Posts Tagged automobile
Paris Floats the Electric Bubble Car
Posted on September 25, 2011 | Auto News, Auto Reviews.
European cities have always been known for their tight streets and small cars and they are about to get smaller. If you are going to be in Paris over the next couple months (lucky) then you will probably see the bubble car being driven around. Okay, the actual name is the BlueCar, but we like the term bubble car because it seems like so much more fun.
The BlueCar is an electrically powered car that will be available for short term rentals in Paris. By short term rentals, we mean as little as a half an hour or up to a whole day. The project, being called the Autolib (a combination of automobile and liberty) is in a test phase that will last for the next two months.
The project has an initial cost of around $321 million dollars with the city itself investing $47 million, much of the rest of the money comes from billionaire Vincent Bollore, whose company won the bidding for the project and makes the BlueCar. There is an inexpensive membership fee and once signed up members could rent the cars as needed for 4 to 8 euros per half hour. Once a membership is purchased, dropping off and picking up the cars at the charging stations would be a simple, automated system, that Bollore’s company would manage.
The project itself was conceived by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who also launched a very successful bicycle sharing scheme in 2007 known as the Velib which has been initiated in many other cities. The city of Paris has invested heavily in charging and rental stations throughout the city and hopes that the new, really compact cars will help alleviate heavy traffic and parking problems as well as promote environmental conservation and green initiatives.
Tourist would be able to rent the cars for short term trips around the city but the program specifically benefits Paris locals who don’t own cars or rely heavily on public transportation. According to the Mayor’s office at least three other cities have made inquiries into the Autolib project.
The overall concept is to persuade people to shift away from the idea of owning an expensive vehicle in a crowded city to the idea of using a car as needed. The initial test project will consist of 66 cars and 33 stations but is expected to expand to 3,000 cars and more than 1,000 stations in 2012.
Car manufacturers worldwide are watching the project with intense interest to see the feasibility of such projects. Automakers such as Daimler, Renault and even Nissan have invested 4 billion in similar electric cars but the European market has yet to be tested for large scale sales of such vehicles. If the system works, other cities could easily invest in similar projects and London has even looked into a much smaller scale test project.
Ironically enough, the small, 4 passenger cars are being made by the Italian car manufacturer Pininfarina. Yes, that is the same group that makes the Ferrari and Maserati. While it doesn’t have the same appeal as its sister cars, Mayor Delanoe fully expects the BlueCar to revolutionize transportation in European cities.
Hybrid Cars – Advantages and Disadvantages
Posted on August 30, 2011 | Auto News, Auto Reviews.
Hybrid automobiles are considered as the car of the future. It really is in a position to appropriately conserve fuel and in the comparable time, it only generates small levels of poisonous fumes. Because of these benefits, hybrid vehicles are now rising in popularity every single day. A lot of people are actually looking at removing their conventional cars and trucks and decide to buy a hybrid automobile to aid in reducing fuel usage amount.
Hybrid cars and trucks have two engines for it to successfully conserve fuel consumption. It has the standard gasoline motor and what’s more, it has an electrical motor and batteries. The two engines deliver the results together with a purpose to cut fuel usage. Using this type of systems, you certainly will be able to cut fuel application by greater than half. Just contemplate, using a hybrid automobile, you may have the ability to go more than sixty miles for the gallon. With this particular variety of cost savings, hybrid automobiles are certainly the vehicle for the long run.
Hybrid motor vehicle proprietors just about never truly feel the improving cost in fuel fees. Here is the foremost benefit within the hybrid automobile. You will find other strengths that a hybrid car or truck can provide you. Just lately, the President belonging to the United states has signed an arrangement that hybrid vehicle consumers could be ready to delight in tax incentives. Because of this by possessing a hybrid automotive, you will be able to save lots of funds on taxes.
There can be other positive aspects that the federal government imposes on hybrid automobile owners, like complimentary parking, and free of charge entry to autobus pool lanes. Some even present discounted expenses on toll gates.
The braking in hybrid autobus can also be configured to seize the power introduced and makes use of it to cost the batteries inside the hybrid auto. This means that unlike electrical cars, hybrid autobus do not genuinely want to be charged out of your property electrical outlet.
On the other hand, with the many strengths that a hybrid motor vehicle can provide you, there are also shortcomings. The leading downside of hybrid vehicles is that the retail amount is kind of highly-priced. Only consumers who have ample revenue can obtain hybrid autobus. Nonetheless, the twist in all this is that hybrid automobiles are essentially less costly when in comparison to conventional autos from the long haul. If you ever compute the somme fuel consumption of both equally autos, you certainly will in fact see you can save quite a lot more dollars on hybrid automobiles.
The sole matter is the fact that hybrid vehicles are expensive correct within the automotive ton.
Hybrid autos are relatively significant owing to the large batteries installed inside the car. This is why hybrid automotive producers integrates scaled-down inner combustion engines and are produced with light materials and must be aerodynamic for you to optimize efficiency. Because of this hybrid autobus can in no way honestly go fast.
An additional issue about hybrid autos is always that it is very risky in accidents. What may make a hybrid vehicle give good results efficiently is additionally what causes it to be risky if it ever will get involved in an accident. This is because hybrid automobiles suppliers significant amount of voltage in its batteries. Which means there is a great prospect of receiving electrocuted whenever you get involved in an accident. This also means that it truly is comparatively troublesome for rescuers to obtain the drivers and passengers from the hybrid automobiles as a consequence of the potential risks of large voltage while in the car.
These are the rewards along with the disadvantages of hybrid cars and trucks. Automobile producers nowadays are actually in need of methods of eradicate the down sides of hybrid automobiles. In the in the vicinity of foreseeable future, you certainly will see that hybrid vehicles are going to be lighter and likewise features significantly less threat due to significant voltage potential risks.