Technology

For that reason they have come up with their own creation of a new ultra-efficient, high-speed network called the ‘Grid’. Nissan's Grid-compliant car for 2030 is the V2G - for Vehicle-to-Grid.With the Nissan Leaf leading the company's electric car push, the designers think EVs like the V2G will be very popular with consumers thanks to their low cost and dynamic styling.Nissan proposes that the V2G will be sold like mobile phone plans, making it affordable for everyone and allowing customisation. The designers also expect tech-savvy buyers to be able to hack into the Grid system and untap the V2G's performance potential off-line in a completely different vehicle segment.They have already configured a name for that model, the V2G Unlimited.

However, they will still be cash poor and that's where the eco-friendly Toyota Link comes in. The Link is an affordable customised, mass transit vehicle for students with high social networking demands. With little-to-no disposable income, students will be able to pick up a Link via various inter-connected transport Hubs.Once on board, the Link seamlessly links on to a transportation social network, allowing connections with other drivers to share the commute, trade music, or compare diaries. Made with Toyota's newly patented electro-fibre technology, the designers see different in-car applications.Drivers will be able to download applications like the ‘Link Skinz’ to digitally transform the car's shape into a personalised exterior design. In place of traditional wheels, the Link drives on spheres made of an electro-conductive material. This converts friction into energy and recharges the on-board batteries.

A lot of optional equipment depreciates far faster than the car it is fitted to, and rapid changes in standard equipment can overtake impressive showroom choices in as little as three years.  Extra safety equipment is hit among the hardest by depreciation, as used-car buyers are reluctant to pay extra for additional airbags or ESP stability control.Yet a sunroof or leather trim or flashy alloy wheels could get a payback at trade-in or resale time as upmarket additions can add extra appeal.  Even the right colour choice can make a difference to a car's secondhand value, as trendy colours become unpopular quickly while staples such as white, silver and black tend to be timeless."You have to be very careful. If you start by spending $3000 on options it might all be worthless in a few years," the spokesman for car-price authority, Glass's Information services, says.  "If the car depreciates at 40 per cent, some of these options can depreciate at twice that, or more," says Chris D'Sousa.He says flashy extra gear, including sunroofs and leather trim, might not put extra cash in the wallet but could make it easier to get a sale.  "They don't really add resale value. They add resale appeal," D'Sousa says.Glass's tracks values for more than 40 items of optional equipment, currently tracking it backwards to cars sold in 2000. The list includes everything from extra airbags to CD players, body kits, bullbars and Xenon headlamps.  A range of extras is rated with zero value after 10 years, including anti-skid brakes, cruise control (which hits zero at seven years), and a six-stack CD player.Glass's believes the best approach to new-car shopping is to choose a car that is already well equipped, only adding optional essentials such as a towbar.  "If you take a basic car, it's better to take a higher-spec model because options deprectiate a lot more than the car itself. Some, like towbars, will be value for about four years," he says.  "A good option will add value for up to 10 years. Then it becomes irrelevant."It is better to buy the higher-spec car because resale will be better."  Digging into specifics, D'Sousa says buyers need to be careful what they add to a car.  "There are certain options, like the visual touch-and-feel stuff _ that's sunroofs, alloy wheels and leather trim - that will always enhance a car. Then there are hidden options that are more in tune with today's market needs, like ESP and curtain airbags, that have no perceived value."Turn the clock forward, and this stuff is standard. It adds no value.  "We believe side airbags will have some value now for about six years.  Then it will be an expectation.  Satnav might have an average new price of $5000, but after a year we believe the value falls to only $2000. Then at 10 years it falls to $300.  A body kit will depreciate less than a rear cargo barrier."Glass's tracks the whole car market and D'Sousa says there are different rules in different price classes. A $15,000 Hyundai Getz should not be tweaked, a Commodore or Falcon only deserves dressing if it is already a premium model, while BMW and Benz buyers should avoid going overboard."If you take a Hyundai Getz and spend a lot of money dressing up, people buying it secondhand don't perceive it as premium," he says.  "If you were looking at a base-model Falcon or Commodore I would suggest no options beyond a towbar. But if you look at a G-Series Falcon then a sunroof and leather trim will add some value."Even with a BMW, there are some options that add a lot more, and luxury brands have options' lists that run to small books. You can take a car and add 50 per cent to the purchase price, but does that add value?"On car colours, D'Sousa warns about going for fashion colours that change rapidly. Holden is famous for using 'hero' colours on its V8- powered SS Commodore, switching rapidly from gold to light blue, green and even purple in recent years.  "These days everyone wants a black or silver car. A few years ago everyone wanted a green car, but these days no-one wants a green car,"  he says.There are also regional differences between what sells and what sits on the lot.  "Convertibles don't sell well in Queensland, but they are popular in Sydney or Melbourne. White cars are not so popular in Melbourne," D'Sousa says."A fuddy-duddy car like a Mercedes-Benz sells well in Melbourne. People in Darwin will travel to Adelaide to get a secondhand four- wheel drive because they know it has had an easier life. It's the same for people in Perth, who will go to Adelaide for an SUV because they don't like the red-dust staining you get in WA."Item                           new price     value after 10 yearsSatellite navigation       $5000        $300In-car television            $2800         $200Electric sunroof             $2300         $200Dual airbag package     $1400         $0Alloy wheels                  $1000           $0Source: Glass's Information Systems

