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Molly Brookshire

Japanese collaborate on r&d for new fuel efficient engines - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...for-new-fuel-efficient-engines

ICE technology Asian Toyota Mazda Honda Subaru Mitsubishi Nissan Suzuki Daihatsu

shared by Molly Brookshire on 19 May 14 - No Cached
  • Japan’s automakers, aiming to take the lead in fuel-efficient powertrains, have joined forces in a new consortium to develop the next generation of fuel-sipping combustion engines.
  • Their goal: A 30 percent improvement in the fuel efficiency of traditional gasoline and diesel engines by 2020.
  • The Japanese government will aid the country’s eight automakers by chipping in half of the project’s 1 billion yen ($9.9 million) budget. The automakers will foot the rest.
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  • Research Association of Automotive Internal Combustion Engines. It pools the resources of Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., Mazda Motor Corp., Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Daihatsu Motor Co., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the maker of Subaru-brand vehicles.
  • The objective is to share costs in an increasingly competitive, investment-heavy field to meet more stringent fuel economy guidelines, organizers
  • The strategy is patterned after a similar approach taken by competitors in Europe, organizers said. There, rivals cooperate with academia and the government on basic technologies, giving European carmakers a head start in cutting costs.
  • While Japanese automakers have developed advanced electric and hybrid drivetrains, the creation of AICE acknowledges that internal combustion engines will remain the workhorse of global fleets for a long time, especially in cost-sensitive emerging markets.
  • Organizers outlined a 10-year time frame for achieving world-leading advancements in combustion engine efficiency.
  • Engineers target thermal efficiency rates for both approaching 50 percent. That compares with today’s best rates of around 39 percent for gasoline engines and 42 percent for diesel engines. Higher thermal efficiency means more energy from internal combustion is captured for higher engine output. Organizers said such a breakthrough could boost the fuel efficiency of gasoline and diesel engines 30 percent by 2020.
  • Diesel engine development will focus on eliminating particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions, partly through better particulate filters and exhaust gas recirculation systems. Gasoline engine research will focus on achieving more complete combustion cycles and better ignition while reducing knock.
  • Keiji Ohtsu, managing officer of Honda R&D Co., Honda’s product development arm, will be AICE president.
Molly Brookshire

Toyota's massive engine overhaul - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...oyotas-massive-engine-overhaul

Toyota engines fuel efficiency

shared by Molly Brookshire on 14 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • Toyota Motor Corp., after long neglecting the humble internal combustion engine in favor of hybrids, is preparing a sweeping powertrain makeover.
  • The automaker is designing common parts to spread costs across large numbers of engines. This will allow it to economically customize engines for specific vehicles with fuel injection, turbocharging and more.
  • Toyota is seeking fuel economy increases of up to 30 percent and cost cuts on key components of up to 50 percent.
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  • The strategy underscores how Toyota is playing catch-up in a fundamental field, as rivals gain on the automaker's top fleet average fuel economy in the United States with big advancements in such fuel-saving technologies as direct injection, turbocharging and stop-start systems. For years, Toyota has focused on its best-selling gasoline-electric hybrid systems. It hasn't abandoned that track.
  • The goal is to cut costs and maximize performance by standardizing the basics: bore, stroke, combustion cycle, valve timing and components such as engine blocks, cylinder heads, cam-shafts and crankshafts. After that is where the hair ornaments come in.
  • "Just like putting something beautiful on top of your hairdo, by using kanzashi through such things as turbocharging or downsizing, you can improve the performance of the engine."Kanzashi add-ons may include direct fuel injection, exhaust gas recirculation systems or stop-start technologies that turn off the engine when the vehicle stops.
  • The EPA's annual report on fuel economy trends, which calculates automakers' fleet average fuel economy based on sales, shows Toyota losing ground to rivals such as Nissan and Mazda. For example, in 2010, Toyota's U.S. fleet average fuel economy was 25.4 mpg. In 2013, it was 25.2 mpg. Meanwhile, Mazda improved from 24.4 mpg in 2010 to 27.5 mpg in 2013, and Nissan rose from 23.3 mpg to 24.6 mpg during the period.
  • "Eventually we think this is where the technology is going, but right now we don't know what the reaction of U.S. customers will be," he said. "So probably right up until the last moment, we will have to be ready with both and watch customer feedback."
Molly Brookshire

GM's new head of powertrain 'loves' diesels - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...ad-of-powertrain-loves-diesels

