The UK’s biggest car manufacturer finally sees the light and has gone on record to confirm that it will be expanding its inventory by producing a minimum of 13 new electrified vehicles, this will include pure electric cars, hybrid cars and plug-in hybrid cars.
Following the first Formula E race in Europe which took place in Monaco on 9 May, at the top of the driver standings a fierce rivalry has emerged as just 10 points separate the top three championship title chasers.
Just four races of the season remained as the world’s first fully all-electric racing series headed to Berlin, Germany for Round 8.
Sebastien Buemi’s victory in Monaco made him the first championship contender to claim two race victories, and also claimed the crown as the first driver to win the race having started in pole position. The Swiss driver found himself just 10 points adrift from championship leader, Lucas di Grassi.
For the full Berlin Grandprix: Formula E Race Report
A record number of UK car buyers are opting to reduce their fuel bills by choosing ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs), according to research by Go Ultra Low. The latest registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal that more than 41% of all alternatively-fuelled cars registered in the first quarter of 2015 qualified for the government’s plug-in car grant, up from 13% over the same period in 2014.
In the first quarter of 2015, 8,573 passenger vehicles with CO2 emissions lower than 75g/km were registered, a year-on-year increase of 386%, as more drivers saw ULEVs as great alternatives to traditionally-fuelled cars. The most popular choice was the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, followed by the Nissan LEAF and BMW i3.
Business operators are benefitting too, with those seeking lower maintenance fees and tax rates, plus the potential for reduced whole-life running costs, contributing to a 421% increase in fleet and business ULEV volumes in the quarter. Businesses running commercial vehicles also showed signs of increasing adoption of electric vans, with volumes up 263 units on January-March 2014 – a growth rate of 353%.
Hetal Shah, Head of Go Ultra Low, a joint initiative by government and the UK automotive industry, told EcoCars4Sale: “The latest plug-in vehicle uptake figures prove that ultra-low emission cars and vans make sense for both private and business users, especially with the potential for fuel costs as low as 2p a mile and reduced whole life running costs.”
Thanks to CO2 emissions of less than 75g/km, all ULEVs are exempt from road tax. Other advantages such as typical annual fuel savings of £660 per vehicle, a nationwide network of free recharging points and no congestion charge to pay in London have helped accelerate uptake over the past five years, with more than 25,000 ULEVs now on UK roads.
The latest registration figures show that car buyers in the South are most likely to opt for an ultra-low emission vehicle, followed by Londoners and the east of the country. Yorkshire and the North West complete the list of top five regions. The figures also show that car buyers in East Yorkshire are least likely to choose an ultra-low emission option.
With an increasing choice of models qualifying for the £5,000 plug-in grant, the government is well on the way to hitting its aim for ULEVs to make up 5% of all new registrations by 2020.
Most popular ultra-low emissions vehicles
Regions where ultra-low emissions vehicles are most popular
Regions where ultra-low emissions vehicles are least popular
This article was prepared by our car news team First4Auto
This is the Volkswagen C Coupé GTE concept, important because it previews the future look and technology of the Wolfsburg company’s future top-end premium class models. The concept is powered by a 207bhp four-cylinder petrol engine mated to an eight-speed gearbox comprising an electric motor. VW says that the total output is 242bhp and 369lb ft of torque and provides the C Coupe GTE with the ability to travel 31 miles on pure battery power via the 14.1kWh lithium-ion battery at speeds of up to 81mph. It can accelerate to 62mph in 8.6 seconds and is able to pull away in electric mode before the engine cuts in. It emits just 55g/km of CO2and, driven carefully, is able to achieve up to 102mpg. The cruising range is a very impressive 684-miles.
Klaus Bischoff, Volkswagen’s design chief, told first4auto: “The evolution of the VW design DNA shown here will accompany us worldwide – also on the way to the new Phaeton. The C Coupé GTE very clearly shows the new ‘face’ of top Volkswagen sedans for the first time.”
