The company that made electric vehicles cool again and dispelled the ugly golf cart stereotypes is rumored to file for an IPO very soon according to a recent Reuters report. What makes this CleanTech startup unique from say the recent A123 Systems IPO? Tesla is currently profitable! Profitability is one way to counter the IPO risks noted in this well blogged article about Goldman Sachs and their IPO business.

Tesla is on a mission to prove that Silicon Valley can do what Detroit, Tokyo and Frankfurt cannot. While some may think their Tesla Roadster (costs approx. $109k), which has a range of approximately 220 miles and Ferrari like performance, is a toy for the rich- a new Tesla Model S is in the works to dispel this theory and open the company to those with a smaller budget. The Model S will cost around $50,000, have 4 doors and appear similar to a nice Lexus, but more beautiful in my opinion. It also will not have any tailpipe emissions and will cost about $2 to power for 300 miles.

While Tesla’s automobiles are an evolutionary step as far as design, production and backing- they will nonetheless need to compete with companies like Nissan, GM, Fisker  and Ford who all have both government backing, and either an EV or Plug-in EV in the works. Along with several battery makers including A123 Systems, Ener1 and Johnson Controls, Tesla received $465MM in low cost loans from the US government to help spur development. It is interesting to ponder whether or not the market for efficient automobiles will prefer plug in electrics, pure electrics or if it is large and wealthy enough for both. Signs point to the latter as several of these planned or existing cars, including Tesla’s, have a lengthy customer waiting list.

Tesla’s investors include Google, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Daimler AG, Aabar Investments, Valor Equity Partners, Technology Partners, The Westly Group, Compass Venture Partners. Tesla has also received an ‘opportunistic’ US$82.5m equity investment from a group led by Fjord Capital Management, a private equity firm which focuses exclusively on clean energy. “Daimler, which invested US$50m in Tesla earlier in 2009, along with Aabar Investments, which is also Daimler’s largest shareholder, contributed to the offering to keep its stake at just under 10%. The new money was earmarked for Tesla’s expansion of its retail store network globally.”

The IPO would be the first from a US Automaker since Ford in 1956.

The 2009 Seattle Auto Show

This was my first Seattle Auto Show.  I really did not know what to expect, so I was going in with an open mind.  I was really excited to see the Fisker Karma.  I have read so many things about the car and seeing one in person was one of the main reasons why I wanted to go to the Auto Show.  I dragged Sophia along and sort of made it my date day.  I told her if she went with me I would take a full day of Christmas shopping with her.  Sophia was great at the car show as she would jump in cars and tell me what she liked.  Of course I would tell her at times Sophia you will never get that car.  I think it was really hard for her when I told her that marrying a Gamblin that her chances of getting a Volvo or Audi or slim to none.

What I was so excited and shocked to see at the show was a Cadillac Converj.  I could not believe it.  I just wrote a lengthy blog on the Cadillac Converj as General Motors just announced that they will be putting the concept into production.  It was great to see the car in person.  I was a little disappointed not to see a CTS coupe, I thought for sure they would have one.  Seeing the CTS Sport Wagon in person was great as well as I have blogged about that car as well.

I got to see my first Buick Lacrosse in person and actually sit in the seats.  I am very excited with the direction Buick is heading.  Of course I was praying a miracle would happen and a Buick Regal would be there.  I thought I would never say that Buick has a great upcoming line up of young and aggressive vehicles.

The Chevrolet Exhibit was huge and you could tell that they were searching how to fill it.  I understand that importance of having your vehicles there but an auto show is an auto show.  I was really surprised to see a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept there.  I had to explain to Sophia that was the car in Transformers 2 where they could have made an amazing car chase vs the Audi R8 but it lasted 10 seconds during the movie.  I also liked how they lined up the Corvette’s all in a row.  It started with the Stingray concept to the Corvette ZR1, Corvette Z06 and then the Corvette Grand Sport.

Other vehicles that were nice to see in person where the Porsche Panamera, Cadillac SRX, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Infiniti G37 and the whole Audi exhibit.

One of the good bits of news from today’s New York Times: Fisker will make plug-in Hybrids at old G.M. plant.

I have been loving Fisker ever since I saw a concept model of their new electric hybrid car, the Karma.
Seen posing for PlayCar here:

Do I need explain why? The car, which doubles as a spaceship on wheels, trashes the notion that a hybrid has to look like a Toyota Prius (I would post a picture, but it may take away from the appeal of the Karma).

Even if it doesn’t have the horsepower or torque (whatever that is) of a real sports car, it has the same sex appeal. That’s easily more than half of the reasons a man (or a woman, I guess) would buy one anyway.

The greatest thing is that this car, and others made by Fisker, aren’t just amazing prototypes we’ll have to wait years for. They are on their way now.

