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Yesterday we brought you new info on the upcoming Fisker Karma hybrid. Fisker has now released some new images of a prototype they recently tested at an airport strip in California.
Fisker said that it has already sold 99 units out of the 15,000 production run planned for 2009. The Fisker Karma hybrid will arrive in the fourth-quarter of next year with pricing to start at $80,000.
Click through for more pictures.
Fisker Karma Hybrid Prototype:
 
 
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You would think with all the hype surrounded around the Dodge Challenger, Chrysler has no intentions of going green. However, if you remember Jim Press recently said that Chrysler will offer a hybrid variant of every model in its lineup. We have no idea if that’s every going to become reality, but the auto maker is now quickly looking to add small and mid-sized cars to its lineup.
“The bottom line is to shift the portfolio into mid- and small cars as fast as we can and balance the portfolio and the technology,” said Tom LaSorda.
Fisker says that it has already sold 99 units of its upcoming Fisker Karma hybrid, deliveries of which will begin in the fourth-quarter of 2009. Fisker will only produce 15,000 units of the Karma with pricing to start at $80,000.
When Fisker unveiled the Karma at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, it never said anything about the powertrain. All we were told is that the Q-Drive plug-in hybrid technology allows the Fisker Karma to drive the first 50 miles on battery alone. We were also told that the car does 0-60 in 5.8 seconds.
Being under pressure to produce more fuel-efficient models, GM may be forced to change the way it’s been building SUVs for the past seven-decades. The General is now looking for ways to design a lighter replacement for its biggest SUVs without relying on a heavier pickup-truck frame.
While nothing is certain as of yet, engineers are looking to shift to a car-like construction in 2012 for successors to the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade.
While Ford and GM are drifting away from the minivan market, Hyundai is introducing a minivan for big families, small businesses and ‘anyone with lots of friends,’ for under £20,000 (around $39,000). Meet the Hyundai i800 which unlike most MPVs that only have room for seven-passengers, can comfortable fit eight.
Power comes from a 2.5 liter turbodiesel that produces 170-hp. The rear-wheel-drive minivan averages a fuel-economy of 28mpg and can do a range of 560 miles between fill-ups.
As with all Hyundai cars, the i800 will be covered by a five year, manufacturer backed, unlimited mileage warranty. Uh huh, can we get one here on the stateside as well?
Click through for more images and the press release.
Hyundai i800:
 
 
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So if you remember back in October there was a huge controversy over hybrids being too quiet for blind people to hear. The U.S. National Federation of the Blind Committee even ran tests to see if it would be an issue for blind people crossing the street that couldn’t hear a hybrid passing by. Well after reading this, blind people wouldn’t be the only ones worried about getting run over by a hybrid.
Eight-year-old, Owen Erickson, was hit by a Toyota Prius while biking with a friend that he supposedly didn’t hear passing by. Although little Owen wasn’t injured, he did end up on the hood of the car.
This is the kind of news that usually folks like Reuters and Automotive News report, but our friend Ray Wert from Jalopnik is out hanging out with the Koreans this week for the Hyundai Genesis launch in Korea. Here are the latest details about the upcoming Kia pickup we told you about back in March. Simply put, there won’t be one.
Dr. Dong Jin Kim, Vice Chairman and CEO of Hyundai, said that the automaker has interest in the pickup market, however high-gas prices are killing the truck market.
GM-Volt.com, a site not owned by GM, is running a virtual waiting list showing the interest that people have in purchasing GM’s upcoming electric car.
As of May 5th, 20,000 people have signed up saying that they would purchase the Volt when it arrives in 2010.
At a recent press event, GM showed off its hydrogen powered Chevrolet Equinox SUV. For the next two months 100 individuals will test fuel-cell versions of its Equinox SUV in California, New York and Washington, D.C.
The SUV uses no petroleum and releases zero greenhouse gases. So with gas reaching $4 a gallon why isn’t this hydrogen Equinox going into mass production. Well, mainly because it wouldn’t be commercially viable for the General. Each unit costs GM more than $250,000 to build. However, with customer feedback, innovation and if the government provides incentives to consumers to make it more affordable, the fuel-cell powered SUV could reach commercialization in the near future.
The SUV has the ability to travel 200 miles on a tank at 50mpg.Â
Click through for the video.
FoMoCo says it plans to double the use of more fuel-efficient 6-speed automatic transmissions by the end of next year, The company is looking to get the transmission in 98 percent of North American vehicles by 2012. Ford’s Sterling Heights transmission plant will produce 1.3 million 6F35 transmissions a year.
According to Ford, the 6-speed automatic transmission return 4 to 6 percent better fuel economy than the 4 or 5-speed automatics. In 2009 Ford plans on fitting its 6F35 six-speed transmission in the 2009 model year of the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and the 2009 Mazda Tribute. Currently, all are offered with a four-speed automatic.
In a recent interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, BMW CEO said that the brand will be using the four-cylinder engine it produces jointly with PSA in its BMW branded cars. According to a report, BMW had originally planned to use the four-cylinder engine only in its MINI lineup.
The future generation of BMW 1-Series will be using the four-cylinder engine.
Reithofer also briefly mentioned that the next-generation of the BMW 7-Series will be fitted with a hybrid engine. We expect more details when the full interview is released.
Photo Rendering: 2009 BMW 7-Series:
FoMoCo and the General said today that they have no plans to match or compete with Chrysler’s offer to cap the cost of gas for its new Chrysler cars, pickups and SUV buyers.
Chrysler announced yesterday that it will offer a gas card to buyers of new and unused Chrysler models to immediately lower their gas price to $2.99 a gallon.
In a recent interview with D Business magazine of Detroit, Cadillac’s boss Jim Taylor talked about the upcoming CTS Coupe and a pair of hybrid motorcycles that Cadillac will debut at the LA Auto Show later this year.
Taylor, who is a motorcycle enthusiast, commissioned a Cadillac chopper that features a hybrid system allowing the bike to run on ethanol or electric mode alone. The Cadillac hybrid chopper is capable of going from rest to 60 in 4.5 seconds.
Copyright 2008 eGMCarTech. All rights reserved.
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