EcoTough is a coated piston designed to have low friction and low wear properties. It also helps in reducing carbon dioxide emission and increase fuel efficiency by 0.8%. The newly developed piston is compatible with existing designs of engines in volume production today.

Federal Mogul has not revealed the specific components of the coat that they use for the piston but insiders hint that it contains carbon fiber, molybdenum disulfide, and graphite.

During test runs in laboratories, the EcoTough piston resulted to an 18% decrease in friction loss and about 3% increase in parasitic loss of the engine.

Other benchmark tests revealed a fuel efficiency increase between 0.4 and 0.8%. The coated pistons also demonstrated decreased signs of wear after being subjected to 50 cycles of cold starts and after resistance testing with full load.

The EcoTough pistons are on production and will be introduced to complete the volume production vehicle of a major European car brand

Federal Mogul is headquartered in Michigan and currently has a workforce of 43,000 to meet the demand for safety and powertrain technologies.

The carmaker was asked several times why they were hiding the car from the public with only Prince Frederik of Norway, the only outsider that has driven it on the roads. Some may argue that Fisker had to do more testing because of the switch to lithium ion batteries late in the ball game. However executives of Fisker discounts that saying that they just have to make sure that everything is fully ready and running well.

Fisker had to do an extensive review of nine advertising agencies before giving the green light to Lambesis.

The car manufacturer plans to roll out its first model this year, a 403 horsepower Karma that has a starting tag price of $90,000. They are looking into possible sales of around 15,000 units.

A launch for a new car may hit a high cost of around $50 million but Fisker has been doing rounds of the different auto shows and have been pushing for their products over the internet. The official website of Fisker has registered for it the most orders compared to the other possible channels.

Fisker entrusts the car to be globally promoted by Lambesis. Their first project will be to revamp Fisker’s website this fall.

During the unveiling of the new electric truck at their new headquarters in the Stockton, California, EVI also disclosed an agreement with Valence Technologies to develop storage systems utilizing Lithium-ion technology.

MD EVI

This electric vehicle is designed to meet the demands of businesses with gross weight rating as a Class 4 or 15,000 pounds ranging to class 6 or 25,950 pounds. The electric motor that powers the truck occupies lesser space than the conventional engine, this gives the truck a higher wheel cut or making it as a very maneuverable vehicle in its class.

The truck will utilize 3-phase 360volt motor which can give out about 146hp and a torque of 450 ft-lb. The engine is coupled with a six-speed automatic transmission. The MD EVI has a top speed of 60 mph.

The battery gives the electric truck a range of 115 miles which is more than the average distance needed to complete a usual commercial base to base trip. The battery can be charged overnight.

WI EVI

The electric van will make use of the same drive train as the MD EVI and except that it will make use of a chassis designed by the FCCC. The battery for the electric van will come in three ranges: 60, miles, 80 miles, and 115 miles.

It was fondly or irritatingly called Trabi by the people. The Trabant is being remembered as the least reliable, slowest, and most pollting vehicle known to man, so they say. But the very simple architecture and engineering of the Trabant made it very easy to self repair even by owners. The parts of the cars are everywhere or one can simply fabricate or improvise.

The Trabant has been treated as an icon and about 50,000 of them are still on the road. No matter a reputation, it has survived the test of time that’s why some enthusiasts and believers are planning to resurrect the car. It will not run the streets as the clunky vehicle as it is known to be but a green electric vehicle.

Since 2007, IndiKar while in close cooperation with Herpa, the owner now of the Trabant name, has been trying to revive the car. They will be unveiling to the public an all new electric Trabant during the Frankfurt Auto Show kicking off next week.

The Trabant NT will remain true to the simple design and function of the old car but it will sport the latest technologies known to the auto industry.

The company responsible for the comeback is still seeking investors willing to take the risk of helping the Trabant reach the masses so it can live up to its old glory.

The branch is expected to open by 14 July. Car owners who will need to charge their plug-in vehicles will have a designated parking space. The ChargePoint is a way of McDonald’s to promote to the next generation the importance of a cleaner environment.

Back in the 1990’s a branch of McDonald’s in Phoenix, Arizona also put up a charging station to have room for an earlier wave of electric vehicles. Reports also reveal that installing charging stations in the network of McDonald’s in Sweden is also in the works.

How the plug-in vehicles in the market today may really be dependent on the presence of an infrastructure where owners can recharge their vehicles. These stations should be located ideally near their place of work or spots they frequent.

ChargePoint is starting to build their first charging stations in anticipation of the influx of hybrid cars in the market as early as 2011. Experts of the auto industry forecast that about 1 million charging stations will be built in the United States by 2015. ChargePoint is a private company focusing on building a network of charging stations and other related services to cater to the owners of plug-in vehicles.

