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DODGE MAXXcab
17 March 2000
The Dodge MAXXcab concept vehicle doubles as an office-on-wheels or as a mobile daycare centre, while still offering a half-ton payload and enough bedspace for weekend projects and hobby-equipment, say Dodge officials.
The bed is wider and deeper than today's full-size truck boxes, and comes with an integrated picnic table and chairs for the occasional spur-of-the-moment tailgate party.
"My inspiration came from my own experience," said Clyde Ney, Design Manager responsible for the MAXXcab interior. "I've had pickup trucks for more than 10 years and worked on the exterior design of the current Dodge Ram. So I knew what I liked in a pickup truck. When this project came up, I also asked my wife and six-year-old son what they would change."
MAXXcab is luxurious. The front cabin has cream, pillow-top leather seats, a sports sedan-like instrument panel with brushed aluminum details and Navy door inserts and adjustable pedals.
The driver "Infotronic" system is nothing short of a full data centre. A console houses a toaster-style pop-up "plug-and-play" laptop computer with liquid crystal displays. A voice recognition system allows the driver to access the mobile office screens and the Internet. Voice commands also control the vehicle's e-mail, navigation, diagnostics and telephone systems.
In the rear, three minivan-style, built-in child safety seats accommodate toddlers and older children, while an "Edu-tainment" system with DVD player, Internet access and a hand-held sketch pad give kids other amusement choices. |
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 ALTERNATIVE FUEL CARS OF THE FUTURE JUST AROUND THE CORNER
26 May 2000
The "green" cars of the future are quickly coming into focus as the race for clean automotive technology turns into nothing less than a sprint for world-wide dominance of the auto industry.
"Environmentally friendly cars will soon cease to be an option; they will become a necessity," said Toyota Motor Corp.'s president Fujio Cho at the recent North American International Auto Show in Detroit. "Automakers that deliver practical, greener products will command the market in the 21st century."
Adds David Cole, director of the Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation at the University of Michigan: "There's nothing (auto manufacturers) would rather do than be able to obsolete the products that are already in the marketplace. If they could be first to market with a new product, they would kill for that kind of advantage.
Yes, it's true that public opinion polls show that global warming concerns have, indeed, come off the back burner. And there's no question that the world's automakers continue to struggle to meet increasing levels of anti-pollution legislation in Canada, the United States and many other countries. But the reality is that the marketplace is driving research into alternative fuel vehicles. Consequently, auto industry insiders and analysts are convinced that by the middle of this decade, consumers will have a host of affordable, zero-pollution options available for their daily commute. What technological factors will facilitate this shift away from the internal combustion engine that has dominated personal transportation for a century? What combination of advances will dramatically increase energy efficiency and virtually eliminate tailpipe emissions for those who want to power their driving with minimal use of fossil fuels?
First, using an emerging technology called "infotronics," on-board computers linked to the Internet will manage power systems for maximum efficiency. Second, there will be a variety of power sources available, all of which require little if any energy from fossil fuels. Among the mix will be hybrid-drive vehicles which combine a variety of power sources (e.g., gasoline or diesel engines) with advanced battery technology to deliver astonishing fuel economy -- in the range of 3.1 litres/100 km. or 90 miles per gallon or more. Consumers can also expect to find dealer showrooms filled with vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which derive energy for an electric motor from a pollution-free electrochemical reaction the only byproduct of which is water. And third, lightweight but strong and safe materials such as aluminum and fibre-reinforced plastic will reduce the amount of energy required to move your car down the highway.
Production vehicles that combine all these technologies at an affordable price are literally just one new-car generation away. In other words, by 2003 or 2004 at the latest. By the end of this decade, automakers such as DaimlerChrysler AG predict that alternative fuel vehicles could comprise as much as 15 per cent of the new vehicle market. While that may not sound like a huge amount, consider that 15 per cent of today's annual global auto marketplace translates into sales of 7.5 million new vehicles -- or five times the number of new vehicles sold last year in Canada.
