQ が持つ知的なデザインおよびシティーコミューターとして完璧なパッケージによって実現します。」

「まだ多くの仕事が残されていますが、私はこのプロジェクトが遠くない時期に実現するものと確信しております。このコンセプトは、豪華ヨットを作る時のようなエクスクルーシブな提案に近いと言えるでしょう。そしてこのコンセプトによってアストンマーティンのデザイン、クラフトマンシップ、ブランドバリューを全く新しいセグメントへ導入させることができるのです。」

.

「Cygnetと DBS、DB9 そしてVantageは対照的な独自のラインナップです。また『Cygnet』という新しい移動手段によって高級感があり革新的、かつ知的でセンシティブなモビリティーが誕生します。」

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Toyota Auris hybrid coming this autumn

Toyota will launch a hybrid version of its Auris hatchback this autumn, and the car will be built in the UK at the Burnaston factory in Derbyshire.

The Auris Hybrid Synergy Drive will share its petrol-electric drivetrain with the new Prius — so that means it has a 98bhp 1.8-litre Atkinson-cycle petrol engine and an 80bhp electric motor.

But it will cost less, partly because it is a smaller car and partly because it will be less well equipped. The Auris will give Toyota a more direct rival for the Honda Insight, although Toyota’s hybrid system is more sophisticated than its rival’s.

The lower weight and smaller size could make the Auris hybrid Toyota’s cleanest model when it is launched at this autumn’s Frankfurt show, undercutting the new Prius’s 87g/km of CO2.

The hybrid Auris launch will follow the arrival of the new Prius this month, and will in turn be followed by a hybrid RAV4.

The three models are all built on the same platform; they are part of a strategy aimed at boosting Toyota’s annual hybrid sales to a million units. The firm’s wider aim is to base its image on offering models with strong environmental credentials.

Source: Autocar

Toyota, Honda slash production as car demand falls

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., Japan’s two largest carmakers, reduced production last month as rising unemployment in the U.S. has hammered car sales.

Toyota’s output dropped 39 percent to 442,621 vehicles in May from a year earlier, the company said in an e-mailed release today. The decline is the company’s 10th straight. Honda, the country’s second-biggest carmaker, cut global production by 38 percent to 195,085 units, it said. Nissan’s global output fell 27 percent.

Japanese automakers slashed production in North America last month to reduce inventories as overall sales in the U.S. plunged 34 percent. Sliding demand in the U.S. has led Nissan Motor Co. to cut 20,000 jobs this fiscal year and pushed General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC into bankruptcy.

“Recovery will come only after the U.S. returns to health because Japanese carmakers rely on that market,” said Masatoshi Nishimoto, an analyst at CSM Worldwide in Tokyo.

CSM predicts sales in the U.S. will fall to 9.7 million units this year from 13.2 million a year ago and then rise to 11 million in 2010. The jobless rate in the world’s largest economy jumped to 9.4 percent in May, the highest in more than 25 years.

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said June 18 that domestic sales are lagging behind its forecast for the fiscal year, already expected to be the worst in three decades. The group predicts Japan industrywide sales will drop 8.5 percent to 4.3 million in the year ending March.

Toyota’s production in Japan fell 42 percent to 192,637 in May and exports dropped 51 percent, the company said. That doesn’t include its Hino and Daihatsu units.

Honda built 52,663 vehicles domestically, down 43 percent, the company said. Its exports slumped by 65 percent to 18,156 vehicles. Total production at Nissan fell to 201,340 vehicles, while domestic output fell 36 percent and exports fell 56 percent, it said in a statement.

Honda rose 3.3 percent to 2,650 yen as of 1:45 p.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Toyota gained 2.5 percent to 3,710 yen. Nissan rose 3.5 percent to 590 yen.

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Toyota Slashing Costs

The automaker is slashing costs by at least 800 billion yen this year as it expects global sales to plummet by 1.07 million vehicles to 6.5 million units this fiscal year.

Toyoda said today he hopes to cut beyond that target calling the goal “only a starting line.” He added that his salary will be reduced by 30 percent for one year and board members will also return part of their salaries.

Toyota is likely to begin cutting costs in Japan first, analysts said. Toyoda may slash the automaker’s domestic capacity and workforce by at least 10 percent, reducing its 20 platforms and 70 model types by 10 percent and consolidating its rural dealer network in Japan, according to Koji Endo, an analyst at Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) Ltd.

Prius

Toyota, which introduced a new version of its Prius hybrid on May 18, is reviewing its product line up to focus on regional offerings, Toyoda said.

Toyota will form a market research, planning and advertising unit that will report to Toyoda. The unit, which will merge existing departments, will be formed in January.

Toyota said it has now booked 200,000 domestic orders for the new Prius gasoline-electric hybrid.

The company had set a sales target of 10,000 units a month in Japan. The tally includes 80,000 orders placed before the car went on sale.

The third-generation Prius was Japan’s bestselling car last month, surpassing Honda Motor Co.’s Insight. Hybrid sales have surged on the introduction of new models and government incentives.

