 IANS Photo Los Angeles, November 22 (IANS): Hyundai Motor said on Friday it has showcased the Ioniq 9, the company's first large electric SUV at the Los Angeles Auto Show, along with over 40 other models. The Ioniq 9 is set to launch in early 2025, starting in South Korea, followed by rollouts in the United States, Europe and other regions. For the US market, the vehicle will be manufactured at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, the automaker's dedicated EV plant in Georgia, reports Yonhap news agency. It boasts a spacious and lounge-like interior, which can accommodate up to seven occupants, and a "sleek aerosthetic" exterior design that reflects the company's commitment to blending aerodynamic innovation and sophisticated, futuristic styling, according to the company. The car also features its innovative E-GMP architecture to enhance the power electric system, which works as an engine and power inverter for hill climbing and efficient driving. Hyundai also unveiled the Initium, a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) concept car, for the first time in North America. The concept model provides a glimpse into the design and product direction of Hyundai's passenger FCEV, set to debut in the first half of 2025. Hyundai's booth features 42 vehicles, including the Ioniq 9, Initium, Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and the Santa Fe SUV. The Santa Fe has been named a finalist for the 2025 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year at the L.A. Auto Show. Jose Munoz, Hyundai's global chief operating officer, highlighted Hyundai's strong U.S. performance and said the company anticipates achieving its highest annual retail sales in the U.S. market this year. Meanwhile, Kia said it has unveiled the high-performance version of its flagship EV9 electric SUV at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The EV9 GT, which made its debut at the LA Convention Center, features a 160 kilowatt front motor and a 270 kilowatt rear motor, delivering a targeted maximum output of 508 horsepower. The three-row model is the first Kia SUV to be equipped with an advanced suspension system, ensuring stable handling and ride comfort. Its electronic stability control functionality optimally adjusts the shock absorbers' damping force by utilising road surface data from its front camera and navigation inputs. The EV9 GT is scheduled for release in South Korea in the first half of 2025. Kia also showcased revamped versions of the EV6 and Sportage SUVs, both making their North American debut.The EV6, which was a finalist for the 2023 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year, and the Sportage, Kia's best-selling model in the United States, are expected to perform well in the market following their updates, according to the company. Hyundai Motor, Kia showcase latest electric SUVs at LA Auto Show | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com |
Fuel cell technology could be under your car bonnet by 2017 (2015-09-14T18:55:00+05:30)
 Carbon Trust has given a £1 million boost to four UK fuel cell pioneers. According to the Trust, their cutting-edge technology could be used under the bonnet of mass-produced hydrogen-powered cars as early as 2017. “Major manufacturers have already built hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars, but the real challenge is to bring down the costs and, in the global race to do this, UK technologies are now in pole position,” says Carbon Trust. To fuel this push by UK industry and having identified an opportunity to combine innovative technology from Runcorn-based ACAL Energy and Sheffield-based ITM Power, Carbon Trust is providing £500 thousand of funding to the companies to develop a new hybrid high-power, low-cost fuel cell design.Carbon Trust is also backing a project based at Imperial College London (Imperial) and University College London (UCL) with £500 thousand to develop a fuel cell that could offer significant cost savings by using existing high-volume manufacturing techniques employed in the production of printed circuit boards.The funding comes from the Carbon Trust’s Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge (PFCC) which was launched in 2009 to support the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s objectives to develop lower cost fuel cells and coincides with the recent launch of the Government’s UKH2Mobility project to ensure the UK is well positioned for the commercial roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. “The UK’s home-grown automotive industry hasn’t been the runaway success story many would have hoped for, but British technology is in pole position to be under the bonnet of a next generation of mass-produced hydrogen-powered cars. After a lot of hype, fuel cell technology is now a great growth opportunity for the UK,” explains Dr Ben Graziano, Technology Commercialisation Manager at Carbon Trust. “The funding that we have received from the Department for Energy and Climate Change has enabled us to support the development of some truly world-class British technologies that could slash the costs of fuel cells and transform how we all get about; by 2017 British fuel cell technologies could be powering your car.” "It is excellent news that automotive OEMs are committed to the launch of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles in 2015 timescales, and that the UK will be among the early adopters. However it is clear that continuous efforts to reduce cost will