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The Hybrid Jeep EV, An Electric Wrangler Prototype

On Tuesday, on behalf of Chrysler LLC and Chrysler’s in-house hybrid technology design team, Chrysler ENVI, CEO Bob Nardelli unveiled a series of three “production intent” electric vehicles, one of which Chrysler intends to begin mass producing by 2010. Unfortunately, the consuming public will be held in suspense as to which of the three makes the production cut - at least until 2009, when preliminary models become available for commercial and fleet sales. While we await the final decision with bated breath, RideLust has decided to profile each of Chrysler’s ENVI vehicles individually, beginning with the most rugged [read: least like the loathsome Prius plug-in], the Jeep EV.

Jeep EV photo gallery after the jump

Tagged by Chrysler suits as an extended-range electric-vehicle [ER-EV], the Jeep EV is essentially a hybrid version of the Jeep Wrangler [though it bears an uncanny resemblance to the Jeep Commander from the rear]. In keeping with the Jeep Wrangler’s legendary off-road capability, the Jeep EV is equipped with a body-on-frame electrical drive train that individually powers each of the Jeep EV’s four wheels. To keep it green, the Jeep EV [like all 3 of the Chrysler ENVI vehicles], is tri-powered by an electric motor, a lithium-ion battery, and small gasoline engine integrated with an electric generator. By itself, the electric motor generates a whopping 268-hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, making it at least as powerful as any standard Jeep. Unlike any standard Jeep, however, the Jeep EV can average approximately 400 miles off of 8 gallons of gasoline, and another 40 miles relying completely on electric propulsion, consuming no fuel and producing zero emissions.

According to Chrysler, the Jeep EV was entirely engineered with to be the ultimate off-roading vehicle, intended to “…[provide] nature ambassadors with the ability to roam the planet and take care of it at the same time.”

We say: So, where do we sign?

Donks, Boxes, Bubbles, and Hi-Risers: A RideLust Pictorial, Dirty South Style

Interestingly enough, I have nothing snarky to add to any of these photos, and largely because I was raised in the South - the Philly Ride Share program horrifies me more than donks do. I’d like to note, however, that back in high school I dated a guy who drove a brand new ‘94 Camaro that I had to practically pole vault to get into, and up until a few hours ago, that’s what I believed a true donk to be. As I was going through these pictures, though, I realized that “monster cars” like Jason’s Camaro have been almost completely replaced by these shiny new chrome jobs, painted colors like bitchass-purple.

Oh, these kids today.

Full gallery after the jump

New 2010 Mustang Pony Badge Revealed, Temporarily Sates Our Wild Mustang Lust

With no production photos to feed our gnawing hunger for the new, 2010 Ford Mustang, we’re gobbling up even the tiniest flashes of skin. Undoubtedly feeling our pain, last Wednesday, the guys at MuscleCarBlog threw us a bone and revealed the new pony badge the redesigned Ford Mustang will be wearing in 2010. At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be much of a difference between the reportedly “beefy” 2010 badge and the sleek ‘09 badge, but given the Mustang’s tradition-rich history, you didn’t really expect the new pony to look like a Budweiser Clydesdale, did you?

View The New Badge After The Jump

If you look closely, the subtle changes to the 2010 pony definitely make for a meaner, faster looking steed. Chief designer for 2010 Ford Mustang, Douglas Gaffka explained, “We wanted to give the Mustang pony a more realistic feel,” apparently to more accurately convey the sentiment of most Mustang drivers: “I slow down to 85mph in school zones.” Gaffka went on to explain that the 2010 Mustang is intended to look more like the wild horse that it is, “It’s more chiseled and more defined.” Although the new pony will feature the same chrome finish as its predecessor, the 2010 Mustang GT will get a more aggressive pony finished in black chrome [as pictured below].

Happy Birthday Felix Wankel: How Does the Rotary Engine Work, Anyway?

All the major parts of the Mazda RX-8 Renesis engine disassembled.

Today in history - Felix Wankel, the inventor of the Wankel rotary engine, was born. I’m a Wankel freak. I love Wankel rotary engines, I think they’re one of the most beautiful mechanical devices of all time. Call me a geek, call me a weirdo…whatever, I love it when you talk dirty.

When I was young, I saw the innards of an old, junked Mazda Cosmo at my fathers salvage yard. I heard about this crazy motor out in the yard and decided to check it out; I knew the basics of how piston engines worked, and figured this strange thing would be pretty fun to mess around with. But sitting there, with it’s seals broken and rotors immovable, it blew my mind. It was just an oval with a triangle in it. That’s it. I had no idea how it worked or how it moved or anything. How could this thing power a car?

The Mazda Cosmo was the first 2-rotor rotary engine powered car.

So I looked up and read everything I could find about Wankel engines and about Felix Wankel, and that really blew my mind. The Wankel engine has basically one moving part, and it just spins. And it has a higher power to weight ratio than any traditional engine.

