Car high tech news

Citroen Company developed exclusive automobile garage designing project which stands out in the first place for enormously high costs priced in six-digit figure. The garage project was specially designed for Citroen C6 model.

The project authors - Tapio Spellman, Christian Grou from Neutral Partners Company – known for working on Munich located Allianz Arena football stadium architecture. As they claimed the Citroen C6 garage construction puts automobile in unique, separate space.

Christian Grou featured that C6 garage project poses the example of peculiar dialogue between inner and outer, automobile and surrounding space. He also stated that Citroen C6 model is an autonomous entity; car deserving its house built not from banal iron, bricks and cement.

With such a extra-modern garage Citroen C6 comes up enabled to get into it via front and side doors. Gauzy walls of the garage produced of polycarbonate combined with liquid-crystalline.

The garage has the option of light-proof walls when necessary. Besides, on the top of the garage construction special area meant to help car owner arrange meetings and admire the surroundings.

Given the novelty and boldness of the project its price is estimated at 167 808 euros (over 212 000 dollars) equaling to the summary prices of 3 autos of Citroen C6 in top features package including 3.0 V6 engine.

America car manufacturers soon will be obliged to advise car owners of the drive recorders installed to their vehicles. The decision was adopted performed by the US National Driving Safety Administration.



Starting with 2011 produced automobiles car manufacturers will be to inform the instructions of vehicles installed driving recorders exploitation. Still new rules doesn’t provide for total imperative attachment recorders to all manufactures cars though previously NHTSA recommended to create legislative grounds for the procedure.



As a fact, the ever 64% of 2005 issued cars within the US car market were equipped with driving recorders enabling gaining thorough information on automobile units and assemblies functioning during the road incidents.

British MIRA (Motor Industry Research) Association designers introduced the project of future individual car wash. They suppose that by 2020 new individual car wash using may reach universal scale when in Britain the automobiles hose-wash within house territory ban comes into force.

As well the constructors of new car wash claim only 4 liters of water will be necessary for their invention to wash one car up. Meanwhile hose car washing takes 135 liters of water in average.
In fact, the new car wash consists of special soft case with a fastener and a compressor. A car is placed under the case and the compressor generates mist spray inside it and converts water further round its cycle until car body becomes clean.

New car wash developers predict the invention will be popular among both – individual car owners and corporate clients. Mass arranging new car washes near supermarkets will be available due to invention’s compactness. Driver will be enabled to leave his car at the alleged car wash, and after an hour take it back thoroughly clean.

Siemens starts producing a new active cruise system. Radar of the system starts functioning while a low visibility when it fogs or rains.
Many drivers successfully use active cruise systems as it’s hard to catch sight of obstacles in the terms of low visibility. As it is mentioned above the new system Siemens VDO starts functioning when perceiving a fog, a rain or a snow behind the car windows.
According to driver’s setting Siemens active cruise control selects an optimal car speed concerning the road conditions and keeps the distance to the advanced car automatically even when it is hidden with fog. The new device is expected to be equipped at the mid and compact passenger cars.

In Brazil the new sort of alternative automobile fuel was invented which production engages the mixture of oil products and seed-oil. The new kind of fuel attained the name of H-biodiesel and supposed to become an alternative to gasoline and alcohol fuel in the conditions of oil products shortage.

Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, the President of Brazil officially introduced the new alternative and ecologically harmless H-biodiesel fuel at Curitiba town arranged ceremony given this city is considered the most ecologically pure one in South America. As the Brazilian President announced the invention of new bio-fuel occurs grandiose revolution in XXI century. He also stated that new alternative fuel poses less harm for ecology, more economical and will enable numerous workplaces as regarding this will involve thousands of agricultural manufacturers. He also stressed that new H-biodiesel will enable to cultivate oil avoiding quarry.

As alleged the testimonials of new biodiesel are identical to those of usual diesel fuel type thus due to adding see-oil adds its using brings less atmosphere polluting with burning products and less sulfur emissions. As the tests displayed new H-diesel economy comes up added by its comparative cheapness in contrast to diesel as well as currently used biodiesel fuel sort. The last one is manufactured via inserting feed-oils into usual diesel.

As expected, new fuel sort mass manufacturing will be launched in December, 2006 at Brazilian oil-processing plants. New H-diesel will be mixed up with oil products right at oil-transfer factories while in comparison usual biodiesel fuel in formed by adding 2% feed-oils to diesel at filling station. New fuel sort manufacturing will bring Brazil close to 15% import of oil products making 250 million liters of diesel and 145 million dollars financially annually.

Since recently the decision to arrange on Audi A6 and Audi A8 one of the most innovative and powerful 8-cylinder engines in the world. The FSI 4.2 engine which is similar to high-torque V8 335 h/p unit of Audi RS4 model still produces even more power capacity. Due to FSI direct fuel injection system the engine power output rises to 350 h/p while the fuel expenditure reduced 10%.

The enormous power of the FSI V8 is transferred to wheels via tip-tronic 6-gear transmission and dynamically distributed quattro all-wheels driveline.