According to the article, the Department of Energy awarded Fisker a $528 million loan in September to accelerate their work. *express shock here*

The government handing out loans to innovative companies for useful products is almost as rare as JaMarcus Russell, horrible stats seen here, completing a pass, but it actually happened. Of course this is after the bailout of Detroit, but we can build on this.

To act as a great signifier of America moving ahead, Fisker will supposedly use an old General Motors plant to build some of their hybrid cars.

Not only does GM have to watch its company crumble due to lack of innovation, but now it has to watch one of its former plants be used to make another company’s car of the future.

Karma is one cruel mistress.

Right Steve Phillips?

On my recent trip to Germany and the Frankfurt Motor Show, where there were electric cars and other “green” technologies galore, conversations with colleagues and even car company officials often turned to how impractical electric cars still are due to their short ranges and, usually, lack of rear seats, and how this all means that mass acceptance of the electric car is still ages away. Then they’d make a shoe-squealing about-turn and stomp over to a fuel-guzzling, two-seat, multi-million rand exotic and babble enthusiastically… And, to be honest, I’d be right next to them.

You see, I agree, there are still challenges to wide-spread electric car acceptance, but in most instances the technology is advancing so quickly that they’ll all be solved by, well, perhaps as soon as tomorrow – certainly in Europe, in any event. At Frankfurt there were cars that could be recharged in less than ten minutes. There were electric cars with thousands of Newton Metres of torque, too, and these cars could drive very quickly. So what’s the problem, then? Cost? Hmm… we live in a society that will pay a premium for cars that are impractical (two seats, difficult to see out of, heavy on fuel), so why would it be any different with electric cars? Infrastructure? Well, yes, but this infrastructure will shoot up like a mushroom as soon as it becomes clear that there is money to be made from it. At the moment there isn’t, because nobody owns an electric car… The key to the electric car’s acceptance is in fact very simple, and I can’t see why none of the big corporations have done anything about it. Electric cars, through the years, and without exception, have been ugly.

We live in a shallow society, one that is interested in instant gratification, looking good and impressing other people. You can’t be successful in this type of society if you’re trying to sell a challenging new technology, and then make it look unattractive. Would Playtex sell a revolutionary new bra by getting Camilla Parker Bowles to model it? Of course not, they will get Joelle Kayembe, a combination that sends out such a strong buying signal that it will even make me go out and buy lingerie…I simply can’t understand why, when it comes to styling cars propelled by alternative energies, manufacturers allow their designers to sniff more glue than normally and come up with these bizarre sci-fi nightmares.

In terms of electric cars there weren’t many with sex appeal at the Frankfurt Motor Show – except perhaps for the Tesla Model S and Fisker Karma. It seems like the small, new green-tech focused companies know what needs to be done, but they’re unknown organisations and therefore face a different challenge because I believe most consumers would buy a new technology more readily from an established company.

Audi would say that its e-tron is an electric R8, and should therefore be sexy by default. But it looks HORRENDOUS, like a prop from a B-grade ‘80s sci-fi movie, perhaps Judge Dredd. But imagine for a moment it looked like the chrome R8 they had on the stand, on the other hand, and people then read it had 4 500 N.m of torque (which the e-tron does), and cheques would magically start writing themselves…

What else… ? Nissan will soon launch the Leaf, an electric car with hugely admirable technology but I’m afraid it’s as pretty as a dead bull frog. I quite simply can’t fathom the logic. Soon after the show BMW gave me the opportunity to drive its Mini E, a vehicle that, ignoring some lurid yellow-greenish paint, has been left untouched by the electric ugly stick. This was to be my first drive of an electric car, and I must say I was a bit nervous. You see, it was raining, and I just didn’t know exactly how electrifying riding what is essentially a four-wheel lightning bolt in the rain would be like…

My concerns were unfounded. The Mini E’s electric motor is rated at 150 kW and 220 N.m of torque. Power comes from a 259 kg battery pack behind the front seats. BMW claims the Mini E sprints to 100 km/h in a sprightly 8,5 seconds and the top speed is limited to 152 km/h. BMW also claims a range of 250 kilometres on a single charge. Now, considering that these types of vehicles (I mean electric vehicles, and Minis in general), are usually driven in cities for distances shorter than 100 km on a daily basis, these figures look pretty healthy. Of course, drive like a motoring journalist and the range drops to around 160 km, but this should still be enough for most, especially because you could theoretically plug it into a wall socket at your office for recharging. Every one of the 500 Mini Es that BMW has sent to the USA for real-world testing comes with a wallbox that is fitted in the owner’s garage, and allows him/her to completely recharge the Mini E in a very short two-and-a-half hours.

But what impressed me more about this car is the driving enjoyment on offer. That torque figure is on tap virtually immediately, so “throttle” response is very good, the Mini E leaping forward in a way that belies its weight penalty (overall weight of 1 465 kg), and the flow of power gives it strong acceleration once up and running, too. Braking is quite interesting, because when you lift off the throttle, the electric motor acts as a generator, which results in a braking force. The retardation effect is quite strong, and I found that during normal driving you hardly ever need to use the brake pedal. But besides these quirks, and the absence of engine noise – replaced by sort of a electrical whizz most of the time – the Mini E drives pretty much like a normal Cooper, with the same precise steering, flat cornering and feeling of agility.

