Green Car Advisor
India
November 11, 2009
Dispelling rumors to the contrary, Honda Motor Co. won't be making a low-cost and presumably fuel-efficient minicar in India to compete with products released by Tata Motors Ltd. and the alliance of Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co.
Instead, Japan's second-biggest carmaker is developing a small car that will cost less than its existing Jazz hatchback model, CEO Takanobu Ito told a news conference today.
The starting price of Jazz is 698,000 rupees (about $15,000) at showrooms in New Delhi.
Ito said the new car will be targeted at countries in Asia, with India as a key market.
"We would like to offer to as many customers as possible, a product at their price expectation level," he said, but didn't give any time frame for launching the new car or a likely price range.
Tata Motors, which controls Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands, currently sells the Nano minicar (pictured), the world's cheapest car, with starting prices of about 115,000 rupees (roughly $2,500) at showrooms in New Delhi.
The popularity of the car amid rising demand for fuel-efficient, affordable vehicles has prompted other automakers such as Renualt-Nissan, General Motors Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. to announce plans to develop their own low-cost cars.
Renault-Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday that a new minicar, to be designed and manufactured by Indian motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto Ltd. and distributed by Renault-Nissan, will be the cheapest car in India when introduced in 2012.
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- Scott Doggett November 11, 2009, 1:12 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, India, India, Japan, Nissan, Renault
- Technorati Tags:
- Fuel Economy
, Fuel Efficient, Honda, India, Jaguar, Land Rover, Nissan, Renault, Tata
October 20, 2009
Nissan, Renault Also Planning to Lease Batteries for Their EVs in Most Markets
There are all sorts of hopes and plans for lowering the cost of electric cars - most hinging on government subsidies and increased sales volumes that will power component costs - but one that doesn't lean of outside help is the idea of leasing the batteries with the car rather than including them in the sales price.
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Reva NXR is slated for 2010 launch in Europe, Asia.
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We first heard the idea from Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place. He suggests looking at the batteries as the principal part of the fuel system and thinking of leasing in terms of how we pay for fuel in our gasoline cars.
We don't buy a lifetime's supply of gas when we buy a new car now, he says. We pay for it as we need it. Why not the same with batteries and electricity?
Pay a monthly fee for the batteries and the few pennies it costs to recharge them each day and if the lease price is figures properly your "fuel" costs are likely to be the same or less than if you were driving a car with an internal combustion engine.
Among other things leasing means the car makers, not you, are responsible for fixing problems and for providing updated batteries when improvements are introduced.
Now we know the analogy doesn't hold up all that well - the electrons are the fuel and the batteries more like the fuel tank - but the idea still sounds pretty good.
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- John O'Dell October 20, 2009, 3:58 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, India, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Reva
- Technorati Tags:
- Battery Leasing
, EVs, Reva NXR
September 21, 2009
Britain's first government loan under new program to help boost automotive production and manufacturing goes to India's Tata Motors, for an assembly plant for its new line of electric cars.
Tata, which is preparing to launch European sales of a battery-electric version of its 4-seat Indica hatchback (right), has said earlier this month that its first factory would be in Norway with a British plant to follow if a government loan could be obtained.
This week, Britain's business secretary, Peter Mandleson, said Tata would get a loan of 10 million pounds ($16.3 million), the first from the 2.3-billion ($3.7 billion) loan fund.
Tata hasn't announced a plant site for the Indica EV, but analysts at IHS Global Insight say it is expected to choose a locale in central Britain near its existing Tata European Technical Center at the University of Warwick.
Global Insight reports that the U.K. automotive assistance program is in funding talks with 17 other companies.
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- John O'Dell September 21, 2009, 9:13 AM
- Categories:
- India, Plug-ins and Electric, Tata
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric cars
, EVs, Indica EV, Tata Indica, Tata Motors
REVA, the Indian automaker with big electric plans, reportedly is negotiating to bring its NXR 3-door compact EV (right) to the North American market and hopes to set up an electric-car manufacturing facility in the U.S.
A report in Syracuse.com, the Syracuse (N.Y.) on-line "newspaper," cited unnamed local government and development sources Friday as saying that "almost all of the pieces are in place to make the deal, including state and federal incentives."
REVA, which introduced the NXR at the Frankfurt Auto Show last week, has sought a $40 million federal loan guarantee - possibly through a U.S. partner or partners, the report said - to finance an assembly plant in the U.S.
