The Uni-Cub

Honda says the Uni-Cub is a competitor for the Segway, but judging by this photo, its real target audience is the Sybian...

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-honda-new-people-mover-20120515,0,140255.story

The Car with 350 MPG

From Forbes.com:
The race drew teams from Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes and Peugeot, but Gordon Murray Designs walked away the winner.

The T.27, an all-electric car with a lightweight composite chassis, won the Future Car Challenge sponsored by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) by completing a 57.13 mile course between Brighton and London on less energy than its fellow competitors. Carrying two occupants, the T.27 consumed only 7 kilowatt hours of electricity, which is about equal to 350 miles per gallon, according to the company. The total energy bill came to 64 pence, or about $1.03.

Second place went to an electrified Jaguar E-Type from Germany which consumed 8.5 kilowatt hours. Tesla Roadsters, Nissan Leafs, an electrified Citroen, a Honda Insight and a few diesels also competed.

Murray, a noted race car designer whose cars won world championships at Brabham and McLaren, is on a quest to get cars to lose weight. By swapping out steel components for parts made from structurally strong plastic or composites, car manufacturers can dramatically increase mileage without impacting performance. Less weight, after all, leads directly to better fuel efficiency and/or acceleration.

A T.27, for instance, can go 100 miles on a charge, the same as a Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi i. The T.27, however, only sports a 12.5 kilowatt hour battery pack, which is about half the size of the battery in the other two cars. A smaller battery means quicker charging times and, potentially, a lower sticker price. Last year, Murray’s T.25, a T.27 with a gas engine, beat half of the electric cars in the race with an 80 miles per gallon rating.

Bright Automotive in the U.S. is mining similar concepts with a lightweight delivery truck.

Composite cars can also be cheaper to produce. Instead of steel stamping mills and painting stalls needed for applying rust-proofing, manufacturers only need to invest in software and injection molding machinery.

Murray’s company does not plan on producing cars. Instead, it will license its intellectual property. A deal with an established manufacturer may come next year...

Tiny Car Gets 350 MPG, Beats Corporate Competitors In Energy Derby
Michael Kanellos
11/08/2011
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkanellos/2011/11/08/tiny-car-beats-multinationals-in-energy-derby-with-350-mpg

A Wee Taste of Europe: Will Americans Bite?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/automobiles/autoreviews/12fiesta.html

September 10, 2010
A Wee Taste of Europe: Will Americans Bite?
EZRA DYER

THERE are two types of small cars in America. First, there are the bare-bones, price-is-the-entire-object ennui-boxes. These are the cars you end up driving when you stubbornly resist the $2-a-day upgrade at the rental counter.

A few years back, Chevrolet of Canada caught flak for running an ad for the Cavalier that basically said, “Hey, it’s better than taking the bus.” The pitch offended bus riders and public transportation advocates, but I admire that honesty. Cars that duke it out at the very bottom of the market — like the basest Nissan Versa or Hyundai Accent, each priced around $10,000 — promise mobility, and that’s about it.

It took a long time for car companies to realize that drivers in the United States might consider a small vehicle that wasn’t ruthlessly built to a price. The modern Mini Cooper was the trailblazer, proving that Americans might buy a diminutive hatchback on its own merits, even when they could afford something bigger. Cars like the Mini and the Honda Fit offer a more upscale driving experience than the frill-free automotive flounders that scour the bottom of the market for rental sales, college students and frugal commuters.

The Ford Fiesta is a subcompact in the ambitious Fit idiom. It’s not the least expensive small car you can buy (or even, perhaps, the least expensive Ford). But the 2011 Fiesta hews to the European hatchback ideal, and Europeans hold the bizarre expectation that small vehicles should act like real cars.

First, a bit of history on the nameplate: in the late 1970s and early ’80s, Ford sold a hatchback called the Fiesta. In the late ’80s, it introduced a hatchback named the Festiva. Now we’re back to the Fiesta. I asked Ford what the rationale was behind the Fiesta-to-Festiva-to-Fiesta name change, and the response was, “The Festiva was a different car.”

Right. One which happened to be the smallest Ford hatchback, just like the car it replaced. It’s as if Ford canceled the Mustang, replaced it with a V-8 muscle car named the Mutsvang, and then declared that the two vehicles had nothing to do with each other. And I’m afraid that’s the best answer I have for you on that. This Fiesta is a far cry from the bygone Korean-built Festiva, which came with 12-inch steel wheels suggesting that somewhere, a lawn tractor was up on blocks.

Ford’s new baby is available as a sedan or five-door hatchback and offers upmarket equipment like a 6-speed dual-clutch sequential transmission, heated leather seats and the excellent Sync multimedia system.

There are still a few obvious cost-cutting measures. For instance, the rear brakes are drums, not discs. But then again, so are they on a Maybach — the 1932 Maybach Zeppelin, to be exact.

Rear drums aside, the Fiesta is about as safe as it gets in this class. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety named the Fiesta the first minicar to earn the designation of Top Safety Pick. (The distinction applies to Fiestas built after July, when Ford strengthened the door handles.)

Regardless of the build date, the Fiesta interior has enough air bags to raise the Edmund Fitzgerald. And electronic stability control is standard.

There is one engine, a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder that squeezes out an indifferent 120 horsepower. So the Fiesta is slow. Then again, so are its competitors. But you should not drive alongside rivers near college campuses, because you might get passed by varsity crew teams.

The Fiesta’s best talent is making you forget its size once you’re actually moving down the road. The body is so stiff and quiet that I kept finding myself speeding, despite the modest power.

The suspension quietly soaks up impacts while maintaining a controlled ride — there’s none of the Clydesdale clop you hear when the engineers try to dial a soft ride into an overly flexible chassis. You get a sense that the limits are low but that the car doesn’t mind frolicking on an on-ramp now and then.

Mainly, though, the Fiesta seems optimized for the role it will probably fill for most people: commuting. There’s very little wind noise, you have Sync to handle your smartphone and play podcasts, and the fuel economy is excellent — 40 miles per gallon on the highway, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. When you do need to gas up, Ford’s capless filler is one of those small delights that makes life a little easier.

If you had to spend a couple of hours a day in a Fiesta, my sense is that it would endear itself rather than instill resentment. Hey, you don’t like the color of the cupholder lighting? You can change it, boss. It aims to please, the Fiesta.

The Fiesta is really the exemplar of the domestic hatchback’s newfound respectability. But the main challenge for small cars in America is that there’s not much financial incentive to buy them.

In Europe and Japan, driving a smaller car brings tax advantages. Then there’s the cost of fuel, which is currently more than $6 a gallon in most of Europe. When every mile per gallon and gram of carbon dioxide counts on the bottom line, it makes sense to buy the smallest car that will get you to work on time.

And to that end, the Fiesta is a hit. It’s Ford’s No. 1 seller in Europe, with half a million sold in the last year.

But in the United States, unless your car is subject to the gas-guzzler penalty, the taxman doesn’t care whether you have a 1.6-liter 4 or a 550-horsepower V-8. So the financial rationale for entry-level cars mostly amounts to what you save on the purchase price, relative to the next car up the ladder. And for Ford, there’s precious little breathing room between the Fiesta and its bigger sibling, the Focus.

The Fiesta starts at $13,995 for a basic sedan with a 5-speed manual transmission and can cost more than $21,000 for a loaded five-door SES. A couple of months ago, I grabbed a Ford dealership flier that advertised the 2011 Fiesta SE for $16,895. The same dealership was hawking the 2010 Focus SEL, with a leather interior, for $15,495.

The Focus concedes a few m.p.g. — its highway mileage is in the mid-30s — but it offers more passenger room and 20 extra horsepower. The Fiesta is technologically superior, but will buyers care about a dual-clutch gearbox when they can get more car for less money in the same dealership? I know I’m comparing leftover Focuses with 2011 Fiestas, but even once the Focus is redesigned, there will never be much daylight between these two cars.

At current gas prices, the E.P.A. estimates that fueling up a Focus instead of a Fiesta would cost an extra $219 a year (assuming 15,000 miles of driving). Somehow, I doubt that the prospect of saving 60 cents a day will be the deciding factor in many new-car purchases.

However, it was barely more than two years ago that gasoline passed $4 a gallon and the Honda Civic started outselling the Ford F-150. I’ll wager that gas prices will eventually pass $4 again. And when they do, the Fiesta will be the life of the party.

Mind-Controlled Robots and Electronics in 10 Years

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-04/japanese-titans-industry-aim-mind-controlled-robots-and-electronics-10-years

Japanese Government and Industry Aim for Mind-Controlled Robots and Electronics in 10 Years
Everything from televisions to smartphones and robots will obey consumers' thoughts
Jeremy Hsu
04.23.2010

Japan's insatiable love for robots and mind-reading technology has converged in the form of a new government-industry partnership. That means Japanese consumers can look forward to robots and electronics controllable by thought alone within a decade, according to Agence France-Presse.

The Nikkei daily first reported on this development yesterday by citing unnamed government sources, and so technical details remain a bit murky. Any such devices would supposedly use sensor-mounted headsets to analyze the electrical signals and brain blood-flow patterns of users.

The lack of specs has not prevented the collective sci-fi imagination of said sources from running wild. Future mind-controlled devices would include television sets and smart phones which compose text messages by thought. That's not unlike some brain-interface devices already slated to hit the market, but presumably they'd be much less expensive for daily-use items.

