.jpg)
It seems likely that we are about to get a proper release from Mercedes on the new Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing. So far this week we’ve had another set of teaser pictures of the SLS AMG, closely followed by a report that there is going to be a Mercedes SLS AMG e Drive Electric SLS in 2015.
Today we get a leaked ‘Official’ image of the SLS, which does seem to be real. It appears to be taken on a mobile phone – probably from magazine artwork at car magazine Autobild, and doesn’t look like a Photoshop job – it appears to be a photo. Which tends to suggest that Mercedes may have given them the detail for their next issue to coincide with the official release of the pictures, and the first solid detail.
The first spy photos of the new AMG production car SLS Gullwing appeared in early 2008. Nowadays rumours of a SLS Gullwing electric car is slated for 2015 and some days ago another very legitimate looking likeness revealing the front and rear details has surfaced.
The SLR McLaren’s replacement that is being developed in-house by Mercedes-Benz’s AMG division, will be powered by a front mounted 6.3-liter V8 engine producing 571 HP. According to a previous release the new SLS AMG should hit the 100km/h (62mph) mark from standstill in 3.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 315 km/h or 196 mph.
After a month of babbitts, bees and bad vibrations — at least from the steering wheel — Emily Anderson and her rebuilt 1909 Maxwell DA arrived in San Francisco last Thursday, completing her re-enactment of Alice Ramsey’s groundbreaking journey a century earlier.
While the first half of the trip was beset by frequent mechanical troubles, the second half went much smoother, according to Ms. Anderson. Smooth, of course, is a relative term for a vehicle running on century-old technology: transmission problems that began in Kimball, Neb., required her to drive the rest of the trip with no first gear.
Mountain passes were particularly tricky, said Ms. Anderson, who called Carson Pass, near Lake Tahoe, the most difficult climb. “We got to within a half mile of the summit,” she said in a phone interview, “but it was too steep for second gear.” A quick lift from a tow truck solved the problem.
The Maxwell also ran out of oil twice, including once on Route 50 in Nevada, known as “The Loneliest Highway in America.” Still, Ms. Anderson and her team managed to keep to their original schedule, and pulled into San Francisco’s Crissy Field on July 9 as planned, exactly a month after their departure from Manhattan. (Ramsey’s trip, by comparison, took two months.)
Ms. Anderson said the Maxwell would be taken by trailer back to Seattle, where the Andersons live, and thereafter might be loaned to museums. Ms. Anderson herself gets no rest after her coast-to-coast drive — she was due back at work this weekend.
New Generation Jaguar XJ series 2011 prices,review,high resolution wallpaper,body,interior navigation
I’ve been a fan of Jaguar since I lusted after the 1961 E-Type. I have to admit, though, that I fell under the marketing spell of Jag during its more unfortunate years and brought home a new 2004 X-Type thinking I was getting a true baby Jag.
Now I know better, of course, as the re-badged Ford Mondeo no longer sits in my garage, and I’ve been left with a bad taste concerning Jaguar’s quality.
Now, Jag promises to be different - to be the luxury icon of the 21st Century.
Jaguar’s new XJ, unveiled this afternoon by Jay Leno in England, could put those quality questions to rest for good.
Jaguar has redesigned its flagship sedan, the XJ, for the 2010 model year, giving it exterior and interior design in the style of the XF sedan, along with the new engines introduced for the 2010 XF. The XJ can be ordered now, but delivery won't begin until early 2010. A slew of new images are below.
Jaguar has finally given tradition a rest, abandoning the classic four-headlight front-end design that dates back decades — and that had appeared unchanged to the untrained eye since 2004 despite a complete redesign. The 2010's nose is a more balanced execution of the XF's prominent mesh grille and sculpted headlight clusters. The hood is dramatically domed and creased, an apparent trend across the market.
Viewed from the rear, the XJ would be indistinguishable as a Jaguar were it not for the large and perfectly centered chrome "leaper" emblem. The taillights look like someone grabbed a Bentley by the tail and stretched it vertically. The car looks coupe-like in profile, with a gradually sloping roofline, high rear deck and high beltline. It's more Mercedes CLS than 2009 XJ, and we hope that doesn't represent compromised headroom. Jaguar emphasizes the "feeling" of light and space inside, compliments of a standard panoramic glass roof. The XJ's interior has always been snug among full-size luxury sedans. Jag will offer a long-wheelbase model that offers 5 more inches of backseat legroom.
The interior got the full XF treatment, and that's a very good thing. Like the exterior, it's gone way contemporary, with a more modern design, piano-black and chrome surfaces, the JaguarDrive gear selector that motors up from the center console, and virtual gauges on a 12.3-inch display. Though the tech is high, the gauges still appear as classic analog, though different instruments can be emphasized based on conditions. It's a mix of old and new, which the interior as a whole attempts to accomplish with familiar rich leather, as well as wood trim that runs in a continuous line from the door panels across the top of the dashboard.
