2009 Frankfurt Auto Show: Greenest Car Show Begins Previews Tuesday
By John O'Dell September 14, 2009
Hyundai Motors' ix-Metro Hybrid city car is one of several dozen 'green' cars and concepts debuting at Frankfurt show.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
This week's Frankfurt Auto Show promises to be the greenest major auto show to date - a showcase for fuel efficiency improvements and alternative powertrains that are coming to the forefront as the mainstream auto industry finally begins coming to grips with the need to begin weaning itself - and us - from petroleum.
There still will be a lot of concepts shown - cars and technologies not yet ready for the market - but after years of domination by Toyota and Honda, the green ranks, at least in Europe, where most of the Frankfurt show vehicles will be sold, are being swelled with market-ready entries from everyone from Audi to Volkswagen.
Much of the greening is being spawned by tough new European rules on C02 emissions - most easily reduced by increasing fuel economy or replacing carbon-based fuels altogether.
But there also seems to a growing acknowledgment among automakers that business as usually won't play well in the coming post-recession economy; that smaller, lighter, more efficient petroleum-burners and, increasingly, vehicles that that help make us petrol-free are going to be the next big thing.
Here's a look at some of the most important green cars slated for unveiling at the Frankfurt show, which opens Tuesday with a two-day media preview (check back all week for updates).
AUDI
Nothing concrete here, but despite the company's disavowals, reports persist that Audi is readying a battery-electric or plug-in hybrid version of its R8 sports coupe (left) and could pull the covers off a concept version at Frankfurt.
We'd love to see it but aren't holding our breath.
We might also see an Audi version of the mid-engine, fuel-efficient Bluesport diesel roadster that parent Volkswagen debuted in Detroit this year.
BMW
We're looking for a diesel-electric plug-in hybrid sports car as well as a couple of production-ready hybrids and a Mini competitor from the boys at Bayerische Motoren Werke.
The gull-wing two-seat sportster is called the Vision EfficientDynamics Concept (right) and features a three-cylinder turbo diesel augmenting a pair of electric motors.
BMW also will show gas-electric hybrid versions of its X6 crossover and 7-Series sedan, both with turbocharged V8s adding punch to the electric drive portion of the powertrain.
At the other end of the scale, the BMW 1-Series gets an SUV variant, the X1. The tiny, fuel-efficient crossover will go on sale in the U.S. in 2011, a year after its European launch.
In between, there's the BMW 320d EfficientDynamics turbo-diesel sedan, featurng a 2-liter diesel engine and a suite of aerodynamc tweaks that help it achieve 57 miles per gallon average fuel economy.
CITROEN
France's Citroen is scheduled top show off the Revolte concept (right), and despite efforts to keep everything about it secret 'til the covers come off, word is that it will be a battery-electric mini car with styling inspired by the old 2CV, or "deux chevaux."
FIAT
The Italian automaker that recently acquired Chrysler is known for its small cars and scored a huge hit a few years ago with its subcompact Fiat 500. But it makes other cars and one, the Grande Punto, is being updated and greened a little bit as the Punto Evo.
It's not a new-tech green car, but a more-efficient version of its predecessor, fitted either with Fiat's new 1.4-liter Multiair engine with electro-hydraulic valve control or with a second-generation 1.3-liter Multijet diesel.
Both engines will feature engine start-stop technology (known in some circles as micro-hybrid technology) to eliminate emissions and fuel waste when the car otherwise would be idling at stop signs.
FORD
Ford Motor Co. will be showing the Europeans the eco-boost engine technology - designed to improve fuel efficiency while still delivering a high level of performance - that it unveiled in the U.s. at the Detroit show in January.
But what we're interest in is the battery-electric Focus, which also debuted in Detroit. Has Ford added any embellishments to the car since then? We'll let you know as soon as we find out.
The electric Focus, you might recall, is slated to go on sale in the U.S. in late 2011.
HYUNDAI
South Korea's dominant automaker is staging the world debuts of a new electric concept and the electric version of its i10 minicar (right).