So why aren’t more automakers producing Wankel powered cars?
Because they already have a motor that works. The traditional piston engine does it’s job well, and these are hefty multi-billion dollar companies. It would be near impossible to steer these behemoths away from something that works and towards some weirdo engine with a cult following.

As I read about the rotary engine, I learned that the inside chamber isn’t an oval, it’s an epitrochoid. And the triangle rotor isn’t just a triangle, it’s what’s called a curve of constant width, or a Reuleaux polygon. Wankel engines are serious business. Instead of just a cylinder inside another cylinder, which is a very primal design for humans, the Wankel is pure simplicity via mathematical precision.

This is why most mechanics and engineers who understand Wankel engines are so enamored with them. They appeal to mechanically minded people because they’re such an elegant solution to a complex problem. Instead of having three separate pistons and all the bits associated with them, the rotary engine just has a triangle rotor, and each side works as a combustion chamber. It just spins. Quiet, harmonious, elegant spinning.

In contrast to the Wankel engine, the piston engine has a veritable army of moving parts. Cylinders, connecting rods, crankshafts, timing belt, camshaft, rocker arms, valves. There are countless little bits and pieces flickering away under the hood of the average car, creating that violent shaking. Meanwhile, the Wankel just spins around the eccentric shaft. That’s the only moving part. Really.

A Wankel rotor with the apex seals and side chamber seals removed and displayed.

The common objections to Wankel engines are ‘fuel efficiency’ and ‘reliability’, and those issues really just boil down to one thing, the seals. The combustion chambers inside the Wankel are constantly moving, so the seals (the apex seals and the seals against the chamber ends) are of major importance. Those are problems, not huge ones, but problems nonetheless. They’re nothing that a few years of competing automotive firms couldn’t fix, though.

You have to realize that Wankel’s are still on the fringes, despite the RX-7s and RX-8s, they’re essentially ignored by everyone else. They never really had a chance to get the kinks worked out by competition. Competition gets lots of minds working on the same problems, and that’s how you get real progress.

But, the first step in trying to change something is education. So, in honor of Felix Wankel’s 106th birthday today, August 13th, 2008; let’s get educated.

How it works:

And illustrated example of the Wankel engine in action.

Just about all internal combustion engines today are four-stroke engines. The four strokes are intake, compression, combustion and exhaust.

A traditional piston engine performs them all in each piston. The piston moves down, a camshaft opens the intake valve, and the air/fuel mixture gets sucked in. The piston moves up, compressing the mixture into a very small space. The spark plugs fire, creating combustion, which pushes the piston downwards, creates the force that moves the car; and turns the camshaft, which opens the exhaust valve. Lots of moving parts, still pretty simple. But that cycle takes place separately in each cylinder.

In a Wankel rotary engine, on the other hand, each side of the triangular rotor acts like a cylinder in a piston engine. As one side of the rotor is sucking in the air/fuel mixture, the other side is compressing another air/fuel mixture and getting ready for combustion; and the third side is expelling the exhaust from combustion that has already happened in that chamber. As the rotor moves, it closes off the intake or exhaust port, making camshafts and valves irrelevant. A Wankel engine car with two rotors (3 sides on each rotor = 6 sides or 6 combustion chambers) is equivalent to a traditional V6 car (6 cylinders = 6 combustion chambers).

It sounds complicated, but it’s not really. If you’re still having problems visualizing it, this should offer some clarification:

So, it’s a badass machine. It’s beautiful, it’s elegant, and it works perfectly. Hopefully Mazda will keep the dream alive and keep producing cars in their RX series, like the awesome 2009 Mazda RX-8. Thanks Felix.

Felix Wankel was born in Lahr, Germany in 1902. He never went to college, never got a degree in engineering, and was never even able to become an engineers apprentice. He taught himself engineering and was able to put together the first prototype Wankel rotary engine in the mid 1950s.
Happy Birthday.

The Designer of the Century’s 5 Most Beautiful Cars

Giorgetto Giugiaro is a very important person; probably the most important person that no one’s ever heard of. He’s the car designer of the century, and he’s responsible for some of the most beautiful and influential vehicles of all time.

Here are his 5 most beautiful creations:

1. The Iso Grifo – 1963

There were actually two body styles for the early Iso Grifo, the A3/L (the one pictured above) and the A3/C, and they were both designed by Giugiaro when he was only 25 years old. The A3/C was the sleek competition version that looked almost like a lighter Ford GT40, and the A3/L was the more aggressive street version, with the mean brow and front end that inspired the American muscle cars later on in the decade.

2. Fiat 850 Spyder - 1965

A tiny little car with a tiny little engine. Grossly underpowered compared to the other 4 cars on the list, but still important because of the straight, clean lines and really simple elegance of the car.

Where do you think the Mazda Miata’s styling comes from?

