Technology

The company is working on a high-tech in-car solution called Travolution that ‘talks’ to traffic lights.  Using a wireless network link between cars and traffic lights, it cuts the time drivers spend idling at stop lights.Audi Australia spokesperson, Anna Burgdorf, says Travolution is still in its infancy but has enormous implications to save fuel, reduce emissions and deliver more efficient driving.  "If it's successful, and there are certainly signs that it is, it has enormous scope not just in Germany," she says."But it would be a minimum of five years away."Apart from saving time, Audi says exhaust emissions could be lowered by two million tonnes a year in Germany alone, cutting CO2 emissions by 15 per cent.  Fuel consumption will also be slashed by 17 per cent, saving as much as 700,000 litres of fuel a year.Audi is currently testing Travolution in 15 cars in several German cities.  As a car approaches a light that's already red, the system will tell the driver how long it will be before it turns green.  This allows them to alter their speed to avoid coming to a stop.If a traffic light is about to change from green to yellow or yellow to red, the driver is also alerted, allowing them to slow down ahead of time.  Burgdorf believes Travolution will require a big infrastructure commitment from governments."But Germany is very advanced in legislating for more efficient ways of driving," she says.  Travolution already has the backing of German governments and the city Ingolstadt, Audi's headquarters.  Although the tests revolve around conventional cars, Burgdorf says the system has scope beyond the internal combustion engine."It will have big advantages for electric cars," she says.  Audi has found that when a car is stopped at a red light, it uses 0.02 litres of fuel when it pulls away and emits 5 grams of harmful CO2.There are 60,000 traffic lights in Germany and 50 million cars regularly emit 15 million tonnes of CO2 or 20 per cent of their total emissions idling at traffic lights.  These emissions can be reduced if the traffic lights initiate contact with the vehicles.Travolution has several other applications.  It can help drivers avoid red light camera fines, find carparks and allow drivers to pay for fuel from their car.

Caltex has just committed to install E85 ethanol pumps at 100 service stations in a little over 12 months, becoming the first mainstream fuel company to make a move on E85.It will begin the roll-out with 30 metropolitan and regional stations in time for the arrival of the VEII, joining about 400 stations which currently sell E10 fuel. The E85 fuel - already used in V8 Supercar racing as part of a green push - is made to a world standard and 70-85 per cent ethanol.In contrast, E10 has only 10 per cent ethanol content. The difference with ethanol is that it is an alcohol fuel made from plant material and not a petroleum-based fossil fuel. But the arrival of E85 at Caltex pumps is not the end of the ethanol story, as GM Holden and Caltex are also part of a six-way consortium - with Veolia, Mitsui, Coskata and the Victorian government - which plans to begin making ethanol fuel in Australia from rubbish.Coskata announced plans to create ethanol-from-waste fuel in the USA more than 18 months ago and was quickly joined in a partnership by General Motors, which is the world's largest producer of flex-fuel vehicles capable of running on E85 fuels.The Australia deal is likely to see a plant built in Victoria to manufacture second-generation ethanol fuel, a move which overcomes the 'food for fuel' debate in the USA where corn stock is the base material for E85.

And it will come with a lithium-ion battery pack, a first for Toyota.Toyota intends to turn Prius from a single car into a full line of vehicles, partly because of its future hybrid plans and partly because its research shows people around the world instantly associate the word Prius with hybrids. The first extension of brand Prius from today's five-door family hatch is an MPV, scheduled for a debut in March 2011 - most likely at the Geneva Motor Show in Europe.It is a relatively straightforward move for a car being called the 'Alpha' in Japan. The MPV sits on the same mechanical platform as the current Prius in showrooms, but gets a body stretch for space for an extra row of seats in the back. It will be about 300 millimetres longer overall, with a wheelbase increased by 20 millimetres. The name is a similar stretch, since the car is a 'plus-Alpha' addition to the Prius.The mechanical package will be inherited straight from the Prius, which means its 1.8-litre Atkinson-cycle petrol engine and THSII hybrid system. But it will lose out slightly to the regular car on fuel economy, thanks to its extra weight.The Alpha’s biggest claim to fame is the MPV will employ lithium-ion batteries, replacing the current Prius’s nickel-metal hydride type. At just one-third the weight of the current battery pack, the new Li-ion batteries generate greater power and are already in use in the prototype Prius plug-in hybrid.A five-seater version of the Alpha is also planned, but this vehicle will use the current nickel-hydride batteries to save cost, according to one Toyota insider. The same source tells Carsguide that Toyota is bullish about pricing and will take the Alpha seven-seater into showrooms with a price that undercuts many current MPV rivals, including the Honda Odyssey.