So what will these near-pollution-free cars look and drive like? From the outside, not much different than the conventional car we're driving right now. However, what's underneath these future cars, and the design and manufacturing processes creating them, will be as revolutionary as the first horseless carriages were 100 years ago. Moreover, manufacturers insist that commercially viable alternative fuel vehicles must perform no different than today's typical passenger car. That means 0-100 km/h acceleration of 10-12 seconds and a range between refueling of at least 400 km. As for cost, last year a study from Ernst& Young found that 42 of consumers would be willing to pay $2,000 extra for an environmentally friendly vehicle. That translates into a relatively small seven per cent premium on the $28,000 sticker price of the average new car in Canada.
As DaimlerChrysler president James Holden says, "What consumers want is for us to mass produce moon-shot technology at down-to-earth prices."
Manufacturers argue that if society wants lower-polluting, more efficient cars, hybrid cars are the most practical way of reaching that goal in the short term. Thus, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. in the last two months have all unveiled lightweight hybrid drive concept vehicles that achieve three times the fuel efficiency of an average sedan right now - about 3.1 litres/100 km. or 90 miles per Imperial gallon. Better still, all three have all the features of a typical family sedan with a traditional gasoline engine. In other words, these are not impractical battery-powered cars with a range of 100 km. (much less if you use the defroster), riding on slick, low-rolling resistance tires that are dangerous on Canadian winter roads.
DaimlerChrysler's five-passenger ESX3 sports a lightweight injection-molded plastic body and is powered by a 1.5-litre direct-injection diesel engine and battery-powered electric motor that drive the front wheels. The electric motor also captures energy used in braking, storing it in a battery pack in the trunk. It uses a small, advanced, high-powered lithion-ion battery with the potential for lower cost and longer life than traditional
nickel-metal-hydride or lead-acid batteries,
The ESX3 has a driving range of 640 km. in part because it recaptures and reuses energy generated by braking. It meets all current crash test standards even though it weighs 544 kg. (1,200) less than a contemporary Chrysler Intrepid sedan and could be sold profitably for about $11,000 more than today's $27,000 Intrepid. That cost penalty is far below the $87,000 penalty the first-generation ESX concept carried five years ago. Company officials say they can get the extra cost down to as little as $1,500 a car with future engineering advances and mass production. Nonetheless, they are still encouraging regulators to offer tax credits for
high-tech cars.
In January, Ford and GM unveiled their latest hybrid visions called the Prodigy and the Precept respectively. Like the ESX3, both seat five and were developed under a U.S. Government-sponsored program called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV). The
industry-government collaboration was launched in 1994 with a commitment to create production-ready prototypes by no later than 2004. Sooner, if possible. All three attack from different directions the problems of bringing hybrid drive to the marketplace.
The Ford Prodigy is a conventional-looking sedan about the size of a Ford Taurus. It's powered by a
1.2-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine and nickel-metal hydride battery. Use of lightweight materials such as aluminum and titanium brought the car's weight to 1,083 kg. (2,387 pounds), which not unlike the ESX3 is about 1,000 pounds less than today's typical family sedan. The Precept sports a
battery-powered electric traction system turning the front wheels, while at the rear is a lightweight,
1.3-litre, three-cylinder diesel engine in the rear. The electric motor can run off either nickel metal hydride or lithium polymer batteries, while the electric traction system captures and stores braking energy.
Ford and GM officials have declined to discuss the cost penalty associated with putting either the Precept or the Prodigy into consumers' hands. Another problem is that all three use diesel fuel, which is more efficient than gasoline, but also dirtier in terms of emissions. The automakers like the energy content of diesel and believe they have a good chance of meeting emissions targets with cleaner diesel fuel and more advanced emission controls system.