3. DeTomaso Mangusta - 1966

The Mangusta was slightly more accessible than the Vallelunga before it and better quality than the Pantera after it. It’s DeTomaso’s coolest car, and one of my favorite cars of all time. It looks like it’s going to take off and attack an impala and go eat it in a tree or something. It’s a monster car.

4. Maserati Ghibli - 1966

Anything Giugiaro did for Maserati was solid gold, but the Ghibli was the best. This car was the European version of the C4 Corvette, nearly 20 years before that Corvette was designed. Again, Giugiaro was ahead of his time with a beautiful, really clean body style. It looks fast just sitting there.

5. Lotus Esprit - 1972

This is the big one. Giugiaro designed the concept for the Lotus Esprit in 1972 and it went into production in 1976. The Lotus Esprit wasn’t just another angular sports car, this was the first angular sports car. Nothing looked like this before 1976, and everything looks like it after. Any sports car built today, you can still see the influence of the Lotus Esprit. The Ferrari Testarossa, the Lamborghini Countach, the Diablo, basically all modern Lamborghini’s, and just about all of those modern high level sports cars can trace their design linage to the 1976 Lotus Esprit, and so, to Giorgetto Giugiaro.

Fisker to bring 100mpg Plug-in Hybrid Sedan to Detroit

Fisker’s variant of the Plug-in Hybrid appears to be the most striking and elegant yet, but we will know for certain when it is unveiled at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit this January. Fisker, in their partnership with Quantum Technologies, have designed and are testing a very special car with some intriguing numbers. In All-Electric mode the Fisker Sedan will achieve 50 miles; which is what they have determined to be an average work commute. While in hybrid mode, which has an option between diesel or gasoline, the car has a range of about 600 miles. So do not worry if your daily commute is 75 miles because this car will just sip on a bit of fuel to carry you the rest of the way… so they say.

New technologies do not come cheap, though, and the Fisker will be no exception. (more…)

GM and Toyota: Electric Vehicles and the Big Bad Battery Debate

Toyota and GM are in a race to get their exciting new Hybrid/Electric cars to the market. Toyota is working on the next generation Prius, while GM is pressing to get their concept car the Volt completed on schedule. Both auto makers seem to be effected by the same hurdle: Lithium Ion Batteries.

Alternative power source

Volvo is looking to shake-up their line-up and challenge BMW

New S60 will take on 3-series with renewed vigour It has been recently reported that Volvo will be looking to reshape their image again and go after the big boys on the block, BMW. There are plans in the works now to alter their line-up of cars so that they match-up closely to the BMW line-up. Ofcourse those plans could all be alter if BMW turns out to be one of the interested parties in courting Volvo away from Ford.
Learn how by Reading More after the jump.

Car racing goes very green.

Motor sport has always had a bad press when it comes to eco friendly matters. Which is only natural, they burn up fuel, creating huge amounts of emissions, use rubber, oil and other materials that are not remotely green. Even when the governing bodies attempt to reduce costs and wastage etc, the sport still cannot ever be classed as being green, until now that is!

eco one

Enter Eco One, the racing car that can reach speeds of up to 150 mph and made mostly from vegetables and plants! If you exclude the engine, wheels, and electrical system.

Ford Orion Falcon Flies Soon Down Under

Some recent design layouts were discarded rather foolishly (or cleverly.. hmmm) by some Ford Australia employees that depicted the potential designs of the Ford Orion Falcon for 2008. Spy photos of a well-disguised model of the Falcon have been filtering through the net for a little while now, but these could be the first unfettered images of the car to be seen by the general public. Of course that is only true if the car turns out to resemble the leaked designs.
Until the actual car comes to the market with a sales sticker on it everything about the Falcon is speculation. But that does not mean that some thoughtful analysis cannot be put into that speculation.
Inparticularly, in the case of the Falcon photos, there is something about this sedan that is striking. Some may find the flat-black surrounds on the headlights to be unsightly or as one commenter put it, “panda like.” What should be most appealing to the car buying public is the bold steps they are or may be making to take a basic sedan that would normally only address the needs of the average buyer and instead giving the on-the-cusp buyer a reason to consider a sedan. BMW does this all the time (true, different class of car, but same principle) by taking their nice sedan and dressing it with their sporty M-class features. Imagine the potential Ford has with a dress-up of the American Ford Fusion. Funk Master Flex has shown his take on the Fusion and some of the possibilities but I think he could have done more with the exterior to create interest in the car, yet still not hamper it with a hideous F-1 styled spoiler or flamboyant 3-toned paint job.

Funk Master Flex Ford Fusion

The most intriguing aspect of the Australian Ford Falcon design, whether what was leaked makes it to the road or not, is the aspiration of the design to be more than what a mere sedan typically is. And even if the car does resemble a masked thief out to steal the road or your mothers groceries as she returns from the store, it is at the very least a simple yet bold step toward making their Orion sedan something a bit more special.

Source[CourierMail.Australia]
Source[CarAdvice.com]
Source[AutoBlog]

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