Other possible applications include a car navigation system which searches for restaurants when it detects the driver thinking on his or her empty stomach, and air-conditioners which adjust the temperature based on feeling too warm or cold. That's a huge stretch by today's standards.

Of course, the headsets would also allow the elderly or disabled to communicate with robot servitors and alert them to when help is required. We trust that won't lead to a future with the first robot-assisted homicide, but at least current mind-controlled fighting robots leave little to worry about.

We previously investigated the latest challenges of mind-reading technology in an extensive feature, which involves some serious numbers crunching and a few good brain scanners. Japan's upcoming effort could put some serious financial muscle behind this booming area of research, given the involvement of corporate giants such as Toyota, Honda and Hitachi, as well as top universities and research institutions.

Perhaps a mind-controlled future still sounds creepy to some, even if it's the consumer presumably doing the controlling. But at least it's a different approach from Intel's vision of consumer brain implants.

10 Things Not to Buy in 2010

http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/budgeting/10-things-not-to-buy-in-2010/

Consumer Action by AnnaMaria Andriotis
December 31, 2009
10 Things Not to Buy in 2010

Ten years ago, most homes relied on dial-up connections to access the Internet and iPods, flat-screen TVs and the Nintendo Wii didn’t exist.

As we prepare to ring in 2010, consumer should expect to see more revolutionary products supplanting old mainstays. In media, DVDs, books, newspapers and magazines will continue to lose ground to services like in-home movie rentals and gadgets like the Amazon Kindle. In big-ticket items, the push for energy efficiency will continue to influence consumer decisions on cars and home upgrades.

As a result, some consumer products appear poised for a dip in sales, which could be a prelude to obsolescence. Here are 10 items not to buy in 2010.

DVDs

The days of going to a video shop to rent a movie are at an end. In September, Blockbuster said it plans to close roughly 22% of its stores by the end of 2010; meanwhile, third-quarter revenue was down 21% from the year-ago period. (The company didn’t return calls for comment.)

Looking ahead, DVD purchases could turn cold, as well. On average, DVDs sell for at least $20 each. That’s pricier than signing up for Netflix or renting movies from cable providers’ on-demand channels. Netflix charges as little as $8.99 a month to rent one DVD at a time (with no limit to the number of monthly rentals).

Time Warner Cable offers thousands of movies on demand for around $4.99 each. Verizon Fios cable service charges $5.99 a month to download unlimited movies.

Home telephone service

It will probably take a while, but home landlines could become as archaic as the rotary phone.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, more than one in five U.S. homes (22.7%) had cellphones – and no landlines – during the first half of 2009, up from 10.5% during the same period in 2006.

Ditching your home phone is easier now than it has been in the past, as cell phone companies compete for greater market share and alternatives to the home landline continue growing. For example, magicJack provides phone service when it’s plugged into a computer’s USB port and a home phone. It costs $39.95 and includes a one-year license for calls in the U.S. and Canada; after that, service costs $19.95 per year. (By contrast, Time Warner Cable’s digital home phone service costs $39.95 per month.)

And, consider Skype, which is free when you communicate with other Skype users; this software application uses the Internet as a platform to make calls, hold video conferences and send instant messages.

External hard drives

Consumers who keep their computers for years and upload thousands of songs, videos, movies and photos will need to get more space at some point.

External hard drives are one option, but an up-and-coming alternative might be simpler and save you another transition down the road. Online backup services, like Carbonite.com or Mozy.com, allow users to back up data over the Internet.

These services are more expensive than purchasing an external hard drive, which typically starts at around $70. At Carbonite.com, a one-year subscription starts at $54.95, and at Mozy.com monthly subscription costs total $54.45 for a year.

Smartphone also-rans

In the past few years, several smartphones hit the market with similar features to the iPhone and BlackBerry, but they haven’t generated the same buzz. As a result, fewer developers are likely to create applications and other products that cater to those phones.

Today, the BlackBerry dominates the smartphone market with 40% market share, followed by the iPhone with 25%, according to data released by ComScore in December. In the near term, both are expected to stay at the top. ComScore found that most consumers who’ll be shopping for smartphones in the next three months plan to purchase a Blackberry (51%) or an iPhone (20%).

By contrast, only 5% of respondents said they planned to purchase T-Mobile’s MyTouch. The Palm Pre and Palm Centro received 2% and 1% of the vote, respectively.

A possible upcoming competitor that could shake up the space is Google’s Android. According to ComScore, as of October, the Android’s market share had doubled to 3.5% in the past year.

Compact digital cameras

For nearly a decade, digital compact cameras were must-haves for most consumers.

But during the past several years, another type of digital camera has been slowly rising in popularity: the single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, from manufacturers including Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus. Although bulkier, these cameras produce pictures that more accurately represent what’s in their viewfinders than those that use older technology.

They’re also pricier. For example, Canon’s digital compact cameras start at $110, while the SLRs start at $570.

Newspaper subscriptions

The past few years have been unkind to the publishing industry.

In 2008, newspaper advertising revenues declined by 17.7%, according to the Newspaper Association of America. Meanwhile, average daily circulation at 379 newspapers fell 10.6% from April through September 2009, compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Magazines haven’t fared any better. In 2009, more than 360 magazines shut down. During the first half of 2009, ad pages fell 27.9% when compared to the same period in 2008, according to Publishers Information Bureau.

The morning newspaper has been replaced by a growing online media presence – much of which is accessible for free. The Amazon Kindle – even with its price tag of around $250 – and other eBook readers could increasingly become one-stop sources to access newspapers, magazines and books.

CDs

When was the last time you bought a CD or even walked into a record store?

The past decade was one of the worst for the industry. In the beginning, there was Napster. Then came iTunes, which was introduced in 2001 and offered affordable pricing and easy accessibility. Face it, CDs aren’t coming back.

Record stores are feeling the pinch. Most Virgin Megastores in the U.S. have shut down following declines in sales and revenues. In 2004, Tower Records entered bankruptcy and by 2006 most locations had closed.

New college textbooks

Unless a student absolutely needs brand-new textbooks, they can use several alternatives to save.

Shop for used textbooks, which can help you save 70% to 90% off the retail price, says Mike Gatti, the executive director at the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, a trade group. Check out web sites like CheapestTextbooks.com, Booksprice.com or Amazon.com. Many college bookstores also sell used texts.

Another option is downloading books online. Sites like Coursesmart.com sell subscriptions to digital copies of more than 7,000 textbooks. TextbookMedia.com allows students to download textbooks for free. You can also rent textbooks on Chegg.com.

Gas-guzzling cars

Skyrocketing gasoline prices dominated headlines during most of the decade, and they remain volatile.

The Energy Information Administration estimates that crude oil prices will average around $77 a barrel for the fourth quarter of 2009, up from $42.90 in the first quarter. The EIA also projects prices will rise in 2010 to their highest point in more than two years: $81.33 a barrel.

Recent announcements by car manufacturers to mass produce fuel-efficient cars could help push consumers away from gas-guzzling vehicles.

According to the Department of Energy, the most efficient cars include the Honda Civic Hybrid, which gets 40 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 45 mpg on the highway, the Volkswagen Jetta and Golf (both run on diesel), which each get 30 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway, and the Toyota Prius hybrid (51/48 mpg).

Energy-inefficient homes and appliances

Ten years ago, shopping for home upgrades involved looking at a product’s functionality and aesthetic. Now, there’s another component: energy efficiency.

Today, the products most touted by manufacturers and retailers are those that are Energy Star certified and those that meet new federal environmental standards – most of which have higher price tags than their counterparts but help to lower heating and cooling bills.

The government is offering a federal tax credit of up to $1,500 on energy-efficient home upgrades through Dec. 31, 2016. But many are set to expire by Dec. 31, 2010; these include eligible insulation, roofs and windows and doors.

The Tucker That Time Forgot

Thanks to Susie Bright...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/automobiles/collectibles/26tucker.html

Collecting
The Tucker That Time Forgot
Ian Mullarney for The New York Times

This story can have many different endings. Some of the plucky startups, like Ferrari and Honda, endure, and their cars become the stuff of legend. Many more — Bricklin and DeLorean, for example — drop out of sight before gaining a commercial foothold.

Among the failures is one of the most fascinating chapters of American automotive history, the story of Preston Tucker and his attempt to break into a market dominated by Detroit’s Big Three in the years after World War II.

Though the Tucker had long been out of the public eye, interest in the against-the-grain entrepreneur who built it was resurrected by a 1988 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” depicted Tucker’s enterprise crushed by the combined power of the federal government and the business interests aligned against him.

Now the famously controversial marque is about to get another turn in the spotlight, with the completion of a Tucker convertible in Wisconsin that some enthusiasts have said was a secret prototype for a planned new model.

While much of the Tucker saga is steeped in myth and intrigue, a great deal is known about the 1948 models Tucker actually produced: one hand-built prototype, known as the Tin Goose, and 35 of the sleek Tucker 48 sedans, best remembered for their distinctive third headlight in the center of the front end that was designed to swivel with the steering.

During the 1950s, 16 more of the cars were assembled from leftover parts. These later vehicles, built using factory designs and specifications, are widely accepted as the genuine article, barely less sought-after than any of the originals. All told, 46 of the Tucker four-door sedans are believed to remain.

Surviving Tuckers are worth amounts approaching, and in some cases, exceeding $1 million.

Over the years, there had been whispers here and there, a few mentions in books and articles, about a mysterious convertible that Tucker and his crew had started working on in the days before he was forced to shut down operations in 1949.

