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The name Porsche has traditionally been associated with fast, rear-engine sports cars, and more recently with fast heavy SUVs and fast heavy four-door luxury sedans.

But it all goes back to pioneering engineer Ferdinand Porsche.

He also designed the prototype for what became the Volkswagen Beetle, and would found Porsche AG after World War II.

Designing the first hybrid

Porsche’s role in creating what is acknowledged to be the first functional hybrid-electric vehicle in the world is now getting more attention, since virtually every automaker is working on hybrids–including Porsche itself.

The company has been selling the 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid sport-utility vehicle for several months now. It will officially launch the 2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid at next week’s Geneva Motor Show.

In-wheel motors, two engines

To commemorate these new models, Porsche commissioned a replica of that first hybrid design, the 1900 Porsche Semper Vivus.

The company’s engineers have meticulously re-created the car as exactly as possible over a four-year period, and it will be fully unveiled at the Geneva show.

The Semper Vivus featured a pair of in-wheel motors at the front, powered by lead-acid batteries that were recharged by a pair of combustion engines. In other words, the engine never provided torque to the wheels, making it a “series hybrid” like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt or 2011 Fisker Karma.

Production: Lohner Porsche

Two years later, an evolution of the design was put into production by his employer at the time, the Austrian coachbuilder Lohner, which had begun making cars in 1896. In honor of his pioneering design, the cars were known as Lohner Porsches–marking the first time the Porsche name appeared on a production vehicle.

The 1902 Lohner Porsche was a larger vehicle, displayed with wheel motors at all four corners, making it possibly the first all-wheel-drive passenger car offered for sale. The bulk of the 300 vehicles sold from then through 1906 were two-wheel drive, although some buses were fitted with four motors.

The Lohner Porsche line continued in production until 1906, using engines from Daimler and Panhard, among others.

But the “mixte” system of engine plus wheel motors plus battery pack proved too expensive in comparison to the gasoline-engined vehicles of the day.

From hybrids to WW1

An historical footnote: Porsche was drafted into military service in 1902, and became a chauffeur to Archducke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. It would be his assassination just a decade later that would lead directly to the First World War.

The Semper Vivus replica will be housed at the new Porsche Museum in Stuttgart after the show.

The video below shows more details. You can disregard the distinctly martial music; the photos tell the story, and there is no narration.

[Porsche via MotorAuthority; Wikipedia; CarKeys]

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This story originally appeared at Green Car Repor

Auto marketers and PR people have a love-hate relationship with the Internet. It lets them connect directly with users and fans, but it also transmits facts, leaks, and rumors at lightning speed.

That meant that this morning’s BMW press conference, telecast live from BMW Welt in a snowy Munich, contained very little new to anyone who had been following closely.

The event was to announce that BMW is creating a new sub-brand (which had been rumored), to be known as ‘i’ (which had been rumored), with its own graphic (which had been leaked), that will grow to include an entire range of custom-developed vehicles.

The BMW MegaCity Vehicle, its carbon-fiber all-electric urban car, will be known officially as the BMW i3. That number was new; some had bet on i2 or even i1, since the “3” designation has so far only applied to the company’s best-known and highest-production model, the 3-Series.

And the production version of the Concept EfficientDynamics, first unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show of 2009, will be known as i8 (which was also rumored).

This being a typical German press conference, there was a great deal of language about “a new world of revolutionary mobility,” and the newly-named i3 being “the first time in history that a car has been purposed-designed and built from the ground up for sustainable premium mobility.”

Oh, and lest we forget, ‘i’ stands for “innovative, integrated, and, of course, inspiring” vehicles. The ‘i’ sub-brand is the perfect complement to the “M” sub-brand, which denotes performance and exclusivity, with both taking different approaches to delivering “the BMW brand promise of joy through sheer driving pleasure.”

And so on. The video at the bottom was shown as well, if you want a flavor of the event for yourself.

In its quest to be “the most innovative and sustainable premium car company in the industry,” BMW chose to establish the separate sub-brand for two types of customer. (If you’re either of them, or some other kind of fan, there’s inevitably a Facebook fan page.)

First are experienced premium consumers, who are now coming to value sustainability and social responsibility (while still demanding the BMW driving experience). Then there are cosmopolitan trend-seekers, for whom a sense of style is as important as their passion for technical innovation.

The real news came around some of the new sub-brand’s styling hallmarks, as presented by BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk. The ‘i’ cars, for instance, will have a blue ring around the traditional BMW rondel badge.