I was amazed at how quickly and easily I adapted to driving an electric car, and I can understand BMW’s decision to stick with a normal Mini design to promote and test its electric powertrain technology, because it eliminates another element of the “unknown” that odd design would bring to the equation.

Even inside, where there’s only slightly different instrumentation, you’d be hard-pressed to poin

Frankfurt Motor Show stars, the Mini Roadster and Coupe concepts

t out differences to a normal petrol-drinking Mini. But then you look to where you’d usually find the rear seats, and there aren’t any, their space taken up by the battery pack.

Then again, who uses rear seats on a Mini anyway? I also noticed that the space underneath the rear of the car, usually taken up by the petrol tank, has not been used, so perhaps BMW could drop the battery pack a bit lower down, so that there is at least some packing space on top… But at this point I’d like to suggest to BMW that they fit an even more powerful version of this powertrain to their sexy new Roadster and Coupe concepts, showed at the Frankfurt Motor Show. In these types of cars buyers wouldn’t expect rear seats or long-distance ability – just nippy performance and looking cool. And don’t offer a cheaper petrol alternative either. And add that wallbox recharge thing to the deal, too…

In my mind, to fast-track the popularity of the electric car, manufacturers need to start at the top of the food chain and release fast, expensive, fun and beautiful exotics driven by electric power, to make the technology sexy, while at the same time continuing work on also making the technology cheaper. By adding sex-appeal to the electric car consumers won’t need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the era of green motoring, they’ll embrace it.

Je profite du Salon de l’auto de chez nos amis Teutons pour vous parler un peu plus souvent de l’actualité des véhicules verts, soit 100% électriques ou soit hybrides.

Je ne sais pas si vous avez remarqué, mais depuis 2 ans le nombre d’annonces concernant la création et la production de véhicules électriques a carrément explosé. Alors est ce que ce mouvement va se poursuivre, espérons-le.

Mais ce qui me surprend le plus c’est l’audacité et la créativité dont font preuve les designers pour ces automobiles.

Parce que à la base ça reste des voitures à 4 roues qui avancent, mais là on a l’impression qu’ils ont profité du fait de créer de nouveaux modes de propulsion pour révolutionner le design de ces voitures ! Il est vrai que l’aérodynamisme est important pour ce type de véhicule et donc a une incidence sur le design, mais cela n’explique pas tout.

Voici donc une petite sélection de voiture hybrides ou électriques proche du stade de la commercialisation ayant un design innovant voire totalement futuriste !!

Tesla : Plus récemment la nouvelle Model S qui vient de sortir des ateliers de la marque, une berline 5 portes qui se veut plus accessible (48 000 $) au grand public et surtout largement financée par le gouvernement Américain.  Le design est digne d’une voiture de sport Italienne ou anglaise, mais le must à l’intérieur du véhicule, c’est  le tableau de bord, un large panneau en écran lcd entièrement tactile et conçu comme un Iphone, je vous laisse imaginer toutes les utilisations possibles ! (nternet, 3G, GPS, TV, DVD etc…)

Impéria GP : Le dernier constructeur automobile Belge, fait ressusciter sa marque Impéria avec la prochaine sortie d’un véhicule Hybride au design Neo-retro-futuriste vraiment réussi, la Impéria GP.

En gros une consommation et des émissions équivalent à la Smart For Two et les performances d’une Porsche. Ca laisse rêveur.

Fisker Karma , met tout le monde d’accord. En terme de design, une esthétique et une carrosserie à couper le souffle, un modèle hybride, électrique de 0 à 80km/h et le reste en thermique donc une consommation d’essence quasi minime, possibilité de recharge sur la prise secteur, des panneaux solaires sur le toit, bref selon Henrik Fisker son créateur, la dépendance au pétrole  va bientôt être de l’histoire ancienne… (pour les riches!)

Venturi Fetish : Marque Monégasque, celle-ci a été l’une des premières à exposer une vraie voitrue de sport 100% électrique aux performances et au design vraiment innovant.

Entièrement en fibre de carbone, 250 km d’autonomie et 0 à 100 en moins de 5 sec.

Peugeot BB1 : Pour une fois je trouve que le design est audacieux et atypique pour un véhicule électrique. En effet plus vraiment un scooter, pas tout à fait une voiture, ce véhicule occupe un nouveau créneau, qui je pense est intéressant, car c’est typiquement le style de véhicule qui pourrait envahir nos villes demain: Non polluant, peut se garer facilement, et contient 4 places assises.