But that’s all they were, just tantalizing hints. Few people knowledgeable about Tucker’s history took the stories seriously.

The widespread doubt added to the surprise that Justin Cole, a classic car restorer in Madison, Wis., felt at a car show last September when a collector mentioned to him a pending deal involving a Tucker convertible.

In this complex swap, the collector, Allan Reinert of Burlington, Wis., was to transfer the convertible Tucker to another collector in return for cars and cash. A 1957 Corvette that Mr. Cole was trying to sell was part of the transaction. The man who wanted the Tucker would be sending Mr. Cole a check for the Corvette, which Mr. Cole would then deliver to Mr. Reinert as partial payment for the Tucker convertible.

“I had never heard of a convertible Tucker,” Mr. Cole said, “so I asked him to tell me more about it, and the more he went into the details, the more he caught my attention — things like the correct Franklin engine and Cord transmission, and a frame made of the thickest steel of any Tucker in existence.

“I wanted to believe what he was telling me, but it was very hard to believe. So I went out to Allen’s place and looked into his garage. I saw what I needed to see.”

Significantly, there were only two doors, not the four that all the other Tuckers had, and the doors were longer than those of Tucker sedans. Moreover, Mr. Cole said, the frame had been fabricated of much thicker steel than other frames, and it was reinforced with tubular steel welded inside the box assembly. Many of the parts were stamped with the number 57.

When a check for the Corvette still hadn’t arrived after several days, Mr. Reinert decided to sell the convertible to Mr. Cole instead of to his earlier customer. He said he had wanted $750,000 for the frame and two trailer loads of parts, but agreed to sell it for a total of $475,000, which included the value of the ’57 Corvette, a ’54 Corvette and a 2003 Ford Thunderbird. Mr. Cole estimated the combined values of those three cars at around $240,000.

Since then, Mr. Cole and his crew have put about 1,500 hours into restoration of the car, working with the parts that came from Mr. Reinert. A few sheet-metal panels at the rear of the body, including the decklid and a filler panel, had to be fabricated.

Mr. Cole said he anticipated finishing the car in August and showing the car on Sept. 13 at the Fairfield County Concours d’Élégance in Westport, Conn.

The closer his shop, Benchmark Classics, gets to completing the restoration, the louder the chorus of doubters becomes, with some of the most vocal objections being raised on the forum of the Tucker Automobile Club of America’s Web site, tuckerclub.org. Many participants in that forum say they believe that Preston Tucker never intended to produce a convertible and that Mr. Cole is engaging in an elaborate hoax.

Both Mr. Cole and Mr. Reinert say they are surprised at the vehemence of the objections. They say they have eye-witness accounts, some in the form of affidavits that have been posted on a Web site created for the convertible project at tuckerconvertible.com, from people who had seen the drawings, reinforced frame, factory number stampings — and the car being prepared as a convertible — long before Mr. Reinert acquired it.

One such person, John Walczak, a 60-year-old retired banker from Woodstock, Ill., said he had seen the uncompleted car as a convertible in a Milwaukee machine shop in 1971 or 1972. Also, he said, he saw full-scale engineering drawings — bearing the stamp of the Tucker Corporation — of the car as a convertible.

Jerry Renner, now the owner of a motorcycle shop in Arbor Vitae, Wis., said that Mr. Reinert had brought the frame and body parts for restoration help in the late 1980s. Mr. Renner added that while the project was in his shop, he had been visited by two former Tucker employees who recognized it as an experimental convertible begun in the Tucker factory months before it closed.

Mr. Cole said that his car was no different in authenticity from any of the 16 Tuckers built from leftover parts after the factory closed, and that it should be seen as the legitimately final chapter in the strange story of Preston Tucker’s attempt to create a competing automobile brand in the United States.

“In a way, I am a little like Preston Tucker himself,” Mr. Cole said. “It seems like everyone is against me, but I will not back down. I will finish this project.”

An earlier version of this article misstated the condition of the Tucker's frame when Justin Cole bought it. The frame had been restored and was not rusted.

A version of this article appeared in print on July 26, 2009, on page AU1 of the New York edition.

Honda unveils helmet that lets wearer control robot

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/mar/31/mind-control-helmet-honda-asimo

Honda unveils helmet that lets wearer control a robot by thought alone
A human wearing the Honda helmet managed to control the robot Asimo without moving a muscle
Ian Sample, science correspondent guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 31 March 2009

An elaborate electronic helmet that allows the wearer to control a robot by thought alone has been unveiled by researchers in Japan.

Scientists at the Honda Research Institute demonstrated the invention today by using it to move the arms and legs of an Asimo humanoid robot.

To control the robot, the person wearing the helmet only had to think about making the movement. Its inventors hope that one day the mind-control technology will allow people to do things like turn air conditioning on or off and open their car boot without putting their shopping down.

The helmet is the first "brain-machine interface" to combine two different techniques for picking up activity in the brain. Sensors in the helmet detect electrical signals through the scalp in the same way as a standard EEG (electroencephalogram). The scientists combined this with another technique called near-infrared spectroscopy, which can be used to monitor changes in blood flow in the brain.

Brain activity picked up by the helmet is sent to a computer, which uses software to work out which movement the person is thinking about. It then sends a signal to the robot commanding it to perform the move. Typically, it takes a few seconds for the thought to be turned into a robotic action.

Honda said the technology was not ready for general use because of potential distractions in the person's thinking. Another problem is that brain patterns differ greatly between individuals, and so for the technology to work brain activity must first be analysed for up to three hours.

The project will also benefit from miniaturisation to make the helmet wearable on the move. At the moment it comes attached to computer equipment the size of a domestic refrigerator.

The demonstration is the latest by the diminutive robot Asimo, which stands slightly higher than four feet (130cm) tall. The multimillion-pound machine has already been taught to walk, talk and fetch drinks. It notched up a world first last year when it conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. One double bass player likened the experience to being conducted by a metronome.

Asimo, which stands for Advanced Step In Innovative Mobility, is one of a very few robots that can walk reliably on two legs. It is fitted with twin cameras in its head and is powered by 34 individual motors. Honda hopes that by 2020 the robot will be cheap enough, and capable enough, to help pensioners and nurses with simple tasks.

Beast of the Month - January 2009

Beast of the Month - January 2009
Rick Wagoner
CEO, General Motors

"I yam an anti-Christ..."
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of The Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"

For Americans living outside of Detroit worried about the USA falling into a major depression, be thankful at least you aren't a resident of the Motor City: it's already one there. It's bad enough for the city's rep that LA and New York hip-hop passed Motown as ground zero for African-American music. Michigan's great metropolis is now the poorest city in the nation. Unemployment has hit 21 percent and is still rising, while the average price of a home is down to $18,513. Indeed, the economic downturn is so bad, the notoriously violent city is no longer the nation's most dangerous, having been passed by New Orleans and Camden, New Jersey in 2008 thanks to the lack of worthwhile targets for crime. And to top it all off, the Lions went 0-16.

We bring this all up because naming the city's most powerful korporate executive, General Motors CEO and Chairman Rick Wagoner, The Konformist Beast of the Month seems almost like an excessive piling on overkill. After all, yes, Wagoner and his cohorts at Ford and Chrysler, Alan Mulally and Bob Nardelli, may have come off as clueless and arrogant after coming to Congress asking first for $25 billion and then $34 billion. (You gotta admire their balls, though: usually when you flub your first request for a loan, you ask for less the second time, not $9 billion more.) And yes, maybe it does seem appalling after the Wall Street bailout swindle to have another well-connected industry coming to DC begging for a handout while the working class hasn't received a dime in help from the financial crisis. And yes, for all their whining and moaning about needing help, none of the auto execs could give a convincing mea culpa and admit they have no one to blame for their crisis besides themselves.

(And yes, maybe it would have been at least symbolically wiser for the auto executives to have driven to Washington in good old fashion cars made by their companies rather than fly their in private company jets.)

But, on the other hand, the auto industry is a labor-intensive business that does actual manufacturing, unlike the parasitic, leeching deadweight at the core of Wall Street banks. That means if GM, Ford and Chrysler go down, estimates ranging from 3 to 5 million jobs will disappear with them, good quality jobs at that. And that's before any likely domino effect causes even more jobs to vanish. And while the vast majority of Americans are rightfully disgusted at the idea of another bailout after the Wall Street con, even $34 billion for up to 5 million jobs centered in the manufacturing sector is pretty damn cost-effective, and certainly not comparable to the $700 billion bankster black hole. Maybe Wagoner, Mulally and Nardelli are a bunch of incompetents creeps, but American auto workers shouldn't be left holding the bag for their screw-ups.

This is why The Konformist is awarding the prestigious BOTM prize to Wagoner after all. If workers shouldn't receive the punishment for the failures of Wagoner and his pals, neither should he receive a free pass for the plight of the people of Detroit.

And unfortunately, the auto worker ARE receiving the punishment for the auto executive failures, just as they have over the last 30 years. The framing of the debate was staged when right-wing propagandists repeatedly claimed the average worker gets paid $70-80 in wages and benefits. In fact, the average wage is $28: the grossly inflated figure is based on adding payments to retirees to current benefits and dividing the total by the current work force. But the damage has been done: the blame for the automobile industry crisis was laid at least partially on the feet of overpaid union auto workers, and the remedy was massive cuts in pay and benefits along with layoffs. These talking point barely challenged by the so-called Democratic Party. As Michael Moore rightfully put it with his usual share of deserved outrage: "After giving BILLIONS to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers -- billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever -- the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America."