The twin BMW “grille” elements at the front of each car will also be ringed in blue, although they won’t actually be air inlets. They may well be blanking plates, in fact (as they are on the less upmarket 2011 Chevrolet Volt), but the twin-kidney grille is such an “important feature in recognizing a BMW car” that it had to stay.

The wheels will be large in diameter, although narrower than today’s BMWs to reduce aerodynamic drag, and the ‘i’ cars will have their own recognizable roof pillar design (or “C-pillar”) as well as aero flaps just behind the front wheels and an L-shaped design for the rear lights, also outlined in blue.

About that graphic: “The ‘i’ is the narrowest, smallest letter in alphabet, so we gave it more width, more presence,” von Hooydonk said. “The ‘i’ brand stands for transparency, so the letter itelf is transparent.” OK, then.

Both the i3 and the i8 will be built at BMW’s Leipzig plant, which will become its global competence center for low- and no-emission vehicles. But “you’ll have to wait a little longer to see the cars,” with further information expected at the Geneva Motor Show, where media days start on March 1.

“There’s a lot of space between 3 and 8, isn’t there?” asked the unnamed announcer. “Three is not the lowest number, nor is eight the highest”–all but confirming that at some point in the future, there will be additional models in the line.

Finally, BMW announced the formation of its own $100 million venture capital arm, to be called BMW i Ventures and based in New York City. BMW i Ventures announced its first investment at the press conference, in mobile information provider MyCityWay, which provides data on city attractions to mobile phones.

This story originally appeared at Green Car Repor

Last fall, GM executive Tom Stephens said the company would offer a passenger car with a clean-diesel engine in the U.S. market, its first since 1985.

Now we know what that vehicle will be: a model of the 2013 Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan.

Workers at the Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant where the Cruze is built were told about the model last week, according to GM Inside News.

The engine in question will be a modified version of the General Motors corporate 2.0-liter turbodiesel. It is already available in Cruze models sold in Europe and, as the Holden Cruze, in Australia, among other markets.

In Australia, the 2.0-liter common-rail turbodiesel engine is rated at 148 horsepower (110 kW) and a strong 236 foot-pounds (320 Newton-meters) of torque. It is offered with a five-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic transmission.

In the U.K., the Chevrolet Cruze 2.0 VCDi model with the same engine delivered 42.0 miles per gallon (50.4 miles per Imperial gallon) on the European test cycle. It cost  £17,325 (roughly $28,250 including tax) as tested by Autocar magazine in September 2009.

Internal documents indicate that the U.S.-market diesel will have an engine option code of “LUZ” on the order form. According to GM Inside News, development vehicles (known as “mules”) are now being fitted with the diesel engine for testing at GM’s Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.

The success of the 2013 Cruze clean diesel model in the U.S. market will depend on several factors:

• the price of gasoline;
• the price of diesel fuel and the cost difference between that and gasoline;
• the cost differential for the diesel engine over the turbocharged 1.4-liter engine fitted to most U.S. Cruze models; and
• whether GM has to fit an expensive urea-injection emissions treatment system to get the engine certified for tougher U.S. emissions standards.

While diesel engines are more efficient and deliver better MPG figures than gasoline engines of the same power, they do not represent a large portion of the U.S. passenger vehicle market.

Car companies and industry analysts say that for several reasons, small diesels won’t dominate U.S. car sales. But most experts expect that over the next five years, diesel sales will slowly rise as a percentage of the total U.S. car market.

A 2013 Chevrolet Cruze clean diesel, competitively priced and delivering mileage notably higher than the ratings of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco–which the EPA rates at 28 mpg city, 42 mpg highway for the six-speed manual version–could speed up that rise.

Would you buy a Cruze diesel? What fuel mileage would it have to deliver, and at what sticker price? (Please be realistic: “60 mpg for $12,000” is not realistic.)

Leave us your thoughts in the Comments below.

[GM Inside News]

This story originally appeared at Green Car Repor

We already know that Toyota will be unveiling an updated version of its FT-86 rear-wheel drive sports car concept at next month’s 2011 Geneva Motor Show, the aptly named FT-86 II, which we saw a teaser of last month, but now the Japanese auto giant has confirmed several other world premieres.

