Technology

Well in future your backyard household waste could be the key to fueling the family sedan.  The Victorian Government and a consortium of companies is assessing the viability of a ground-breaking green fuel plant for the state that uses garbage.If successful the $400 million plant could produce more than 200 million litres of ethanol a year from regular household and building waste.  GM-Holden, which will introduce an ethanol-fueled Commodore V6 later this year, is one of the lead companies in the consortium.US-based biofuel company and ethanol producer Coskata, Caltex, Veolia and Mitsui have also signed up to investigate the viability of the plant, which could be built in Melbourne.  If successful, the alternative fuel will be blended as E85, a mixture of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent regular petrol.Coskata believes it can produce ethanol for less than 35 centres a litre, more than offsetting is higher fuel use when compared to petrol.  The company's chief marketing officer Wes Bolsen, said the proposal would not just benefit Victoria."It's about what can be done in Queensland or NSW," he says.  "It's the tip of the iceberg for Australia to be less dependent on oil."Bolsen believes that Australia's surplus agriculture waste could make it a net exporter of material for ethanol plants in other parts of the world.  "There is a chance Australia could take the lead with this technology," he says.GM-Holden's energy and environment director Richard Marshall says ethanol could reduce our dependence on petrol by up to 30 per cent.  Marshall believes for alternative fuels to go mainstream petrol will have to hit a trigger point of $2 a litre.Caltex is rolling out more ethanol pumps in 30 metropolitan and regional service stations later this year, increasing to 100 within 12 months.  It already has about 400 service stations nationally selling E10.Bolsen said Coskata did not make fuel from food crops.  "We use sources like municipal waste that have reached the end of their lifecycle," he said.

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV’s price has not yet been decided, but it is expected to hit the showrooms next year at a cost substantially lower than its current asking price overseas of about $60,000.Mitsubishi Motors Australia corporate affairs vice-president Paul Stevenson confesses that the price of the i-MiEV "will be expensive up front". However, when the first two vehicles rolled off the ship at the Port of Brisbane recently, outgoing Mitsubishi boss Rob McEniry said it would not be as expensive or as big a premium over comparative-sized cars as the hybrid Toyota Prius."I can't tell you what the price is yet, but the price of electric vehicles is coming down rapidly and that is why we are cautious of saying the price now," McEniry said. "When it gets into volume production it will be affordable - not much more expensive than comparative-sized cars. But running costs will make them cheaper over the whole of the life of the vehicle."Stevenson says Mitsubishi Motors Australia has not been able to get a commitment on volume from Japan yet, which hampered their decision on price."The thing is that over time and not a lot of time as the volume ramps up production meets demand," he says. "At the moment demand outstrips supply so the price is high. As volume ramps up we will see that price decrease."He cited the example of plasma TV technology. "In 2003 a 40-inch plasma TV cost about $27,000 and now they are about $800," he says.Stevenson says government incentives could also help reduce the price and encourage people to go to EV."Mitsubishi is not talking to government with any numeric value in mind, but we are speaking about policy issues," he says. "In France (EV motorists) can use transit lanes, they have special parking spaces and new office blocks have to have recharging infrastructure in place. In Paris there is a range of free public EV charging points for cars and scooters. The Japan government subsidises half the premium over the compatible petrol model and in UK they are offering a $10,000 subsidy for each EV."

Australian drivers have become shiftless slobs for whom changing gears is as inconceivable as flicking channels without a remote. But would you (re-)learn the art of stick shifting to save the planet?  I ask because the leanest running car in the country is not that ostentatiously shaped advertisement for your greener-than-thou self, Toyota’s Prius.It is, as this blog’s reader is aware, Ford’s Europe-designed and built Fiesta ECOnetic, with a small but relentless four cylinder turbo diesel driven through a five-speed manual that can realise as little as 3.7 litres per 100km. That’s opposed to the CVT-driven, petrol-electric hybrid Prius’s 3.9.OK, those figures have questionable real-world application, being achieved in the contrived circumstances of official testing. What is of real-world significance is the disparity in price – the Pious … sorry, the Prius begins from just under 40 big ones.  The ECOnetic is to be had from $24,990. And there’s no issue with the brakes.The Ford, is of course, smaller than the Toyota, but there’s no shortage of slightly larger diesel sippers whose consumption and emissions figures barely exceed the Prius in the real world.And increasingly, manual oilers will get stop-start, the tech currently being rolled out by BMW and Audi, such as the seamless A5 2.0 TFSI we had last week. Coupled with energy recovery systems, these can save around a litre of juice per 100km and 5g of Co2 per klick.If you don’t find the Fiesta and Prius readily comparable, the Mazda6 and Toyota’s Camry couldn’t be more so -- not least the Diesel 6 (5.9l/100km) at $36,250 and the Camry Hybrid (6l/100km) at $39,990. Lineball stuff consumption wise, but if you’re serious about preserving the ice caps, surely every litre and gram counts.If it’s not easy being green, changing gears really isn’t that hard.   Harden up, soft cogs.