New FSI engine will be attached to all A6 2007 generation models as well as A8 with standard or long wheels base. The price for A6 4.2 FSI in Germany in basic package will be 61 300 euros; Audi A84.2 FSI quattro will be priced 76 200 euros.

In fact, Audi A6 3.0 TDI model will soon attain more powerful engine: like the one of A6 the engine will produce 233 h/p instead of 225 h/p previously.

The “extremely hybrid automobile” was developed in USA as AFS Trinity Power Corporation Company delivered a claim for gaining patent for the technology enabling automobile to run 250 miles using only one gallon of petrol or ethanol (near 106 km per liter).

The “extremely hybrid” technology allows to charge automobile batteries from electricity supply network that imparts car with ability to cover 65 km with electric engine driveline only. Then the electric engine is joined by the one working on petrol or ethanol and the car functions like a usual hybrid model.

The extremely hybrid model developers prove that the highest fuel economy rate of the model could be obtained in city cycle using car for “home-work” distances. In fact, they also assert that the owner of extremely hybrid car will have to charge his vehicle once in ten week period or even more rarely.

According to the company experts estimates one full fuel tank of extremely hybrid model will be enough to use the car 10 weeks. At the same time weekly fuel supply expenses of average statistical American expected to reduce from 40 dollars to 8. And the 10 year fuel economy in financial relation will make 22 000 dollars as in AFS Trinity Power Corporation believe.

In spite of optimistic developers allegations there is no information on the “extremely hybrid automobile” construction terms.

In USA the coming 1.5 year will be marked by erecting new 33 ethanol manufacturing factories including two big plants estimated to produce 100 million gallons of ethanol a year. Both factories will be set in Texas state, near Hereford by White Energy Ltd. and Panda Energy companies. One of them will be prepared to manufacture ethanol right in August, 2007.

Currently there are 97 ethanol factories within the US territory and most of them are located in Mid West region where considerably corn is cultivated. In fact, production capacities of most of factories provide for 20 – 50 million gallons of ethanol a year while only 6-8 functioning factories capable to issue the volumes around 100 million gallons.

The nowadays US biggest ethanol manufacturer is Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) which owns a whole network of silos. The summary manufacturing capacity of its enterprises amounts to 1 billion gallons of ethanol a year.

For the record, on 5th of May in USA comes into force the law prohibiting using methyltributyl ether as petrol additive in favor for ethanol.

GM, DaimlerChrysler, BMW introduced uncompromising hybrid technology.

In fact, electric continuously variable transmission (ECVT), the full hybrid system co-developed by General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler and the BMW Group for production beginning next year, represents a major automotive industry milestone due to the unprecedented fully integrated combination of electric motors with a fixed-gear transmission.

As a result of its low- and high-speed electric continuously variable transmission (ECVT) modes, the system is commonly poses the 2-mode hybrid. However, the sophisticated fuel-saving system also incorporates four fixed gear ratios for high efficiency and power-handling capabilities in a broad variety of vehicle applications. During the two ECVT modes and four fixed gear operations, the hybrid system can use the electric motors for accelerating and braking.

Summarising, the four fixed gears endow two ECVT modes with a total of six operating functions:

1) Input-split ECVT mode, or continuously variable Mode 1, operates from vehicle launch through the second fixed gear ratio.

2) Compound-split ECVT mode, or continuously variable Mode 2, operates after the second fixed gear ratio.

3) First fixed-gear ratio with both electric motors available to boost the internal combustion engine or capture and store energy from regenerative braking, deceleration and coasting.

4) Second fixed-gear ratio with one electric motor available for boost/braking,

5) Third fixed-gear ratio with two electric motors available for boost/braking.

6) Fourth fixed-gear ratio with one electric motor available for boost/braking.

The result of ECVT invention marks trend-setting hybrid technology that provides superior fuel economy, performance and load carrying capability.
The full hybrid system co-developed by General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and the BMW Group has an overall mechanical content and size similar to a conventional automatic transmission, yet this full hybrid transmission can operate in infinitely variable gear ratios or one of the four fixed-gear ratios.

A sophisticated electronic control module constantly optimizes the entire ECVT hybrid powertrain system to select the most efficient operation point for the power level demanded by the driver.

American Hybrid Technologies Company plans to introduce to New York Motor Show taking start in 14th of April the fastest hybrid car in the world – LiX-75.

LiX-75 with body made of carbon fiber composite materials is a hybrid modification of small-series petrol Mullen GT sports car which is manufactured by Mullen Motor for a couple of years.

In spite of engaging capacious lithium-ion batteries and electric power Hybrid Technologies promised to preserve the price for its sportive two-seater LiX-75 within $125 000.

In fact, the new model manufacturing in small series will be initiated at the new factory of Mooresville town that was opened in January, 2006.

The partners ponder that LiX-75 dynamics testimonials will be comparable to its petrol version prototype which is represented by three engine models; the post powerful of which allows LiX-75 to reach 290 km/h and accelerate to 100 km/h in 3 seconds.

As for the hybrid version there are no available data on its technical specifications and performance even in official site but according to preliminary estimates new LiX-75 hybrid will have 241 km/h top speed. Still this is more than of the current record-keeper – Prius II with 210.5 km/h maximum speed.