Taking advantage of technology from the existing active park assist, adaptive cruise control, Lane-Keeping Aid and the PowerShift transmission, Traffic Jam Assist works to drive the car for you under stop-and-go conditions. It does this by monitoring the car in front of you with radar and camera technology, adaptively accelerating and braking on your behalf to keep pace with other vehicles, including those that may suddenly cut you off. The automated steering control will keep you in your current lane too. They say that this technology is being developed “for the mid-term.”

If more cars are equipped with similar technology, we could see improved traffic flow and faster commute times for everyone. It’s all that stop and go that really slows us down.

Ford has also announced that they are working on an upgraded version of its active park assist system. This already lets you parallel park automatically, steering you into a parking spot with only brake input from the driver. The hands-free system is being upgraded for perpendicular parking too, like you would see at the mall parking lot.

It finds a spot with ultrasonic sensors and then steers you into the spot using electric power-assisted steering. Presumably, the user interface is the same, so you don’t need to gas but it’s still up to you to apply the brake (and clutch) and change gears as needed. I’ve used the parallel parking with Ford’s active park assist and while it’s definitely a neat feature, I find that it’s still much slower than parking the old-fashioned way. I guess slow and safe is better than fast with a dented bumper.

[Source]

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After decades of electric cars being avoided by manufacturers, it seems that recently electric cars are really starting to go somewhere (pardon the awful pun). A combination of improving electric batteries and increasing gas prices have likely lead to this change. Competition is fierce in the automotive industry, Nissan and Ford are both offering vehicles that use electric batteries. And now Honda looks to be joining the electric party with its 2013 Honda Fit EV. The all electric Honda hatchback runs on a 20-kilowatt-hour li-ion battery and high-density 92-kilowatt coaxial electric motor. The coaxial electric motor is actually derived from the motor in the Honda FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle. Onboard a 6.6-kilowatt 32-amp charger allows for convenient recharging. When paired with a 240-volt charging port, the Fit EV can fully recharge in as little as three hours. A full charge can travel about 123 miles, which is higher than both the Nissan Leaf and Ford’s all-electric Focus.

The Fit EV will start rolling out in the summer of 2012 to a limited market in California and Oregon, and will spread out to at least six undisclosed East Coast markets in early 2013. The lease payment will target $399 a month for three years and is based on a $36,625 price point.

The downside to the Honda of course is that they are only targeting 1,100 units over the first three years of production. Also keep in mind that with the Honda Clarity only 50 cars have actually made their way into the hands of leasees even though there was an initial queue of over 80,000 interested customers.

Vehicles aren’t the gas-guzzling machines they used to be as hybrid and even all-electric methods are becoming more commonplace than ever before.

Overall, the Fit looks like another interesting electric option. Is the electric car the wave of the future or just a temporary trend that will be replaced by another emerging technology? Only time will tell for sure.

The post Just 1,100 All-Electric Honda Fit EVs To Be Built In 2012 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The company conceived the idea of adding an e-bike to their collection of cars after noting the increasing reliance of people on bicycles and scooters, especially in densely populated cities. This trend may be attributed to the advocacy of “carless” cities for the protection of the environment, and Ford is not just sitting complacently and waiting for the trend to pass them by.

The E-bike market has been growing rapidly which has inspired the concept by the Ford Design led by Executive Design Director Martin Smith. It’s designed to appeal to both men and women because it merges a modern yet sleek look that everybody would love.

The heart of the e-bike’s design is its strong but lightweight trapezoidal frame made out of carbon and aluminum.  It also boasts of its minimalist and clean look because the electric drive is concealed from view. The e–bike also has six spoke V-design wheels which lend a sophisticated overall appearance.

A motor in the front wheel and a lithium-ion battery power the electric drive of the e-bike, and when on a full charge, the bike can run up to 85km. An integrated controller and magnetostriction sensor technology convert magnetic energy into kinetic energy and vice versa, so the leg power of the cyclist is seamlessly integrated with the motor power.  Now we’ll just have to wait to see if Ford brings this to reality.

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Ford is thinking ahead and is starting to incorporate new ideas on how to merge transportation with communication tools. Ford launched the Evos concept which has already wowed people all over the world. However, the slinkiest hybrid so far only has two wheels – this concept bicycle from Ford is called the E-Bike Concept. The bike has an electronic motor which is built into the front wheel. It can generate a speed of 25 km/h with a 9.2 Ah battery. If you still want ride your bike the conventional way, you can power the bike by pedaling, with the torque connected to the rear wheel over a carbon belt.