The striking exterior showcases VW’s emerging new design language. The C Coupe GTE suggests that this will be dominated by horizontal lines and sharp, precise edges. Measuring more than five metres long, the C Coupe GTE is 1,930mm wide with a front track measuring 1,634mm and a rear one not much shorter at 1,624mm. Set into a huge 3,001mm wheelbase, it sits on concept-car size 22-inch wheels. It sits on the same MLB platform that underpins other cars in the VW Group stable, such as the Audi A6.
A significant aspect of the concept’s design is what VW calls the “prestige clearance”. This effectively is the distance between the front door shutline and the centre of the front axle. The company says that the “longer this measurement, the longer the bonnet can be without increasing the front overhang.”
We think the new design direction is very attractive and could showcase a car to sit above the Passat CC.
Being a luxury car, the C Coupé GTE has twin rear seats and what can be described as impressive rear leg room, commensurate with its target market of China. Despite its sporty profile, the car is actually designed to be driven by a chauffeur during the week with the owner taking over driving duties at the weekend. A ‘Chauffeur mode’ informs the employed driver about the owner’s schedule via the cars infotainment system. The satellite navigation system is then able to calculate the daily route. Rear seat passengers are also able to share data with the driver via the infotainment system.
The colour is also significant to the Chinese market, where gold is associated with wisdom, tolerance, patience and power. Volkswagen call the hue chosen ‘Golden Atmosphere’. Even the outline of the VW badge has been illuminated by a thin LED strip to provide ambient lighting to the outside of the car, as has the leading edge of the bonnet, the headlight bezels, wing vents and windscreen A-pillar.
This article was prepared by our car news team First4Auto
Reported By
Andrew Merritt-Morling
Chief Editor
Associate Member of the Guild of Motoring Writers
This exciting and unusual car is the Citroën Aircross concept. Underpinning the Aircross Concept is a 218bhp petrol engine that sends power to the front wheels, which is then liked to a 95bhp electric motor that sends power to the rear axle. The Aircross Concept has a pure-electric range that in theory can stretch to 30 miles.
More impressive for its stature is its performance. Thanks to 203lb ft of torque being produced by the engine and a further 147lb ft coming from the electric motor, Citroën claim that the concept can accelerate to 62mph from a standing start in 4.5 seconds. Not bad for an SUV that is able to return 166mpg and emits just 39g/km of CO2.
Whilst not new, Citroën has used the Aircross moniker on this all-new SUV design study, the Aircross Concept. The company’s Cactus has been a significant design influence on the new concept, especially since it adopts an evolution of that cars absorbent air bumps in the form of this aluminium foam anti-ding protection.
With the Aircross Concept, Citroën goes against the trend of sharp angles and flat surfaces and instead adopts a more rounded and bulbous structure which is then enhanced by unique details. The front looks very reminiscent of a C4 Picasso, but with extractor vents located around the wheel arches. It also features unusually-styled door mirrors, huge alloy wheels which are synonymous with concept cars, and what Citroën call ‘airsigns’ to direct air flow. There are metallic accents on the bonnet and rear side window. The ‘alloy bumps’ as opposed to the ‘air bumps’ on the Cactus are a honeycombed structure filled with aluminium foam.
It’s larger than you might at first suspect – being about the size of an Audi Q5. Huge 22-inch wheels are wrapped in custom Continental rubber.
If you think the exterior is dramatic and typical of your idea of what a concept car should be, then you are in for more of a shock when you take a peek inside. The most obvious thing is that there is almost no switchgear. Instead, there are a pair of 12-inch HD display screens, one of which can be undocked and moved around the cabin, supported by a head-up display, touchpads to control functions, webcams to document road trips and a plethora of straps. The four individual sofa-like seats are upholstered in white leather with orange trim and a mesh fabric upper portion, and come complete with their own microphones and speakers to create separate audio environments.
Whilst Citroën are keen to emphasise that the Aircross is a concept car, the fact that it has been closely based on a car that went from concept stage to production in such a short time in the form of the Cactus, coupled to the fact that it will debut at the Shanghai motor show later this month where the company is doing surprisingly well, and we could just see a production version appearing quicker than you might have initially thought. We certainly hope so.