Audi E-tron : Alors là on change de catégorie, ça rigole plus, quand les allemands se mettent à faire des voitures non polluantes, il faut qu’elles soient obligatoirement sportives et belles ! Un équipement technologique embarqué digne d’un avion de chasse, des performances meilleures que ses équivalents en moteur thermique et 248 km d’autonomie annoncée. Le design bien que futuriste est proche des modèles de série ce qui laisse peut être annoncer une commercialisation prochaine !

Traban Nt : Mon coup de coeur ! Faire ressussiter une voiture symbolique de toute une époque (ex RDA)  je trouve ça déjà pas mal, la Mini et la Fiat 500 sont les exemples parfaits de ce type de projets,  mais en plus la redesigner et en faire une voiture électrique alors là je dis bravo ! Rien n’est encore définitivement décidé mais vu l’engouement populaire du projet, cela ne devait pas tarder !

Faîtes votre choix, ’sieurs dames !

A123 Systems will IPO this week on Thursday on the US based NASDAQ market using the symbol AONE. The IPO has been widely anticipated as A123 often receives much of the attention within the battery start up sector. A123 has high profile backers such as GE and Kleiner Perkins. Already public firms such as Ener1 (HEV) and Valence Technology (VLNC) have seen their share prices run up, perhaps in anticipation of the IPO (up 14% and 34% respectively in past two weeks).

This week’s IPO will help put the spotlight on a variety of battery start ups as well as the entire sector as a whole. While some start ups are geared up with government funding and supplier contracts, others are still looking for footing. US Department of Energy loans are to be announced in the upcoming weeks and grants were already announced this past August to help jump start the industry.  On September 22, Fisker Automotive, a start up automotive company developing plug in hybrids and client of Ener1, was awarded an early DOE loan of $529MM.  As noted in an earlier post, the industry appears poised for a dynamic and exciting period of growth.

Sources:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090922-703279.html

http://earth2tech.com/2009/07/20/13-battery-startups-hitting-the-road-with-lithium-ion/

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2236305920090922

DISCLOSURE: Author owns shares of Ener1

Just to revive your memory, Fisker Karma is the plug-in hybrid sedan from Fisker Automotive which was fist showcased at the Laguna Seca during the Pebble Beach Concours. At that point the fuel efficiency figures of the luxury plug-in hybrid were not available but now the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) do have the results for us. As per the SAE rating the Fisker Karma manages 67 miles per gallon which is pretty impressive.

The numbers look even better when you consider that the sedan churns 403 horsepower and sprints 0 to 60 mph in just 6 seconds. As far as the emissions are concerned the Karma is pretty neat, emitting 83 grams of CO2 per kilometer. The high efficiency numbers will not be a possibility when you intend to run the car on a performance mode, therefore a lot depends on your preferences as far as the efficiency is concerned

The Detroit show was the event chosen by the signing of hybrid Fisker to launch its new model, the Karma S. So this presentation was the only model available (not for sale) this brand is the Fisker Karma, a saloon with a sporty look similar to the Aston Martin Rapide.

Karma S is a four-seater convertible that also use the hybrid technology. This technology called Q-DRIVE uses a four-cylinder engine responsible for moving a generator to recharge the lithium batteries. These batteries are used to operate the motor power transmitting power to the rear axle. With this system the car can accelerate from 0 to 100 km / h in 5.8 seconds with a top speed of 200 km / h.

This bet is two vehicles Fisker luxury with a stunning design that will have several standard with gadgets such as DVD playback systems and GPS navigator. It was not until late 2009 to begin production. The price could be around 66,000 €.

One of the sport’s most anticipated series of small luxury coach builders, the Fisker Karma, was seen this weekend rolling around Laguna Seca. The cathedral of American motor, as happens in the major European circuits is always besieged by a phalanx of photographers, waiting to take pictures with a handful of succulent, as are those that I show.

Moreover, this time the first images of this sporty hybrid and environmentally friendly in action have not been stolen. The event is the race Mazda held last Saturday. As with other important events of the engine, where each Exclusivity comes with going around in his hands and of course …

Although they tried hiding it in the eyes of the media, in the end there was a photographer who managed to shoot in the only round that gave the circuit of Laguna Seca. Those who are interested in seeing something more about this exciting sport can go on the web that the manufacturer has devoted entering here.

The other day I showed the first images of the Fisker Karma rolling around Laguna Seca. One of you reminded me that there was little information on this sport since he was presented in Geneva, so now that the brand is beginning to reveal many details of this upcoming hybrid sports I want to tell a couple of details.

As I have read, what the Karma did in the legendary American track was not shooting at maximum, but a demonstration ahead of a group of selected investors, to see how far I could go without using gasoline. Karma gave a complete return to Laguna Seca without turning on the combustion engine and at speeds up to 160 km / h.

At the wheel was one of the founding of the American coachbuilder, Bernhard Koehler, who aseguir that the future of sports cars and is bright green. But how all this can get a car that has hardly been heard in Europe? Partner technology of this adventure is Fisker PHEV technology, a company specializing in plug-in hybrids and lithium batteries Missouri.

