With Renault reportedly bringing three new electric vehicles to the Frankfort Motor Show this fall and the company's regular announcements of EV partnerships, word of two new deals - one with Arval and the other with ALD Automotive - isn't exactly a surprise. Still, this shows, once again, the strong commitment that Renault and alliance partner Nissan have in EVs ready for prime time.

The deals will help Renault get its vehicles into fleets and customer hands. ALD manages about 786,000 vehicles in 39 countries, many in Europe. Arval, a BNP Paribas subsidiary, leases vehicles (about 602,000 vehicles) and manages corporate fleets (made up of 688,000 vehicles) in 22 countries. Arval will help Renault figure out ways to lease EVs while ALD will offer its knowledge on how to price the electric vehicles. Read more about the Arval (PDF) and ALD Automotive (PDF) deals at the links.


[Source: Renault via Green Car Congress]

Late last week, the Internet rumormill was abuzz with reports that Renault would bring a trio of electric vehicles to the Frankfurt Motor Show this fall. Might one of those zero-emission automobiles be the Twingo ZE? According to Auto Express in the UK, a clay model for an all-electric Renault Twingo was spotted by French journalists from Auto Plus, and it will reportedly hit the market next year £13,000 plus a lease for the battery.

If there's any truth to this particular rumor, the three-seat Twingo ZE will be powered by a 59-horsepower electric motor that's capable of pushing the car to 60 miles per hour in around 10 seconds and up to a top speed of 80 mph. Regenerative braking will be included in the package, which helps push maximum range to around 100 miles.

Of course, the car will be equipped with a plug that allows the car to be recharged from home, though we're not sure about the four-hour time that's being reported. Further, Renault dealerships would be equipped with battery swapping capabilities, probably using the Better Place technology.


[Source: Auto Express]

The Frankfurt Motor Show will see three new electric vehicles on the Renault stand, including a concept previewing an all new model. The concept is expected to be based on the same dedicated platform that alliance partner Nissan is using for its new EV coming in 2010. The Nissan EV should appear later in the fall at the Tokyo show. Renault development chief Christian Steyer told AutoCar that the EVs will get some distinctive styling to set them apart from the rest of the lineup.

In addition to the cars, Renault will apparently be showing off both fast charging technology and battery swapping equipment. In addition to the dedicated EV concept, Renault is also expected to show production electric conversions of the Megane and Kangoo. The Megane will be the first EV to go on sale in Israel under the Renault-Nissan partnership with Better Place.


[Source: Autocar]

BMW will unveiling the latest edition to its sport activity vehicle lineup this fall, probably at the Frankfurt Motor Show. While the new X1 isn't ready to be shown publicly just yet, the Munich automaker did let a writer from the Times of London take one for a preview drive in Spain. The X1 is slightly smaller than the Land Rover Freelander and will compete with the likes of the VW Tiguan and the upcoming Audi Q3.

The BMW will be launched with a trio of engines including the normally aspirated 3.0-liter 6-cylinder gas unit from the 328i. However the vast majority of sales are expected to go to a pair of 2.0-liter four cylinder diesel engines in 177 hp and 204 hp form as found in the 120d and 123d.

The Times' Andrew Frankel found the X1 to be a bit to close to the ground to be useful off-road. However, few people ever use these vehicles in such a way. For them, the on-road dynamics are vastly more important. Frankel found that the X1 exhibits the handling expected of its brand and it should get excellent mileage to boot. Even in 204 hp form the diesel should average about 36 mpg (U.S.). That's consistent with the 37 mpg we recorded in a 123d with the same engine last year.

[Source: The Times]

According to a report on Auto Express in the U.K., Volkswagen plans to debut a new eco-friendly car concept at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September that could potentially rival the Chevy Volt-based Opel Ampera in Europe. Unlike the automaker's previous green concepts like the hybrid Golf TwinDrive and diesel-powered BlueSport Roadster, the new and as-yet unnamed concept will be fully electric.

Beyond that, details are scarce. There's some speculation that the new EV may be based on the Volkswagen's New Small Family architecture that underpins the tiny Up! city car concept that was first seen way back in 2007, but that's not yet confirmed. In any case, the Frankfurt-bound electric vehicle is likely to use lithium ion batteries supplied by Toshiba.