Malcolm Bricklin

Bricklin sees the revolutionary product as an answer to the woes of the auto industry brought about by global financial crisis. He sees it as an opportunity for dealers to pick up the rubbles and rebuild, and for the industry as a whole to create manufacturing jobs.

He was the prime mover of bringing cars from Yugo vehicles, Fiat, and Subaru to the display rooms in the United States in the 1990s.

Visionary Vehicles also negotiated with Chery Auto of China in 2006 for a distribution right of their cars in the US market. The strict safety guidelines in the US were a major wall faced by the negotiations.

Malcolm Bricklin is suggesting the purchase of around 300000 brand new units from Chrysler and GM and customizing them with the hydrogen hybrid engine.

The specifics of the technology that will be used by Bricklin have never been disclosed to the public. The businessman though boasts of a product which can boost the fuel efficiency of a vehicle by as much as 100%.

Bricklin has announced that he will have a working model of the hydrogen hybrid car in the next three months. Whether the consumers will accept the new concept is still a big question since hydrogen technology is considered as an impractical choice for mainstream transport use.

It will be a wait and see game if Bricklin and his team can come up with the product that they claim to be the lifesaver of America’s auto industry.

ZAP surely knows the kind of utility vehicle that the most practical people are looking for. In just a matter of time, ZAP will introduce its four-wheel electric passenger van convertible to cargo truck at the annual conference of the National Automobile Dealers Association. It will be in New Orleans later January.

With removable seats, this van can definitely be used for transporting equipments when needed. The cargo function has a 108 cubic ft. and it can carry up to 900 pounds in capacity.

No worry for its use on the road since it is in conformity with the US regulations for Low Speed Vehicles. It can run at 25 mph on street limits. It has posted 35 mph speed limit. It’s an electric van that’s why it posts such a range of speed limit.

The former release of ZAP shuttle had its share of advantages. For one, it ran on zero emissions for indoor uses. People also liked it because of its available options on air conditioning, rapid charger, and solar panels – a great solar powered car. This time, it boasts of its multi-functional feature which is surely a great way to market on the side of practicability. With its space that’s a 5-passenger seater and an additional space for other stuffs, one will surely appreciate it.

Practical, efficient, and green! ZAP certainly knows how to feed the market with great innovations. Not only great, but green too!

Pneumatic engine design may give way to a more efficient fuel consumption that is comparable to hybrid cars. The concept of pneumatic engine design is based on the supercharging and down sizing concepts.

The pneumatic engine works efficiently by utilizing an electronically controlled valve that regulates the flow of compressed air concurrent with the injection of the fuel.

The technology also allows downsizing. The average 150 horsepower car can be downsized to only 30 horse power which is sufficient enough for dialing driving.

Downsizing allows the use of fewer cylinders in the car engine. The usual 4 cylinders can practically be downgraded to 2 which promote less friction in the engine and better efficiency. The car is turbocharged to keep the power demanded by the owner or driver.

A prototype produced by the ETH Zurich displayed favorable results with an 18-24 % increase in the average efficiency of the engine. That translates to one-third fuel savings.

The fuel efficiency achieved by the air hybrid vehicle is just 20% of the notch of what a full electric vehicle can do. Experts comment though that the ratio of price and performance is a lot better.

… [Nissan] is still a bit tight-lipped about the exact specifications of the NuVu, but word has it that the drivetrain is a fully functional mobile test bed of the new technology that Nissan plans using in the production of the electric vehicle slated for launching in 2010. What consumers can expect, however, is that the NuVu will be able to run at the top speed of around 75 mph and has a 77-mile range. The NuVu will use a lithium-ion battery pack that is capable of 140 watt hours per kilogram…

Looks (and sounds) pretty impressive, doesn’t it?

The two agencies of government are joining forces to support projects that will help increase the availability of alternative fuels that are renewable and based on bio products.

Funds will be allocated on a yearly basis, to help kick off efforts on producing sustainable resources of renewable biomass. The fuels that will be products of these research and development projects will help significantly in lowering the green house gasses by at least 50%.

The funding opportunity announcement of the USDA and DOE are specifically looking into development of feedstock, biofuels, analysis of biofuels, and production of other bioproducts.

Chosen projects will be awarded between $1 million and $5 million. Periods of these projects may range from 1 to 4 years and will be subjected to yearly allocations.

Applications from the fund are welcome from the different higher education institutions, government research agencies, national laboratories, state research sectors, private entities, or a combination of these entities.

The move is in support of newly elected Barack Obama’s campaign to find other sources of sustainable and renewable fuels for the United States.

The funding is also among the projects of the Obama administration to address the current economic meltdown and the worsening state of the climate.