That would give the green Honda a substantial $10,000 price advantage over the Toyota Prius, its only real competitor in the Australian market.

This year's "world on wheels" is packed with new models, supercars, concept cars, classic cars and interactive exhibits.

Computer scientists at Free University in Berlin have raised the bar with an iPhone application to remotely drive a car.   Of course, this is no ordinary car. Dubbed the Spirit of Berlin, it uses GPS, Wi-Fi, a dashboard video camera and laser 3D sensors to allow it to be driven remotely.   At the end of all that technology is a customised iPhone application called iDriver which shows the view out of the windscreen and parts of the touch screen which can be used to steer, brake and accelerate. In short, it is a similar system to that used by James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies to escape from a sticky situation and way ahead of the simple shoe phone used by Maxwell Smart in Get Smart. The range on the car is apparently good enough for the user to navigate it remotely all the way down a four-storey car park before the car picks up the driver.  The car and the remote were both built by the Artificial Intelligence Group at the university, which is looking at how autonomous vehicles could change our lives in the future. Project director Professor Raal Rojas said that in the not-too-distant future people would not need to have their own car, with driverless taxis taking people anywhere they wanted to go.

George Jetson is probably old enough by now to need a mobility scooter. And this is just the thing.  The space-age i-REAL is the latest in a series of concepts developed over two years by a bunker of Toyota’s futurist engineers – with their eye mainly on a future traffic flow that includes some kind of cross between a motorcycle and a car as personal transport.Powered from a lithium-ion battery, the three-wheeled machine has a range of 30km on a single charge, and can hit speeds of up to 30km/h.  For that kind of speed, it drops from its upright Walking mode into a lower and longer Cruising posture, and is able to tilt into the corners. At the end of the trip, it contracts into the smaller footprint of Park mode, which comes close to fitting into a large cupboard.Sensors detect and work to avoid nearby objects and people, which holds the prospect of functionality for the visually impaired. And the machine can communicate with other i-REALS – or at least the other six built so far. Toyota’s i-REAL project manager Makoto Morita says it could be in the showrooms in four to five years if production costs can be produced. And he estimates it would be priced ‘somewhere between a motorcycle and a small car … the equivalent of about $4000-5000, perhaps’  He says two of the seven are already in limited application at Nagoya airport, near Toyota’s main facilities.But we can’t help wondering if this is really a solution to future traffic woes. While a motorbike can take two people, the i-REAL – in its current shape – takes only one. And lying down, has a larger footprint on the road than a lot of motorbikes.There is no protection from the weather, although we were shown concepts of a small curving hood that might well keep light mist off the user but would do little in the case of any half-decent rain.  And in concept for there is so far no indication of its crash-worthinesss, although the design team is working on improving it, Morita says.“We are considering the safety and strength,” he says. “We are doing research into motorcycle accidents, and it is possible we will develop a passenger safety capsule.  We have to improve the safety to be like a car, or maybe a motorbike. (Toyota) has good experience in developing cars, but not with something like this.”But Morita says the main delay in bringing the i-REAL to market will not be safety hurdles, but legislative ones.  “We will need new regulations for this vehicle,” Morita says. “We are negotiating with government, police and infrastructure authorities – they are all happy to work with us.”  Perhaps it will be that it could be allowed on bike paths or in the separated traffic lanes (such as those available in Japan and some European cities),” he says.Where the i-REAL does score well is in the novelty fun stakes. Even our limited drive in Tokyo had us wanting to try it again.