This article was prepared by our car news team First4Auto
Reported By
Andrew Merritt-Morling
Chief Editor
The Toyota Prius is the worlds best selling hybrid car and we have many to choose from, heres a Toyota Prius For Sale In Norwich and we have many more advertised across the UK.
This is the BMW i3, a car that is somewhat overshadowed by the super-sexy i8 supercar that was launched at the same time. Both the i3 and the i8 are the result of a £2 billion investment by BMW in its still relatively new iCar programme – a programme that the company hopes will help it rewrite history by taking electric cars mainstream. Andrew Merritt-Morling, our road test editor, drives one to see whether the Range Extender is worth swapping your conventional combustion engine car for.
The i3 comes in two formats: a fully electric version and this, a Range Extender that combines electric power with a small engine for around an extra £3k on the list price. What you get is a hatchback that exudes confidence in a way that only BMW can. This confidence may perhaps help explain why the Bavarian manufacturer has gone for an unorthodox approach, designing a car that is surprisingly bulbous with rear coach doors, but which still manages to be both cool and chic.
Hidden deep beneath the i3’s carbon fibre, aluminium and plastic carcass is an electric motor mated to a 647cc two-cylinder petrol engine donated by a BMW scooter. The engine has been located beneath the 260-litre boot and produces a paltry 34bhp and 41lb ft of torque. But whilst that sounds insignificant, now is the time to point out that at no time does the engine ever directly drive the enormous 19-inch wheels. Instead, the engine acts as an electricity generator, extracting fuel from a tiny 9-litre fuel tank to power the electric motor when the electric power drops to 3.5%, equating to a range of around three miles. If the driver wishes, they can manually set the battery charge to a predefined level, and when it is reached the motor will always kick-in, ensuring there is always plenty of power on tap.
For our full road test report visit our BMWi3 Review
This is the new Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion concept car. It is a car that will afford a peek into the fully autonomous self-driving future and an interpretation of modern luxury in a connected world.
At a time Daimler predict that 15 new megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants in each will develop globally over the next 15 years, the company says its focus “shows how the automobile is changing from a means of transportation to a private retreating space.” Mercedes is looking into urban infrastructure design with special safety zones where only autonomous vehicles can drive and further urban spaces where autonomous cars park themselves on the outside.
As a result, the cabin of the F 015 is built like a private members lounge with a huge amount of space in which to hang out, thanks to a wheelbase that is 3,610mm – or to put it another way, 445mm longer than that of a regular S-class Mercedes.
For the full story visit eco car news
Well, the inaugural FIA Formula E championship was already three rounds down, and all eyes were on the fourth round as we headed to Argentina. There has been no shortage of drama from the previous three rounds and we were expecting – and as it eventually proved, got – more from the streets of Buenos Aires.
After three rounds the team standings were like this … :
1.Team E.Dams Renault = 64 points
2.Audi Sport ABT = 62
3.Virgin Racing = 54
4.Dragon Racing = 36
5.Andretti Autosport = 33
6.Mahindra Racing = 26
7.China Racing = 22
8.Trulli Formula E Team = 12
9.Amlin Aguri = 6
10.Venturi = 3
… whilst the top 10 driver’s championship table looked like this:
1.Lucas di Grassi = 58 points
2.Sebastien Buemi = 40
3.Sam Bird = 40
4.Nicolas Prost = 24
5.Nelson Piquet Jr = 22
6.Jé?me d’Ambrosio = 22
7.Karun Chandhok = 18
8.Franck Montagny = 18
9.Jamie Alguersuari = 14
10.Oriol Servia = 14
Even before the 4th round race had got underway, however, there was drama with Franck Montagny of Team Andretti testing positive for a banned substance. Speaking to L’Equipe, Montagny said: “After the event, I saw the guy who tests signalling to me. There in my head, I knew immediately. I knew it was over. I got on a plane. They called my parents. I am so ashamed. I made a mistake, I’m guilty.”