They want Canberra to make a commitment similar to the ones in many other countries, including the recent 5000 pound ($8200) incentive provided by the British government to buyers of plug-in electric cars.The latest British commitment follows support deals in most European countries, from Spain-France-Italy to Sweden-Finland-Denmark. Converts to electric cars in the USA also get a tax break worth between $2500 and $7500 ($2765-8295), depending on the capacity of the battery."Pretty much everywhere else in the world is paying a subsidy. The government needs to look at a general subsidy. That is the only way you're going to get ordinary people into the cars," says David McCarthy of Mercedes-Benz Australia, which intends to have an electric Smart ForTwo in its lineup in 2011. "We'd like to think we can get the electric Smart next year, and Mercedes-Benz is also doing a test on an electric Vito van."Mitsubishi is also pushing hard on the electric front with its iMiEV, as Nissan works towards local sales of the Leaf and Subaru crunches numbers on its plug-in Stella and BMW Group considers both the Mini-E and a plug-in 1 Series.McCarthy says the Smart should be one of the first battery cars on Australian roads but Mercedes-Benz wants to see a commitment from government at all levels. "The running costs on these cars are low, but they are expensive to buy. We don't have an indication yet on the price of the Smart, but it isn't going to be cheap so people do need some encouragement," he says.Most of the planning electric cars will be in the $50,000-$60,000 range in Australia, even though most are tiny city runabouts and several contenders only have two seats. Mitsubishi is planning to join Mercedes in lobbying the Federal government, most likely through the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries."There is an electric vehicle working group in the FCAI, but I don't think the lobbying has started yet," McCarthy says.

One of the technical innovations of the Mercedes-Benz F 800 Style research vehicle on show at the Geneva Motor Show uses a system called Traffic Jam Assistant that is capable of automatically following the vehicle in front of it.The hands-off steering system also recognises the difference between driving along curving roads and turning. This means it does not ‘blindly’ follow the vehicle up in front if it suddenly changes lanes in order to exit the highway. The result is that at speeds of up to about 40km/h, the Traffic Jam Assistant takes care of the steering so drivers do not have to steer themselves. The driver can just sit back and relax — with hands on the steering wheel. When the 40km/h is exceeded, the steering torque that keeps the vehicle in its lane is gradually reduced to a point at which the Traffic Jam Assistant smoothly disengages. Drivers can override the system at any time. Sensitive sensors notice active steering movements, thus automatically deactivating the system.Apart from its fuel-cell and electric technology, the F 800 Style is also a pointer to the next-generation CLS sedan and a future look at Mercedes Benz’s styling direction. The car also features an all-new multi drive platform, which is suited for electric drives with fuel cells with a range of almost 600km as well as the use of Plug-in Hybrids that can drive for up to 30km solely on electricity.“We are dedicated to reconciling our responsibility for the environment with practical customer utility in a fascinating automobile,” says Dr. Thomas Weber, the Daimler Board of Management member responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. “The new F 800 Style research vehicle combines this commitment to providing the leading innovative drive concepts with our traditional Mercedes strengths in the areas of design, safety, comfort, and outstanding performance.”The F 800 is 4750mm long and manages to install all the alternative drive components in a space-saving manner in the engine bay and gaps within the chassis to allow plenty of room for five occupants. Various fuel cell components have been downsized to help maximize passenger space.Mercedes calls the F 800 Style a dynamic expression of the concept of “fascination and responsibility”. Its drive unit consists of a 220kW V6 petrol engine with next-generation direct injection and a hybrid module with an output of about 80kW, delivering total power of 300kW. The lithium-ion battery can be recharged either at a charging station or a household power socket. The car can also be run exclusively on electricity for zero emissions for up to 30km.Because it also has a high torque right from the moment it starts, the car has the same driving performance as a car with a V6 petrol engine even when operating in electric mode. The F 800 signals another step in the creation of a market-ready plug-in hybrid, which Mercedes-Benz plans to build with the next-generation S-Class.Due to its efficient drive system and a CO2 bonus for the battery-electric driving mode, the vehicle has a certified fuel consumption of only 2.9l/100km and C02 emissions of only 68g/km. The car has a top speed of 250km/h and zero to 100km in 4.8 seconds. In electric mode its top speed is 120km/h.Apart from its environmental advantages the F 800 Style has some innovative touches for safety and comfort. It has a new operating and display concept and a human-machine interface (HMI) with a camera touchpad. The display shows many additional functions not found in conventional instrument clusters.The HMI unit here consists of a touchpad on the centre console and a camera that records video images of the user’s hand as it works the pad. The live image of the hand is presented in transparent form in the central display above the console. The user sees the contours of their fingers glide across the image without covering anything but showing up all the menu function, which operate via slight pressure on the touchpad.The cam touchpad HMI unit recognises finger movements on the pad surface such as wiping, pushing, turning, and zooming, thus enabling intuitive regulation of the climate control system, telephone, stereo and navigation systems, and Internet access. Unlike conventional touchscreens, the HMI touchpad does not get smudged with fingerprints.Another function is the “range on map” function that shows the remaining possible travel radius on pure electric mode.A particularly customer-friendly innovation of the F 800 Style is its rear doors. Whereas the front doors are attached to the A-pillar in a conventional manner and open wide toward the front, the rear doors slide backward when opened, as they are suspended from an interior swivel arm. This is designed to make getting in and out of the car much easier. The F 800 Style also has no B-pillar, making the entire space between the A and C-pillars completely accessible when the doors are opened.The headlights are divided into individual segments for daytime running lights, turn signal indicators, and primary headlights, with state-of-the-art LED tail-lights. Inside the car’s innovative lightweight-construction, seats consist of a magnesium shell, carbon fibre laminate seatback and wood veneer shell.

