efficiency Archives

How Ford is using Google’s Prediction API to increase efficiency

Filed under: Hybrid, Technology, Ford, Electric

Ford uses Google’s Prediction API to increase efficiency – Click above to watch the video after the break

Yesterday we got word that Ford was tapping Google’s new Prediction API to provide location and routing services for its fleet of plug-in hybrids and full EVs. Today, Ford’s engineers are speaking at the Google I/O developers summit and they’ve released a video explaining how the system works and how they plan to implement it.

You can get the full details in our previous post, but the short-and-sweet version is this: Ford drivers can opt-in for the service, which tracks their daily driving routine, and, after building a database of destinations and waypoints, the system provides drivers with more efficient routing to optimize their powertrain, reduce range anxiety and decrease commute times. We’ve snagged a handful of slides from Ford’s presentation and you can check out the full video after the jump.

Continue reading How Ford is using Google’s Prediction API to increase efficiency

How Ford is using Google’s Prediction API to increase efficiency originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 May 2011 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Porsche offers 540-hp kit for Cayenne Turbo, improves Diesel’s efficiency

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, SUV, Porsche, Diesel, Luxury

2011 porsche cayenne turbo

2011 Porsche Cayenne Turbo – Click above for high-res image gallery

Porsche has announced changes to its 2012 Cayenne that provide more power, increased efficiency and a few options that weren’t available before.

When it comes to power, the Cayenne Turbo already packs a 500-horsepower punch, but if that isn’t good enough for you, Porsche is now offering a kit that boosts power to 540 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque; an improvement of 40 ponies and 37 lb-ft. That increase comes courtesy of a pair of new turbochargers with titanium-aluminum turbine wheels and engine electronics adjustments. The added power will net you a 0-62 time of 4.6 seconds (from 4.7 seconds) and a top speed of 176 miles per hour. Porsche also improved brake cooling to help stop this raging locomotive, and the optional Ceramic Composite Brakes now feature larger front discs to boost stopping power.

The diesel-powered Cayenne has also received a significant upgrade, with a cleaner diesel engine that is more powerful and efficient than before. Output has been bumped by five ponies to 245 hp, and the automaker claims the oil-burning SUV consumes only 7.2 liters of diesel fuel per 100 km. That’s 39 imperial mpg, or roughly 32 mpg in U.S. mpg. The added performance also improves acceleration, with a quoted 7.6 seconds to reach 62 miles per hour, or .2 seconds quicker than the 2011 Cayenne diesel. Engine improvements include a new turbocharger, an amazing 44 pounds of weight savings (just from the diesel engine!) and a 10-percent increase in direct injection pressure.

Porsche also announced minor changes meant to improve the Cayenne Hybrid’s driving characteristics and the addition of Lane Change Assist to the 2012 Panamera. There’s a slew more detail changes outlined in the Porsche press release that you’ll find after the break.

Gallery: First Drive: 2011 Porsche Cayenne

[Source: Porsche]

Continue reading Porsche offers 540-hp kit for Cayenne Turbo, improves Diesel’s efficiency

Porsche offers 540-hp kit for Cayenne Turbo, improves Diesel’s efficiency originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Detroit 2011: Toyota Prius C Concept is higher efficiency in a smaller package

Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, Hybrid, Hatchback, Toyota

Toyota Prius C Concept

Toyota Prius C Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Toyota Prius V may be the newest production-ready addition to the automaker’s hybrid line, but the family of Prius vehicles will continue to grow in the coming years. Toyota gave us a preview of what to expect by showing the Prius C Concept at the Detroit Auto Show – a car that will come to life in the first half of 2012. Toyota promises that it will be the most fuel-efficient hybrid (that doesn’t need a plug) and will be the most “value-oriented hybrid” in the United States. You’ve been warned, Honda Insight.

It might look like a cartoon frog from certain angles, but what strikes us as odd is that the smaller C Concept keeps the Prius’ five-door design. We were originally tipped to believe this model would be a coupe or hatchback, but even so, we aren’t too put off by this five-door concept. It’s pretty cute, and once its concept-spec lines are toned down for actual production, we’re sure it’ll fit right in with the rest of the Prius clan.

Click past the jump for Toyota’s official words about the Prius C Concept and see it for yourself in the high-res gallery below.

Gallery: Toyota Prius C Concept: Detroit 2011

Toyota Prius C Concept

Gallery: Toyota Prius C Concept

Toyota Prius C Concept

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading Detroit 2011: Toyota Prius C Concept is higher efficiency in a smaller package

Detroit 2011: Toyota Prius C Concept is higher efficiency in a smaller package originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Detroit 2011: Audi A6 Hybrid is Teutonic efficiency

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Hybrid, Sedan, Audi

2011 Audi A6 Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery

While we have already met the 2012 Audi A6, we weren’t clear on what the A6 Hybrid would look like. As it turns out, we had a pretty solid idea, as Audi officials say they have gone out of their way to keep it aesthetically true to the conventional gas-powered model.