GM powertrain engines

shared by Molly Brookshire on 29 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • GM introduced one of the biggest engine programs in its history. Later this spring GM will debut the first of a new family of small Ecotec engines, 11 in all, that will be built around the world in five plants by 2017. The new three- and four-cylinder engines will eventually account for nearly 25 percent of GM’s total engine production and produced at the rate of 10,000 engines a day.
  • GM and Ford are collaborating on a new generation of 9- and 10-speed transmissions. The 10-speed gearboxes will be used in both company’s pickups in about two years. The F-150 and the GM twins, Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, lag far behind Chrysler’s Ram 1500 Ecodiesel in the fuel economy race.
  • for the time being, both trucks use six-speed transmissions, while the Ram has 8-speeds.
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  • 2025 and the mandated 54.5 mpg standards are looming
Molly Brookshire

GM to split engineering into 2 divisions with new leaders; Calabrese to retire - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...ons-with-new-leaders-calabrese

GM ignition-recall

shared by Molly Brookshire on 29 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • GM said it will divide vehicle engineering into two organizations: Global Product Integrity and Global Components and Subsystems.
  • The product integrity organization will include the new global vehicle safety group that GM created in February, led by Jeff Boyer. That unit also will oversee supplier quality and include vehicle, powertrain and electrical-systems engineering; vehicle performance; industrial engineering and validation, GM said.
  • GM said the product integrity organization will use "advanced analysis tools and processes to flag and prevent issues during vehicle development." It also will analyze field reports "to react quickly to safety and product quality issues customers may experience."
Molly Brookshire

VW preps reworked diesel engine for '15 - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...-reworked-diesel-engine-for-15

VW sales Toyota Prius 2015MY

shared by Molly Brookshire on 29 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • diesel
  • went into about 22 percent of the cars that VW sold in the United States in 2013.
  • It will also be more efficient, VW says, though the company has not released estimates for city and highway
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  • VW has started launching TDI “value editions” of select models to better position diesel as a money-saving option on par with hybrids
  • The value Jetta starts at $22,115, including shipping, with a TDI engine and a manual transmission -- a $2,300 price cut that has bolstered its position as the least expensive diesel car on the U.S. market. That puts it squarely between the base Toyota Prius C ($19,890, including shipping) and the base Toyota Prius ($25,010, including shipping).
  • Molly Brookshire on 29 Apr 14
     
    VW to leverage its diesel engine to grow sales in States and compete with hybrids like Prius in price and fuel economy. VW dominates diesel sales in the US, which accounted for 22% of their sales in 2013.
Molly Brookshire

By-wire age is coming; what's missing is trust - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...-coming-whats-missing-is-trust

by-wire future technology Toyota Bosch

shared by Molly Brookshire on 29 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • It's not that removing pumps makes for an inherently better vehicle. It is that automakers desperately want to improve fuel economy on the coming generation of vehicles. And that means ending the standard engineering practice of running various pumps off of engine power, like so many extension chords plugged into a wall socket. Fewer devices draining power from the engine means better fuel economy.
  • Bosch is also preparing to begin supplying a clutch-by-wire system called the eClutch.
  • Wire-based driving systems themselves require fewer moving parts
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  • Having fewer parts would simplify a vehicle's manufacturing process
  • That means potentially lower development costs.
  • Having fewer parts also translates to reduced vehicle weight, which appeals to automakers straining to meet fuel economy targets
  • "There's no question that X-by-wire technology will bring all sorts of benefits to the industry," he says. "But automakers will really have to work hard at making sure their customers are willing to come along with them."
Molly Brookshire

Audi to revive A3 hatch in U.S., sans gasoline - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...-a3-hatch-in-u-s-sans-gasoline

Audi diesel plug in hybrid

shared by Molly Brookshire on 29 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • the German luxury brand has decided to bring back the five-door version of its A3 compact to the United States without offering customers an ordinary gasoline engine.
  • Audi already announced plans to sell a plug-in hybrid version of the hatchback called the A3 e-tron.
  • Exact pricing has not been announced, but the diesel A3 will compete with entry-level luxury cars such as the Lexus CT, a similarly sized hybrid-only hatchback that starts at $32,960 with shipping. Lexus sold 15,071 of them in 2013 in the United States.
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  • 2012 in the United States
  • At that time, about 55 percent of buyers were choosing the TDI engine -- far more than the company had projected.
Molly Brookshire

Toyota lays out future powertrain plans in catch-up bid - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...wertrain-plans-in-catch-up-bid

Toyota powertrain r&d

shared by Molly Brookshire on 29 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • Toyota Motor Corp. will launch a swath of powertrains in the next several years
  • Toyota is investing heavily in turbocharged engines, larger displacement Atkinson cycle engines, continuously variable and fixed-gear automatic transmissions, and new hybrid and fuel cell technologies
Molly Brookshire