Okay, so the auto workers are the predictable scapegoat here, but what is the real cause of the auto market crisis? In some ways, it's just a symptom of the bad economy. After all, Toyota announced in December that it would have an operating loss in 2008, the first time it has failed to make a profit since 1938. Meanwhile, Toyota, Honda and Nissan all had drops in sales last year, all averaging over an astounding 30 percent drop in US sales during December alone.

The problem with this explanation is that while the Japanese car companies are indeed slumping, they still are doing way better relative to Detroit. While the Japanese fell from 8 to 15 percent in US sales in 2008, Ford went down 20%, GM 23%, and Chrysler 30%. All told, the Big Three's US market share fell below 50 percent last year. As far as Toyota goes, it finally overtook GM as the world's largest automaker, and solidified its lead over Ford as number two in the US market. Honda nearly overtook Chrysler as number four in the US market as well, a ranking it should decidedly own in 2009. Meanwhile, GM saw its shares fall to their lowest level since 1950, and warned it could run out of cash the first half of 2009 without help. The Detroit auto companies have become so desperate, there have been talks of merging all three into one company, or possibly all three being taken over by Chinese auto firms (something which would have major national security implications.)

So if isn't evil unions or the economy, stupid, what is the real problem with the US auto companies? The Konformist diagnosis isn't an original one, and one we (and others) have been repeating for quite awhile: the Big Three are victims of their own lack of creative thinking. Since the nineties, the US auto companies have had their focus almost solely on the SUV fad as their meal ticket. It wasn't a bad idea: over half their profits have come from light trucks and SUVs, thanks to the vehicle's wider profit margins. "But now," as The Konformist warned five years ago when we gave the BOTM prize to the Hummer, "the US auto industry seems to be falling back in a lazy, self-satisfied pattern. By hiding behind the short-term lack in economy of scales in hybrid technology to justify the non-creation of economy of scales, the Big Three may have made one of the worst decisions in business history. Meantime, GM keeps pumping out those Hummers, which in the short term is indeed profitable. But somehow we suspect that the Hummer will soon resemble another Titanic, as a symbol of the great economic disaster that may soon fall the entire American auto industry if they don't rise to the challenge of the Prius and Insight."

You would think, at this point, we would get some sort of smug satisfaction out of being once again vindicated by history. But frankly, The Konformist doesn't really enjoy having to say "I told you so" repeatedly like we're Jose Canseco discussing steroids, especially in this case where the victims are hard-working American union members. Unfortunately, the numbers pretty much confirm our prediction: SUV sales peaked in 1999, back when the price of oil was $16 a barrel. With the cost of oil passing $140 last summer (and over $4 a gallon at the gas pump) after the 2000-2008 oil price spike, even the most vain of yuppies and soccer moms had enough of the gas-guzzling behemoths. Here are some of the most noted drops in 2008 US sales: at Ford, the SUVs Explorer and Expedition fell 43% and 39%; at Chrysler, the Jeep Grand Cherokee 39% and the Dodge Dakota pickup 48%; and, perhaps most telling, GM's Hummer brand sank at 51%. Even with the recent stunning drop in oil prices, US consumers are decidedly too gun-shy to drink the SUV Kool-Aid anymore.

"How will the economics of hybrids ever match that of the internal combustion engine? We can't afford to subsidize them." This was Wagoner in a 2002 quote from Business Week, a quote that symbolized the view of Detroit executives. The Japanese took another viewpoint, and the results are now in. Put it all together, and there's a reason why Japan is replacing Detroit as the center of the automobile universe. In retrospect, Motown's double down on SUVs is a "IBM letting Microsoft own MS-DOS" kind of business blunder, rivaling as this decade's worst biz decision the AOL-Time Warner merger, Vince McMahon's XFL and Wall Street's plunge into subprime mortgage loans.

Of course, even as Detroit abandon's the SUV craze faster than you could say "Disco sucks!" in 1979, they still have an extremely difficult road ahead. Simply put, US autos are deemed decidedly inferior in quality and reliability compared to those made in Japan by consumers. The difference is highlighted by the view of Japan making more hi-tech, fuel-efficient cars. This is what happens when Japan markets the Prius and other hybrids as the symbol of their creativity. Had GM not squashed the electric EV1 (covered meticulously in the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?) they would have something besides the Hummer to showcase as their vision.

The punch line is Detroit is actually making some excellent cars. GM hit a home run with the 2008 Chevy Malibu (named the North American Car of the Year) and the Corvette is still dollar for dollar the best sports car on the planet. The ultra-economical Ford Focus gets 35 MPG. Even the most clueless of US auto companies, Chrysler, has in the PT Cruiser wheels with a cult following usually associated with Apple Computers and The Big Lebowski. (Not to let a good thing be used wisely, Chrysler has decided to kill the Cruiser off.) But these exceptions almost seem to prove the rule, and are deemed too little too late by most American car buyers.

What could change Detroit's image quickly? As usual, Konformist ally Michael Moore presented a pretty good plan last month: making any government bailout of Motown conditional on them producing hybrid and electric cars, as well as mass transit such as trains, buses, subways and light rail. The kind of moves that also would help cure America from its oil addiction while creating millions of blue-collar construction jobs. It's also the kind of move that would be a great change of pace for the Big Three, who long have battled increasing MPG standards and any new environmental laws. (Earlier this year, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz dismissed global warming as a “total crock of shit" while speaking to reporters.)

Naturally, the establishment ignored Moore's idea, and instead embraced a different modest proposal: massive layoffs and wage cuts for auto workers, of course. There should be no surprise in this prescription, as it has been the game plan since the 1970s. And no surprise Cerebus, the geniuses who took over Chrysler in 2007, would embrace such a plan, as they already slashed jobs by 24K their first year. (The private equity firm has long been a champion of the "strip and flip" profit strategy: handing out pink slips to "right-size" a korporation for a turnaround sale.) And there should be little surprise GM plans to dump 31,500 jobs (nearly a third of its workforce) and Ford has already eliminated 57,000 North American jobs over the last three years. (GM laid off over 3000 workers on December 23 alone. Merry Christmas.) And little surprise that already UAW contracts cut new worker wages to $14 an hour, or half of what they currently make. (As Business Week remarked, "for the first time since World War I we will have people building automobiles in America who won't be able to afford the vehicles they build.") And none should be surprised that opposition to bailing out Detroit in Congress came not from Democrats protesting the attack on American workers, but Republicans (such as the rabidly anti-union Bob Corker) who felt that workers weren't getting the shaft enough.

How will this all end up? Well, Detroit got its money, but with the expectation they screw the autoworkers yet again. Perversely, the huge number of job cuts, combined with the same fixed cost of retirement benefits to former workers, will only increase the "wage and benefits" costs per labor hour, thus giving right-wing propagandist even more bogus ammo to justify future cuts in jobs in wages. It seems the downward spiral will only continue, unless the working class finally responds in a mass rebellion. Of course, considering the economic crisis Team USA is currently in, anything is possible...

In any case, we salute Rick Wagoner as Beast of the Month. Congratulations, and keep up the great work, Ricky!!!

Sources:

Special thanks to the World Socialist Web Site ( WSWS.org ) for help in this article as a research resource.


Boehlert, Eric. "The Media Myth: Detroit's $70-an-hour Autoworker." Media Matters 25 November 2008 <http://mediamatters.org/columns/200811250012>.

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"Depression Hits Detroit." Prison Planet 23 December 2008 <http://www.prisonplanet.com/depression-hits-detroit-average-home-price-18513-unemployment-rate-21.html>.

"GM Shares Fall to Lowest Level Since 1950." Yahoo Finance 9 October 2008 <http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/081009/business_us_gm_shares.html>.

"GM Warns It Could Run Out Of Cash By 1st Half '09." CNNMoney.com 7 November 2008 <http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200811071240DOWJONESDJONLINE000633_FORTUNE5.htm>.

Goodman, David N. "Motor City Named Nation's Most Dangerous." Yahoo News 19 November 2007 <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071119/ap_on_re_us/dangerous_cities>.

Hamsher, Jane. "Chinese Want To Buy the Big 3 Automakers." Huffington Post 20 November 2008 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/chinese-want-to-buy-the-b_b_144920.html>.

Krebs, Michelle and Visnic, Bill. "2008 U.S. Auto Sales Are Worst Since 1992." Auto Observer 5 January 2009 <http://www.autoobserver.com/2009/01/2008-us-auto-sales-are-worst-since-1992.html>.

Krolicki, Kevin. "GM Exec Stands by Calling Global Warming a 'Total Crock of Shit.'" Common Dreams 23 February 2008 <http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/23/7251/>.

Moore, Michael. "Senate to Middle Class: Drop Dead." MichaelMoore.com 12 December 2008 <http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=243>.

Moore, Michael. "Saving the Big 3 for You and Me..." MichaelMoore.com 3 December 2008 <http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=242>.

Neiwert, David. "Republicans to Detroit: Drop Dead." Crooks and Liars 20 November 2008 <http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/republicans-detroit-drop-dead>.

Ohnsman, Alan and Ramsey, Mike. "Honda Passes Chrysler as Asia Brands Widen U.S. Share." Bloomberg 4 September 2008 <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=agUdhAPT2KEY>.