We can also reveal that the upcoming show will be graced by the appearance of a new electric car based on the Toyota iQ, as well as a concept car previewing a hybrid version of the next-generation of Toyota’s popular compact car. Finally, Toyota will also debut the European version of the more versatile Prius V, the new seven-seat Prius+.

The iQ electric car is a prototype featuring a newly designed flat lithium-ion battery pack and is good for up to 65 miles on a single charge. It will undergo testing on European roads this year, with a potential introduction to that market through a leasing program in 2012.

Toyota has already announced its plans to bring the car to market in the U.S. as a Scion and is also investigating its viability in other regions.

As for the Yaris HSD (Hybrid Synergy Drive), the new concept will preview the look of Toyota’s next-generation Yaris and also introduce several hybrid-specific styling cues. Additionally, the concept also confirms Toyota’s intention to bring full hybrid technology to the compact segment.

The 2011 Geneva Motor Show kicks off on March 1. Follow our complete coverage of the event by clicking here.
This story originally appeared at Motor Authori

Earlier today Porsche took the sheet off its 2012 Panamera S Hybrid, revealing a 333-horsepower, supercharged V-6 powerplant supplemented by a 47-horsepower electric motor in the familiar long-back sedan shape. Now we have its starting price: $95,000.

That’s a steep point of entry, but considering the standard 400-horsepower V-8 Panamera S starts at $89,800, it’s not a big relative jump. But how does it compare to the competition?

Mercedes-Benz’s S400 Hybrid, the “base” S-Class in the U.S., starts at $91,000, $4,000 less than the hybrid Panamera. It offers similar space and quality, but less horsepower (295 combined horses) and performance (7.2 seconds to 60 mph versus the Panamera S Hybrid’s 5.7) and poorer fuel economy–the S400 Hybrid nets EPA ratings of 19/25 mpg, while the not-yet-EPA rated Panamera hybrid rolls in at 7.1 liters per 100 km, or about 33 mpg, in the combined European cycle.

In short, for a mere 4.4 percent more money, you get a lot more performance, efficiency, and in some eyes, style, than the Mercedes. But how about BMW?

BMW’s ActiveHybrid 750i starts at an eye-popping $102,300 for the short-wheelbase version, but offers a turbocharged V-8 engine, 455 combined horsepower, and 17/24 mpg. Here the balance is mostly tipped in favor of the BMW on the stat sheet, though you’ll pay an extra 7.4 percent for slightly worse fuel economy and about the same acceleration.

Lexus also offers a pair of hybrid sedans to consider, though you won’t find the thrilling driving dynamics you get with the Germans. The GS450h, for example, while a bit smaller, starts at $58,900, is a bit smaller than the Panamera, but offers 340 total horsepower and 5.2-second 0-60 mph times–slightly better than the Porsche. The LS600h L, on the other hand, is bigger, sports 438 total horsepower, and gets to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds–but starts $16,000 above the Panamera S Hybrid. Neither gets up to the Porsche’s fuel economy rating though: the GS hybrid scores 22/25 mpg and the LS hybrid rates 19/23 mpg.

Beyond key rivals Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW, there’s the new 2012 Infiniti M35h Hybrid to consider. While not a true competitor–it’s a size smaller than the Germans–it does offer most of the luxury, similar performance, and a much smaller price tag. Fuel economy is right on par with the Panamera S Hybrid at 27/32 mpg according to the EPA, but for just over half the price at $50,900. Power should be similar, as well, with a 67-horsepower electric motor mated to a 3.5-liter V-6. Infiniti hasn’t disclosed the power output of the V-6 yet, but Nissan/Infiniti have been building 300-horsepower V-6s for nearly a decade now, so it should come in right around that mark.

So, given these options, which would you choose, and why? Is it a toss-up between the three somewhat differently able Germans, or do the smaller Japanese sedans make more sense considering the price? Is the size difference significant? Let us know in the comments below.

This story originally appeared at Motor Authori

It’s been known for a while now that Porsche was working on a hybrid version of its Panamera sedan and today, just a few weeks out from its debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, the sports car company from Stuttgart has revealed its gasoline-electric gran turismo.

The new model goes by the full title of Porsche Panamera S Hybrid and develops a total output of 380 horsepower–333 horsepower from a supercharged 3.0-liter V-6 and 47 horsepower from an electric motor.

Porsche claims that the sophisticated powertrain in the Panamera S Hybrid is good for a fuel economy of 34.6 mpg for the European combined cycle. Note that this figure applies only when the car is equipped with Michelin low rolling resistance tires. Switch to standard tires and you’re looking at a fuel economy of 33 mpg.