Source: Bloomberg

All-electric i-MiEV city car to play prominent role in government's £25 million 'Real World' trials

• Twenty-five of the first fifty all-electric Mitsubishi i MiEV city cars will go onto the Government’s trial in November 2009

The all-electric Mitsubishi i MiEV city car is set to play a prominent role in one of the Government’s recently announced Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator projects being run by the Technology Strategy Board. The Mitsubishi will take part in the West Midlands’ CABLED (Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Demonstrators) consortium, which includes industry, council, academic and power organisations, and is led by design and engineering consultant, Arup.(1)

The Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Adonis, and Lord Drayson, the Minister for Science and Innovation, launched the Technology Strategy Board project yesterday, in which eight winning consortia will receive a total of £25 million from the Government to help speed up the introduction of ultra low carbon vehicles. The project brings together manufacturers, power companies, Regional Development Agencies, councils and academic institutions in an attempt to accelerate the reality of a greener future of transport in the UK.

Mitsubishi will showcase its award-winning all-electric i MiEV city car, with 25 vehicles going on the road as part of the trial from November this year. A total of approximately three hundred and forty vehicles will begin trials on UK roads within the next six to eighteen months, which makes this the biggest project of its kind.(2)

The i MiEV’s vital statistics are sure to make it a prominent and successful player in the trials: with a top speed of 87mph, a range of well over 80 miles, and the ability to carry four adult passengers and luggage in comfort. It can also recharge from flat-to-full in 6 hours via a 240V UK supply, or fast-charge from flat to 80 percent in just 20-30 minutes – all features that will ensure the car shows off how practical it is for everyday use.

Mitsubishi’s Managing Director, Lance Bradley, said “It is excellent news that the i MiEV will play such a prominent role in this real-world trial. It is a great platform for us to show off our advanced electric vehicle technology, which itself is acting as a catalyst for the many other CO2 lowering environmental technologies we have in the near future.”

(1) The CABLED consortium includes five other motor manufacturers.

(2) This figure does not include any hybrid cars currently on the road.

Source: Newspress

Nissan's EV plans revealed

Nissan will give its new global electric car its first public airing when the company opens its new global headquarters in Yokohama on August 2.

Nissan's EV, billed as a medium five-door hatchback with dedicated body styling, will appear first as a prototype. The real car will make its debut at the Tokyo motor show in October.

Production will kick off at Nissan's Oppama plant in Japan in winter 2010, but Nissan says other production bases around the world could also get the new EV.

Nissan will start with a production rate of 50,000 units per year, ramping up the build rate as mass-marketing begins around 2012-13. The EV motor will be produced in Yokohama and the inverter will initially be made at Nissan's Zama plant.

Power will come from a lithium-ion battery, produced by Nissan's affiliate AESC in Zama. Nissan claims that compared to a conventional li-lo battery, its unit has higher reliability and performance, with twice the power and energy.

Nissan is also pushing ahead with the next Micra, coyly described as its 'global entry car'. This will launch in spring 2010. Nissan will produce this car both in India (for European markets) and Thailand (for Japan) but China and two other as-yet-unnamed nations will also make the car that's on line to sell one million units a year after manufacturing is fully ramped up.

"The key challenge lies in bringing a consistent, high level-quality standard while keeping the price of the car competitive and affordable," commented Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn.

"I recently enjoyed testing a prototype which offers the roominess, technology and comfort of a B-segment vehicle with the fuel efficiency and overall cost of ownership of a global entry-segment vehicle."

Europe is also line for the next Patrol; Nissan is redesigning its enduring mammoth off-roader primarily for Middle East duty, but Europe will also get the revised model for the first time in 2010.

Source: Autocar

Nissan hosts the launch of the UK hydrogen network (UK-HyNet) project

Nissan European R&D hosted a meeting at the Nissan Technical Center Europe (NTCE) in Bedfordshire (UK) to launch the UK Hydrogen Network (UK-HyNet) project. UK-HyNet is an initiative to creating a network of hydrogen infrastructure throughout the UK by 2015.

While the UK already has clusters of knowledge and technological innovation in hydrogen, fuel cells and low-carbon energy systems, efforts have until now remained localised—and thus dwarfed by national projects abroad. Under UK-HyNet, all these activities will become part of a coordinated national program.

In parallel with UK-HyNet, a UK Hydrogen Roadmap is being developed which will set out a strategic plan for the emerging hydrogen industry. UK-HyNet puts in place a practical mechanism for the implementation of the strategy articulated in the UK Hydrogen Roadmap.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance will introduce zero-emission vehicles in the United States and Japan starting with electric vehicles from 2010. The Alliance aims to take the leadership of zero-emission mobility in the automotive industry and will start mass-marketing electric vehicles globally in 2012. To date the Alliance has signed two final agreements in Europe with Portugal and the Principality of Monaco. The two agreements formulate concrete proposals—ranging from incentives and infrastructures to education programs—creating conditions for wide availability and acceptance of electric vehicles.

Along with this near-term plan to introduce electric vehicles to the mass-market globally by 2012, the FCV work is a longer-range program designed to enhance practicality and reduce costs of the technology, and includes the plan to release newer generation, developmental FCVs in the 2010s. Nissan is now developing a third generation of its proprietary fuel cell stack, with increased longevity, greater power and further weight reductions.

Source: Green Car Congress