Parks, James. "If Auto Industry Goes Bankrupt, Millions of U.S. Jobs Will Be Lost." AFL-CIO 4 December 2008 <http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/12/04/if-auto-industry-goes-bankrupt-millions-of-us-jobs-will-be-lost/>.

"Rainbow PUSH Mobilizes to Save 4 Million Jobs." Rainbow PUSH Coalition 16 December 2008 <http://www.rainbowpush.org/FMPro?-db=rpodata.fp5&-format=rainbowpush%2Fdata06%2Fdetailpress.htm&-lay=main&-sortfield=date&-sortorder=descend&category=press&year=2008&-max=20&-recid=34007&-find>.

"Reports: Chrysler, GM Discuss Merger, Acquisition." Associated Press 11 October 2008 <http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ha9rjtSaQvjt-5p8ej6DXKECN4AQD93O40F00>.

Riechmann, Deb. "Bush Orders Emergency Bailout of the Auto Industry." Yahoo News 20 December 2008 <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081220/ap_on_go_pr_wh/meltdown_autos>.

Roberts, Paul Craig. "The Crisis Has Hardly Begun." Online Journal 18 November 2008 <http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4021.shtml>.

Salmon, Felix. "Chrysler Follows the Strip-and-Flip Playbook." Portfolio.com 1 November 2007 <http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2007/11/01/chrysler-follows-the-strip-and-flip-playbook?addComment=true>.

Sorkin, Andrew Ross. "Chrysler and the Fallibility of Private Equity." New York Times 1 November 2007 <http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/chrysler-and-the-fallibility-of-private-equity/>.

Vlasic, Bill and Fackler, Martin. "Car Slump Jolts Toyota, Halting 70 Years of Gain." New York Times 23 December 2008.

2010 Honda Insight hybrid is mostly agreeable

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2009-01-15-2010-honda-insight_N.htm

2010 Honda Insight hybrid is mostly agreeable
By James R. Healey, USA TODAY
1-15-9

CAREFREE, Ariz. — Honda's 2010 Insight gasoline-electric hybrid isn't the substantial, comfortable car that its Civic hybrid is, nor does it deliver the 50 miles per gallon promised by Toyota for its update of chief rival Prius.

But if Honda prices it low enough, Insight finally could make full-fledged hybrid technology available to car buyers with tighter budgets.

Insight goes on sale April 22 — Earth Day, in case you need a reminder of why to save fuel.

Generally, the Insight preproduction test cars driven here proved to be nice machines — mostly agreeable and easily capable of hitting the mileage ratings — with a few annoyances.

Honda officials here pitched Insight as a clever, handy, affordable small car that just happens to use hybrid technology for good fuel economy. It's a complete gas-electric hybrid system, not a so-called mild hybrid, but scaled down from the similar setup in the Civic hybrid (Test Drive, Jan. 9), so it doesn't perform as well.

Expect Insight to be rated 40 mpg city, 43 highway, 41 combined. Civic hybrid's rated 40/45/42.

It's hard to call 40 mpg disappointing, but in this case it is. The smaller, lighter Insight, using a smaller-displacement gasoline engine, seems to be an underachiever. Honda says that's partly because Insight's tuned for a little more punch, to make driving more fun, at the expense of fuel economy.

Honda's given no clue about pricing, so it's hard to say if Insight's a good value. Civic hybrid and the 2009 Prius both start at about $23,000. The less-lavish and smaller Insight should be considerably lower if logic is part of the pricing formula.

Toyota hasn't disclosed the price for the redone 2010 Prius — to go on sale in about six months — partly because it first wants to see what price tag Honda puts on Insight.

Here are Insight's salients, based on a day driving the two versions of Insight that Honda expects most people to buy, along with a 2009 Prius and 2009 Civic hybrid. The Insight is:

•Sporty, firm. Insight is more agile than the 2009 Prius; less so than the Civic hybrid. The 2010 Prius is an unknown quantity.

•Small and feels like it. Back-seat users have to duck and twist to avoid head-whacking when they get in or out. Headroom in back is limited. Expect your head to rub the ceiling if you're close to 6 feet tall, or are average height and wear a hat.

•Not especially comfortable on the rump and back. Despite what Honda said was considerable effort to make Goldilocks seats (juuust right), front seats lack lumbar adjustments.

•Pretty smooth. If the preproduction test cars were representative, drivers will feel fewer subtle but annoying shimmies and jerks that are an unfortunate signature of most hybrid drivetrains.

•Driver-friendly. The "econ" button, which changes the drivetrain programming to trade a little better fuel economy for less-lively performance, stays off if you turn it off. It doesn't reset, nanny-like, to the econ mode when you next start the car.

"Attaboy" driver feedback is plentiful but delivered subtly. If you consistently drive smoothly enough for best mileage, the instrument panel starts awarding you figures of leaves, growing into a wreath if you're really light-footed. It takes into account whether you're driving in mountains, on the plains or in between, so Insight drivers in flat states don't necessarily get the eco eye candy sooner.

Lighting in the digital speedometer glows green when you're driving most efficiently, blue when you're driving hard, blue-green in between.

For those not good at taking hints, a moving bar in a modest-size gauge directly shows if you're using up the battery's charge or replenishing it.

•Feels like a hybrid. The continuously variable automatic transmission has the unpleasant slipping-clutch sound and feel found in most hybrids. Hit the throttle, and the CVT lets the engine rev fast and stay there while the car accelerates at a pace out of sync with the roaring engine. Eventually, the car's going fast enough that the engine slows and everything's peaceful. Until you need immediate power again.

If the complaints seem insignificant on your auto barometer, then all you need is for Honda to set a price. Too close to Prius or Civic hybrid and Insight's a bad buy. If it's down in true economy-car territory, the car's appeal grows considerably.

About the 2010 Honda Insight

•What? New compact, four-door, front-drive hatchback model sold only as gasoline-electric hybrid.

•When? On sale April 22 (Earth Day).

•Where? Made in Japan.

•Why? Honda needed a Toyota Prius fighter, a hybrid-only model, unique and recognizable as such.

•How? Scale down the Civic hybrid's drive system.

•How much? Honda won't say until closer to sale date, but promises it'll be priced as an economy car.

•How potent? Not very. Four-cylinder, 1.3-liter gas engine rated 98 horsepower at 5,800 rpm, 123 pounds-feet of torque at 1,000 rpm. Electric motor: 10 hp, 53 lbs.-ft. Continuously variable automatic transmission.

•How lavish? Base LX is surprisingly deficient: no stability control, center storage or map lights. Honda expects 65% of buyers to take the fancier EX. Navigation, Bluetooth optional on EX.

•How big? Compact, smaller than Prius, between Honda Fit and Civic. 172.3 inches long, 66.7 inches wide, 56.2 inches tall on a 100.4-inch wheelbase, 2,723-2,734 lbs.

Passenger space: 85 cubic feet; cargo, 15.9 cubic feet behind rear seat, 31.9 cubic feet when seat's down.

•How thirsty? Honda expects federal ratings of 40 miles per gallon in town, 43 highway, 41 combined. Preproduction EX tester got 48.8 mpg on Honda-selected route including hills, curves, highways and suburbs, but no stop-and-go.

Regular (87-octane) gas specified.

•Overall: Not refined enough if priced near Civic hybrid or Prius. Worth a hard look if priced as economy car.

Kool Japanese Koncept Kars

http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/paris_auto_show_2008/688/2009-Toyota-iQ

2009 Toyota iQ
The Toyota iQ brings city cars to a whole new level.
By Mike Monticello

The Toyota iQ will radically change the way people look at city cars, or so says Toyota. Measuring less than 3 meters (that's less than 118 in. to we Americans), the Japanese giant is calling the iQ "the world's smallest premium 4-seater ever built." Truth be told, the iQ is not really a 4-seater, as the car is more suited to carrying three adults and a child, although there's no denying the car's innovative interior packaging considering its diminutive size.

The iQ promises to bring a whole new dimension of excitement to the city-car class, capable of exceeding speeds of 105 mph. Among the latest in active and passive safety features, is the world's first rear window curtain shield airbags.

Toyota says "a major milestone" in the company's continuous efforts to develop technologies that reduce emissions to much lower levels." There are currently no plans to bring the iQ to the U.S.

http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/la_auto_show_2008/743/Honda-FC-Sport-Concept

Honda FC Sport Concept
A look at what a future fuel cell-powered three-seat sports car may look like.
By Matt DeLorenzo

Designed to show that high performance and green concerns can go hand-in-hand, the Honda FC Sport Concept is a look at what a future fuel cell-powered 3-seat sports car would look like.

The FC Sport incorporates the same V Flow fuel-cell technology that Honda has developed for the limited-production FCX Clarity sedan. This new concept has a lightweight cab-forward body housing the fuel-cell propulsion system located between the rear two seats. The battery pack and electric motor — mounted low in the chassis ahead of the rear axle — give the car a low center of gravity and help ensure an ideal fore/aft weight distribution.

While the drivetrain is mounted low in the vehicle, the vehicle's hydrogen tanks are visible through the rear deck glass as a way to showcase the car's fuel-cell pedigree.

The driver sits in a racecar-like center position with the passengers flanking the driver to the rear. The car's sleek body sweeps rearward and tapers into a geometric hex form, which houses the fuel cell's coolers. At the front, Formula 1-style barge boards enhance high speed stability and provide a visual link to Honda's Grand Prix efforts.