The 2010 XJ comes in four models: XJ, XJL (long wheelbase), Supercharged and Supersport, the latter of which is available by special order only. The XJ and XJL come with a standard 5.0-liter V-8 rated at 385 hp. The supercharged's version of this 5.0-liter engine makes 470 hp in the Supercharged trim level and 510 hp in the Supersport. Jaguar's claimed zero-to-60 mph times are 5.4, 4.9 and 4.7 seconds, respectively. Though it shares its new direct-injection power plants and six-speed automatic transmission with the XF, Jaguar says the larger XJ's swift sprints come courtesy of a similar aerodynamic drag coefficient and lightweight aluminum construction. The mileage estimates are 19 mpg for the standard and 18 mpg in the supercharged versions in mixed city/highway driving.
Honda has officially named its new crossover that is set to arrive in the United States this fall: It's the Accord Crosstour.
The name has been widely used to describe a new vehicle in the Honda lineup and was confirmed Tuesday morning in a statement from the automaker. The vehicle will be a 2010 model.
As the name would imply, the Accord Crosstour is based on the Accord platform. It will have some resemblance to the Acura ZDX crossover prototype shown at the New York auto show, but the vehicles are expected to have different underpinnings.
Tags: hondaaccord,honda,accord,hondaacord,crossover,new car,latest news
A new generation of fuel cells developed by Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies has enabled the world's first low-cost and practical hydrogen car. The top secret UK development unveiled today in London is a two-seater zero emissions hydrogen-electric city car with an expected fuel consumption equivalent to 360 miles per gallon*, six times better than today's best available hybrid electric vehicles. What's more, this innovative car could be made available to consumers for just 200 pounds Sterling ($315) per month.
Developed by Riversimple, the small city car integrates a 6kW fuel cell from Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies. The vehicle maximizes energy efficiency by utilizing lightweight composite materials, eliminating heavy mechanical component, and by networking fuel cells with ultra capacitors and 60% regenerative braking energy into one symbiotic system. The result is ground-breaking: 240 miles (390 km) can be traveled on one small tank of hydrogen weighing only 2.2 lbs (1 kilogram).
Hugo Spowers, founder of Riversimple said, "Horizon's approach to commercialization of fuel cells perfectly complements our approach to bringing hydrogen fuel cell cars to market. Thanks to this partnership, we believe that we are closer to market with a commercially viable fuel cell car than anyone else in the world."
The networked fuel cell power-train design led to a reduction in fuel cell power requirements by a factor of 6 compared to other urban vehicles of similar performance and by a factor of 15 compared to other fuel cell prototype vehicles - an effort further magnified by Horizon's ability to supply high power fuel cells at greatly reduced costs.
"Many people lost track of the fact that fuel cell cars are electric cars, since fuel cells store and deliver electrical energy, just like batteries - only with significantly more storable energy per unit of weight. Batteries and ultra capacitors on the other hand, offer more power per unit of weight, but less storable energy," said Taras Wankewycz, one of Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies' founders. "Technologies have evolved, but more importantly, Riversimple brought them together as one system, in a way that greatly exceeds the sum of their individual benefits. This next generation hydrogen-electric car brings electric vehicles into a new stage where range, charge-time and cost are no longer commercial barriers."
The Riversimple car will be commercialized internationally using an "open-source" production model inspired by the software industry, creating new entrepreneurial possibilities around the world and the promise of car manufacturing jobs within the communities where the vehicle is used. Because the car can be produced and maintained locally, the carbon footprint associated to century-old models of centralized car manufacturing and distribution is also significantly reduced.
Fuel Cells and Refueling
A fuel cell converts the chemical energy of hydrogen into usable electric energy without combustion, with water as its only by-product. Unlike batteries, fuel cells separate energy storage and energy conversion functions. If used as a primary source of power like many fuel cell vehicle developments to date, fuel cells can become extremely expensive as power needs impacts their size. But when changing the configuration and coupling the high energy density quality of fuel cells with higher power density ultra-capacitors, it is possible to greatly increase the performance of electric vehicles while reducing their cost. Ultra-capacitors are charged by the car's regenerative braking system, providing power for acceleration. By de-coupling acceleration from cruising, a much smaller, lower power and lower cost fuel cell can be used.
With a smaller fuel cell consuming much less hydrogen, the vehicle no longer depends on large storage tanks, which greatly reduces the costs and complexities so far associated with hydrogen supply. Working simultaneously with BOC to make hydrogen affordable, sustainable and readily available for refueling, what many believed would be twenty or thirty years away can be done today by using an existing industrial hydrogen supply system.
Horizon started commercializing fuel cells four years ago from small and simple products to larger energy storage solutions. The company is emerging as a world leader in the commercialization of fuel cell integrated energy solutions and offers a complete range of products and solutions for the consumer, industrial and transportation markets. Horizon's new multi-kilowatt systems, which are currently being adopted in various applications including cellular telecommunication sites, can store significantly more electrical energy than batteries.