Sales of green cars down, but great strides in fuel economy - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...-great-strides-in-fuel-economy

fuel efficiency

shared by Molly Brookshire on 05 May 14 - No Cached
  • Some green-vehicle technologies that looked like sure bets for the second half of this decade are lagging. And some technologies that seemed like long shots seven model years ago have become viable.
  • Coming up on the outside in this horse race for higher fuel economy: diesel engines, aluminum bodies and -- still a long shot -- hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles. Struggling to live up to expectations: electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. And the big-selling fuel-reducing technology of the moment has turned out to be a more efficient gasoline engine
  • Downsizing has happened more than anyone expected
Molly Brookshire

BBC - Autos - Can the MKC save Lincoln? - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...40708-can-the-mkc-save-lincoln

Lincoln MKC luxury SUV

shared by Molly Brookshire on 10 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • Lexus has some fine choices, as do BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac, Acura, Infiniti and Volvo. Lincoln... Not so much. Until now, that is. The suave new MKC brings fresh lines – and fresh thinking – to a crowded segment.
  • Lincoln gave the base MKC a 240-horsepower 2-litre EcoBoost engine. A 2.3-litre turbo four is optional, producing a healthy 285 horsepower and 305 pound-feet of torque. Notably absent (for now, at least), are six-cylinder gasoline, turbo-diesel and gasoline-electric hybrid options.
  • Occupants are never reminded what sort of engine lies under the hood. On the road, the MKC delivers exemplary ride comfort and splendid control over bumps and around curves. All good news
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  • American upstart may have some difficulty attracting notice among the clamour of a noisy, contentious market.
  • Lincoln itself is in crisis at the moment
  • It will demur from an arms race with would-be German rivals who benchmark their cars against one another with lap times. The modern Lincoln aims to deliver simple dynamic precision with a relaxed ambiance.
  • Lincoln’s current MKZ sedan was a half-step in this direction, but the MKC fulfills the mission more completely
  • And the company plans to replace its larger MKX crossover and MKS full-size sedan with new models that raise the luxury bar even further.
Molly Brookshire

Mazda2 output begins in Japan - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...mazda2-output-begins-in-japan

Mazda Mazda2 Toyota Yaris competitor MY2015

shared by Molly Brookshire on 18 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • Mazda Motor Corp. began manufacturing the next-generation Mazda2 subcompact in Japan today
  • The fourth-generation Mazda2, called the Demio in Japan, will go on sale here in the fall, Mazda said in a statement. It will hit American showrooms in 2015.
  • It is the first Mazda2 to be equipped with the full suite of Mazda’s fuel-saving Skyactiv technologies, including new engines, transmissions, body, and chassis. It is the fourth Mazda nameplate to receive the Skyactiv makeover, after the CX-5 crossover and Mazda6 and Mazda3 sedans.
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  • The U.S. version is expected to be sourced from Mazda’s new plant in Salamanca, Mexico, which opened earlier this year and makes the Mazda3.
  • Supplemental volume for the U.S. market may also come from Japan, but Mazda has not detailed sourcing plans yet. Currently all Mazda2s are imported from Japan.
  • U.S. sales of the outgoing Mazda2 surged 42 percent to 7,957 vehicles in the first six months of the year, from 5,594 the year before, as the carmaker cleared out inventories.
  • But last year, sales of the aging nameplate, which is getting its first full redesign in seven years, slumped 39 percent to 11,757.
  • That ranked it near the bottom of the subcompact segment, way below such rivals as the Chevrolet Sonic, the Ford Fiesta, the Honda Fit, the Kia Soul, the Nissan Versa, the Hyundai Accent and the Toyota Yaris.
  • The next Mazda2 will also provide the basis for a new subcompact sedan from Toyota Motor Corp. That car will be made in Salamanca, where Mazda has allocated about 50,000 vehicles for Toyota from its full annual capacity of 230,000 units. While that car will get Skyactiv underpinnings, including a Skyactiv engine, it will have a Toyota-designed body. Output for Toyota is expected to begin after April 1, 2015, but before March 31, 2016.
  • Molly Brookshire on 18 Jul 14
     
    Mazda2 had slumping sales in 2014, but with redesign, it could bring competition to the Yaris. Also, Mazda2 platform will be used for a new Toyota-designed body. ?.
Molly Brookshire

Chrysler mimics human lung to broaden CNG use - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...-human-lung-to-broaden-cng-use

Chrysler compressed-natural-gas Ram human-lung

shared by Molly Brookshire on 29 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • DETROIT -- Chrysler Group says it has developed a tank to store compressed natural gas that mimics human lungs and will allow the cheaper fuel source to more easily be used in automobiles.
  • The design uses smaller compartments inside a larger tank to increase fuel capacity and storage, similar to the alveoli within the human lung. It would free automakers from being forced to use large reinforced cylinders to store compressed natural gas onboard automobiles and would allow fuel to be stored within non-cylindrical shapes.
  • Chrysler currently offers one CNG vehicle: a Ram 2500 heavy-duty pickup capable of traveling up to 255 miles powered by the fuel. The pickup is also equipped with a 35-gallon reserve gasoline tank that extends its total range to 745 miles. It is powered by a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine capable of burning both gasoline and CNG.
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  • CNG is about one-third the cost
Molly Brookshire