...when the emission-free city cars start arriving early next year.Mitsubishi Australia President and CEO Robert McEniry says that while numbers of the iMiev will initially be heavily restricted and expensive the company has scheduled a rollout that will start with loans to companies and governments and move to leasing arrangements by the end of next year."We have identified some high-profile companies and authorities that are keen to utilise the electric technology and for that high visibility market the cars will initially be loaned for short terms but by the end of the year we would expect to have a number out on lease arrangements," McEniry says.McEniry says that as production increases and unit costs fall there will be greater and greater opportunities for people to access the iMiev. "There is no doubt that within a relatively short time it will become far more affordable for the average private buyers." "We are continuing our deliberations with our parent company to make sure we grab some,” McEniry says. "They are very, very keen to support us and while it may be very difficult to get them into Australia this year to meet my own schedule, at the very latest it will be the first quarter of next year and then we will be part of the production schedule from then on. "I guess one of our stated objectives was to be the first to be in Australia with an electric car ... and I think we will achieve that."On a more immediate front McEniry is bullish about Australia's new car sales fighting back as the bite of the global financial crisis begins to ease and consumer confidence grows.While conceding that it may be a while before the record 1,000,000 market numbers of the past couple of years are revisited, McEniry says that early 2009 predictions of an 800,000 year are going to prove pessimistic."At the beginning of the year you probably heard us talking about 820,00 annualised for the first half of the year and 850 (thousand) annualised for the second half of the year,” McEniry says. "Our forecast of the market now is around 900,000 and our own sales will be a lot closer to last year's 59,000 than we were predicting."Such has been Mitsubishi's financial revival since closing its production facilities in Australia and moving to an importer status, McEniry believes the company would be an attractive target for a takeover if it were publicly listed."We have cash in the bank, a strong business with growth and good assets ... oh yes, we would be a very attractive takeover target right now."We have done a lot of work in restructuring the company and eliminating costs, rationalising our product lines — in terms of product lines and the products themselves. Inventories have been reduced significantly, the company itself is becoming right-sized and we are instigating a very customer-centric culture."We are getting improved profitability, improved liquidity and improved net worth month on month. So we are really starting to strenthen. Importantly for us, when we look at our product portfolio our products are all in the growth segments of the market and the products we will be introducing over the next 12 months or so — Challenger and another one (a sub-compact SUV) — just reinforces our products in the growth segment."The Challenger SUV will be rushed into the market in November so dealers can take advantage of the government's 50 per cent incentive bonus which expires at the end of December.And in a lightly-veiled reference to the demise of the company's ill-starred 380 large sedan, McEniry said that part of the company's success came from the segments they were not competing in. "We consider ourselves somewhat fortunate that we are not in the declining segments any more."

