Hasta La Gadget!

Automotive manufacturers are using every trick in the book to squeeze more fuel efficiency of their vehicles to help buyers at the pump and to meet looming federal mandates for efficiency. One of the ways many manufacturers are doing this is by going to automatic transmissions that have more forward speeds. Having a transmission with more speeds allows lower engine RPMs on the highway leading to less fuel consumption.

In the past, many vehicles had used four or five-speed automatic transmissions. The six-speed automatic transmission became common over the last several years and now manufacturers are looking beyond that to seven and eight-speed transmissions. Ford and General Motors recently announced that they will jointly develop advanced nine and 10-speed automatic transmissions.

The two automakers say that the initial design and engineering work on the new transmissions is already underway. The new transmissions being developed will be used for both front and rear wheel drive vehicles and promise better fuel efficiency and improved performance. The agreement between Ford and GM marks the third time in the last decade the two automakers have collaborated on transmissions.

Previous engineering tie-ups between the two companies helped produce high-quality six-speed transmissions for front-wheel-drive vehicles. The two automakers have delivered more than 8 million of these transmissions to vehicles around the globe. The nine and 10-speed automatic transmissions will be used in just about every automotive segment including cars, crossovers, SUVs, and trucks. More details will be announced closer to the launch of transmissions.

[via Ford]

Ford and GM team up to develop advanced nine and 10-speed transmissions is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Fiat 500e will be sold exclusively in California for the price-tag of $32,500 MSRP. The first deliveries of this car are expected to occur this summer. You will be able to purchase a Fiat 500e at the starting price of $32,500, however, for those that are eligible for federal credits, state incentives, and FIAT rebates, you will be able to purchase this vehicle for as low as $20,500. You will also be able to lease the 500e for a down payment of $999 and monthly payments of $199 a month for 36 months.

The Fiat 500e has an EPA-certified range of 87 miles when it is fully charged, which Fiat claims is “best-in-class and better than all U.S.-market all-electric vehicles produced by high-volume manufacturers.” It also has an estimated 108 MPGe. There will be 25 dealerships all across California that will sell the 500e, and each will offer 4 charging stations that 500e owners can use. The dealerships will also help customers find other charging points, as well as offer locations of other charging stations on the customer’s route.

Fiat will offer its customers the “Fiat 500e Pass Program”, which allows 500e owners to choose an alternative car to use for up to 12 days each year. The owners will be able to choose from select cars offered by Enterprise Holdings, including the Fiat 500s, the Dodge Dart, the Chrysler 200, or bigger vehicles like a minivan or a pickup truck. The Fiat 500e Pass Program is only available for the first 3 years after you purchase your 500e.

There is also a smartphone app available for 500e owners. The app is available for both the iPhone and Android phones. It will provide you with details like real-time vehicle status and charge management, and will also allow you to track energy use, locate charging stations, prep routes, set up alerts, and more. The 500e itself has a 111hp/83kW electric motor that is able to deliver 147 lbs-feet of torque and is powered by a 24 kWh lithium battery. It is able to be charged in under 4 hours with 240 volts. The Fiat 500e is expected to be a huge hit in California.

[via Car Scoops]

California-exclusive 2013 Fiat 500e is priced at $32,500 is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With the Cadillac ELR we saw the company blend luxury with electricity in a vehicle ready for sale in early 2014 – this week we’re being introduced to the vehicles Regen on Demand feature. This feature allows you to regenerate energy and store it as electricity for later use in the vehicle’s battery pack. This is done with the vehicle’s paddle shifters, an alternative to traditional performance vehicles use of steering wheel mounted paddles for upshift and downshift of their mechanical transmission.

With this new system, the driver will be taking part in the driving experience like never before – imagine being able to extend the length of time you’ll be able to drive without stopping to refuel or re-charge your car while you’re driving. How unimaginably far we’ve come from the crank-start cars of the past – how long until we just hop in and the car brings us wherever we want to go, no effort included?

“Regen on Demand enables ELR drivers to actively re-capture energy when slowing down, such as when approaching slower traffic or setting up for a tight turn. This allows the driver to take more active role in the electric vehicle driving experience.” – Chris Thomason, ELR chief engineer

Engaging Regen on Demand is simple: the driver simply takes his or her foot off of the accelerator and presses one of the vehicle’s two steering-wheel paddles. These paddles both generate energy and begin to decelerate the car – Regen on Demand will not bring the car to a full stop, but this feature is meant for coasting or, as Thomason mentions, setting up tight turns. This is also known as regenerative braking.

