The New Acura NSX Sings a Sweet Melody

Have you seen the pictures for the new Acura NSX? It's a great-looking car, but now I have heard the engine sing and I am completely in love. Seriously, in the video below the engine in the NSX comes to life and genuinely sounds like a snarling tiger. Then the car does a hot lap around a track and the engine sings a melody that few others can rival (like Ferrari and the Audi R8).


But don't just take my word for it, watch the video for yourself and fall in love with the upcoming supercar:

The Automotive Market Needs a Convertible Minivan!

Chop that top!

 A good friend of mine contacted me today to gripe about how there are no convertible minivans on the market. With the weather warming up, us minivan drivers get to watch with envy as the good people of the world cruise by in their convertible Mustangs, 911s and Sebrings (okay, I'm not really jealous of that last one). If I want the wind to whip through my hair (or what is left of it) I have to roll down my window, which is just plain rough. I want to put the top down on my luxury cruiser minivan and roll hard on the way to dance lessons.

Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet

Apparently my friend wasn't aware of the fact that Nissan produces a convertible version of the Murano, called the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. The great thing about the CrossCabriolet is its huge trunk, even with the top folded down. Not only that, but it has a folding hardtop and all-wheel-drive meaning it can be driven year-round for mad shopping trips. The bad news is the Murano CrossCabriolet has the highest percentage female ownership out of any newer vehicle in the United States, according to a source I cannot recall now (bad writer!). I guess that's only bad if you are a guy, like me.

But back to the convertible minivans. You know, as I've said over and over I never thought I would own a minivan. But they are incredibly practical vehicles when you have kids, with a low step-in height, large door openings and huge cargo capacities. Do you have any idea how many strollers I can fit in the back of mine at once? It's crazy. Still, I would like a little bit of impractical fun, and a convertible van would provide a smidgen of that impractical fun.

But the technical side of me knows a convertible minivan would present some serious mechanical issues. First off, such a large folding roof would use a pretty complicated folding mechanism, which would take some fancy engineering. Not only that, but where would the top go once it's folded? There isn't exactly a trunk in a minivan. And then there are those pesky, practical sliding doors that would look pretty weird without a roof on the van.

Of course Germans are good at tackling such engineering issues. Volkswagen has their badge-engineered Routan that is a Chrysler abomination. This problem could present the perfect excuse for Volkswagen to reinvent the minivan in a format that would allow for a Cabriolet version. They could even offer a TDI version of the van using the same engine as the Touareg.

One huge advantage of a cabriolet minivan: when it gets crazy as it often does in minivans, mom or dad only need to fold down the top and hit the freeway. The whistling wind would quiet everyone down and force junior to hold on tight to his Avengers hat. I think that feature alone could help Volkswagen or whatever automaker brave enough to make a convertible minivan sell at least 200,000 models in the first year of production. Automakers lately are carving out all kinds of interesting niches in the marketplace, but this one so far has been untouched.

Now I'm off to catch a plane to Wolfsburg so I can sell the VW board on my excellent idea.

Electric Cars Are Dropping Like Flies!

Is it just me or does the Coda Sedan look a little too much like an old Civic?

There are many critics of electric cars, especially people who work in the petroleum industry (that's slightly a joke, but only slightly). People cite the limited range of electric cars as a concern as well as battery problems, battery replacement costs, extra strains put on maxed-out electricity delivery systems, etc.

Well, these critics of electric vehicles should be having a party right now because it seems that electric car makers are dropping like flies. In case you missed the huge news from last week, Fisker Automotive is quickly moving toward bankruptcy. It seems that the company continued to tax money from the US government even though it knew that it was losing a massive amount of money with each Karma sold (insert joke about bad Karma here). Now Justin Bieber is going to have to find some new car he can have wrapped in chrome so the paparazzi has an extra easy time of tracking him wherever he goes.

To add to that bad news for EVs, now Coda Automotive has declared bankruptcy. Of course the question that everyone asked was who would be stupid enough to pay $40,000 for a Chinese electric car with no reputation to uphold, but that's beside the point. There are plenty of people who are declaring the death of the electric car at this very moment.

Of course there is still the Nissan Leaf, which was not selling very well until recently. And then there is the Tesla Model S, you know that piece of "vaporware" that the critics said would never come to pass. The Model S has racked up some serious awards and I've personally seen several on the roads here and have to say they look as good in person as in the marketing collateral. But apparently the electric car is dead.

Sure, Toyota backed out of a deal last year with Tesla to start making all-electric powertrains Some other automakers have also backed off of their EV projects. And some really big players like Daimler and Nissan/Renault have declared they are moving forward with hydrogen vehicles.Does this mean the electric car is dead?

If anything the electric car is showing more life than ever. These deaths are a necessary movement in the marketplace, the casualties of faulty planning rather than a faulty plan for powering vehicles. Evidence abounds at this, including the recent surge in Leaf sales as well as big automakers planning on releasing EVs in the near future. The Fiat 500E is coming soon, promising another inexpensive electric car as well as the Smart Fortwo Electric, to name just two. And Detroit Electric is back, although it remains to be seen just how well the automaker survives the next few years. 