The report says that the Syracuse region of central New York is a "leading contender" for the factory if the financing comes through
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- John O'Dell September 21, 2009, 3:00 AM
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- Add category , India, Plug-ins and Electric, Reva
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- 2010 REVA NXR
, Electric Car Manufacturing, Electric Vehicle, EV, REVA, Syracuse N.Y.
September 16, 2009
REVA Electric Car Co. presented the NXG to the world today, and announced the pricing for the 2011 NRX, at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
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Pictured, the REVA NXG electric car.
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Styled by Dilip Chhabria, the REVA NXG is a two-door, two-seater car with a targa top with a top speed of 80 miles an hour and a range of 125 miles per charge, and it can be fully charged in as little as 90 minutes using an optional fast charger.
The Indian automaker says that the plug-in electric NXG has "an effective range" of 250 miles per day due to the relatively short period of time required to fully fuel the vehicle using one of its fast chargers. The NXG was billed as REVA's 2011 model.
REVA executives took the opportunity to announce that today marked the official launch of the NXR, an electric car that is scheduled to enter production early next year. It will be available with either a lithium-ion battery or a lead-acid battery.
The NXR is a three-door, four-seater hatchback family car. The version with a lithium-ion battery is called the NXR Intercity and it has a top speed of 65 miles per hour and a range of 100 miles per charge. Using the 90-minute fast charge -- normal charging is eight hours -- the NXR Intercity offers an effective range of 192 miles a day.
Prices of the NXR Intercity will vary across Europe depending on taxes and subsidies, and there is the option of purchasing the car and batteries separately, or at an all-inclusive price.
That said, REVA announced the average price for the NXR Intercity in Europe will be around 14,995 euros (or $21,000), plus a monthly mobility fee for the batteries and other services.
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- Scott Doggett September 16, 2009, 5:57 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Batteries, India, Plug-ins and Electric, Reva
- Technorati Tags:
- Frankfurt Motor Show
, Plug In Electric Vehicles, Plug In EV, REVA NXG, REVA NXR
September 8, 2009
Indian automaker REVA announced today that it will debut two plug-in electric vehicles next week at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
The REVA NXR is a four-seat, three-door hatchback family car suitable for urban driving that can be ordered at the show, with production scheduled to commence at the beginning of 2010.
The showcar, REVA's model for 2011, is the REVA NXG (pictured); a sporty two-seater with a targa roof that was designed by Dilip Chhabria of the internationally renowned automotive design company DC Design.
Another world-first for REVA will be the launch of REVive. The technology, which REVA claims has no equal, is intended to address the range-anxiety issue that troubles many an EV owner and prospective EV owner. That would be being stranded after your EV runs out of juice.
As REVA put it in a statement, the technology "acts like an invisible reserve fuel tank. The customer just has to telephone or SMS REVA for an instant remote recharge should they run out of charge."
We're not exactly sure what that means, and a REVA representative was not immediately available to explain; we expect answers next week at the very latest. But both the REVA NXR and the REVA NXG will feature "the REVive telematics technology."
The company said that further details and and pricing announcements will be made at the Frankfurt show. It also said its new Website, Revaglobal.com, will go live when the vehicles are unveiled in Frankfurt.
REVA is the brand of the Reva Electric Car Co., a Bangalore-based company formed as a joint venture between Maini Group of India and AEV LLC of California. It is backed by the U.S. investors Global Environment Fund and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
REVA claims its vehicles are being sold or test-marketed in 24 countries worldwide. It says it is building a new ultra-low-carbon-vehicle assembly plant in Bangalore, with a capacity of 30,000 units per year.
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- Scott Doggett September 8, 2009, 2:03 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Emissions, Fuel Economy, India, India, Plug-ins and Electric, Reva
- Technorati Tags:
- Auto Show
, EV, Frankfurt Motor Show, India, Plug In Electric Vehicles, REVA, REVA NXG, REVA NXR
June 17, 2009
Following up on what company officials told us (and we told you
) months ago, India's Tata Motors has told its management trainees that the company, indeed, plans to "use the Nano platform to build electric and hybrid cars."
The statement was contained in a report the company printed up for its Tata Management Training Center, according to the Economic Times business newspaper.
Like most countries these days, India is pushing to clean up its air and reduce its carbon footprint and Tata, its largest automaker, is under tremendous pressure to lead the way with cleaner, greener motor vehicles,
The company already is preparing an electric version of its Indica sedan, a much larger car than the bare-bones, $2,300-$3,300 Nano (the electric Indica will first be sold in Norway which actually has a charging infrastructure for EVs).