For its part, the ruling FIA stayed quiet, except to issue this statement: “Franck Montagny tested positive for a banned substance and is provisionally suspended before the decision of the next FIA Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee.”
Depending on the outcome of this FIA Committee, it could lead to a two year suspension for Montagny. It does seem a stupid and despicable ‘mistake’ to make, since it did seem that when he had come into the Formula E championship, Montagny suddenly appeared to get a new lease of life.
But moving back to the events in hand, and to qualifying.
Last time out, Jean Eric Vergne took pole in his maiden Formula E race. An outstanding achievement. Could he repeat it again in Argentina? Time would tell.
Group 1 qualifying contained three of the top 5 drivers in the form of Sam Bird, Sebastien Buemi and Nelson Piquet Jr. Buemi continued his blistering form by taking the initial lead before Antonio Felix da Costa mounted an unlikely challenge. But a late move by Bird saw him sneak into second place whilst Piquet Jr’s over-steer problems quashed his hopes for pole position.
Group 2 saw Alguesuari mated with Servia, di Grassi, Michaela Cerutti and Prost. This proved an eventful session with Cerutti having a spin and di Grassi losing a wheel in a crash. With Prost unable to replicate the pace of his team mate, Buemi, it was left to Alguesuari to come closest to his time.
Group 3 would give Chandhok and Nick Heidfeld a chance to kick-start their season. Daniel Abt was also in this group. The start of the session was uneventful, but it was Heidfeld who proved the highlight of the group, with a late dash through the final chicane which made him the fastest of anyone thus far in the final sector.
Finally, it was Group 4, where Trulli, Andretti, Vergne, di Ambrosio and Senna made the final five. It started slow picked up the pace after Trulli crashed out. Vergne pushed hard and posted the quickest time of the group but fell short ultimately, securing 6th position overall.
So, by the end of qualifying, the top 10 places on the grid looked like this:
1.Buemi – Team e.Dams
2.Alguesurai – Virgin Racing
3.Heidfeld – Venturi
4.Bird – Virgin Racing
5.Di Grassi – Audi Sport ABT
6.Vergne – Andretti Autosport
7.Prost – Team e.Dams
8.Da Costa – Amlin Aguri
9.Piquet Jr – China Racing
10.Chandhok – Mahindra Racing
Not long before the race got under way, the three ‘fan boost’ winners were announced: Bruno Senna, Nick Heidfeld and Jean Eric Vergne. This announcement was then followed by a minute’s silence to remember those who lost their lives during the terrorist incidents in Paris this week.
As it turned out, it was a race of two halves in 35 laps of racing, which was about to get under way.
A lot of wheelspin for Buemi off the starting line was not enough for Alguesuari to capitalise on as they led the field down into the first corner. Heidfeld tried desperately to overtake Alguesuari at the very first hairpin, but despite a bit of a tap managed to take second place in a great move by the Venturi Racing driver.
Di Grassi took Bird for fourth on T7 of the second lap.
By lap five, Buemi was leading Heidfeld by eight-tenths of a second and things were settling down at the front with Alguesurai, di Grassi and Bird completing the top five places. Drama was distinctly absent by this stage with everyone so far being well behaved apart from Cerutti who had made contact with the wall on the first lap.
By lap 7, Prost had posted the fastest lap of anyone now that he had got some clean air, despite dropping to eighth place having started from seventh.
Meanwhile, Alguesuari was under severe pressure from di Grassi in their fight for third. The Audi Sport ABT driver challenged the Virgin Racing competitor on the inside of the hairpin at T5 and forced his way through to take the P3.
Antonio Felix da Costa went side-by-side with Jean Eric Vergne on the run down to the chicane and managed to snatch sixth position.
By lap 10, the telemetry was clearly indicating that di Grassi had used about 3% more of his battery power compared to Buemi – proof if any were needed just how hard he was pushing, having closed the two-second gap between him in third and Heidfeld in second by a remarkable 1.1 seconds in the space of just one lap to fill the Venturi’s mirrors. Di Grassi was charging.