Nissan team to tackle inventory problems - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...m-to-tackle-inventory-problems

Nissan sales production planning

shared by Molly Brookshire on 29 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • "the right car at the right place at the right time"
  • Nissan has assembled a team of sales managers, forecasters, planners, retailers, factory engineers and logistics managers in North America and Japan to execute its right-car mission.
  • After spending the past two years redesigning, reintroducing and repricing most of its vehicle lineup, the automaker is convinced that all of its products are competitive in their segments, and in some cases segment-leading.
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  • But one problem continues to hold the franchise back -- a U.S. inventory chain with a few holes in it,
  • "Rather than trying to assess market needs from here at our headquarters or relying on our retailers to guess, we're designing a new approach to make sure we can deliver the right car at the right place at the right time." The process will give Nissan's sales regions more voice in production planning and make it easier for dealers to find cars in the factory order banks.
Molly Brookshire

New Ford steering system needs fewer turns - 1 views

www.autonews.com/...ering-system-needs-fewer-turns

Ford steering Takata

shared by Molly Brookshire on 29 May 14 - No Cached
  • Ford engineers, working with Japanese supplier Takata Corp., changed part of that layout
  • In Ford’s system, the steering wheel activates an electric motor, which turns a gear on the steering shaft. The motor and gear turn the wheels with fewer rotations of the steering wheel.
  • Similar steering systems are available on some BMW, Lexus, Audi and Infiniti luxury vehicles, but they are packaged differently from Ford’s system.
Molly Brookshire

BBC - Autos - The month in tech: Google readies Android invasion - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...0140627-google-wants-your-dash

Google technology

shared by Molly Brookshire on 10 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • At its recent developer conference, Google launched its Android Auto system
  • Android Auto allows drivers to access navigation, music and communications through voice commands and steering wheel controls.
  • Google has partnered with roughly 30 automotive manufacturers to bring the system to market, relieving carmakers of development costs associated with creating their own infotainment system back-ends. Apple's CarPlay system, meanwhile, will be available in many carmakers' 2015 models, among them Hyundai, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz.
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  • The FCV will go on sale in Japan first, in April 2015, for the equivalent of about $70,000, with US and European launches planned for the summer.
  • the FCV would only go on sale in areas like California and Germany, where adequate hydrogen refueling stations and delivery infrastructure existed
  • cruising range of 700km (about 435 miles
  • compressed hydrogen’s higher energy density and its ease of storage and transport
  • The vehicle refuels in just three minutes and only emits water vapor.
  • Ford engineers saw room to improve the efficacy of knee-level airbags
Molly Brookshire

Mercedes-Benz's autonomous driving features dominate the industry -- and will for years - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...ures-dominate-the-industry-and

Mercedes driver assist

shared by Molly Brookshire on 04 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • When Mercedes-Benz debuted its new Intelligent Drive package of safety and driving-assistance systems last fall, it raised the bar for the rest of the industry.
  • The features on the 2014 S-class sedan are the most advanced in a production vehicle. And Mercedes-Benz appears likely to stay ahead of the competition for several years.
  • When the S class debuted, I'd say they had a 30-month lead on the competition in terms of technology deployment,"
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  • "This skips a whole generation of S class -- it went into the future. It is 70 percent autonomous driving."
  • Available first on the S-class sedan as a $2,800 option, Intelligent Drive also is offered on the re-engineered 2014 E-class lineup. Much of the technology will trickle down to the redesigned 2015 C-class sedan that goes on sale in the fall. Some features are even available on the smaller B-class Electric Drive that went on sale last month.
  • The take rate on Intelligent Drive for the S-class sedan is 50 percent. It falls to 15 percent for the E class.
  • For Mercedes, having this edge is a competitive weapon in the luxury segment, where quality, gadgets and horsepower are no longer significant differentiators.
  • Hyundai with its new Genesis is the closest but the competition is probably three years behind
Molly Brookshire

Lincoln seeks styling edge with MKC liftgate - 0 views

www.autonews.com/...styling-edge-with-mkc-liftgate

MKC lift-gate

shared by Molly Brookshire on 04 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • The wraparound liftgate on the 2015 Lincoln MKC is unlike those on most crossovers.
  • Lincoln officials say the design required extensive collaboration among its design, engineering and manufacturing arms and supplier Amino North America.
  • With the MKC, Lincoln is pushing into the fast-growing luxury compact crossover segment
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  • The one-piece wraparound look enables Lincoln to extend its signature taillights across the liftgate and around to the side without interruption by shut lines. The taillights contain 163 LEDs
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