Tata also is working on stop-start, or micro-hybrid" systems for its one-ton Ace delivery truck and for the Nano, as well as on a clean diesel engine for the Nano and, possibly, a low-speed Nano variation using a compressed-air engine.
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- John O'Dell June 17, 2009, 10:36 AM
- Categories:
- Hybrid, India, Plug-ins and Electric, Tata
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- Electric Nano
, Hybrid Nano, Tata Motors, Tata Nano
June 5, 2009
Here's another we won't be holding our breath for.
India's Tata Motors hopes to bring its ultra-cheap Nano to the U.S., by 2011, the company's chairman said in remarks this week at a Cornell University sustainable enterprise panel covered by Reuters news service.
The tiny four-seat car, which sells for about $2,000 in India and is slated to make its European debut in 2011, was designed to provide all-weather transportation for India's poor.
It is intended to help replace the ubiquitous motorbikes that provide many low-income Indians cheap but highly polluting and dangerous transportation, and for that and the car's fuel economy -- estimated at 65 miles a gallon in India, but closer to 47 mpg using U.S. standards, Tata deserves applause.
But the very features -- or lack of them -- that make the car affordable in India work against its acceptance in the U.S.
Nor would the rock-bottom price hold up for a U.S.-bound Nano, which would require significant engineering upgrades to meet U.S. safety requirements, and engine and exhaust system upgrades to meet federal emissions standards.
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- John O'Dell June 5, 2009, 3:26 PM
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- India, Tata
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- Tata Nano
May 4, 2009
Last year, sales of electric vehicles (led by battery-powered scooters) were on a roll in India. But sales stalled as the global economy went into recession and lower gasoline prices further dulled the allure of greener machines.
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A Hero Electric scooter on display at a recent show.
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Mint,
an Indian newspaper, is now reporting that the country's vehicle manufacturers have asked the government to offer subsidies of up to 25% to consumers who buy EVs.
"This (industry) has to be seeded by the government by incentivizing people to buy our products," Sohinder Gill, chief executive of Hero Electric, the Hero Group arm that sells electric two-wheelers, told the newspaper.
Gill told the newspaper that India should follow the lead of the U.S., which is offering up to $7,500 in rebates for buyers of electric cars. The United Kingdom last month joined Germany and other countries that also have offered incentives to help counter the relative premium consumers must pay for a green vehicle.
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- Greg Johnson May 4, 2009, 9:52 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Hybrid, India, India, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Car
, Electric Vehicle Charger, Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, Fuel Tax, Incentive
March 30, 2009
The 2010 Tata Nano is the world's cheapest car: Four-wheeled driving pared down to the bare essentials.
With the $2,000 Tata Nano, capable of providing affordable all-weather transportation to those who might otherwise have never been able to afford a car, Tata Motors has created a completely new, ultra-low-cost vehicle segment. Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, says the decision to build the car came from seeing Indian families perched precariously on two-wheelers.
But have Tata's engineers skimped on environmental matters in their quest to pare down the price of India's "People's Car?"
Green Car Advisor sent Paris-based contributor Nick Kurczewski to India for the launch of the highly anticipated 2010 Nano last week to find out whether the car represents both an affordable and greener automotive future, or just a cheap set of wheels.
Here's his report:
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Less is more (environmentally speaking)
One thing working to the advantage ofthe Tata Nano is that there is simply much less stuff that goes into it. There are fewer options, a tiny engine, less standard equipment and much less curb-weight.
This means fewer raw materials are needed to build it, and there's less stuff to fill landfills or foul the environment when its life is over.
A base model Nano does not have air-conditioning, air-bags, power brakes, power steering, ABS or even a radio. Inside the cabin are two gauges, for fuel level and speed.
The Nano has a 35-horsepower 624-cc 2-cylinder engine mounted in the rear. Developed exclusively for the Nano, the all-aluminum multi-point fuel-injected engine averages around 47 mpg in a mix of city and highway driving, according to Tata Motors.
The tiny engine works because, with a curb-weight of only 1,320 lbs, the steel-bodied Nano is less than half the weight of many economy cars and much easier to propel with just 35 horses.
Emissions
Although every Nano uses the same engine - no performance options here -photochemical and toxic emissions levels vary slightly depending on options.