The new A6 hybrid is a front-wheel drive affair that offers Audi’s 2.0-liter TFSI four-cylinder with a 45-horsepower/155 pound-feet of torque electric motor sitting ahead of the eight-speed Tiptronic gearbox. A modest 1.3 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack is resident in the trunk to generate 39 kW. Audi quotes an estimated combined fuel economy rating of 38 miles per gallon, noting that the A6 Hybrid can be coaxed up to 62 mph strictly on electricity, and it has a pure-electric range of three kilometers (1.86 miles).

Audi isn’t confirming when this new model will go on sale, but it is widely understood that the gas-electric model was conceived with the U.S. in mind, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see it roll into American dealerships before it hits the rest of the globe.

Gallery: Audi A6 Hybrid: Detroit 2011

Audi A6 Hybrid

Live photos copyright (C)2011 Chris Paukert / AOL

[Source: Audi]

Detroit 2011: Audi A6 Hybrid is Teutonic efficiency originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LA 2010: 2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist brings efficiency to the full-size luxury sedan

Filed under: LA Auto Show, Hybrid, Sedan, Buick, GM, Luxury

2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist

2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist – Click above for high-res image gallery

Full-size luxury sedans are typically guilty pleasures since they can be either coddling, comfort machines or all-out speed freaks. One thing they haven’t been is fuel efficient… until now. Making its debut at the 2010 LA Auto Show is the 2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist.

Power for the LaCrosse eAssist is provided by a 2.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with direct-injection. It gains an efficiency boost through the addition of a 115V lithium-ion battery pack, which allows the fuel system to take a nap during certain conditions. These two power systems working together, along with the six-speed automatic transmission, allow the Buick LaCrosse eAssist to achieve 25 miles per gallon in the city and 37 mpg on the highway – a 25% percent improvement compared to the 2.4-liter flying solo. Consider this the reinvention of GM’s long lost mild hybrid system.

Pricing for the 2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist is expected to start around $30,000. What’s more, the hybrid system will be fitted standard to all LaCrosse models equipped with the 2.4-liter Ecotec engine. More green luxury information is sprouting just after the jump.

Gallery: LA 2010: 2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist

2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading LA 2010: 2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist brings efficiency to the full-size luxury sedan

LA 2010: 2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist brings efficiency to the full-size luxury sedan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EPA issues first-ever fuel efficiency and emissions standard proposal for heavy-duty vehicles

Filed under: Truck, Government/Legal, Work, Specialty, Diesel

semi truck

As expected, the EPA has released its first-ever proposal for greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles. The proposal, and that’s all it is at this point, would create three new categories for heavy trucks: combination tractors, heavy-duty pickups and vans, and vocational vehicles. The rules will cover on-road vehicles with a gross vehicle weight at or above 8,500 pounds, unless these vehicles are already covered under CAFE. All of these proposals would start with the 2014 model year and make some big improvements relatively soon. The EPA is working with the DOT and NHTSA on the joint standards, which will have two types of metrics.

For pick-ups and vans, the metric will be gram per mile (and gallon per 100-miles) based on payload.
For vocational vehicles and combination tractors, the standards are gram per ton-mile (and gallon per 1,000 ton-mile).

Each of the three categories has different targets.

Combination tractors (commonly known as semi trucks) would get new engine and vehicle standards and, according to the EPA, “achieve up to a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption by 2018 model year,” compared to a 2010 baseline.
Heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans would fall under emissions rules that are similar to the rules that govern light-duty trucks and passenger cars. There would be separate gasoline and diesel standards that would, “achieve up to a 10 percent reduction for gasoline vehicles and 15 percent reduction for diesel vehicles by 2018 model year (12 and 17 percent respectively if accounting for air conditioning leakage).”
For vocational vehicles, the proposed standards would reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions up to 10 percent by 2018 model year.

(This post continues after the jump.)

Continue reading EPA issues first-ever fuel efficiency and emissions standard proposal for heavy-duty vehicles

EPA issues first-ever fuel efficiency and emissions standard proposal for heavy-duty vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Avera Motors teases high-efficiency prototype

Filed under: Concept Cars, Technology

Avera Motors Teaser

Florida-based Avera Motors is beginning to part the veil of secrecy surrounding what the company has been up to for the past few years. The KGB is a downright chatty bunch compared to the start-up automaker, and until now, we’ve only had one very info-light web site and a handful of rumors to give us an idea of what to expect from Avera. We knew that CEO RJ Scaringe had assembled a team of engineers who had worked on projects like the Ford GT, Dodge Viper and Koenigsegg CCX and that the company was planning to build a new take on the efficient automobile, but beyond that, it was anyone’s guess.

Now the company has released a teaser of its first operational prototype – a yet-unnamed, rear-wheel-drive hatch (?) powered by a direct-injection, turbocharged gasoline engine mounted amidships. Scaringe and the rest of the Avera Motors crew are hoping that the vehicle will be able to best every hybrid in the game in terms of fuel economy and driving fun simply by reducing weight as much as possible. We were able to spend a few quick minutes with Scaringe to find out a little more about the vehicle and his company as a whole. Hit the jump to see what we learned.

[Source: Avera Motors]

Continue reading Avera Motors teases high-efficiency prototype

Avera Motors teases high-efficiency prototype originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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