The concept is the ix-Metro city car, a small commuter hybrid using a small electric motor mated to a 1-liter, 3-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine.
The battery-powered i10 Electric uses a lithium-ion battery pack and boasts a range of 105 miles.
It is scheduled to go one sale in South Korea next year and Hyundai is considering European sales as well - sorry, but the company is among the many that don't see much of a market for small electric city cars in the U.S. quite yet.
KIA
Kia is expected to show gas-electric hybrid concept versions of its Cee'd small car and Sorento crossover SUV models and will use the show to launch the new Eco Dynamics badge it will paste on its most fuel-efficient models.
LEXUS
Toyota Motor Co.'s luxury brand is bringing s new small hybrid concept, the LF-Ch (right), to Frankfurt as a potential European competitor to small luxe cars such as the BMW 1 and Audi A3.
The five-door hatchback uses the Lexus Hybrid Drive version of Toyota's gasoline-electric Hybrid Synergy Drive and could become a real car for the European market in 2010. (Sorry, not for the U.S. until Lexus determines a market case for a tiny upscale hybrid here.)
LOTUS
Lotus Engineering isn't bringing a whole car, but will be showing what could become the heart of many - a compact range-extending engine-generator for plug-in electric hybrids. The 1.2-liter, three-cylinder engine-generator can use gasoline or alcohol-based fuels and can recharge a series hybrid's batteries as well as provide direct power to the vehicle's electric motor.
MAZDA
Downsized, turbocharged engines and electric motors aren't the only way to improve fuel efficiency, and Mazda will bring a sporty, if impractical, example to Frankfurt with its MX-5 (Miata) Superlight concept (right).
The concept will showcase a number of lightweighting technologies, including lots of aluminum and composite body parts in a roofless, windshield-less (bring back the goggles and helmet) 2-seat sports car aimed at improving performance and fuel economy simultaneously.
MERCEDES-BENZ
Germany's leading luxury car company has announced a quartet of green debuts: A plug-in electric version of its top-of-line S-class, a diesel-electric E-class hybrid, and a pair of B-class concepts - one featuring a battery-electric drive with a range extending gasoline engine, the other boasting a fuel-cell electric system fed with hydrogen.
A probable fifth green Benz would be a plug-in electric version of the new SLS AMG supercar. A conventional gasoline-engine version of the $200,000 performance car will debut at Frankfurt and there have been a number of German media reports suggesting that a battery-electric version will be shown as well.
Although being shown as a concept car, the S-class plug-in electric hybrid - called the Vision S 500 Plug-in (left) - is a car Mercedes wants to bring into production as quickly as possible. It is powered by a 3.5-liter direct-injected gas engine mated with a 44 kilowatt (59 horsepower) electric motor and, Mercedes says, can run up to 19 miles on all-electric drive.
The company also will show a updated version of the BlueZero E-Cell Plus, a plug-in electric car concept it unveiled in January at the Detroit show.
The compact hatchback (left), based on the B-class, uses lithium ion batteries and an electric motor fed by a small gasoline engine-generator with the batteries' grid-charge is depleted. Mercedes says it is capable of 62 miles under battery power and an additional 310 miles until the engine-generator's gas tank runs dry.
A second B-class based electric concept at the show will be the F-Cell, which uses a fuel cell that produces electricity from hydrogen and oxygen. Mercedes says it has a range of about 250 miles on a tank of hydrogen.
On the clean diesel front - a segment Mercedes helped create - the company will show off the Vision E300 Bluetec diesel hybrid concept - which is reportedly close to production. It combines a 2.2-liter, 4-cylinder diesel the 15-kilowatt (20 horsepower) electric drive used in the recently launched S 400 gas-electric hybrid.
OPEL
The longtime German arm of General Motors Corp. now has GM as a minority shareholder with the sale, announced last week, of a 10 percent share to Opel's employees and a 55 percent stake to Canadian parts maker Magna international and its Russia partners Gaz Automotive and the Sherbank banking enterprise.