It does not plan to sell the battery-powered compacts, but will lease them to customers for $1740 a month over a three-year term. It intends to take the cars back at the end of the lease, although it could still sell them.Mitsubishi will beat Tesla, an American electric-car start-up which also intends to have its plug-in Roadster on local roads before the end of 2010.  The first iMiEV owners will be decided early in July and Mitsubishi Motors Australia is canvassing potential owners who can help to 'co- promote' the car in Australia.The final deal for the iMiEV was confirmed by Mitsubishi's global president, Osamu Masuko, when he visited Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, infastructure and transport minister Anthony Albansese and climate change minister Penny Wong in Canberra yesterday.  Speaking in Sydney after the meeting, Masuko said the introduction of electric cars and the rate of sales will rely on government investment and support, particularly on establishing fast-charge stations.He stopped short of calling for cash incentives for buyers, but admitted that sales of the iMiEV in Japan and Europe have been boosted by government financial incentives. In Japan, the car sells for around $33,000 after the government incentive.Masuko also said the price of the iMiEV will fall rapidly as production grows from 1400 a year to more than 40,000 by 2012, perhaps even halving within three years as higher volumes allow the company to cut component costs - especially on the battery pack.  "In the long term we cannot rely fully on government incentives," he said.Masuko also used his visit to Australia to confirm two new product plans for Mitsubishi, a new baby car called 'global small' and a plug- in electric SUV which should be ready for showrooms in 2012.

 A car key with an arrow indicator that points towards your car so you can find it again in the carpark?  Or perhaps you’d like to see all emergency vehicles have a radio sensor that turns traffic lights to red for faster, safer passage through traffic.These are just two of the ideas Australians have contributed to the Engineers Australia competition ‘Make It So’. And one of those idea will end up being ‘made so’ at the end of the competition – which closes on Saturday.You can be in the running to have your own brilliant idea brought to life by visiting www.makeitso.org.au and describing something you think would be great for the engineering team to make.