Despite the frugality, the Panamera S Hybrid will still accelerate from 0-62 mph in a brisk 6.0 seconds flat and go all the way to a top speed of 168 mph.

Being a parallel hybrid, the car can also drive on electric power alone. The range in purely electric mode is approximately 1.24 miles with electric driving possible up to 53 mph, depending on the driving situation. The Porsche hybrid drive is also the only system in the world able to exploit additional consumption reserves thanks to so-called “sailing” on motorways and main roads. This entails disengaging and switching off the combustion engine at speeds of up to 103 mph. You may recognize this as the same system found in the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid.

The electric motor essentially operates both as a generator and a starter. Together with the decoupler, it forms the compact hybrid module located between the combustion engine and the transmission. The electric motor is connected to a nickel metal hydride battery (NiMh) where the electrical energy recovered from braking and driving is stored. Power transmission is handled by an eight-speed automatic transmission.

First sales of the new Panamera S Hybrid are scheduled to start in Europe this June. Expect U.S. sales to start shortly after, in time for the 2012 model year. Standard features will include adaptive air suspension, adaptive shock-absorbers with PASM and a rear windscreen wiper. 

The 2011 Geneva Motor Show kicks off on March 1. Follow our complete coverage of the event by clicking here.
This story originally appeared at Motor Authori

For those who don’t know or have forgotten, the name for Nissan’s first mass-produced electric car is an acronym: Leading Environmentally-friendly Affordable Family car. But is the 2011 Nissan Leaf really a family-friendly car? 

When examining a car for suitability for a family there are a fair few prerequisites. As our colleagues over at FamilyCarGuide will tell you, a good family car needs to have the right mix of practicality, flexibility, safety and affordability. 

School Runs, Grocery Trips

Admittedly it only has an EPA rated range of 70 miles between charges, but the 2011 Nissan Leaf should provide an average family with enough range to tackle all but the most extreme of school runs, shopping trips and football practices. 

Rear seats can be split 60/40, meaning those family with only two children can make use of extra storage space for luggage or shopping if the Leaf’s load bay just isn’t large enough. 

Spills, Sick and Soccer Boots

To anyone with young children however, the Hobson’s choice of an off-white interior is enough to induce that reoccurring nightmare of finding ground in chocolate, mud or even sick all over the door pulls, seat base and back of the front seats. 

Luckily, scotch-guard or similar should put those fears aside. Since interior and exterior treatments are de-facto recommendations for any car, the Leaf’s interior color is hardly a deal-breaker, although you may want to carry some wet-wipes to prevent stains from forming. 

Child Seats

As the team over at Busy Mommy Media found out back in December, it is possible to fit three child seats in the back of the 2011 Nissan Leaf. 

Three Radian XTSL seats, the first NCAP tested, LATCH system full-size car seats fit in the rear of the Leaf, with each seat using purpose-built safety hitches to ensure the very best safety for young passengers. Trying to get an adult passenger between two such seats isn’t going to be a fun experience unless they happen to be svelte, but it is also possible. 

Obviously, child car seats vary as much as the cars themselves do. We’d recommend going to the dealer with your own car seats to test them in an actual Leaf before ordering one to make sure your seats fit. 

Buggies, Diaper Bags, Playpens

If you’ve a really young baby you’ll know how much baggage you end up toting around with you. It’s less of a problem if you have one child, but if you have a double buggy and associated baby paraphernalia you may find the Leaf too small for daily use. 

Admittedly, the Leaf is far more practical than other options on the market, but you may find a 2011 Plug-in-Prius is more practical if you need that larger load space. 

Affordability

Here’s the biggie. For $25,000 you can buy a whole lot of car, including some larger family  cars and even minivans like the 2.7 liter  2011 Toyota Sienna.

But, at the same time, the 2011 Toyota Sienna gets a paltry 19 mpg around town and only 24 mpg on the highway. Sure, it’ll be larger, but it won’t give you that same zero-emissions feeling. You’ll also have to fill it up at the gas station rather than just plug it in every night at home. 

Conclusion

If you’ve a large family or young pre-school kids, the 2011 Nissan Leaf may not be the best choice as a practical car. But for older kids and smaller families, the 2011 Nissan Leaf does provide realistic family transport – provided you’re not transporting the school football team around, that is. 

This story originally appeared at All Cars Electr