The era of renewable technologies is already at full capacity. For a couple of years, firms around the globe have been surprised with each other to go as quickly as possible the degree of perfection regarding ecological concerns engines never ignoring the level of guarantees of speed, performance, power consumption …

Thus today we present the new Fisker Karma, or rather, its final model, which will be available this month in the United States. A plug-in hybrid sports, with a range in electric mode for 80 kilometers. With two engines power coming back to the 210 hp and are accompanied by a 260-hp 2.0. Its use, laughter, 2.35 liters per 100 km, perhaps with the help of electricity.

Its acceleration is 5.8 seconds from 0 to 100 km and has two modes for the engine, the Stealth and Sport, equivalent to only electrical and electrical-thermal well if the materials used in interior are also organic, such as fiber extracted from bamboo. Today it seems strange and exotic but certain that a few years is usual in this sector. By the way it sells for around 60,000 euros.

Je trouve cette appellation assez sympa et je pense que l’ont pourrait l’utiliser pour toutes les automobiles qui utilisent la technologie électrique pour se déplacer, qu’elles soient hybrides ou 100% électriques.

Ce qui m’amène à vous parler de 5 futurs projets de véhicules  électromobiles qui vont bientôt voir le jour et qui promettent de faire parler d’eux, soit par leur esthétisme, leur technologie innovante ou leur originalité dans leur conception :

1 Peugeot RCZ Hybride

Le nouveau coupé de chez Peugeot sensé concurrencer (un peu) l’AUdi TT et dont son arrivée dans les concessions est prévu au printemps 2010 devrait sortir l’année suivante en version hybride !

Déjà quand même, je trouve que pour une fois Peugeot à mis les bouchées doubles en terme de design, mais si en plus ils sortent une version hybride alors là je dis chapeau …

Moteur 4 cylindres  HDI de 2l, 163 chevaux sur les roues avant et moteur électrique de 37 chevaux situé sur l’essieu arrière.

Consommation annoncée : un peu moins de 4l/100km,  rejet de CO2:  moins de 100gr par Km, 3 modes de fonctionnement possibles : soit en essence, soit en hybride soit en tout électrique.

2 – La Mini E

Version 100% électrique de la Mini classique, avec des batteries en lithium Ion, la voiture développe l’équivalent d’une puissance de 204 chevaux, avec des accélérations de 0 à 100 en 8,5 sec, et une autonomie annoncée de 240km, à condition évidemment de ne pas trop jouer du pied sur l’accélérateur.

La Mini E pourra se recharger sur n’importe qu’elle prise secteur, ou via un chargeur plus puissant fourni par BMW qui permet une recharge complète en moins de 3h.

Pour l’heure 500 Mini E sont en phase de test aux USA chez des particuliers, afin de bien s’assurer de la viabilité du projet avant une commercialisation possible.

3- Fisker Karma

On passe dans la gamme nettement au dessus, mais il faut quand même en parler car en terme d’esthétisme, on atteint quand même des sommets (en tarif aussi)

Luxe, confort, haute technologie, sport et respect de l’environnement !

Cette berline sport capable de rivaliser avec n’importe qu’elle autre voiture essence classique de sa catégorie, utilise une technologie qu’elle a développé elle-même : le Q-Drive:

Un moteur 2 litres, 4 cylindres de 260 chevaux qui  alimentera 2 générateurs de 210 chevaux chacun. Grâce à ce procédé la consommation d’essence ne devrait pas dépasser les 2, 35 litre au 100 km ! La voiture autorisera un mode 100% électrique avec une bonne autonomie de 80km, et l’utilisation en mode hybride devrait atteindre les 480km d’autonomie.

Véhicule disponible en pré-commande au prix sympathique de 80 000$

4 Chevrolet Volt

Projet le plus médiatisé aux USA car la Volt est censée être le véhicule qui va sauver GM de la faillite, et qui a reçu des centaines de millions de dollars d’aide par le Gouvernement Américain.

Les promesses sur le papier sont très alléchantes, supposée être commercialisée début 2011, la Chevrolet afficherait une consommation  de 1,02 litres au 100km!
Berline 4 places, elle possède 220 cellules de batteries en Lithium-Ion qui permettront de rouler en 100% électrique sur plus de 60km. Ensuite un moteur thermique prendra le relais pour faire avancer la voiture et recharger la batterie. Celle-ci sera également rechargeable sur prise secteur, avec un plein d’électrons en 3 heures environ.

Prix pas encore connu mais des aides du gouvernement pour financer l’achat de la Volt seront certainement mis en place.