But its head of overseas markets, Lex Kerssemakers, is not concerned about the current transitions."Partnerships are the key to Volvo's survival," he says. "But we must maintain our Swedish culture — it's what the customer wants and its the way we do business".Outwardly, it's a difficult balance. Volvo has been sold by Ford for $2 billion to one of China's biggest automotive groups, Geely. The deal is signed late this year, so Kerssemakers says Volvo was now "in between owners"."The arrangement with Geely will be similar to our 10-year ownership by Ford," he says. "There were then fears that Volvo would be rebadged as Fords. We managed to maintain our identity. I think it was long the case that people didn't know who owned us. Similarly, I think, that will happen with Geely. It is very definite that there will be two car companies — Geely and Volvo — that will be structured totally separate under one holding company."Geely has appointed a former Volvo CEO, a Swede, to head the company and to  Kerssemakers, that's a clear signal that it intends to keep Volvo totally Swedish. He says it was clear that within five years, Geely and Volvo will share technology."After all, $2 billion buys a lot of experience," he says. "Geely is a very dynamic company that is quickly moving ahead. They develop so fast and are extremely eager to learn. Sweden is a country with nine million people and where we have a 20 per cent market share. But in Sweden, we are unlikely to grow much bigger. With Geely, we have been given the chance to greatly expand our borders."Volvo already has a presence in China as a prestige brand. It makes the S40 and a long wheelbase version of the S80 in China. Kerssemakers says that within about three years it was possible that Volvo could make all models there for the Chinese market. "But, looking at the potential in China, it would be very unlikely that we could export from those factories," he says.Partnerships also extend to Volvo's future wave of vehicle technology. It recently entered into partnership with Sweden's biggest electricity supplier, the Swedish Energy Agency, to develop an electric car concept. SEA has contributed $22.25 million in funding to develop a centre.The first concept is an all-electric model, the C30 Electric Vehicle, that has a range of 150km and is powered by an 82kW motor with lithium-ion batteries that charge in under eight hours. The car can accelerate to 100km/h in 10.5 seconds."This year we will make 50 of the cars for trial," Kerssemakers says. "The partnership with SEA is beneficial to both of us. We all know that oil is running out. We need to find effective alternative solutions. We know what the alternatives are, we just have to explore them. If we don't do it now. we'll never be ready in five years time."Kerrsemakers says that the only fault with electric cars is the batteries. He sees one possibility as a car that is driven by electric motors yet has an onboard generator to charge the batteries. It is only one of the future vehicles being trialled by Volvo now."In 2012 we plan to have an electric vehicle with an onboard generator that will consume less than 1.5 litres/100km of diesel," he says. "But we are working on other technology. We had compressed natural gas (CNG) models in Sweden but we had no assistance from the government to continue development. We have ethanol-fuelled cars, petrol, diesel and are developing hybrids. I don't see there will be one solution in the way forward. As a small car company we have to jump on as many routes as possible. So it is very good for us to be a part of companies such as Ford and Geely."Closer to home is the 2-litre four-cylinder GTDi engine that Volvo is rolling out in selected markets."There is a good market for this engine that has fuel efficiency and high torque - even up against our five-cylinder turbo," he says. "This GTDi engine has 149kW and 300Nm of torque which makes it as powerful as our 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine. It also gets 7.9 litres/100km, has emissions of 184g/km CO2 and yet when fitted to our S80, will accelerate to 100km/h in only 7.9 seconds. The engine will first be launched in countries that offer tax incentives for sub-2-litre engines - China, South-East Asia, Japan and the Netherlands."In Australia, there will be continuation of the 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine."Now we have launched DriveE variants that include start/stop - probably the most efficient way to reduce fuel consumption," he says. "It is an absolute lead. The DriveE C30 manual gets 3.8 l/100km and 99g/km CO2 emission from a 1.6-litre turbo-diesel. And it's an engine that can go into anything we make. There's a lot of life left in petrol, so there are developments of three-cylinder engine and the move to electrification. When we expand, it will be downwards (engine and body size)."Kerssemakers believes hybrids are a "rather expensive solution" and that diesel engines were becoming "difficult" to meet future Euro-5 and Euro-6 emission standards. "Cost will ultimately define the best solution."Volvo is now making an XC60 with 2WD that has very low emissions which is becoming available in most markets. Volvo Car Australia boss Alan Desselss says the XC60 "could be brought into Australia tomorrow". It's being evaluated now. Volvo sales in Australia are expected to go to 7000 next calendar year, up from 4652 in 2009 and 5000 in 2010."Vehicles such as the new S60 (due soon) and XC60 2WD will help lift that. The only threat is supply," says  Desselss. "I think we have the right mix, once the S60 is launched, to produce strong sales. The S60 will give us credibility in the sedan market - an area where we haven't for a long time really been seen as being strong. We have been considered as an SUV company. But we think the S60 will return sedan buyers to our showrooms and there's a good chance that that traffic will flow into the other sedans, the S40 and S80."