Cabin ingress and egress is afforded through the rear-hinged canopy, which swings upward. In addition to maximizing the potential of the fuel-cell drivetrain, the FC Sport Concept is designed to employ green construction techniques that reduce its overall carbon footprint. For instance, the car's composite exterior panels are intended to use plant-derived bio-plastics.

Honda has no performance data for this concept, which is purely a design exercise at this point.

http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/paris_auto_show_2008/678/Nissan-Nuvu-Concept

Nissan Nuvu Concept
The Nissan Nuvu gives a 'new view' for city cars.print send e-mail this page
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By Mike Monticello

Nissan's Nuvu concept (think "New View") is Nissan's vision for the type of car we'll be driving in cities by the middle of next decade. Although it is an electric car, Nissan says the Nuvu is not the electric car the company recently announced it will sell in the U.S. and Japan in 2010. The Nuvu does carry some technology destined for the production vehicle.

As befitting a proper city car, the Nuvu is small: about a foot longer than a Smart Fortwo. A unique 2+1 seating arrangement allows for a third passenger when needed, or the seat can be folded down. Unlike many city cars, the Nuvu has enough luggage capacity for a proper supermarket run.

Of note, the Nuvu's roof has 12 small leaf-shaped solar panels, which charge the battery via a "tree-trunk" within the car. And to further emphasize the Nuvu's "green-ness," the cabin makes use of natural, organic and recycled materials.

"Nuvu is a concept car, for sure, but it is an entirely credible vehicle," says Francois Bancon, the general manager of Nissan's Exploratory and Advanced Planning Department.

Chinese Want To Buy the Big 3 Automakers

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/chinese-want-to-buy-the-b_b_144920.html

Chinese Want To Buy the Big 3 Automakers
Jane Hamsher
Huffington Post
Thursday, Nov 20, 2008

It appears that the Chinese car makers SAIC and Dongfeng have plans to acquire the Big 3:

A take-over of a large overseas auto maker would fit perfectly into China’s plans. As reported before, China has realized that its export chances are slim without unfettered access to foreign technology. The brand cachet of Chinese cars abroad is, shall we say, challenged. The Chinese could easily export Made-in-China VWs, Toyotas, Buicks. If their joint venture partner would let them. The solution: Buy the joint venture partner. Especially, when he’s in deep trouble.

At current market valuations (GM is worth less than Mattel) the Chinese government can afford to buy GM with petty cash. Even a hundred billion $ would barely dent China’s more than $2t in currency reserves. For nobody in the world would buying GM and (while they are at it) Chrysler make more sense than for the Chinese. Overlap? What overlap? They would gain instant access to the world’s markets with accepted brands, and proven technology.

All the Shock Doctrine fanatics cheering to drive the the Big 3 into bankruptcy “restructuring” (like Mitt Romney, who can kiss future hopes of electoral victory in Michigan goodbye) might want to think about the implications of this.

Of course the same legislators clamouring for bankruptcy could block the sale. (This assumes they have the fortitude to stare down the Chinese, who currently hold a whopping portion of US debt, and deny them something they really want). But in doing so, and at the same time refusing a bridge loan to the automakers, they are basically legislating the destruction of the Big 3. They will be forcing them to stiff all their creditors and stockholders and tear up their union contracts by refusing to let the “free market” they love to bang on about step in and assume the company’s legitimate debts. Or were all those insufferable lectures about “personal responsibility” when the bankruptcy bill was going through just so much claptrap?

Because selling the company would be far preferable to the Big 3 and those who are dependent on them than Chapter 7. But long-term it would not be without peril for the US. As one FDL commener noted:

With no big three making cars what to stop Toyota and Honda from moving the plants to Mexico where costs are really low. Its only the threat of being shut out of the American market that keeps the Japanese building cars here. If we no longer have cars made in America by American companies we will have no choice but to buy their cars no matter where they are made.
I know long-term thinking isn’t his forte. But as Richard Shelby is salivating at the prospect of yet another BMW SUV plant in his right-to-work state, it might be something for him to consider.

Honda Passes Chrysler

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=agUdhAPT2KEY

Honda Passes Chrysler as Asia Brands Widen U.S. Share
By Alan Ohnsman and Mike Ramsey

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. passed Chrysler LLC in August to grab fourth place in U.S. sales this year as cars won market share from trucks amid an industrywide slump.

Asia-based brands led by Nissan Motor Co.'s 14 percent gain raised their share of August U.S. sales to 47.3 percent, beating General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler for a fourth month, research firm Autodata Corp. said yesterday. While Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda fell, they dropped less than the U.S trio.

Tokyo-based Honda may keep the No. 4 spot as a sluggish economy and fuel prices crimp demand for the light trucks that make up more than half of Chrysler's volume. Honda's 2008 U.S. sales are up 1.7 percent, while Chrysler's are down 24 percent.

``Honda and Nissan will likely be the only big automakers that post positive numbers in the U.S. for the calendar year,'' said Jesse Toprak, director of industry analysis for automotive research firm Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California. ``In this kind of economy, with double-digit sales declines for the industry, any kind of gain is a good one.''

U.S. auto sales slid for a 10th straight month, pushing the industry toward its lowest annual total since the early 1990s. The 15 percent tumble included a 22 percent drop for light trucks, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata.

Japanese, Korean Brands

Japanese and South Korean automakers, which are more focused on cars, slid only 5.1 percent from a year earlier as they sold a combined 591,260 vehicles last month. Their U.S. market share was 42.2 percent in August 2007.

Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker, sold 1.083 million autos in the U.S. through August, compared with 1.076 million for Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler. Honda has increased annual U.S. sales every year since 1994, the longest streak of any of the big automakers.

Chrysler held a 352,704-unit lead in August 2007, when it was acquired by Cerberus Capital Management LP. Toyota took the No. 3 spot from Chrysler in 2006, then passed Ford last year. Detroit-based GM leads in U.S. sales.

Nissan's 14-percent sales gain was its fifth advance this year and the only one among the six biggest automakers in the U.S. in August. Its increase was led by the revamped Maxima sedan and new Rogue crossover, general manager of Nissan brand sales Al Castignetti said in a telephone interview yesterday.

``There's no change in the move to smaller, more fuel- efficient models,'' he said.

Nissan's increase boosted its market share to 8.7 percent last month, a 2.2-point improvement, according to Autodata. Nissan is sixth in the U.S. by sales volume.

Gasoline Prices

U.S. gasoline prices declined from the $4.11-a-gallon record set July 15, leading some analysts to predict consumers would consider big trucks again. The average price at U.S. pumps in August was $3.76, according to motorist group AAA.

``We did see some increased traffic levels at dealerships for some trucks due to the easing of gas prices,'' Castignetti said.

Toyota sold 211,533 vehicles, down 9.4 percent. Declines for the Toyota City, Japan-based company were led by Avalon large sedans, RAV4 compact sport-utility vehicles and larger FJ Cruiser and 4Runner SUVs.

Prius, Corollas

Limited inventory of models including Prius hybrids and Corolla small cars damped August results, as did the replacement of the RAV4 with a 2009 version, Irv Miller, group vice president of Toyota's U.S. sales unit, said in a conference call.

Still, Toyota's market share improved to 16.9 percent, up from 15.8 percent, and it outsold Ford by a record 55,843 vehicles.

Honda sold 146,855 Honda and Acura brand vehicles, down 7.3 percent. The slide reflected a shortage of Fit subcompacts as the company switched over to a revamped model, spokesman Chris Martin said in an interview. Honda's market share was 11.8 percent, up from 10.7 percent.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker and No. 7 in the U.S., sold 41,130 vehicles, down 8.8 percent. Lower sales of Santa Fe and Tucson SUVs paced the slide as the Seoul- based company finished its first month of sales for the Genesis luxury sedan, selling 1,177 of the cars.

Toyota rose 90 yen, or 1.9 percent, to 4,940 at 9:33 a.m. in Tokyo Stock Exchange trading. Honda rose 4.3 percent to 3,680 yen in Tokyo and Nissan rose 1.3 percent to 848 yen. Hyundai Motor fell 0.7 percent to 70,600 won in trading in Seoul.

Kia Motors Corp., a Hyundai affiliate, reported sales of 25,065 vehicles, down 6.7 percent. Mazda Motor Corp., a third owned by Ford, sold 23,600 autos, 4.4 percent fewer than a year ago.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru, a Toyota affiliate, matched Nissan by raising its sales 14 percent to 18,932 on a jump in sales for its new Forester SUV and Impreza cars and wagons.

Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp. reported a 29 percent sales decline to 9,200 units, and Suzuki Motor Corp. sold 6,083 vehicles, down 32 percent.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net; Mike Ramsey in Southfield, Michigan, at mramsey6@bloomberg.net

Funky Cars You Love to Hate

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/629/funky-cars-you-love-to-hate/

Funky Cars You Love to Hate
By Lauren DeAngelis, U.S. News

You won't hate these cars because they're beautiful. Ugly ducklings like the discontinued Pontiac Azteck and Subaru Baja have given way to sleek shapes such as the Infiniti G37 and Cadillac CTS. But there are still a few duckies on lots waiting for their turn to become swans. Check out our picks for the oddest, wackiest and weirdest-looking autos in production today. And make sure to look closely, because behind those strange exteriors are often some of the most useful cargo areas and spacious cabins in the business. For some cars, beauty really is on the inside.

