Japan will once again prove they’re the leader in technological advancements with the launching of eight new green cars by March 2016. Japanese automotive giant Mitsubishi Motors is slated to unveil eight more environmentally friendly cars, in addition to the i-MiEV, which was launched in 2009. A groundbreaking invention, the i-MiEV was the world’s first commercially produced electric vehicle and set the standard among other automotive companies who strived to equal or surpass Mitsubishi’s achievement. This time, their line-up will be a combination of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Around 2012, the company plans to launch its first plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. Mitsubishi revealed it will start the new line-up with a mini commercial vehicle, the Minicab MiEV.

The little sister of the globally successful i-MiEV, it is reported that the minicab will be powered by Toshiba’s SCIB battery. Another technological giant, Toshiba will be in partnership with Mitsubishi to develop and produce a fast-charging, long lasting battery that will support the plug-in vehicles. Pretty soon, other automotive companies would catch up with this technology and we’d soon find ourselves in a battery-operated world. But with the rising gasoline prices, the world would certainly welcome these battery-charged babies. Besides, the electric cars just might be the solution to our long-waged battle against global warming and the greenhouse effect. It was also reported that the SCIB lithium-ion rechargeable battery was particularly chosen for its low cost, extended life and fast-charge ability. A fully charged Minicab MiEV will be able to cover 100 km or 62 miles like the i-MiEV.

Mitsubishi plans to market the Minicab with a price tag that would cost around 2 million yen or less, or an estimated price of US $24, 210. Billionaires, tycoons, magnates and celebrities would definitely be lining up for this vehicle. The company has high hopes that the green cars and new business strategies will double their operating profit to 90 billion yen, and triple their net profit to 45 billion yen by 2014.

According to reports, Nissan was only able to deliver 60 units of its Leaf electric vehicle out of the 6,000 orders received for the said vehicle in Japan. The Japanese automaker said that the reason for the slow production is that they are trying to ensure the high quality of the manufactured Leafs before they are rolled out of the plant. It can be remembered that last November, Nissan Chief Operating Toshiyuki Shiga stated, “We want to launch the Leaf entirely free of troubles. We are making cars a bit slowly while taking thorough care. We might make our customers wait.”

Nissan further stated that despite the slow manufacturing process they are on track and will not missed out on their scheduled delivery dates.

A Nissan official said, “As it is our first major project to mass produce EVs, we began building them with caution…Production lines are working fine so we expect to fill the orders as planned.”

It was December of last year that Nissan delivered the first Leaf to a US customer and before the end of 2010, it was again able to hand off Leaf keys to an additional 19 US customers. These figures, including that of Japan’s, are a bit low from what Nissan was expecting since the Leaf first hit the market. But according to Nissan officials one of the factors that cause the slow sale of the Leaf is partly due to the process it takes for consumers to complete the procedure in applying for a government subsidy for electric vehicles.

So there, I hope things are clear now. There are no delays… Nissan is just trying to ensure that you get defect free Leafs. Although, I’m not so sure by what Mr. Shiga meant when he said, “We might make our customers wait.” –. 

ToMoCo, world’s largest seller of hybrid vehicles has announced that it will start selling hydrogen cars by 2015 or can be earlier for Japan, California and Germany. The hydrogen vehicles will be sold as an alternative to battery-powered models that are coming out in the market. The Japanese automaker has been finding ways on how they could cut cost in producing their hydrogen vehicles so that they will be able to sell their models for less than $100,000.

In an interview with Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota’s Executive Vice President for Research and Product Development at the Detroit auto show he said, “I have high expectations for fuel-cell vehicles as a candidate for next-generation cars. Over the past several years, we’ve seen many of the outstanding technical issues solved.”

It can be noted that over the past decade the eagerness of manufacturers to produce hydrogen vehicles dwindle due to the high cost involved. It was estimated that around $1 million is required to produce a vehicle. The other problem was the lack of fueling stations but not anymore since Toyota and twelve other Japanese companies including Honda, Nissan and JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. are now planning to build 100 hydrogen fueling stations by 2015.

Uchiyamada also mentioned, “When it comes to fuel cars, the cruising distance is almost comparable to conventional gasoline-engine cars.”

ToMoCo’s first hydrogen cars for retail buyers is scheduled to hit dealerships by 2015 or can be sooner in a statement made by Akio Toyoda, the company’s President. But for now Toyota is still finalizing their marketing strategy for their hydrogen vehicles and still contemplating whether the initial model will bear the Toyota brand or that of the Lexus brand. The price range of Toyota’s hybrid models will be around $50,000.

As for performance specifications and other details Uchiyamada said that they will soon release a statement on it.

I guess we’ll just have to wait for now.

