Archive for 2013
More Geneva Motor Show Highlights
So the Australian Motor Show has been cancelled, which means that we’re back to talking about the Geneva one instead of building up the anticipation. So let’s dive on in, having already rambled on about the weirdness that this year’s show produced.
The Geneva Motor Show wouldn’t be the Geneva Motor Show without some hot and exciting new cars put on display to an eager world. These days, we all know that frugality and fuel economy and reducing the carbon footprint are very in things indeed. But behind the doors of the Geneva Motor Show and under the bright lights, you can leave that behind and return to the fantasy of the muscle car and the sports car in all its glory… well, almost!
As expected, there were some drool-worthy new offerings unveiled by lots of the major European designers. Lamborghini has a new in-your-wildest-dreams car that looks like Batman should be behind the wheel, the new Veneno (they say that it’s named after a fighting bull but is the Spanish for poison. Go figure). McClaren had a bright yellow sports number that looks as though it’s escaped from the racing track, apart from a few extra curves or so; this was the MP4-12C. The MP4-12C has a nod towards being eco-friendly, as it is a hybrid car… but it certainly doesn’t look like your typical Nissan Leaf , to say the least. Rolls-Royce also decided to get sporty with the Wraith (someone’s been reading Lord of the Rings) and has put out what it considers to be a rival to Bentley’s Continental GT. Alfa Romeo has turned the concept of the 4C that was shown as a prototype at the 2011 show into a reality, with the 4C now entering production and going on sale in the UK in September this year (fingers crossed – it might make it Down Under, too).
Volkswagen also got on the sporty bandwagon (bandwagen?) with the XL1, which claims to have the lowest drag coefficient ever seen on a car. Again, VW has gone for the eco-friendly thing and has made sure that the XL1 has low emissions and a hybrid engine. It also claims to be the most efficient car in production and was discussed in an earlier post .
Volkswagen also had a more down-to-earth offering with the latest incarnation of the Golf. Audi has also got something worth waiting for. Three somethings, in fact, in the form of the RS Q3, the S3 Sportback and the A3 e-tron, which we’re confident will make it down here and be added to our reviews page when the time comes.
Subaru managed to turn a few heads with a new concept. This was the Viziv. Now, how do you describe the Viziv (the name’s supposed to be derived from Vision for Innovation)? Well, when I first started writing car reviews for Private Fleet, many years ago, a mess-up in the list to be reviewed asked me to describe a “Subaru Impreza Forester ”. The resulting query from my end as to which model was to be described was clarified soon enough (both of them, of course) but also attracted the comment that the blend of the sporty Impreza with the sturdy AWD Forester would be an interesting crossover. Well, that pretty much describes the Viziv, which has the 4×4 drivetrain and the super-sporty handling (and looks). Oh yes – it’s a hybrid vehicle, too
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Are Motor Shows still relevant in Australia?
This week we were informed that the Australian International Motor Show (AIMS), scheduled for Melbourne in June this year, has been cancelled.
AIMS Event Director, Russ Tyrie, said: “We have made the decision to not proceed with this year’s Show based on a consensus view of the Automotive Industry to focus limited marketing budgets in 2013 on firm specific activities rather than an industry based Motor Show.
“In not proceeding with the Show in 2013, Australia is following a global trend that has been apparent for several years, where cities do not always have a Motor Show. This trend is evident in the recent suspension of Motor Shows in London, Zagreb and Amsterdam,” Tyrie continued.
In 2009, a joint venture was formed between the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries- organisers of the Sydney Motor Show- and the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce who co-ordinated the Melbourne show.
Their agreement saw a shared arrangement where each city would share AIMS responsibilities, hosting the show on alternating years. The venture sought to ensure enough manufacturer and public interest in Australian shows rather than competing for attendance and revenue each year.
Now, with manufacturers moving towards different areas of promotion (for example, associating with major events like BMW at the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival or sponsoring a sporting team like Renault has the Port Adelaide Football Club) the question needs to be asked: Is the Australian Motor Show on the verge of extinction?
The AIMS organisers have been adamant that they will return in 2014, but with a new focus on the Asia-Pacific region. This bodes well, and I for one hope they return with a vengeance, but several challenges lie in the way. For one, our population is not big enough to truly justify a massive brand presence, the like of which is seen at Tokyo, Geneva or New York. Related is the sheer distance we lie away from the global manufacturer bases. Big European brands are particularly limited by time and budget constraints, putting the clamps on just what they can do with their local promotional opportunities.
Also shifting are the public’s perceptions, and that’s where you come in. With the multitude of information available online augmenting traditional print channels, do you still feel a need to attend a motor show physically? Does the motor show model remain a worthwhile manufacturer showcase? Would you still prefer to attend a show when looking for a new car, or is it easier to research online?
Alternative fuels and the human intestine
It’s interesting to see that, on a global scale, just 2% of the gas fuel resources are used for powering the world’s transport industries. Obviously, oil is the big natural resource that’s being used to power transportation needs, with 47% of annual oil production being tied up with powering the world’s transport industries. Biofuels on the other hand, while a great idea, are still in the infant stages of being a major player. So biofuels make up a pretty tiny proportion of the world’s transportation fuel requirements. What would make using gas and biofuels more attractive, and what is holding them back? There are researchers who are working hard to overcome the downsides of Biofuels and gas.
Biofuels should be the fuel of the future with crop fuels sounding like they should be a win-win scenario. Biofuel is mostly made from plant-based materials, and Biodiesel and Ethanol are the two main fuels that vehicles are able to run on. In a perfect world, we would grow masses of crops for obtaining the material used in biofuel production. However, the shortage of grain stocks and the surge in food prices has led to a big problem in the viability of sustainable production of biofuels. Corn and soy are correspondingly used for flour, baked goods, meat, dairy and processed foods containing corn syrup and soy, and most economic analysts agree that the increased biofuel production has contributed to the rise in food prices. This isn’t the sort of news we need to hear. Ideally, land needs to be separated and portioned for biofuels over and above the land needed for food production.
To gas we go, and, certainly, you can’t argue with the very low CO2 emissions that come from burning gas as a transport fuel. Researchers are finding ways for making gas a better option to use as a transport fuel – as there has been one or two issues with gas powered vehicles. A more positive finding shows researchers are looking at a gas fuel tank based on the serpentine tubes of the human gut. Now that’s cool.
Emissions from natural gas engines are 10% lower than those of an equivalent petrol engine. However, there is a practical difficulty for gas because the combustion-ready density of methane is lower than for petrol, and about 30% more fuel is needed to cover the same range as a petrol equivalent vehicle. To cope with a higher volume of gas fuel, the reality is that the high-pressure fuel tanks need to be fatter and heavier, which not only takes up a lot of space but it correspondingly dents what could be a better fuel efficiency. It also increases the price of producing the car.
To save space, “Otherlab of San Francisco”, with funding from the US government’s energy research arm, ARPA-E, has found that the human body maximises storage capacity by folding the intestines back and forth. They’ve endeavoured to design a gas fuel tank mirroring the serpentine intestine, so in place of the big, bulky, single large, high-pressure tank, multiple banks of thin, pressurised metal tubes are bent and distributed throughout the car. So a close up of the new gas fuel tank would reveal it folding back and forth, hugging the inside of the wheel arches, roof supports and front wings. They are also looking at designing a gas fuel tank with a flexible honeycomb-like assembly that is able to conform to any shape within the car. This technology, they reckon, could make cars running on natural gas a whole lot more attractive to motorists. I’m not so sure, though, if I would want a potentially explosive gas fuel tank any closer to my body than necessary!
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