On the handlebars, something special is attached. Lo and behold—it’s a Galaxy S 2 smartphone. This means riders will be able to change suspension modes through some custom software. You can also monitor battery charge and activate Google Navigation. The key word here is “concept.” Stay tuned for further developments regarding this Ford project.

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Looks like Toyota is going around making friends with just about everyone in the automotive industry. We’ve already seen the beginnings of the FT-86 (Scion FR-S) co-developed with Subaru, as well as the partnership with Tesla Motors to do the RAV4 EV. And now, Toyota has shaken some hands in Detroit, and will be buddying up with Ford to develop a hybrid system.

A “preliminary agreement” was reached between the two automakers, and they have promised to work together to build a hybrid drive system primarily for pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. The goal is to have vehicles using the new tech on the road at some point during this decade. They’re also working together on internet-based services and in-car communications. Ford plans to triple its North American output of EVs and hybrids to more than 100,000 by 2013.

Ford knows trucks. Toyota knows hybrids. This partnership makes sense. It’ll also help Ford stay in line with the new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) restrictions put in place by Obama, which will force automakers to reach 54.5 MPG by 2025. Trucks can’t really lose the power they need, but they do need to cut back on their fuel consumption. The blue oval had previously worked with Toyota, using Toyota tech in the 2004 Escape Hybrid.

Photo: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg.

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A report released by Zpryme Research and Consulting to shed some light on brand loyalty going into the age of electric vehicles shows that, despite a year of recalls and bad press, Toyota fans remain the most loyal customers of any brand.

In the web-based survey of 1,046 U.S. drivers age 18-65, 57 per cent of Toyota owners indicated they would prefer to buy an electric vehicle of the same brand as their current car than that of any other brand, followed by Honda at 54 per cent and Ford at 48. By comparison, only 43 per cent of Chevy and Nissan drivers would buy an EV from the manufacturer of their current car, followed by 28 per cent of Hyundai drivers and only 18 per cent with a GMC.

“I think there’s two compelling cases we’ve found here,” said Zpryme managing director Mark Ishac in an interview with Mobile Magazine. “Regardless of Toyota’s subpar year last year and recalls, they still have a substantial consumer base that believes that they still want to purchase those products. They still believe in the Toyota brand.

“That’s huge,” says Ishac.

According to the report, Hyundai, Chrysler, Dodge and GMC’s lower numbers suggest the brands are “less inclined to be associated with new technology and will struggle should they decide to enter the EV market without a branding effort to redefine themselves as manufacturers of compelling EVs.”

But that doesn’t mean the drivers of those brands aren’t looking to make the switch. Despite the fact that they aren’t likely to buy an EV sporting the same mark as the car they’re currently driving, 45 per cent of Hyundai drivers expressed they’re likely to buy an electric vehicle in the next two years – more than the drivers of any other brand. Nissan and Toyota both stand at 43 per cent, followed by GMC and Honda at 36 and Chevy and Ford at 35 per cent.

“Hyundai owners have been known to be very cost-conscious,” says Ishac. “You could say that the same thing about the GMCs: Traditionally, a very cost-conscious group. Those are SUV and truck drivers, so with the gas prices, they see the electric vehicles are a cost-saving alternative.

“It’s not necessarily a natural transition for an SUV or a truck owner to move into the electric vehicle segment, but it’s very appealing that they could save money in the long run with the electric vehicle,” he says.

At the bottom end of the results, Dodge and Chrysler drivers seem to be some of the least apt to adopt the new technology, and if they did, they’re even less apt to buy electric cars from the same mark as what they’re currently driving.

But brand loyalty won’t have a lot of sway in the beginning, Ishac says.

“The one interesting aspect of the electric vehicle market is that it’s really going to be spearheaded by the advocates and the evangelists. They’re more excited that there’s an electric vehicle market available rather than a brand.”

Zpryme also believes that disenchantment with a certain make or model of EV is unlikely to be tied to any companies in the beginning, he says. “For example, the Chevy Volt – at least, based on a new consumer report survey – didn’t get very rave reviews. But that won’t necessarily hurt the Chevy brand.

“I think those early adopters are just happy to reserve the car, to have their car and that it’s electric…It’s more about selecting an electric vehicle that best fits your needs rather than the best brand” for the first round of purchasers, he says.