A Nano fits into one of two Indian emissions categories - Bharat Stage (BS) II or the stricter BSIII that is, generally speaking, equal to European regulations of 3 or 4 years ago. With Europe set to move from Euro IV to Euro V emissions requirements, India is similarly preparing to move from BSIII to BSIV standards.
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- John O'Dell March 30, 2009, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Economy, India, Tata
- Technorati Tags:
- 2010 Tata Nano
, Tata Motors, World's Cheapest Car
February 19, 2009
By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor
Tata Motors, the Indian automaker that rocked the industry with its announcement last year of a $2,000 car -- the Nano (left) -- said that work on electric and air-powered versions of the soon-to-debut mini hatchback continues despite the company's woes (Tata reported a $52 million loss for its last quarter).
The work is going on track," Ravi Kant, Tata's managing director, said during a recent press conference in Mumbai.
The Nano will become the world's cheapest car when it goes on sale later this year in India with a base price of roughly $2,000 before taxes and shipping fees.
But price isn't enough to enable Tata to penetrate Western European and, potentially, North American markets. To do that, Tata needs to be able to field super fuel-efficient alternative-energy models of the Nano.
To help speed things up, the company last year acquired a majority stake in Miljo Grenland Innovasjon, a Norwegian company specializing in electric car technology.
Tata also is working with French air-car impresario Guy Negre's MDI Enterprises on a compressed-air engine for the Nano.
A battery-electric Nano, sold as a speed-restricted vehicle suitable for urban centers or gated communities, would help Tata breach Western markets without boosting the price the Spartan little car.
In its present form, the Nano does without airbags, ABS, or electronic stability control -- though Tata Motors representatives have said such items could be fitted. But safety features cost money and low speed vehicles in Europe and the U.S. do not need to meet the same stringent safety standards that apply to regular automobiles.
A compressed air version of the Nano also would likely be a low-speed vehicle. It also is probably a long way off. "Developments are ongoing with MDI, but it remains a very long-term plan," said Kant.
MDI has already developed several small and lightweight vehicles using air power. The system uses high-tech carbon-fiber tanks, which feed carefully measured doses of pressurized air to a piston engine specially adapted to run on air power. The result is a zero-emission vehicle that MDI insists is a viable option to electric vehicles.
Standard models of the Nano will be powered by a tiny 623cc two-cylinder gasoline engine, capable of delivering 32 horsepower and fuel economy of around 50 miles per gallon. A diesel version with a fuel economy increase of 20 percent or more is expected to arrive by the end of this year.
Debasis Ray, spokesman for Tata Motors, confirmed that sales of the conventionally powered Nano will commence sometime before April this year to enable the company to benefit from the global economic meltdown and resulting demand for inexpensive transportation.
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- John O'Dell February 19, 2009, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, India, Plug-ins and Electric, Tata
- Technorati Tags:
- Air Car
, Tata Nano
February 17, 2009
Automaker Sees U.S. Market As Ready For Its 30 MPG Diesel Pickups and SUVs
Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian manufacturer specializing in pick-ups and SUVs, believes that what works with value-conscious Indian car buyers will translate to American consumers weary of gas guzzlers but not quite ready to kick their SUV habits.
The company plans to enter the U.S. later this year with two and four-door versions of its pickup (below) followed by an as-yet-unnamed version of its Scorpio SUV (right).
A key part of the trucks' allure will be high fuel-efficiency figures. Power will come from a 2.2-liter common rail four-cylinder diesel engine, fitted to a six-speed automatic transmission. Mahindra representatives say the engine and transmission combination will deliver a fuel economy average of at least 30 mpg in combined city and highway driving.
The company also is working on hybrid powertrains, although the immediate target for them is the Indian market, said Dr. Arun Jaura, Mahindra's group chief technology officer.
"As a diesel-centric company, it was natural for us to get into diesel hybrids," Jaura said. "But at the end of the day, technology itself will not have a lot of traction. Technology that is affordable and seamless is what is needed." He said he believes developing a hybrid culture in India remains top priority.
There are no plans yet to bring a hybrid Mahindra to the U.S., he told Green Car Advisor
, reversing previous statements by the company that a diesel-electric hybrid
version of its pickup could be headed here as early as next year.
Mahindra already is selling a micro-hybrid with stop-start technology in India.
Developed in cooperation with Bosch, Mahindra's micro-hybrid turns the engine off whenever the vehicle is idling or in neutral. The engine restarts once the clutch is depressed.