A noter que General Motors avait déjà lancé la commercialisation d’un véhicule électrique (l’EV1) à grande échelle au début des années 2000, mais la firme avait fait marche arrière contre toute attente et ce malgré son succès, cédant aux pressions des lobby Pétroliers, Politiques etc… Enorme erreur stratégique de GM qui paie aujourd’hui les pots cassés, en ayant choisi à ce moment là de développer la commercialisation des Hummer à la place de la voiture électrique malgré une réelle demande auprès du public.

l'Ev1 développé par GM

Si l’histoire de l’EV1 vous passionne je vous conseille de regarder le documentaire sorti en 2006 “Who Killed the Electric Car ?”  vraiment passionnant.

5- La Blue Car de Bolloré

Développée par le groupe Bolloré et les studios de design Pinifarina, la   batterie spéciale du véhicule (Batterie Lithium Metal Polymère) permettrait à la voiture de parcourir plus 250km avec une seule charge. Avec des performances correctes (0 à 60 km/h en 6,3 sec) et une vitesse de pointe à 130, la Blue Car devrait être proposée dans 1er temps à la location.  Le constructeur mise aussi sur le développement de bornes de recharge rapide en ville, pour prolonger l’autonomie du véhicule.

Dotée de cellules photoélectriques sur le toit et à l’avant, l’énergie solaire produite permettra d’alimenter la climatisation du véhicule.

La voiture est quand même bien stylée, très loin des 1er prototypes dont j’avais évoqué ici dans un article.

Future is exciting isn’t it ???

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport: Another driving report – The …

What a week! While the world toiled away on trivialities like healthcare, racial equality and unemployment, TheCarConnection flew to New York City for a spin in the only car that&s capable of dislodging the Space Shuttle Atlantis on our …

What a week! While the world toiled away on trivialities like healthcare, racial equality and unemployment, TheCarConnection flew to New York City for a spin in the only car that&s capable of dislodging the Space Shuttle Atlantis on our …

What a week! While the world toiled away on trivialities like healthcare, racial equality and unemployment, TheCarConnection flew to New York City for a spin in the only car that&s capable of dislodging the Space Shuttle Atlantis on our …

It&s the most powerful passenger car on the planet…

What a week! While the world toiled away on trivialities like healthcare, racial equality and unemployment, TheCarConnection flew to New York City for a spin in the only car that&s capable of dislodging the Space Shuttle Atlantis on our …

Hello everyone!  Thanks for reading this!  I want to share with you a website (link below) that is about a publication called Royal.  You can find and see sexy pics there.  You can also download without any cost.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8500800/Royal-December-January-Issue-

A fortnightly rant, FL-S style with a big h/t to the fine folks at Britt Chrysler Jeep in Fredericksburg. We wish you all the very best!

So, what do we have to do…to put you behind the wheel of this new [insert car year/make/model here, example: 2009 Ford Crown Victoria]?

As a kid, I remember the excitement The Big Three created when in early autumn their new models reached neighborhood dealer showrooms.

And I clearly recall the crisp morning in the early autumn of 1970 – just after Rosh Hashanah morning services had concluded – when Mom surprised me with a drive down to the local Chrysler/Plymouth dealership on Whalley Avenue- New Haven’s Automobile Row – so that we could see all the new models.

1970 'Cuda painted a princely purple. (Did "His Royal Badness" Own One?)

My little heart raced when I spied a shiny new Plymouth Barracuda covered in a shell of shiny grape-metallic lacquer paint. 

But I nearly died and went to heaven when the sales manager showed me the Plymouth Super Bird that had been carefully rolled off the truck.  On it, where there should have been a chrome front bumper was this thing that looked like the business end of a inter-continental ballistic missile; there were two chrome locks on the hood that sparkled in the early afternoon sun; a dazzling graphic of the Road Runner and the Plymouth logo as large as a highway sign; and, atop the trunk, an air foil the size of a shotgun porch.

Whoa! Is that street-legal?

Whole Lotta Love: The 1970 Plymouth Super Bird...WHOA!

That evening, I found paper, sharp pencils, and a protractor.  And like a starving artist suddenly inspired by the muse, I meticulously went about designing the cars of my testosterone-soaked adolescent future-to-be.

Back then, I must’ve thought “if cars look this great (in the fall of 1970) then 6 and a half years later (in 1977, when I get my license) they’ll be awesome!”  

With my brother cranking up the stereo playing his Led Zeppelin II album, I went about committing my dazzling visions of the future to paper…

But three High Holidays later, the U.S. was caught off guard when in the fall of 1973 Egypt and Syria attacked Israel (starting The Yom Kippur War). OPEC offered a spiteful response to the U.S. for its support of Israel by placing an embargo on its members’ crude oil, which sent the price of gasoline skyward, local gas station supplies downward, and Detroit lumbering down 8 Mile Road to the scrap-heap.

And, what about my teenage dream ride?  My dream turned nightmarish when I was forced to take my driving test in a borrowed car…this remarkable bit of Detroit ingenuity: behold the 1977 Plymouth Volare!

Volare....OH, oh! Volare....oh, oh, oh, OH!

My Hannibal Lechter-inspired orthodontic nightgear was sexier. 