The company is pushing ahead with plans to introduce its next-generation direct-injection petrol Sky G engines across the local range next year. The Sky D diesel engines are also in the pipeline.The company's head of global marketing, sales and customer service, Masazumi Wakayama, says the company is committed to lowering fuel economy across its entire range by 2015. "The Sky engines are critical to that goal," he says.Initially 2.0-litre petrol Sky G and a 2.2-litre diesel Sky D will arrive. The petrol engine is said to deliver a 15 per cent fuel economy gain while the diesel improvement is 20 per cent over current equivalent engines.Wakayama says the Sky G equipped Mazda3 delivers the same economy and emissions as today's Mazda2. Both the petrol and diesel engines will be mated with a new automatic transmission, called Sky-Drive, which acts like a dual clutch transmission.Importantly too, the Sky G engine will be mated to Toyota's hybrid drive system to power a new hybrid car. The hybrid is expected to arrive first in the Mazda6 around 2013 after both Japanese carmakers announced a hybrid technology sharing agreement last month.Wakayama says the Mazda hybrid will have all the qualities expected of a Mazda. "It will drive like a Mazda," he says.Although hybrids represent 20 per cent of total car sales in Japan, Wakayama believes the internal combustion engine is not dead. "We believe that the vast majority of cars will have internal combustion engines in 2030," he says. "That is why we are working to optimise these base technologies first.  This will benefit customers by minimising the cost of ownership."Apart from more efficient engines like the Sky range, Mazda is focused on reducing weight, introducing lower rolling resistance tyres and improved aerodynamics of its cars. "After that we will introduce stop-start and regenerative braking and hybrid systems," he says."The phased introduction of these technologies will form the future of Mazda. Of course this will eventually also lead to an electric vehicle too but we are not doing that straight away."

Volkswagen has unveiled the taxi of the future, an electric concept called the Milano. It chose the Hanover Trade Show in Germany this week to showcase its take on tomorrow’s taxi.The styling draws heavily on the Space Up! Blue concept Volkswagen that first aired at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show.This time around though VW’s designers have taken off the rear door on the driver’s side so passengers can only get in and out of the car at the kerb, which will be great for left-hand drive markets.The new kerb-side door cantilevers out and away from the passengers, giving them access to a luggage area next to the driver.The taxi concept also has a touch screen monitor already being used in New York taxis.Like the production electric vehicles VW plans to build from 2013, the Milano uses high-tech lithium ion batteries. A 45kW battery pack is mounted in the floor and provides a range of almost 300km.

... but only a very distant relative, as well as the newest hero for a company clawing its way back from bankruptcy in the USA.  It has been developed in partnership with NASA and its humanoid design means it will work in much the same way as people on the International Space Station.The only difference is that Robonaut 2 has no real body  just a 'chest' as a powerpack, with a 'head' for computer controls and 'arms' and 'hands' to use a range of space tools.  The new GM robot is the latest humanoid worker produced by the car industry, which has used production line robots for more than a generation but is also investigating the sales potential for machines which can take over hard work from people.Honda is into the third generation of its Asimo robot family, which looks like a toy but is being developed for home help and as a nursing assistant in hospitals, while Toyota even developed a robot marching band -- with one machine which can play a trumpet -- during its work in the field.Robonaut 2 will blast into space in September as a passenger on the Discovery shuttle before becoming a permanent resident on the space station.  "The use of R2 on the space station is just the beginning of a quickening pace between human and robotic exploration of space," John Olson, director of NASA's Exploration Systems Integration Office, said."The partnership of humans and robots will be critical to opening up the solar system and will allow us to go farther and achieve more than we can probably even imagine today."  No-one will say how much Robonaut 2 cost, but its job in space will be to work alongside people in the space station's laboratory.

Recently, as I approached a speed indicator on the freeway with my car's speedo on 100 km/h exactly it indicated I was doing 94 km/h! Later, when passing road works with a temporary speed limit of 60 km/ h a trailer-mounted indicator showed I was doing 64 km/h, but when returning through the same roadworks later I was shown as doing 56 km/ h. Same experienced driver, same car, two years old, original size tyres in good condition and recommended pressure plus two psi. I know that the ADR only requires an accuracy of 10 per cent, but is there any accuracy requirement for these speed indicators?