Chrysler's PT Cruiser has developed a cult following for its one-of-a-kind retro design. With looks reminiscent of 1930s and 40s hotrods, the wagon attracts praise despite its cartoonish feel. Motor Trend says it's the "hottest looking retro rod anyone can afford. No matter where you go, people stare at the PT like it's a Ferrari." It may look quirky to some, but the PT's exterior isn't just about looks. The tall roof provides tons of headroom for passengers and the wagon's cargo capacity rivals that of a minivan.

Chrysler may have thought they had the market cornered with the PT Cruiser, but since Chevrolet introduced the HHR in 2005 the retro-inspired crossover has given the PT a run for its money. Short for "Heritage High Roof," the HHR is inspired by the 1949 Suburban and looks part old delivery truck, part hearse. U.S. News reviewer Rick Newman describes it as "sorta cute, sorta homely, with a bit of gangster chic thrown in." The HHR's old-school exterior conceals a versatile interior -- virtually every seat folds flat and the cargo bay is especially deep.

Petite Doesn't Mean Pretty

The tiny Smart Fortwo definitely made a splash when it arrived on U.S. shores earlier this year -- but not just because of its diminutive size. The little car's unique, almost-disproportionate styling is one of its most distinctive traits. About.com aptly sums up, "It's still hard to look at it and think of it as a car. I'd look at all the vehicles parked on my street and think 'Car, car, car, Smart, car, car.'" And speaking of parking, the Fortwo's short, clownish shape translates into park-anywhere capabilities.

In a class full of sporty, streamlined sedans, another small car, the Volkswagen GTI, sticks out like a sore thumb. Its hatchback design means it's taller and quirkier than its other upscale rivals. MSN notes that the GTI "has an especially ungainly appearance, with an overly aggressive-looking front end and chunky shape." However, the GTI isn't funny-looking for nothing. The hatchback configuration provides much more cargo space than its top competitors from Audi and Acura, giving it a rare shot of practicality for its class.

The Cubism Movement

When it hit dealerships in 2003, the Scion xB made quite a style statement -- and not necessarily in a good way. Its boxy, toaster-like appearance went against the emerging trend of increasingly sleek, rounded vehicles. But while some people hated the statement, others embraced the ugly yet functional look. Why? Because the cabin is downright cavernous. MSN calls headroom "astounding," while Cars.com says "there's more room in the xB's backseat than in some midsize cars."

If the Scion xB is boxy, the Honda Element (introduced the year before the Scion) takes cubism to a whole new level. Its utilitarian shape and reverse-hinged rear doors set it apart from your typical SUV. While the xB is often compared to a toaster, Car and Driver bills the Element as a "rolling breadbox." If that's the case, the Element can hold a heck of a lot of bread. Those unusual rear doors make loading cargo easy with an opening that's larger than most minivans. And the Element's height allows plenty of room for even the tallest passengers.

Teenage Mutant Ninja...Trucks?

With large cabins and small truck beds, Sport Utility Trucks (SUTs) look strange no matter what. The Honda Ridgeline boasts one of the most controversial exteriors of all. "The Ridgeline reminds me of the old Rodney Dangerfield joke about how he was so ugly as a kid his parents had to tie a pork chop bone around his neck so the dog would play with him," criticizes the Detroit News. But despite an exterior ranking at the bottom of its class, the Ridgeline has plenty to offer. Its cargo bed may be short, but that means it fits easily into most garages. It also features an in-bed trunk complete with drain plugs for converting into a cooler. The Hummer H2 SUT looks just like a Hummer -- only with the two rear windows chopped off and a teeny-tiny truck bed in their place. Sound pretty? Well, not exactly, but it is pretty muscular and imposing for a pick-up. U.S. News reviewer Rick Newman calls the styling "military chic." Plus, the combat-inspired SUT is the ultimate truck for hauling versatility. Its rear midgate allows drivers to convert it from a five-passenger SUV with a small truck bed into a two-person truck with a six-foot bed.

Just Released: 2009 Honda Fit

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/631/just-released-2009-honda-fit/

Just Released: 2009 Honda Fit

The fuel-efficient, style-rich 2009 Honda Fit can be yours for only $14,550. By Douglas Kott

There was a time when economy cars were suffocatingly boring—4-wheeled penalty boxes whose main directives of low price and high mileage put a chokehold on any hint of driving excitement or style. But Honda’s Fit, along with other so-called “B-class” cars like the Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris, represents a sea change in thinking, helped along by $4-a-gallon gasoline. Suddenly, it’s hip to be eco-square.

In its last generation, the Fit already had an edge on its competitors in the driving fun category, and the all-new model goes the extra mile with a stronger version of its 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine. Now with 117 bhp (up from 109) with additional mid -range torque and high-end power from a more sophisticated i-VTEC valve-lift system, the Fit charges across intersections like a scalded…penguin (with 0-60-mph times likely in the high 8-second range, it doesn’t quite make “cat” status). And while some models drop by 1 mpg in the combined EPA mileage cycle, the sales volume leader—the Fit Sport—retains its 27 city/33 highway rating from last year when equipped with the excellent 5-speed paddle-shift automatic (a 5-speed manual is also available).

The new Fit is also roomier, its wheelbase stretched by 1.9 in. and overall interior width up by 1.2 in. And the cabin feels more airy, by virtue of a windshield whose base has been pulled forward by 4.7 in., and fixed front quarter windows that are three times larger than before. The dash styling is adventurous, more along the lines of the Civic, only without the double-tier instrument nonsense. The rear “Magic” seats remain…they articulate ingeniously to fold flat, or you can just tilt up and lock the lower cushions to put tall objects immediately behind the front seats. Headrests are now recessed into the seatbacks; they no longer need to be removed to fold the seats down.

While the base Fit starts at $14,550, the Fit Sport ($16,060) hits the sweet spot, its aero kit, more aggressive nose and 16-in. alloy wheels showing off the body’s forward-sloping wedge shape to best effect. The Fit Sport “Navi” ($17,910) pairs in- dash navigation with a yaw-control system. Whatever the choice, the new Fit is frugal with fuel yet rich with style.

Heart Robot: red hot date at the Science Museum

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article4426074.ece

July 30, 2008
Heart Robot: red hot date at the Science Museum
Not the date Will Pavia was expecting
Will Pavia

Hurrying towards my assignation with a robot that could understand human emotions, I was quite excited. My ex-girlfriends say that I am incapable of understanding human emotion and it was hard not to think of the incredible impact this meeting might have on my personal life.

Equally, it was hard not to see the earth-shattering importance of my date with Heart Robot in the broader context of mankind’s developing relationship with machines. I had put on a clean suit and my lucky tie. I had purchased a red rose. I had prepared an arsenal of robot chat-up lines: “I think our systems are compatible”; “I’m like a machine in the bedroom”, and so on.

Would I need to confess my terrible history with technology? I am no longer on speaking terms with my home computer and relations with my DVD player have reached a state of irretrievable breakdown. It doesn’t work any more, no matter how loudly I shout at it. Nevertheless, as I headed to meet Heart Robot, I couldn’t help thinking that this time it would be different.

We met in the Antenna Room of the Science Museum, where it quickly became clear that all my preparations had been somewhat misguided. Heart Robot is small and white, with sunken holes for eyes and little sign of a mouth. He has pointed ears and a plastic torso padded with white cloth. He resembles the love child of a monkey and an iMac. I shake his hand — for some reason Heart Robot feels like a he — and knobbly plastic fingers grip mine. His heart is signified by a red light beneath a translucent plastic diaphragm; it beats a little faster as I grip his shoulder.

The robot, main attraction of the Emotibots exhibition, which runs at the museum until tomorrow, is covered in sensors that respond to movement and touch. Treat him rough and he tenses, his hands clench, he blinks with alarm. He can also register volume: he knows when you are shouting at him, but irony passes him by.

As he becomes accustomed to me his limbs relax and his heartbeat slows. His eyelids flutter languidly, disarmingly. He cannot stand alone, however, so his maker, David McGoran, a puppeteer turned robotics engineer, holds him upright. It feels as if there are three people in this relationship.

Mr McGoran believes that Heart Robot’s emotional literacy will be the pattern for future machines, be they toys, home computers, or technology monitoring hospital patients. “It’s a question of interface,” he says. “If you are shouting at your laptop and it has no idea then it becomes a useless interface.” I balk at the idea that my laptop might understand all the nasty things I say to it. “Well, that’s one of the questions we face,” he says.

In the vanguard of these developments are machines to monitor and help the elderly, and children’s toys. There is already a popular baby dinosaur called Pleo, which responds when its little owners are cross.

The development of these emotional machines will be influenced by the robots of films and television, in a curious case of life mirroring art. Also at the Science Museum was Matt Denton, 25, the animatronics engineer who built the enormous hydraulic robot for the film Lost in Space and the Hippogryph and the Fawkes of two of the Harry Potter films.

“Animatronics engineers are a dying breed,” he says. “We are being wiped out by computer graphics.” Many are moving into robotics, where their practical ability to develop robots that appeal to humans is a marketable skill.

Mr Denton serves as a consultant on the Heart Robot project. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to love a robot in the future,” he says.

Unfortunately, we are still some way from developing suitable robotic girlfriends, and when we do they may well be based on the fantasies of men such as Mr Denton.

“Without a doubt the best robots are in Blade Runner, where they look human,” he says. One of them looked like Daryl Hannah. I decide to go home and patch things up with my DVD player. It might yet offer me a vision of future happiness.