be necessary to ensure that H2FC vehicles are affordable for mass markets. This funding from the Carbon Trust PFCC is perfectly targeted to ensure that British innovation can be at the forefront of the process to get the economics of the technology right," says Amanda Lyne, VP of Strategic Business Development and Marketing, ACAL Energy Ltd. Carbon Trust’s Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge aims to speed the UK towards world-beating fuel cell solutions that can grab a significant share of a market that the Carbon Trust has estimated to be worth $26bn in 2020. Carbon Trust, which has already supported ACAL Energy and ITM Power in de-risking their unique technologies, saw an opportunity to combine these innovations to demonstrate a fuel cell that could be far cheaper to manufacture, more efficient, produce the required power and be compact enough to fit under the bonnet of tomorrow’s cars. ACAL Energy brings a revolutionary new design of fuel cell inspired by the human lung and bloodstream that is highly durable, virtually platinum-free and also significantly cheaper to produce. ITM Power brings a unique membrane technology (which has been evaluated by several global companies), proven to produce world-beating power density (widely recognised as the single most important factor in reducing fuel cell costs), which could be in fuel cell cars by as early as 2017. ITM’s current order book for delivery in the current financial year is £0.5 million. The company has recruited seven staff in the last 12 months and is currently seeking to recruit ten more. ACAL Energy has raised £6.1 million of investment since March 2010 and its staff is set to increase from 25 at that time to 35 by April 2012.The Imperial and UCL project is developing a fuel cell stack that could offer significant cost savings by using existing high-volume manufacturing techniques employed in the production of printed circuit boards. By simplifying the design and manufacture, this could reduce the costs of a fuel cell stack by more than 20%. Imperial Innovations and UCL Business are collaborating with the project to assist commercialisation of the technology. Source: Article, Reference-Image: flickr.com |
Volkswagen Showcases Three Ideas from its People’s Car Project in Beijing (2014-04-23T18:46:00+05:30)
 Carscoop: After 33 million visits to its website and more than 119,000 ideas submitted, you would be inclined to think that Volkswagen would have more to show than these three concepts from its ‘People’s Car Project’ (PCP) that was launched in China 11 months ago. The three vehicles and technology concepts created by users and further developed by the German automaker that went on display at theAuto China 2012 in Beijing are the Hover Car, the Music Car and the Smart Key. The Hover Car is a study for a zero-emission, two- seater city car that floats just above the ground using electromagnetic road networks, while the Music Car is said to "express the wish of many Chinese for individual automotive design" through the use of organic LEDs that change the color of the vehicle depending on the music. As for the ‘Smart Key’, it measures just 9mm tall and has a high-resolution touchscreen that keeps the driver up to date on the fuel situation, climate conditions and the car’s security via the 3G network. "‘The ‘People’s Car Project’ in China marks the beginning of a new era in automobile design," said Luca de Meo, marketing director at the VW Group. "We are no longer just building cars for, but also with customers and at the same time initiating a national dialog which gives us a deep insight into the design preferences, needs and requirements of Chinese customers." Even though it only showed three concepts in Beijing, Volkswagen says that it is extremely pleased with the high demand and the "exceptionally good quality of the contributions", and for this reason, the PCP, which was originally scheduled to run for one year, has been indefinitely extended. "In a long-term context the findings of the ‘People‘s Car Project’ will influence Volkswagen’s product strategy," de Meo explained. "The design of our models will, however, continue to reflect the tradition of the Volkswagen brand. If at some time in the future we are to produce a vehicle from the ‘People’s Car Project’, it will be a combination of customers’ opinions and brand tradition." Source: Article... |
Lincoln to Reuse old Model Names for Chinese Market (2013-11-29T17:17:00+05:30)
A report from USA Today says that Ford’s exeutive VP in charge of global marketing, Jim Farley, recently announced that Lincoln may, in fact, switch from the current American naming scheme to one that revives old historic names, but only for the Chinese audience. The arguments that stand behind the reasoning are a) the brand has a lot of iconic names under its belt that it no longer uses and b) it is apprently believed that Chinese people actually remember the old days of Lincoln luxury, what the cars from that period were called and what they stood for. Deems quite unlikely given the cultural and historic background of the country, but we’ll see how it pans out for them once the fully-fledged country-wide introduction enters full swing. So, in a weird turn of events, North America, which is the traditional home market for Lincoln cars will boast models designated by 3 capital letters, the first 2 of which are “MK,” while China will get Zephyrs and Continentals. Source: Article....
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