As these sketches show, the peppy new Micra is evolving and Nissan Australia has bigger plans for the little hatch.Unlike the current Micra, which is available as a single four-door 1.4-litre for $15,990, the Japanese carmaker is looking to expand the model makeup. That means a three-door, as well as a cheaper manual model, are on the cards.In other markets the current car is also available with 1.2-litre or 1.6-litre four-cylinder engines. However, Nissan Australia spokesman, Jeff Fisher, is coy on predictions of just what models will arrive or the likely engines. "We'll have a manual but a three door? I'm not sure about that," he says.Nissan's newest mini will be critical in helping the company's push to becoming the leading import brand over the next three years. Nissan Australia managing director, Dan Thompson, has set the challenge to be the number 1 importer by 2012.The car is set to hit local showrooms late next year after debuting at the Geneva Motor Show in March. As the images show, the Micra does not deviate too much from the proven cheeky design formula of the current car. It will retain the similar compact dimensions but is expected to get slightly more cabin room, will be safer and better equipped. Nissan may also choose to leverage its Renault ties by introducing an small ultra-frugal turbo-diesel.Fisher says the new Micra will be a much more significant player for the brand than the current car, which is consistently selling about 500 a month. "It's been a good performer," Fisher says. "In fact it has outperformed our forecasts."Nissan Australia reintroduced the Micra badge in 2007 after a lacklustre foray into the local market back in the mid-1990s ."The whole idea of the current car was to get people more aware of the name and we were able to get it at a knockout price," Fisher says.Apart from the sketches, few other details are known, but Nissan has confirmed that it will go into production alongside the Tiida in Thailand from next March. It will also be built in India, where Suzuki sources its micro Alto hatch, as well as China. "There are a couple of possibilities about sourcing," Fisher says.The next-generation Micra, along with the front-drive Dualis and replacement for the Tiida hatch, are part of Nissan's bid to overtake Mazda, Hyundai and Mitsubishi as the country's favourite all-import brand. However, Fisher says the current Tiida will soldier on for a few years. He also hosed down speculation that the next-generation small hatch and sedan would revert to the better known Pulsar name of the previous car. 

While starting from a higher base of CO2 emissions, companies such as Ferrari have made the biggest improvements, according to automotive data and intelligence provider, JATO Dynamics.Ferrari leads the CO2 volume reduction race, with a 40.4g/km improvement in CO2 output so far this year. This is the greatest volume reduction of any brand on sale in Europe and represents a 9.5 per cent improvement. Ferrari's net reduction puts it well on its way to achieving its stated aim to reduce CO2 emissions from 400g/km per vehicle to 280-300g/km, by 2012.While Ferrari can claim the greatest CO2 volume reduction, when expressed as percentage improvement, it is Alpina that is the outright best performer, although on a small sales base.The next best in percentage improvement is Porsche with 10.6 per cent reduction. Meanwhile, 96 per cent of the top 25 brands of European new cars sold so far this year have reduced CO2 output by an average of 6.2g/km.New car sales for Smart, Fiat and MINI are already under the 130g/km CO2 average required under EU legislation by 2015. The outright biggest improvement of all mainstream marques over the past year belongs to Alfa Romeo, whose average new car CO2 output fell by 19.9g/km.The top spot is taken by Chevrolet, whose diesel Cruze model and three-cylinder, 0.8-litre, 119g/km Matiz helped its new car sales to a 15.2g/km average CO2 improvement. Second is Audi, whose 2.0-litre TDi engine helped it to an average of 163g/km. Toyota, Suzuki, Hyundai and Mazda also recorded double-digit improvements. Ford was best of the biggest European volume sellers, improving average CO2 by 8g/km as its ECOnetic range.The cleanest of the range is the new 98 g/km Fiesta ECOnetic which is yet to be released here.However, Ford Australia is bringing the car out for next month's 3000km Global Green Challenge trial from Darwin to Adelaide.