Toyota has announced at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit the addition of three new gasoline/electric hybrid namely: Prius Plug-in, Prius v and Prius c — all under the Prius name. These three new hybrid vehicles will signal the start of the model expansion that Toyota is planning for Prius. Let’s take a look at what these three brand new Priuses have to offer:

Toyota Prius Plug-in

This vehicle is definitely not your conventional Prius. It drives in zero-emission electricity with a gasoline engine as support in case of battery discharged. It’s capable of traveling 13 miles at a speed of 62 miles per hour. Equipped with a small lithium-ion battery pack for fast charging and takes only 1.7 hours to charge using 220 volt power source. Toyota will start to offer the Prius Plug-in in 14 states but plans to sell it nationwide by 2013.

Toyota Prius v

Showcasing a wagon design that offers 34.3 cubic feet of cargo room behind the rear seats, it’s longer than the conventional Prius by 6.1 inches and provides 50% more storage space inside the vehicle. The square end of the Prius v provides it with a slick drag coefficient of 0.29 in wind tunnel aerodynamic testing. And of course since it’s a Prius expect it to be fuel efficient with a mileage of 42 miles per gallon for city driving and 38 miles per gallon in the highway. With 10 miles per gallon savings on average driving the Prius v is no doubt a highly fuel efficient small utility vehicle.

Toyota Prius c

The c concept is given a more daring style. The c which stands for city has a smaller exterior frame just right for urban driving. Some of its unique styling cues include a rather radical headlight placement which is a complete deviation from the usual, and a more sculpted fascia. The Prius c was presented as a concept vehicle for 2012.

With the addition of the three new hybrids, I wonder how Toyota’s dealerships will handle the additional stocks especially since they are already having problems just by keeping a single Prius hybrid in stock.

General Motors together with the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Lab have recently shared information on their licensing agreement that involves the use of Argonne’s patented composite cathode material in the production of a more advance lithium-ion batteries. These new breed of batteries are said to last longer and can be charged even on higher voltages.

According to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, “The creation of this battery technology represents an important return on the American investment in innovative vehicle and battery research. This agreement gives General Motors the ability to use cutting-edge battery technology throughout its supply chain. The licensing of this technology will also spur the renewal of the American battery industry, creating hundreds of new jobs where they are needed most.”

So why choose Argonne’s composite cathode material again?—It is said that Argonne’s composite cathode material contain a one-of-a kind combination of lithium and manganese rich mixed metal oxides that can extend the life of the battery as well as its operating use. It will also enhance the safety of lithium-ion cells and allows charging at higher voltages.

Here’s what Eric Isaacs, Argonne Director and President of the UChicago Argonne, LLC, a wholly-owned laboratory management subsidiary of the University of Chicago has to say, “The fact that GM is including Argonne’s novel composite cathode material in their commercialization process is a testament to the world-class scientists performing research in this area at Argonne and the long-term vision and commitment by DOE. The scientists and engineers in Argonne’s battery department look forward to continuing this important work for next-generation electric vehicles, as well as for new energy storage technologies for the power grid.”

GM has invested $5 million on the said venture. Jon Lauckner, President of GM ventures said, “What we’re licensing is really advanced cathode material. This is the most capable cathode material that we have seen. Will take some years for us to develop it, but we wanted to get it on the road.” With the cathode material GM is expecting for a significant reduction in the cost of lithium-ion batteries which will translate to cheaper plug-in cars.

The previous news on GEM is not really that good– it’s bad. If you can remember Chrysler has backed out on its plan of producing the Peapod which was a low speed neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) supposedly to go on sale last 2009. But that doesn’t mean that Chrysler has altogether drop the “whole electric vehicle” idea in fact it has recently made an announcement that GEM or Global Electric Motorcars, its wholly-owned subsidiary, has developed a new line up of low speed neighborhood electric vehicles that are far better than the previous Peapod project.

Here’s what Rick Kasper, President and Chief Operating Officer of Chrysler Group Global Electric Motorcars LLC has to say: “The 2011 model year marks our 13th year in designing and distributing 100 percent battery-electric GEM vehicles. We’re always integrating new technologies and features into our product line that allow our customers to customize their vehicles and use them in a variety of capacities.”

The new 2011 GEM NEVs are equipped with energy monitoring system and some additional accessories of which includes a 12-inch turf tires, right-hand drive, a short bed package and utility tie downs. Currently there are around 45,000 of them in actual used today.

I think one of the best features of the new GEMs is its energy monitoring system that displays the amount of energy in kilowatt-hours. This gives you the opportunity to check how much it cost to drive a GEM plus it also provides you a way of validating Chrysler’s promise that the GEM will only cost you 2 cents per mile.

The GEMs can reach a top speed of 25 mph and can cover 30 miles on a charge—in short it’s ideal only for short trips. There are currently six models of GEMs to choose from and can be customized with a variety of accessories and options. You can check out the dealership in your area if you are interested in upgrading your GEM or to purchase one.