And this is how it broadly stayed until the 14th lap of the race. No drama, just pure driving excitement … then all hell broke loose!!
Lucas di Grassi pushed his way past Nick Heidfeld to take second position. Then at the end of the 14th lap Heidfeld found himself in trouble again as the Venturi driver made an error and was attacked by Alguesuari who pushed his way through followed by Bird early into the 15th lap on the long straight as they headed down to the tight left-hand corner. Da Costa thought he saw an opportunity, tried to barge his way through but Heidfeld managed somehow to defend his fifth position. Suddenly, laps 14 and 15 became high-energy excitement. So much going on in such short distances.
So into lap 16 and suddenly Chandhok was off at the exit from the chicane after the right rear suspension suddenly snapped sending him into the crash barrier. This triggered the first possibility of the Safety Car being deployed.
Hold on to your hats – because things are about to go mad.
Alguesurai appeared to take a bit of a gamble that the Safety Car would be deployed and jumped at the opportunity to be the first to dive into the pits just as Heidfeld took back the position from Bird that he had originally stolen. His action was then followed by a flow of others taking his lead.
Suddenly the Safety Car was deployed – an action that was going to prove crucial to the final outcome of the race. According to the standings, Buemi led with di Grassi, Heidfeld, da Costa and Bird holding the top 5 places, followed by Piquet Jr in sixth, Senna, Alguesuari and d’Ambrosio in seventh, eighth and ninth, and Prost completing the top 10 drivers.
However, it took a couple of laps for the Safety Car-train to be properly filtered. Meanwhile Bird came under investigation for allegedly leaving the pits whilst the pit-lane traffic lights were showing red. This would result in him having to take a drive through penalty at a time when he was holding third position.
The Safety Car finally pulled in during lap 22, with 13 laps of racing remaining.
Under pressure, Buemi – the race leader – hit the wall on the way into T8 on lap 24 allowing Lucas di Grassi to take the lead. On the in-car radio you couldn’t help but feel for Buemi as you heard the despair in his voice. As a result the yellow flag was deployed.
Vergne used the opportunity to deploy the ‘fan boost’ to successfully challenge Nico Prost.
At the time Buemi snogged the wall, di Grassi’s pit wall crew were seen applauding, recognising that their man was now in the lead. But karma is a funny thing because just two laps later, his team recoiled as di Grassi also crashed out after suffering a catastrophic suspension failure at the same place as Chandhok had. It was clear that the kerbs were taking their toll on the cars.
This promptly promoted Heidfeld to first position with Antonio Felix da Costa about to take second once Bird gave way to take his drive through penalty.
In the closing stages of this 35-lap race the heat remained on to the last. On lap 33 Alguesuari was nudged wide by Vergne to snatch third, despite the best endeavours of the Virgin Racing driver to slam the door closed. Almost immediately after this manoeuvre, Nick Heidfeld – the race leader – was told to take a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
So into the last lap we go, and its Heidfeld (who is still to serve his drive through penalty), da Costa, Vergne, Alguesuari and Abt holding the top five. Second, third, fourth and fifth come along the straight heading into T7 four abreast. On the approach, Abt does a big lock-up and assaults Alguesuari allowing sixth-placed Prost to take Abt.
Meanwhile, in the closing stages, Heidfeld peeled off to serve his drive-through penalty leaving the way open for da Costa and Amlin Aguri to take the first-place position. In the closing moments Vergne was defending from Nico Prost in the battle over second place. Prost went through but Vergne was determined to hold it on the inside lane. He braked – far too late and ploughed on in a straight line instead of being able to negotiate the final hairpin. It proved a very costly mistake for Vergne.
It meant Vergne dropped back to fourth, ahead of Piquet Jr, but behind Prost who stole the second place position and Alguesuari who moved up into third place.
But the damage done by Alguesuari’s assault by Abt proved too difficult to manage as his car crabbed along with serious misalignment of the rear suspension. He battled on, but ultimately after the chequered flag signalled the first Formula E win for da Costa, he was followed by Prost in second, Piquet Jr in third, Alguesuari who coaxed his car over in fourth and Bruno Senna in fifth.