[Zpryme via PDF report]

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That said, this car doesn’t exactly roll in the same circles as the Toyota Prius. Detroit’s blue oval is reportedly working on a new version of the GT, as shown here via AutoExpress UK, that gets most of its grunt from a supercharged V8. If you need more jump, you hit the button and the electric motor pushes more power to the front wheels. That’s the hybrid part, though it is capable of running on electricity alone for “short” stretches.

All in all, the total power output is in the 600hp range, giving the new Ford GT Hybrid enough jump for a 0-62mph time of about three seconds before topping out at the 200mph range. The all-aluminum chassis helps to keep the weight down to a manageable 1400kg.

Since it is Detroit muscle, you can be sure that this mid-engined supercar is designed to tackle the straights and not the twisties. That said, they’re apparently targeting Ferrari, Lambo, and McLaren with this beast. Somehow, I think that’s a different crowd.

[CrunchGear via AutoExpressUK]

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Daimler AG’s Smart Car has been driving around bearing the name as a self-proclaimed genius of automobiles for some time now. Ford on the other hand, has come up with a concept that will attempt to usurp this title and truly certify itself as a genuine “smart” car. Imagine if your car could drive itself, how much safer and more convenient the roads would become with all cars being precisely operated by a machine. Though this is still far from what we can expect to have in the near future, Ford has found a way to once again, take us a step forward by integrating man and machine.

The new intelligent vehicle, and intelligent intersection technology will be able to keep drivers informed and totally aware of their surrounding environment. Through the use of GPS and Wi-Fi connections, vehicles will be able to communicate with each other telling other cars about their speed, where they are going or even if there is a hazard ahead. This means your if there has been a change in the speed or flow of traffic, if there is another vehicle coming into your blind spot or if there is a stalled vehicle around a blind turn, you’ll know well ahead of time. Interestingly they decided to go with using Wi-Fi instead of a cellular network, which may limit the range of the system but cut costs. Though Wi-Fi will still provide enough distance to alert the driver or enable an automatic braking system to avoid any trouble. Using just the same technology that you would find in our laptops and other devices, Ford will finally put some meaning behind the concept of a “smart” or “intelligent” car. Below is a conceptual demonstration of how the system will work.

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Now, I suppose I can justify the use of a backup camera when you’re trying to parallel park something like a Ford Expedition, but do you really need a rear view camera when you’re gently squeezing into a parking spot with your Ford Fiesta? Seriously, if you’re looking at the camera’s video feed on your mirror rather than having your head turned around at the task at hand in a tiny little hatchback, you may not be fit for the road anyway.

That’s for parallel parking assistance. The other half of the equation is that sometimes you can’t see if there’s a small child (or dog) hanging out behind your back bumper as you put the car into reverse. The rear facing camera will elucidate the situation for you.

In any case, Ford’s plan is to have the rear view camera system installed as standard equipment on “almost all of its line by 2011.” The good news is that the plan calls for pickup trucks, vans, and crossovers, and not so much for tiny hatches like the Fiesta. Thank you for being reasonable, blue oval.

[SlashGear]

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2011 Ford Explorer to debut Curve Control stabilization technology

The 2011 Ford Explorer is taking one step closer to the future of precision handling by implementing Curve Control, a new technology that is anticipated to be available in over 90 percent of Ford vehicles within 5 years. Swinging too quickly while taking a ramp is something we’ve all done at one time or another, but what we may not be aware of is how likely it is to result in more than a close call. Within the United States alone, this common mistake is responsible for over 50,000 accidents a year. Curve Control is designed to sense when a turn is being taken too quickly and compensates by reducing vehicle speed anywhere from 1-10mph within a second.

Curve Control is an extension of RSC, or Roll Stability Control, and incorporates sensors into the measuring of such factors as roll, lateral acceleration, wheel speed, yaw and steering wheel angle. Over 100 calculations are potentially made every second to determine if the vehicle is not turning as much as the driver is steering the wheel. Should this undesirable scenario arise, the system accurately reduces engine torque and applies four-wheel braking to assist the driver in regaining control of his or her turn.

Sue Cischke, Ford’s VP of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering notes “Too many accidents stem from drivers misjudging their speed going into curves and freeway off- and on-ramps. Ford’s Curve Control technology senses a potentially dangerous situation and reduces power and applies brakes more quickly than most drivers can react on their own.”

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