As for those who fear that all these electric cars are going to overload the power grid, I have one thing to say: buy a solar array and take yourself off the grid. Problem solved.

Mitsubishi is on the Ropes in America

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X

Back in the day I owned a couple of Mitsubishi vehicles. One was a Mighty Max pickup truck. It was an extremely cheap vehicle, and I'm not talking about just the price. The good thing about the truck was I had no misgivings about throwing whatever kind of crap in the bed because nothing could have made that truck look worse.

The second Mitsubishi I owned was an old Montero. Even though it was pretty Spartan inside, that truck was fun to drive and was great at off-roading. I still kick myself for selling it, but I had my reasons when I did.

Just as I have mixed emotions about my two Mitsubishi vehicles, I have mixed emotions about the company. Some of the products are amazing and exciting, like the Evolution or the Pajero (it was called the Montero here, and yes it's still very much available in other parts of the world). But Mitsubishi lately has been producing some pretty crappy vehicles. The quality isn't bad, despite the overall impression Americans have of the brand's quality, but the vehicles are just so odd I don't know what to make of them. For example the Outlander is a vehicle I just can't quite categorize, and not in a good way. I know some of the most revolutionary vehicles have been hard to categorize at first, but Mitsubishi lately hasn't been putting out revolutionary vehicles.

This is the kind of fun you have in a Mitsubishi Evolution

I read an article on Jalopnik the other day where they very briefly touched on the whole Mitsubishi mess. According to them, Mitsubishi is considering several new vehicles to amp things up in the Americas as well. One of those possible vehicles is a full-size SUV, which Jalopnik of course hates the sound of (Jalopnik very much has a bias against family vehicles for reasons I can only guess at). Personally, I think a full-size SUV would be a smart move. Other Japanese automakers have moved into that space with some good success, so why not Mitsubishi? There's a huge market for them (and I'm in that market). Larger vehicles provide larger profit margins for automakers, particularly full-size SUVs and trucks, and right now Mitsubishi needs more cash in a bad way. Just look at how Porsche has done by producing a mid-size SUV, the Cayenne, which now makes up half of the company's sales in the United States! Like I've said before, if producing less exhilarating but more practical vehicles keeps an automaker in business so it can keep making those exhilarating vehicles, then it's a good thing. Not everyone can afford nor wants to drive a hepped-up, turbocharged rallycross vehicle to work each day and if automotive enthusiasts can't understand that, then they're out of touch with reality.

Of course I'm also excited that Mitsubishi is saying it wants to also produce a replacement for the Evolution. My mind could go crazy thinking about what the company could churn out as a replacement (likely a hybrid high-performance vehicle, given the racing tech we've seen from Mitsubishi lately). But it doesn't matter if the company can't stay profitable. Large SUVs are profitable, as long as Mitsubishi plays its cards right.

Fuel Cell Technology Advances Even Further!

The 2012 Honda FCX. Image Courtesy of Honda.

Anyone who has enough common sense can see that running cars on fossil fuels is a practice that needs to be phased out. The big debate that's raging in the automotive industry right now is what's the best way to wean us off our use of fossil fuels. There are people who tout biodiesel as a great alternative, mostly because the tech is pretty well-developed and could be implemented quickly. A growing faction of the auto industry is putting their weight behind electric cars, especially with the recent success of the Tesla Model S.



For years and years many of the largest automakers in the world have been trying to crack what they consider the holy grail in alternative fuels: hydrogen fuel cells. These automakers feel that fuel cell technology is the future. Fuel cell cars drive more like internal combustion models. Gas stations can be outfitted to deliver hydrogen (this one is debatable, say many electric car proponents). The best part of hydrogen fuel cells is tailpipe emissions are only a small amount of water.

There have been big problems with developing the technology. Fuel cell vehicles have been pretty slow (although Honda's FCX was the first to solve that problem). Many have wondered how the hydrogen will be stored and transported.

Mercedes has recently tackled one of the big problems: size. Hydrogen fuel cells, like lithium ion batteries, take up quite a bit of space. Quite a while ago GM was playing around with fuel cell "skateboards" where the cells were built into the car's chassis, making it thick and heavy. Mercedes has developed a fuel cell engine that is the same size as an internal combustion engine, meaning fuel cell vehicles don't have to contain a huge array along the entire chassis. Just this week Mercedes announced it is teaming up with Nissan-Renault and Ford to mass produce fuel cell vehicles and begin pushing for most hydrogen fueling infrastructure.

The new and more compact Mercedes fuel cell engine. Image courtesy of Daimler.

What does this mean for the future of the automobile? Only time will tell for sure, but a development like this could put fuel cell vehicles in the hands of millions of drivers across the globe, significantly dropping the demand for oil. I'm sure this isn't the last of this story, so look for more developments in the future. 