“Pulling back on the paddle to slow down allows the ELR driver to keep their foot close to the throttle, ready to accelerate. It provides a more engaged, satisfying driving experience, and when you consider the added benefit of re-capturing energy, it’s also a smart thing to do.” – Thomason

In addition to the Regen on Demand paddles on your steering wheel, you’ve also got a blended regenerative braking system. With this system you’ll be recapturing energy when your brakes are applied and your vehicle slows. At the point at which you need a massive amount of brake power, this vehicle blends in friction brakes so you can stop quick.

The Cadillac ELR works with an estimated range of about 35 miles (56 km) of pure electric driving and uses an advanced electric drive unit capable of 295 lb-ft of instant torque (400 Nm). The energy is stored in a lovely T-shaped battery pack, this pack charged up by the Regen on Demand system you’re reading about today, a standard 120V electrical outlet, or a dedicated 240V charging station. Depending on outside temperature, you’ll be able to completely recharge your battery in about 4.5 hours using a 240V outlet.

Have a peek at our Car Hub as well as the timeline below for more Cadillac excellence through the future – and keep on regenerating that electricity with the power you already generate. Let nothing go to waste!

Cadillac ELR introduces “Regen on Demand” for extended electric range is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Audi has become the first car manufacturer to have its LED headlights validated as contributing to fuel-economy, with the bulb alternatives shaving off over a gram of CO2 emissions per mile. The LED lights – which Audi uses on five models in its range, from the cheapest A3, through to the R8 coupe – were run through the EU Commission’s dynamometer and found to trim CO2 output by 1.61g/mile, as well as using less power than halogen lights.

A halogen lamp in low-beam mode, for instance, demands 135W of power, Audi points out. In contrast, the German company’s LED lights need around 80W, and the firm uses LEDs for the low-beam, high-beam, and license plate lamps.

The testing specifically looked at the Audi A6, with the EU putting the car through ten NEDC cycles. “As a result,” Audi says, “the EU Commission has officially identified the LED headlights as an innovative technology for reducing CO2 emissions.” It’s the first time a car manufacturer has been certified in this way.

However, not all of Audi’s cars come with the same system, nor indeed with the same amount of LEDs. The A3 has just nineteen to play with, switching between low- and high-beam modes; a separate module handles all-weather and cornering lights. In the A8 luxury sedan, however, there are 76 LEDs in each lamp unit.

It’s not Audi’s first flirtation with headlamp tech potential. Earlier this year it revealed its work on so-called Matrix LED lights, which pair LEDs with reflectors and lenses that are computer controlled to react to the surrounding environment. Data from sensors, cameras, and GPS are crunched, and the output of the lights – in addition to even the angle they project at – is adjusted according to daylight conditions, oncoming traffic, upcoming bends, and more.

Matrix LED headlights are expected to arrive on select Audi models before the end of the year, though the company isn’t the only one to be thinking hard about how LEDs make sense in cars. The 2014 Corvette Stingray, for instance, uses special down-firing LEDs and light-guides to blend the output into solid lines of light, rather than leave it as the individual points of brightness as on an Audi.

Audi takes lead in LED headlight fuel efficiency drive is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Toyota and Ford are battling over numbers, each claiming to have the top numbers and the bestselling global nameplate. First Ford published its numbers, which put itself in the top slot, only for Toyota to follow up a short while later with its own numbers, which trumped Ford’s and bumped the latter company down to second place.

The problem stems with deciding whose numbers are correct. According to Ford, which is going with data by R.L. Polk & Co., its Focus is the top-selling compact car at 1.02 million sales in 2012. Toyota disagreed, and stated later that same day that its Corolla is top, with sales clocking in at 1.16 million, a fairly substantial jump over the 872,774 sales pegged by R.L. Polk & Co.

This isn’t the first time Ford and Toyota have butted heads over which manufacturer’s vehicle outsold the other, with both having claimed top 6-month global car sales last fall. That time around, Ford used data from IHS Automotive, which neglected to include certain derivative varieties of the Corolla in its report. Not surprisingly, Toyota took issue with the data and claim.

According to Toyota’s US Vice President Mike Michels, “Corolla registrations attributed to Polk come up short by nearly 300,000 units. This discrepancy is glaring and we have requested clarification.” No response has been provided yet, however. Until things are clarified, Ford is maintaining its claim as being in the top position, something that is no small success in light of Toyota’s long history of domination in the car market.

[via Bloomberg]

Toyota says Corolla outsold the Focus despite Ford’s claims is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.