The reason is simple — the new S60 is the first car in the world with a system to 'see' pedestrians and brake automatically if there is an chance of a collision.Volvo has been working on the safety breakthrough for more than five years and has built it into a car which will be a landmark for the brand as the last all-new model before the Chinese take control of the Swedish make.  Ford is about to sell Volvo and the S60 is the last car of an era which saw the brand make big strides on style, comfort and — not surprisingly — safety.The S60 will reach Australia later in 2010 after an official preview at the Geneva Motor Show in just over three weeks.  But the first details are public already and reflect everything from a good looking new body to improved safety, and even a bigger boot and more space in the rear seat."The emphasis is on emotional space, sporty design and dynamic driving properties. What is more, the car's innovative new technologies help you become both a better and safer driver," says Stephen Odell, president of Volvo Cars. Engines in the new S60 will run from a fuel-miser 1.6-litre DRIVe diesel to a turbocharged five-cylinder petrol motor with 224 kiloWatts, with claims of a 10 per cent economy improvement across the range. A six-speed automatic is standard, with front-wheel drive except for Haldex all-wheel drive on the flagship T6.Inside, Volvo claims a breakthrough infotainment system that integrates satnav, telephone, sound system and trip computer in either a five or seven-inch colour screen.  On the safety front, and in addition to the pedestrian-protection system, Volvo is fitting a more-advanced ESP stability system that detects skidding earlier, the City Safety system — which brakes automatically to avoid car-to-car collisions — introduced on the XC60 and a new corner traction control system.One surprise for the Swedish brand is that the new Volvo will be built at Ghent, in Belgium.  The S60 will arrive in Australia towards the end of this year, but there is no firm news on prices or the model lin-eup.

HOW often are cars valued? Is it monthly or yearly? When is it the best time of the year to buy a used car? When is it the best time of the year to sell?

The Australian New-Car Assessment Program is planning to raise the bar for its coveted five-star rating, the highest safety ranking, to include a new generation of pre-crash safety systems.  In the past its ratings have been based primarily on laboratory crash tests but, with more and more cars qualifying for a five-star tick, a change is coming. "We have a futures roadmap. We have meetings in New Zealand this week and we're looking at raising the bar," says the ANCAP business manager, Nick Clarke.  Crucially, Clarke says the five-star standard will be raised from the current level, where ESP stability control is the main essential for the top score, to include advanced systems currently being introduced by safety pioneers including Volvo and Mercedes-Benz. "There is collision avoidance radar, lane departure warning, and even night vision systems. You'll see more and more of those features coming into the rating scale.  "Some of them will become mandatory for a five-star rating." But Clarke says the changes will not come until the start of 2011.  "We don't want all Subaru cars, for example, to become four star cars overnight from five stars," he says. "We'll probably make the announcement in the next quarter, and have progressive introduction from next year."  While Clarke says ANCAP is improving its procedures, he does not see it copying the European NCAP system of listing its top five performers, topped for 2009 by the Volkswagen Golf. "We've had a bit of a look at it, but only to a lukewarm response," he says.  "We'll have a talk about it this year but I don't think so. We also tend to steer clear of the raw scores and go towards the star ratings." He says he understands the EuroNCAP promotion of a 'top five' but says there are different reasons for the approach.  "I think it's a useful thing for them. Their storing protocol is slightly different to us, and they are reaching a lot more countries, so they are trying to establish some sort of benchmark."