The Autumn 1973 shock wave, sent the frugal to the Horse-traders of the Rising Sun. The family three doors down from my house bought one of the first Honda Civics; there’s was orange-painted with black decals and looked like a pumpkin on steroids.  Soon, Detroit started losing market share to the likes of Honda and Toyota and Datsun (now Nissan) and Subaru.

Hard to believe, but true: people actually bought and drove the AMC Pacer

Spokeshombre Ricardo Mantalban got us all talking about rich Corinthian leather and 6-way adjustable power seats, but super-high television audience-recall didn’t translate to showroom sales; what most viewers remembered was that the commercial had the guy from Fantasy Island and rich, Corinthian leather.  But could they recall the make or model of car? And could Lee Iacocca, the genius car-guy behind the Ford Mustang, really stabilize the SS Hindenberg (I mean, Chrysler)?  Fuggettaboutit!

American cars quickly became fodder for Johnny Carson’s monologues. And many local car dealers – decent hardworking folk, pillars of the community – that were late to the line to add foreign nameplates to their signage, were stuck selling so many buttugly road hogs.

Expediency trumped creativity.  And in a flash, the thrill of “owning American” was gone.

Flash-forward: May 14-15 2009: Chrysler LLC released a list of national dealer closings. Fred2Blue was the first to report that Britt Chrysler Jeep was among 789 dealers nationwide to lose their franchises. General Motors also sent overnight-dispatched letters to 1,000 dealers nationwide but didn’t release the hit list to the public so we may not know for some time which local GM dealers, if any, will get the axe. We suppose some of the GM dealers will appeal the decision. Sad news, for sure.

TROLL ALERT!  TROLL ALERT!  TROLL ALERT!

Now I know the legions of global warming-denying conspiracy theorists out there in their darkened basements – the average age 34 year-old unmarried white guys that all scored online tickets for the advance screening of Star Trek on Fandango, that have bookmarked F2B (or better yet, placed us in their Google alerts) – are reading this and their little pulses are racing like those tricked out hot rods in American Graffiti.

They’ll post a comment to this site (or at least be tempted to post one) that places the blame – for the sorry state of American automotive manufacturing and an antiquated, bloated dealer-network business model – squarely on the shoulders of Carl Levin, and John Dingell, and the United Auto Workers, and Tim Geithner, and President Obama, and Michael Moore, and maybe – just to be snarky – The Trilateral Commission…BECAUSE…BECAUSE les trolles will say all this is a colossal liberal conspiracy, or whatever.

So let me first surprise our loyal legions of Rupert Pupkins out there and say:

You know what? Some of what you say is absolutely true.  Some liberals have protected their incumbencies by insulating the American auto industry from ever going under (that is until now when there may not be another choice).  The Big Three circa 1973 was too big to respond effectively to the first energy crisis, and didn’t really snap out of that cycle until the mid-1980s. (And that’s where most of you dwellers of dark spaces will say it was because Ronnie Reagan was president.) But plenty of Republicans (even conservatives) knew then and still know now how to count constituent votes; and even when the Republicans ran Washington, the auto industry got so many lifelines, immunity from market forces that killed so many other domestic industries.

You know what else? The unions once exerted a lot of power and I know there weren’t enough sleeves rolled up on their side of the bargaining table nor enough concessions agreed to, to help Detroit mitigate the first energy crisis.  I remember being a teenager and touring the huge GM Baltimore Final Assembly Plant and spying a couple of workers snoozing atop a mountain of untrimmed upholstery, thinking to myself (what’s up with that?).  But that was a long time ago. Since then, union members have made huge concessions, and no one in their right minds could accuse them collectively of sleeping on the job. In some ways, the partnership with the Big Three has become very productive, a model partnership.  Still, I don’t know how you trolls are going to react when the union-ownership stakes in the Big Three increase.

(And let’s just hope all those working members at the GM PowerTrain plant on Tidewater Trail in Spotsylvania County get to stay on the job.)

So how about this? Some out there argue that the quality of American cars now rivals that of foreign nameplates. That’s great…it truly is, and union members are among the best-trained in the world. But many of us cannot reconcile that fact that since the early 1970s, American cars have been mostly function over form.  We used to write songs about the cars we drove, but we don’t do that anymore. That’s because for nearly 40 years most of them have been wallflowers atop four tires.

And this? It’s true that so far the hype of green energy has eclipsed reality. But the knowledge to create high-mileage, clean/green cars has been fairly well known for YEARS. It is good that Detroit is finally taking this all very seriously; let’s just make sure that these vehicles balance form and function. And to you Mr. Troll, I say we need a balanced energy policy. And drilling, drilling, drilling must not be the only answer. (Duh!)

But I digress.

As our nation deals with so much institutional crisis – from default credit-swaps, to large bank bailouts – it is hard to attach a human face to any one issue.  But the auto industry meltdown – and Chrysler’s and GM’s decisions to close so many dealerships – does put a human face on a vexing problem.