A robotic stroll through history

— The first robots recorded were built in 250BC by the engineer and inventor Ctesibius of Alexandria. Ctesibius built water clocks decorated with moveable figures. As water flowed through his machines, the figures appeared to move

— Leonardo da Vinci was a pioneer of robot theory and his diaries of 1495 contain sketches for a humanoid figure capable of waving its arms, opening and closing its mouth and moving its head around on a flexible neck

— Complex mechanical robots were built by the French inventor Jacques de Vaucanson in 1738. His musical automatons included drummers, flautists and quacking ducks and are often credited with being the first true robots

— The first American robot is generally considered to be Elektro, built in 1937 by the Westinghouse railway company. Very much a product of his time, Elektro could smoke as well as walk

— Robots became increasingly functional and less recognisably human during the second half of the 20th century as they were incorporated into industrial manufacturing. Programmable paint sprayers and remotely operated arms joined and then replaced production line workers

— Robots such as Honda’s Asimo and Sony’s SDR can walk up and down stairs, recognise faces and even make very basic conversation

Robot 'conducts' orchestra for first time

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1954704/Robot-%27conducts%27-orchestra-for-first-time.html

Robot 'conducts' orchestra for first time
15/05/2008

A robot has conducted an orchestra in a live performance for the first time.

Asimo, a white 4ft 3in robot designed by Honda, helped the Detroit Symphony Orchestra performance of "The Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha."

"Hello, everyone," Asimo said to the audience in a childlike voice, then waved to the orchestra.

As it conducted, it perfectly mimicked the actions of a conductor, nodding its head at various sections and gesturing with one or both hands. Asimo took a final bow to enthusiastic shouts from the audience.

"It is absolutely thrilling to perform with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. This is a magnificent concert hall," Asimo said.

Later, a cellist joined the robot onstage to receive an award for his efforts in music education.

Honda spokeswoman Alicia Jones said it was the first time Asimo has conducted an orchestra, and it may be the first time any robot has conducted a live performance. ASIMO stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility.

ASIMO has its limits. ASIMO's engineers programmed the robot to mimic Charles Burke, the Detroit Symphony's education director, as he conducted the piece in front of a pianist about six months ago. But it cannot respond to the musicians.

During the first rehearsal, the orchestra lost its place when ASIMO began to slow the tempo, something a human conductor would have sensed and corrected, said bassist Larry Hutchinson.

"It's not a communicative device. It simply is programmed to do a sense of gestures," said Leonard Slatkin, the orchestra's musical director. "If the orchestra decides to go faster, there's nothing the robot can do about it. Hopefully, I keep that under control."

But several musicians also said ASIMO was more realistic than they expected.

"The movements are still a little stiff, but very humanlike, much more fluid than I thought," Mr Hutchinson said.

Ben & Jerry's founders endorse Obama

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_campaignplus/20080219/ap_ca/on_the2008_trail

Ben & Jerry's founders endorse Obama
By LISA RATHKE, Associated Press Writer
Mon Feb 18, 2008

The founders of Ben & Jerry's endorsed Barack Obama on Monday, and lent his Vermont campaign two "ObamaMobiles" that will tour the state and give away scoops of "Cherries for Change" ice cream.

"If there was ever a need for real change, and if there ever was a candidate to inspire us and make that happen, it's now," said Ben Cohen.

Added Jerry Greenfield: "Barack is showing that when you lead with your values and follow what you have inside that good things will happen."

Echoing Obama, Greenfield said he and Cohen succeeded when they opened their ice cream shop 30 years ago in Burlington by doing things differently, instead of copying the "tired ways" of doing business.

"What we saw is that when you want real change it's not a marketing slogan. You have to do things differently. And that is not going to be done by someone who's been involved in the system for years and years," Greenfield said. "It needs to come from inside and Barack Obama has it."

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and his wife joined the ice cream duo to announce their radio campaign backing the Illinois senator.

Cohen initially supported John Edwards, who dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Rob Hill, director of the Vermonters for Obama campaign, said he looked forward to getting behind the wheel of one of the two ObamaMobiles — retrofitted Honda Elements.

Concept Green Cars

http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center-article_130/

Concept Green Cars

Toyota first demonstrated a futuristic hybrid concept vehicle at the Tokyo Auto Show in 1995. The car, which consisted of an electric motor connected to a regular gasoline engine, was called the Toyota Prius. Hybrid skeptics —both at the show and afterward—are now silent, as cumulative global sales continue to surpass all expectations. Which of today's wild and wacky hi-tech enviro car concepts will become tomorrow's practical fuel-efficient vehicles? Let's take a look at some contenders.

Volvo 3CC

The Volvo 3CC concept car, a rocket-shaped three-seater, can accommodate the full range of power systems, from traditional gasoline and alternative fuels such as ethanol, to hybrid and all electric. Three thousand lithium-ion batteries, just like those used in laptop computers, give it the equivalent of 105 horsepower. The 3CC has the aerodynamics of a two-seat sports car, but can slip a third passenger, or perhaps two children, in a single seat in the back.

Ford Mercury Meta One

The Mercury Meta One combines a hybrid transmission with a twin-turbocharged V-6 diesel engine calibrated to run on a bio-diesel blend (fuel made from natural, renewable sources such as vegetable oils). The combination is designed to produce the power of a V-10, with emission levels clean enough to meet California's Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV) requirement. Daihatsu UFE III

Daihatsu, the Japanese car company known for compacts, is on the third generation of the UFE (which stand for Ultra Fuel Economy). This mini-hybrid vehicle can transport three people—one upfront, and two in the back. The hybrid system comprises a 660-cubic centimeter direct-injection gasoline engine, two motors, and a nickel-metal hydride battery. Its estimated fuel economy is 169 miles per gallon.
Nissan Pivo

Nissan has developed a bubble-shaped, three-seater electric car called the Pivo—short for pivot. It runs exclusively on electricity. The cabin sits atop a wheeled platform that can swivel 360 degrees, doing away with the need to reverse when emerging from narrow spaces.

BMW X3

The X3 combines a next-generation direct-injection inline six-cylinder engine with an electric motor—and a supercapacitor instead of the rechargeable batteries most hybrids use. A supercapacitor discharges all of its energy in a quick burst of power. Then, the gasoline engine takes over until the regenerative braking can recharge the supercapacitor for another quick burst. The system provides a modest 20% improvement in fuel economy over current models.

Toyota Volta

The Volta's 3.3-liter V-6 gas engine is located behind the rear axle and isn't connected directly to the wheels. Instead, movement is provided by two electric engines, one per axle, offering the safety benefits of all-wheel drive. But the real gain of packaging a large internal-combustion engine with two electric motors is rip-roaring speed: The 408-horsepower hybrid drive can go from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds.
GM Saab Aero X

The two-seat Saab Aero X doesn't have doors or a fixed windshield. Instead, the entire face of the vehicle opens up. Inside, the Saab Aero X's cockpit completely eliminating conventional dials and buttons. Instead, Saab displays data on glass-like acrylic "clear zones" in graphic 3-D images. The drivetrain is just as innovative as the body design. The Aero X combines turbo-charging and the use of bio-fuel to deliver 400-horsepower performance without burning a drop of petroluem. The V6 engine is fueled entirely by 100% ethanol. This reduces the tank-to-wheel carbon emissions of the vehicle to exactly zero. Can't find pure ethanol? No problem for the Aero X. The engine management system will make adjustments for any gasoline-ethanol blend.
The Volkswagen Chameleon

On the outside, the Volkswagen Chameleon Microbus looks like it rolled right out of the set of a 1960s surfer movie. But times have changed in the world of energy and technology. Volkswagen retrofitted the 1964 Deluxe Microbus for a new generation by installing an all-electric drive powered by lithium polymer batteries. Ten 30-volt batteries under the van’s floor provide a range of about 100 miles. A recharge takes about 6 hours. Surfboards mounted on the roof are lined with flexible solar panels that provide an additional source of energy. The vehicle needs all the energy it can find to power an arsenal of interactive digital cabin features, including imbedded touch-pads and speech activated controls. Don't expect to ever see this vehicle on the road. Volkswagen is using the Chameleon strictly as a marketing tool to showcase a movie-fantasy future of automotive electronics.
The Honda FCX Concept

The Honda FCX Concept uses a secret weapon to deliver more power than its predecessor fuel cell vehicles: gravity. Honda calls it a "3V" system: "Vertical gas flow, vertebral layout, and volume-efficient packaging." In the 3V schema, oxygen and hydrogen flow from the top to the bottom of the fuel cell stack and the fuel cells are arranged vertically in the center tunnel for more efficient packaging of the fuel cells. With these improvements, the FCX fuel-cell car now has a driving range of 354 miles—a 30 percent improvement from the 2005 model—and a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour. The vehicle can driven in temperatures as low as minus 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The super-slick Honda FCX Concept has a long and ultra-low profile that is anything but vertical.
GM Sequel

The Sequel is based on a design that puts all propulsion systems, steering, braking and chassis components packed into the car's 11-inch underbelly. By packing all the functionality into what the company calls a "skateboard" chassis, GM claims they'll have greater freedom for the car's interior and exterior design. GM has been working on the skateboard approach for a number of years, and the Sequel is apparently their breakthrough. With the company's advances in fuel cells, by-wire technology, and wheel hub motors, GM has doubled the range to 300 miles—on its hydrogen supply—and halved the 0-60 times to under ten seconds.