But before the sale, Opel had announced that it would show the redesigned sixth-generation Astra (photo left) with a total of four gasoline and four diesel engine options, each achieving an average 12 percent improvement in fuel economy over the present models. We're still expecting them.
Opel also is scheduled to display the previously introduced Ampera (photo right) extended-range electric car, a Eurocentric sibling of the Chevrolet Volt scheduled to go on sale at the end of 2011, or about a year after the Volt's launch in the U.S.
PEUGEOT
Peugeot, Citroen's stablemate, will do its bit for a greener world with a new electric minicar and a new diesel-electric hybrid technology.
The electric car, called the iOn. already is slated to hit the market (Europe only) late next year. It is a Frenchified version of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric city car that went on sale to select fleet buyers in Japan last month and is scheduled to go on sale to the public there next year (reports are that Mitsubishi already has received 900 orders).
The tiny four-door, four-seater reportedly has a range of up to 80 miles on a battery charge and used lithium-ion batteries that can be recharged in about six hours (or brought up to 80 percent of capacity in just 30 minutes - its the last 20 percent that takes all the time, as is the case with most EV batteries).
Peugeot also will show diesel-electric hybrid concepts of the RCZ coupe and the 3008 SUV (right).
The 3008 diesel hybrid is scheduled to go on sale in Europe starting in spring 2011 while the RCZ HYbrid4 is an experiment prototype. Peugeot says the diesel-electric technology, which it calls Hybrid4, offers fuel savings of up to 35 percent compared with equivalent diesel engines.
RENAULT
The other French carmaker (the one that owns controlling interest in Nissan) says it will unveil four electric vehicle concepts - cars that are expected to share the technology developed for the Nissan Leaf EV recently unveiled in Yokohama.
Renault is saying nothing in advance of the show but has "leaked" some top-view photos that make it apparently it is talking about a family of cars including a city car, a sports car of some sort, a subcompact and a compact sedan.
REVA
Indian automaker Reva plans to show two electric cars - the NXR, a four-seat, three-door hatchback for urban driving slated to go into production early next year; and the NXG (right), a sporty two-seater with a targa roof and a potential production date in 2011.
Reva also says it will show a new wireless EV charging technology (?!) that will enable stranded motorists to simply phone or send an SMS text message to the company for an "instant remote recharge."
That ought to make for an interesting press conference.
TOYOTA
The leader of the hybrid pack will show a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius (right), capable of a dozen miles of all-electric travel and a big improvement in fuel economy over the standard Prius.
Also on tap is a standard hybrid version of the Auris, a car that sells well in Europe. Toyota wants to use the gas-electric compact to compete with European carmakers' diesel models.
TRABANT
Here's one you've all been waiting for.
The Trabant, a notoriously unlovely, unreliable and inefficient East German car (before the wall came down) is being resurrected as the "New Trabi" EV (right), with the same boxy lines as the original but with an electric motor and battery replacing the original's exhaust-belching, two-stroke, 0.6-liter gas engine (to be fair, that engine was replaced just before the Trabant ceased production in 1991 by a much cleaner, 1.1 liter engine sourced from Volkswagen).
The Trabant EV concept features a solar panel on the roof to help recharge the battery and a range of about 150 miles on a fully charged battery pack.
VOLKSWAGEN
VW is slated to show an electric version of its Up subcompact (right) - believed to be scheduled for production in 2013 - and a new diesel Polo model to be sold under the BlueMotion badge and featuring a 1.2-liter, three-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine capable of delivering more than 70 mpg.
Some media reports also have Volkswagen debuting a new prototype of its 1Liter Auto. The car, originally introduced in 2002, is a concept study of an ultra-efficient car that burns one liter of fuel per 100 kilometers (equivalent to almost 250 mpg).
The new version is a small city car that uses a two-cylinder turbo-diesel, aluminum body panels and titanium wheel hubs to keep weight down and fuel economy up.
LEAVE A COMMENT