It was an exciting end to a race that definitely was more exciting in the second half than it was in the first.
So this is the result of the fourth round of the Formula E championship:
1.Da Costa – Amlin Aguri
2.Prost – Team e-Dams Renault
3.Piquet Jr – China Racing
4.Alguesuari – Virgin Racing
5.Senna – Mahindra Racing
6.Vergne – Andretti Autosport
7.Bird – Virgin Racing
8.Duran – Amlin Aguri
9.Heidfeld – Venturi
10.Servia – Dragon Racing
The individual driver’s points looks like this at the end of Round 4:
1.Lucas di Grassi – 58 points
2.Sam Bird – 48
3.Sebastien Buemi – 43
4.Nicolas Prost – 42
5.Nelson Piquet Jr – 37
6.Antonio Felix da Costa – 29
7.Jaime Alguesuari – 26
8.Jerome d’Ambrosio – 22
9.Franck Montagny – 18
10.Karun Chandhok – 18
The team standings at the end of Round 4 looked like this:
1.Team e.Dams Renault – 85 points
2.Virgin Racing – 74
3.Audi Sport ABT – 62
4.Andretti Autosport – 41
5.China Racing – 37
6.Dragon Racing – 37
7.Mahindra Racing – 36
8.Amlin Aguri – 35
9.Trulli Formula E – 12
10.Venturi Formula E – 5
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This Formula E race was reported by:
Andrew Merritt-Morling
Chief Editor and Electric Motor Sport Editor
One very interesting but on the face-of-it nothing out of the ordinary car was recently displayed on the Peugeot stand at the Paris motor show earlier this month – but seemed to have been largely overlooked by the majority of the world’s media. This car demonstrated Peugeot’s commitment to its revolutionary Hybrid Air Technology, in the guise of its new 208 HYbrid Air 2L concept. Based on the production version of the 208 1.2-litre PureTech 82hp hatchback, the reference to 2L in the name of the company’s latest concept vehicle refers to its impressive economy of using just two litres of fuel per 100km – equivalent to 141mpg.
Constructed from a mixture of steel, aluminium and composite materials, the 208 HYbrid Air 2L is 100kg lighter than the car on which it is based. This is important since it helps reduce fuel consumption to the minimum. But the real key to the success of the HYbrid Air Technology is what lies at its heart: its drivetrain.
In essence this comprises of a standard petrol engine mated to a compressed air system. Developed in association with Bosch and demonstrated before in a number of different guises, the new hybrid system works by using compressed air for energy storage rather than a battery. This means hybridisation can be achieved more cheaply and with less weight than traditional systems. The air is stored in a tank under the boot and pumped to the engine hydraulically and can be used to assist or even replace the petrol engine to enable maximum efficiency.
At speeds of up to 43mph, the car’s Air Mode operates in the same way as the EV mode does in traditional hybrid cars. This means that it is possible to travel without any noxious gases being emitted from the exhaust pipes. This mode can be active between 60% and 80% of the time the car spends in an urban environment, depending on traffic conditions. The compressed air tank can be recharged in one of two ways: firstly, when the car slows down, whether this is whilst the driver is actively braking or just taking their foot off the pedal, or secondly, by using the energy developed by the 3-cylinder petrol engine to compress the air.
In either case, maximum pressure can be achieved in just 10 seconds. The result is an efficient hybrid system whose CO2 emissions have been rated at a competitive 111.2g/km.
There is no confirmation from Peugeot yet as to whether the 208 HYbrid Air will ever see the light of day as a production vehicle. However, we know that the French government is aiming to make an affordable 2.0-litre per 100km vehicle available to the public by 2020 – thus giving Peugeot at least another four years of development time.
This is an abridged version of an article that has been especially prepared by First4Auto on behalf of EcoCars4Sale and ElectricCar2Buy
Reported By
Andrew Merritt-Morling
Chief Editor
ecocars4sale's Blog 