[Source: Auto Express]

With Mercedes-Benz launching its first hybrid this summer in the form of the S400 hybrid, it's only a matter of time until BMW rolls out its own equivalent. Last year in Paris, BMW debuted a concept version of the 7-Series ActiveHybrid using the same mild hybrid system it co-developed with Daimler. The system uses a 15 kW disk-shaped motor sandwiched between the engine and eight-speed automatic transmission, as well as a lithium ion battery pack.

That's one more gear ratio than the Mercedes, but that's not all. While Mercedes has opted to use its 3.5-liter V6 with the hybrid system, BMW is sticking with the big 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 found in the current 750i.

According to L'Automobile, the production version will likely debut as the 750Hi at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and go on sale before the end of the year.



[Source: L'Automobile]
Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Late last month, the internet rumormill went wild with speculation that BMW would introduce a new Z2 concept vehicle at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Separate sources are now confirming that expectation, though the production version isn't likely to hit the market until 2013. Built atop BMW's next-gen 1 Series architecture, which will reportedly be configured to allow for front-, rear- or all-wheel drive, the Z2 is likely to feature all of the German automaker's latest fuel-saving Efficient Dynamics tweaks, including a possible plug-in hybrid powertrain.

Joining the eco-friendly model will be both gas and diesel engines with 2.0 liters or less of displacement. Perhaps most interesting is a rumor that the Z2 may get a sequential transmission borrowed from BMW's line of high-end motorcycles. Weight will be kept low thanks to heavy use of composite materials, and adjustable aerodynamics should offer high downforce when necessary and low drag the rest of the time.

[Source: BimmerFile]

It's looking like all auto shows are going to be feeling the pinch of a shrinking auto market going forward, including the mighty Frankfurt Show. Honda has joined Nissan in pulling out of this fall's Frankfurt show in order to save money. Earlier this year, Nissan announced that it would only participate in one auto show on each continent with those being Geneva, Tokyo and Los Angeles. Honda hasn't yet made such a sweeping announcement but appears to be taking things one show at a time. It wouldn't be surprising to see a similar move with only one North American Show presence as well. At this year's Detroit show, Honda and Acura occupied floor space but didn't bother with a press conference. Instead, the new Insight was simply revealed on the show floor.

Speaking of the Insight, it goes on sale in Europe on April 18. Elsewhere, Honda will begin testing its FCX Clarity fuel cell car in Germany later this year and will divert other resources to fuel cell and hydrogen development. Honda sees fuel cells as a better long term bet than batteries and plug-in vehicles and intends to pursue that goal.


[Source: Honda]

We've been hearing rumblings that BMW and Fiat were working together on the development of new small vehicle platforms for a while now. With the German automaker working on an Isetta revival and the Italian firm moving forward with a new Topolino, it makes sense that the two companies would join forces on a single platform for the two small retromobiles.

According to Auto Express in the UK, work is far enough along that we could see both new city cars by 2011. If current rumors are true, the cars will feature a rear-mounted engine and four seats, putting the machines on par with the new Toyota iQ and upcoming Up! from Volkswagen. Light weight would be ensured through the use of aluminum and carbon fiber for the chassis and, possibly, plastic bodywork.

An electric drivetrain featuring one motor for each of the four wheels and a thin battery pack sandwiched under the passenger compartment is also likely. If there's any truth to these rumors, we could see a concept vehicle on the new platform wearing a MINI badge at the Frankfurt Motor Show later this year.

[Source: Auto Express]

click for a high res gallery of the teasers

We're still a month away from the Paris Motor Show which alternates every other year with the Frankfurt Motor Show. Nonetheless, GM has released some teaser images of the next-generation Astra which won't appear until Frankfurt in 2009. We've been seeing spy shots of the new Astra for some time now, but GM has managed to keep much of the surface development covered up thus far. According to the press release accompanying the images, the final version will be seeing more of the features that have appeared on the new mid-size Insignia along with recent Opel concepts like the GTC and Flextreme. Among those are the sculpted side blade and the wrap-around interior. The sketch above also shows a shoulder character line above the rear wheels that has appeared on the other cars. The Astra shares the next-generation Delta compact car platform with the new Chevy Cruze and Volt and it is expected to be built in North America in addition to Europe. That will be the key to making it a profitable enterprise for Saturn. The current Astra has been a commercial failure due to its relatively high price and limited changes from the European version; it still loses money for GM.


[Source: General Motors]