Local dealerships that have stood by their communities since the owners’ great-great-grandparents sold horses and carriages to townsfolk will soon close for good.

Local dealerships that have reliably serviced the cars of so many and in doing so forged years long trusting relationships will have to direct their valued customers, elsewhere. 

It’s true that some dealers are better than others at selling cars, and the dealerships that don’t live up to their franchise obligations probably shouldn’t be hanging a shingle much longer.

But word to Detroit: you need new blood and fresh eyes in your management ranks to build better cars – green cars – that are better-looking than anything else on the market, like this:

2010 Fisker Karma: The American-built totally sweet solar-paneled performance hybrid Detroit should watch very, very carefully.

When Detroit once again is celebrated in song and popular culture it will rule the road.

Until then? This:

Move over Tesla, there is a new baby in town. This sexy creature can do 0 to 60 in 5.8 seconds and has a 125 top speed. More than enough for my normal aggresive driving habits. It has a 350 mile range — the first 50 on electricity then extended by 300 with the gas engine. The 450 watt stereo will blow your ears away, and the solar roof will make sure your battery is not sapped by playing Ratt at 100 decibels. Best yet, it only costs $87K, $20K less than the Tesla. It should be available for Christmas 2009.

Santa, you know what is on my list…

Fisker Automotive is rounding the bend on production of its first vehicle, the luxury plug-in hybrid Fisker Karma. A Department of Energy loan still hangs in the balance for a lower-cost model, but the Irvine, Calif.-based startup has just announced $85 million in new venture capital to help develop and manufacture the $87,900 Karma sports car.

Fisker said in its announcement that it remains on track to begin production by the end of this year. Given that the company doesn’t plan to build or refurbish its own factory (one of the hurdles for rival startup Tesla Motors in producing its Model S sedan) for the first generation of Karmas, Fisker may be able to move fairly quickly into production. Although Fisker has said it eventually wants to set up manufacturing in the U.S., the company has signed on Valmet Automotive to assemble the Karma in Finland, at least initially.

To be sure, challenges could still arise before the Karma makes it into showrooms, and Fisker is hardly immune to the ills of the larger auto industry. Fisker’s technology partner, Quantum Technologies (s QTWW) (developing the Karma drivetrain) is feeling the strain of plummeting demand in the auto industry, and especially General Motors (s GM), a key customer.

Kleiner Perkins and the European-American investment group Eco Drive Capital Partners joined this round, the fourth-largest in Fisker’s two years of existence. Just last month, Fisker added $3 million (to secure an exclusive supply of battery technology from Advanced Lithium Power) to the $65 million the company raised back in September. This latest round brings the company’s fundraising to some $185 million.

TECHNOLOGY

Tesla says that 520 S Model all electric sedans have been reserved by customers in first week since it was announced. Each customer must pay a $5,000 reservation fee, which is refundable if they choose not to buy the car. The base price for the Model S, which will be available starting in 2010, is $49,900 after a federal tax credit of $7,500. A limited editon of the Model S is available for a $40,000 reservation fee. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/01/520-tesla-s-sedans-reserved-in-one-week-company-gets-26-million-in-fees 4/1)

Fisker Automotive has a goal of setting up a group of retailers across the U.S. to sell and service their luxury plug-in hybrid cars. How many retailers? Fisker says it wants 40 locations by the end of June 2009. That’s a pretty lofty goal for any car company, let alone a new car company that just opened its doors in 2007.

Well…just yesterday, Fisker Automotive released a statement that revealed it already has 32 “award-winning retailers” in its network (if you download the PDF you can see the full list). Going over the list of charter members, it looks like 31 of the locations are in the U.S. and one is in British Columbia. Not a bad start, right?

The first of the Fiskers to hit the showroom floors will be the Fisker Karma sedan. The MSRP for the Karma, an eco-friendly, luxury, plug-in hybrid car, is expected to be $87,900. But understand that for that somewhat hefty price tag, you’re getting a hybrid car that the manufacturer claims is capable of achieving 100 miles per gallon. And if you commute less than 50 miles per day, you won’t burn any fuel at all — the Fisker Karma is fully electric up to that point.

If you’re not familiar with the Fisker Karma just yet, it’s definitely worth further investigation. There’s a lot more to it than just a unique hybrid-drive system. The company really takes the environmentally conscious-thing to the next level. Anyway, there’s no doubt that plug-in hybrids will be on U.S. roadways soon enough, and I’m sure that the idea of a 100 mpg car is exciting to a lot of drivers. Who knows? If the momentum from yesterday’s announcement continues, Fisker Automotive just might have 40 locations (or more) by the end of this month.

More Karma related stuff:
2010 Fisker Karma Review and Prices
2009 Detroit Auto Show: Fisker
How Karma Works
How Hybrid Cars Work
HowStuffWorks Videos – “K9 Karma: Triangle Pose”