The Second Coming of Saab

Saab PhoeniX Concept Car

People love a good comeback story, the kind where a person overcomes seemingly impossible obstacles, and Saab right now might be shaping up to be that kind of a story. Many people decided the brand was deader than dead three years ago when talk of bankruptcy and winding down the brand  was first brought up by General Motors management. After languishing for a while, the Swedish automotive brand finally seemed to succumb to the many factors that caused its demise. Many kind eulogies were written for the brand and then everyone seemed to move on.



But like a phoenix, (or maybe a zombie, depending on how things turn out) Saab refused to stay dead for very long. Now it promises to rise from the ashes of the company so many wept over, hopefully stronger and ready to thrive in the modern automotive world.

Saab PhoeniX Concept

At first, plans were to relaunch the brand with only EVs (electric vehicles). That plan was an ambitious one, one that seems to have been placed on hold. Rather than let consumers continue to think that the Saab brand is dead, the company will release a new generation of the iconic 9-3 sports sedan, but it will be gasoline-powered like in the past. Rumor has it that this new 9-3 will be based on the architecture of Saab's PhoeniX concept (but sadly the scissor doors probably won't make the cut--pun intended). In the next few years, expect to see electric Saab models rolling down a road near you.

How is it that Saab has been brought back from death? Despite what most people think, when a company goes bankrupt and closes that doesn't mean the products are dead forever. If that were the case, Jeep would have been history a long time ago. The Swedish company National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (or NEVS) is partially responsible for this reboot. The company is owned by National Modern Energy Holdings, which is based in Hong Kong. A significant portion of the company is also owned by some private Japanese citizens, with the alliance surviving the current tension between the governments of China and Japan.

Saab PhoeniX Concept

China has been weighing in on electric car technology with a mandate for quite a few electric cars on the country's roads in the near future. This has helped fuel an interest in bringing more EVs to China. The US so far is the largest EV market in the world, so expect to see quite a few of these EV Saabs coming to America in the near future as well. I would imagine a fair amount of the new 9-3s will be landing on American shores as well, considering the US was a vital market for Saab back in the day. Still, with NEVS being based in China, and with the country's growing appetite for cars, Saab should be expecting to see a huge upswing in growth in China (just like Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo are all experiencing).

Of course, everything is up in the air right now. Relaunching a car brand is not an overnight process, especially with part supply chains, readying factories, negotiating with assembly workers, training, testing, etc. I'm sure the public's response to this news will play a factor in deciding if Saab is back next year, so let's all make sure to let NEVS know there's still a viable market for a combustion engine 9-3!

Saab PhoeniX Concept Wheel - I love how it looks kind of like a turbine!

The Robot Cars Are Invading!

 
I grew up watching the Transformers (as well as the hopelessly inferior GoBots) and so from an early age I have a positive association with robot cars. Night Rider was also part of my ultra-healthy diet of mindless television, which also helped prepare me for the future of automobiles.

Yes, that's right folks, the future of automobiles will be robot cars. Like it or not, states like California are helping usher in a new era in motoring (as my friends across the pond like to say) where the human behind the wheel is not the only one driving the car. 



What baffles me is the massive opposition to robot cars. There are throngs of people who are upset, saying robot cars are dangerous (these people watched the Terminator and the Matrix a little too much), that they take away our freedoms and that robot cars will create the ever-dread "nanny state" I keep hearing about. If you don't believe that robot cars are a hot-button issue, check out this real (I swear it is real) political ad from Florida:

 
Back in the day windshields were called "not commercially viable" by people who irrationally were fighting any kind of change. Considering how many deaths and serious injuries are caused by car accidents, and how many people who want to do everything but drive when they're behind the wheel, I think the benefits of autonomous cars are immense. How many times have you been in a near car accident that was due to another person talking or texting on their phone, or doing something else that completely distracted them? A robot car would prevent the damage to property and loss of life that comes from car accidents (which are altogether too common). In fact, according to the United States CDC, the number one killer of teens in the US is car accidents! 

Of course, not all autonomous car tech is created equal, so the debate should really be about what is the best way of going about it.Having a system where all the cars are controlled by a central group of servers can be a recipe for disaster, since one glitch could cause thousands of cars to drive out of control, leading to catastrophic car accidents. Instead, tech like Google's self driving cars is far better, since a glitch would only affect one or just some of the cars on the road. 

To those who bristle at the thought of a computer driving a car, since computers won't be as careful, consider that humans have proven to be quite careless behind the wheel. Most of these robot cars will allow drivers to take control at any time, so in the event of a malfunction the human driver can still maintain control. This could also mean that people could drive without using the robot aids, just like how you can turn the traction control system off on your car (and let your tires spin uselessly as a result). The point is people would have the robotic aids, just like how people have backup cameras and other technology that makes driving a car a safer and easier experience.