The micro-hybrid is only offered on select models of the company's aging Bolero SUV, though Jaura confirmed that it will soon be applied to other models including the Scorpio SUV.
Mahindra claims the micro-hybrid system offers a 5-10 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over the standard model diesel. That would put the Indian-built trucks on par with eco-minded SUVs like Ford's Escape Hybrid, which averages 34 mpg in city and highway driving.
"When we look at the long-term, we see that for us to get there, [hybrid technology] is one of the enablers," said Dr. Jaura, in terms of cleaner emissions at home and projecting a positive image for the company's vehicle lineup in new markets.
Developing a vendor base of hybrid tech within India will prove vital to bringing down costs and widening acceptance of fuel-saving systems, both at home and abroad, he said. "We are learning to walk. At some point, we are going to learn to run."
Nick Kurczewski
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- John O'Dell February 17, 2009, 1:06 PM
- Categories:
- Diesel, Hybrid, India, Mahindra
- Technorati Tags:
- Diesel
, Hybrid, Mahindra, Micro Hybrid
February 3, 2009
Wal-Mart Stores says it soon will begin testing two new hybrid systems and three alternative fuels in some of its heavy-duty Class 8 trucks - the ones that haul those big Wal-Mart cargo trailers down the highway.
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Trucks like this one with a Peterbilt-Eaton hybrid drive are part of wal-Mart test fleet.
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The company said it will test a diesel-electric hybrid system in the Detroit area. The system, developed by ArvinMeritor, uses the electric motor mostly in low-speed, high-demand situations, such as accelerating from a dead stop while pulling a full trailer.
The diesel engine begins taking over with the electric motor's contribution to propulsion power diminishing as the truck accelerates until it is operating as a conventional diesel truck at highway speeds.
A Peterbilt-Eaton "hybrid assist" system will be used on five trucks in trials Southern California, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and the Washington-Baltimore area.
Unlike the ArvnMeritor system, it will provide an electric power boost for the internal combustion engine in high-demand situations such as acceleration and hill climbing.
It also will serve as the trucks' auxiliary power unit to keep heating and cooling systems and other electrical components operating when the truck is stopped - eliminating the need to keep the diesel engine running to generate auxiliary power.
The company is hoping the hybrid systems will result in improved fuel economy and reduced fuel costs and emissions.
Finally, Wal-Mart said it will test biodiesel and reclaimed grease fuel (made from cooking grease used in food outlets in Wal Mart stores) in a fleet of 15 trucks at its Buckeye, Az., distribution center; and liquid natural gas in five trucks in the Southern California high-desert area east of Los Angeles County.
For a variety of reasons we're not big Wal-Mart fans, but we've got to applaud the company's efforts to look at alternative fuels and powerplants in its relentless hunt for ways to slash operating costs.
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- John O'Dell February 3, 2009, 3:50 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, India
- Technorati Tags:
- Altenative Fuels
, Hybrids, Wal Mart
January 21, 2009
Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra says it won't stop investing just because the auto market is in a slump, and is expecting to bring out a line of electric and hybrid vehicles for the Indian market within a few years.
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Hybrid and electric versions of Mahindra's small pickup and SUV could be on the horizon.
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The company is spending upward of 1 billion rupees ($20.3 million) a year on R&D, Mahindra's head of design told reporters in a recent press conference.
The company sees production of lower-emission, fuel-efficient cars and trucks as a necessity, not a luxury, design chief B. Bhaumik said.
"We have to develop technologies for hybrid and electric vehicles" and will launch the first ones "in a couple of years," he said.
Analysts at Global Insight economic forecasting say that Indian consumers have been quick to endorse hybrid technology with their pocketbooks as Toyota introduced its Prius there and Honda its Civic Hybrid.
One reason is fuel economy. The other is that India introduces tough new emissions standards in April 2010 and people are buying clean and green in anticipation.
Whatever the reasons, we wish Mahindra well.
Its product development for India could someday spill over to these shores. The company already has said it will bring a compact pickup with a diesel-electric hybrid system to the U.S. in 2010, and our position is that it is always better for the market, and for competition, to have more of such vehicles.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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- John O'Dell January 21, 2009, 9:10 AM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, India, Mahindra, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Vehicles
, Hybrids, Indian Automakers, Mahindra
Dispelling rumors to the contrary, Honda Motor Co. won't be making a low-cost and presumably fuel-efficient minicar in India to compete with products released by Tata Motors Ltd. and the alliance of Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. 