General Motors has found a way to convert the oil-soaked plastic boom materials in the Gulf of Mexico into useful products by turning these wastes into plastic under hood auto parts. According to Mike Robinson, GM Vice President of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy, “Creative recycling is one extension of GM’s overall strategy to reduce its environmental impact. We reuse and recycle material by-products at our 76 landfill-free facilities every day. This is good example of using this expertise and applying it to a greater magnitude.”

GM has been able to produce more than 100,000 pounds of plastic resin for vehicle components from recycling the booms. Just imagine if GM did not recycle these wastes, the same quantity would have been thrown to the landfills. To produce the auto parts, GM is combining the oil-soaked plastic boom materials either with used tires or post-consumer recycled plastics and other polymers.

GM is working with several partners in its effort to clean the Mexican Gulf. The Heritage Environmental takes care of the collection of the boom materials which are in turn collected by the Mobile Fluid Recovery that spun clean the booms until dried from all waste water and oil. Then the Lucent Polymers changed the booms into materials with consistency making it suitable for plastic die-mold production. GDC Inc., a Tier-One supplier, with its patented Enduraprene TM material process and combined the resin with other plastic compounds to produce the auto parts.

John Bradburn, Manager of GM’s waste-reduction efforts said, “This was purely a matter of helping out. If the send to a landfill, these materials would have taken hundreds of years to begin to break down, and we didn’t want to see the spill further impact the environment. We knew we could identify a beneficial re-use of this material given our experience.”

GM is committed to reducing waste and pollutants, as a matter of fact, 85% of the materials used for the production of its trucks and other vehicles are made up of recycled materials. And not only that, all GM’s facilities around the globe also recycle 90% of the wastes they generate.

By the way, GM’s Chevy Volt has been awarded as the Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal. The Volt is the first electric vehicle launched with extended range.

Good news to all Ford fanatics! The 2011 Ford Explorer has finally obtained the 25 percent improvement in fuel economy that it promised. I guess some promises are really worth keeping and not meant to be broken as the old adage say. The 25 percent improvement in fuel economy is not just a mere claim but was confirmed by no less than the Environmental Protection Agency. Basing on the agency’s ratings, the Explorer was able to obtain an average of 17 mpg in the city and an average of 25 miles per gallon on the highway.

The front-drive-base of the 2011 Ford Explorer was made lighter and with more aerodynamic body. And that’s not all! It was also given a more efficient 292 horsepower 3.5-Liter V6 with Ti-VCT or Twin independent Variable Camshaft Timing that is mated to a 6-speed auto transmission and equipped with Blue Oval’s latest electronic power steering system. The 2011 Ford Explorer is scheduled to hit showrooms towards the end of this year.

The Blue Oval is not stopping at 25 percent, they intend to go higher up to 30 percent fuel economy with the production of a turbocharged 2.0-Liter EcoBoost four-cylinder which is due for release next year, 2011.

Let’s face it, Toyota’s Prius despite its being an environmentally friendly vehicle is not that price friendly. With its starting price of $22,800 (Prius II) to $28,070 (Prius V) it’s not a practical choice with the worsening recession. In fact, there was a drop in sales of Prius from 11,731 in October to 10,224 in November, recording a significant 13% decrease in sales. But compared to last year, Prius sales this year was up by 6% making it not a total lost for Toyota’s green car. Hopefully they will be able to surpass the negative impact of the recalls that they had this year if they want to get positive sales growth before the end of this year.

Next Generation Prius

In other news, there are reports saying that the next generation of Priuses of which the Japanese automaker has designated with letters A, B, and C will resemble its current lineup. Prius A will sport the same size as Yaris while B will be made bigger. Prius C will be made smaller than the Camry but in terms of design it will take after the Hybrid X concept car. If you have forgotten what the X looks like, you may search for 2007 Geneva Motor Show - it’s where the X-concept has made its debut.

Nissan’s green LEAF is set to hit dealership this December. The LEAF is an electric vehicle sporting a love it or hate it design. Distinctive features of the LEAF include a low hood sandwiched in between two V-shaped headlights that looks like shark fins. The unusual headlights were not installed for statement alone, but were designed for a purpose – to split and redirect airflow away from the door mirrors minimizing noise and drag in the process.

The LEAF doesn’t have emissions equipment which gives the rear hatch a cavernous depth giving you so much storage space than you could ever imagine. There’s also plenty of headroom and legroom both on the front seat as well as the passenger seat. So it’s not going to be a problem if you are more than 6 feet tall.

In terms of connectivity, the LEAF utilizes an exclusive advanced IT system which is linked to a global data center providing the user with support, information as well as entertainment 24 hours a day. Its dash-mounted monitor displays the status of LEAF’s power and even shows the areas of nearby charging stations. You can also use your mobile phone to turn on air-conditioning and set the charging functions even when the LEAF is low on charged. The LEAF can travel 100 miles on a single charged. How much does the LEAF cost? The introductory price is $25,000 but according to Nissan it still can go down considering local and state incentives.