Above all, the beauty of hybrid systems is that they can be manufactured using existing technology. Indeed, Toyota and Honda plan to sell hybrid vehicles later this summer in Canada. But both the Toyota Prius, which is the size of a Corolla sedan, and Honda Insight, a compact two-seater, are relatively small cars that so far are being sold at a substantial loss for each automaker. Nonetheless, they prove that hybrid technology exists and can be brought to a consumer marketplace.
Not yet proven but certainly coming are vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Virtually all the large automakers are developing this promising clean car technology. In this area, Canada's Ballard Power Systems of Burnaby, B.C. is the recognized world leader and because it's in partnership with Ford and DaimlerChrysler (which own 15 and 20 per cent of Ballard respectively), Ballard has the financial resources to develop the technology. Officials from all three companies say they will bring a fuel cell vehicle to market by 2004. Ballard officials who unveiled the company's latest-generation fuel cell stack in January, say their powerplant is very close to being ready for mass production -- perhaps in as little as two years.
General Motors and Toyota have also formed a fuel cell partnership and Toyota says it will market a fuel cell car by 2003. Honda, which is testing both its own fuel cell and a Ballard unit, says it will sell a fuel cell car in 2003. And Nissan vows it will do the same in about the same time frame. Still, all these automakers have yet to solve at least one major problem: where will the hydrogen come
from? The most likely answer today is that it will be reformed from another fuel stored on board the vehicle, likely methanol but possibly gasoline. And if it's methanol, a large network of fueling stations must still be put in place. Still, as with hybrids, manufacturers insist that consumers will only buy fuel cell vehicles if they are competitively priced against gasoline cars.
So who will dominate the marketplace of affordable alternative fuel vehicles? GM vice-chairman Harry Pearce says it will be whichever company or companies deliver a viable vehicle to the customer that has the performance and characteristics the consumer is looking for.
"It's going to be a horse race," says Pearce. "I mean, everybody is going down this path."
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 CARS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
26 May 2000
Which cars cause the least damage to the environment? For an answer, don't just consider tailpipe emissions, says engineers at Volvo.
Instead, one must use a comprehensive evaluation system which measures the total environmental impact of an automobile powered by a specific fuel or combination of fuels.
One system that does this is called Environmental Priority Strategies (EPS). It takes into account not just air, soil and water emissions produced by various fuels, but also the impact of cars and total car production and destruction or scrapping. How these elements affect a) the health of humans and the planet's ecology; b) the beauty of the planet; and, c) the relationship between transportation and other man-made aspects of society are taken into account in order to produce Environmental Load Units (ELU).
Volvo engineers see EPS as an environmental management tool which produces an ELU value for various types of cars powered by various types of fuels. In short, the ELU value is the sum of all the ELUs for:
1) the emissions, energy use and material consumption involved in the manufacture and assembly of a car;
2) the emissions and energy use during the car's total service life;
3) the emissions and energy use in the destruction or recycling of the car's components in conjunction with scrapping.
In Volvo's system, the final sum expresses the environmental load in ELUs per kilogram of material used. For example, today's conventional gasoline-powered cars which are built to be driven for 200,000 kilometres have a total ELU index of about 33,000. Hybrid-drive vehicles hold the potential to reduce the ELU index number of a passenger car to less than 9,000. Fuel cell vehicles can be expected to drop that number substantially lower.
Focussing only on fuels, the gasoline required to drive the average car 10 kilometres produces 1.6 ELUs. Over that same 10 km, M85 (a combination of 85 per cent methanol and 15 per cent gasoline) produces an ELU value of 1.1; E85 (85 per cent ethanol, 15 per cent gasoline) produces an ELU value of 3.4; and, diesel produces an ELU value of 2.1. In
By calculating the ELU value for various types of vehicles running on a variety of fuels, it is possible to make simple and convincing comparisons between a host of quite different environmental concept cars. And those comparisons should help manufacturers, politicians and consumers make choices about alternative fuel vehicles which are both environmentally sensible and economically viable.
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 CYBERBAZAAR SEES OLD ECONOMY TEACHING NEW ECONOMY NEW TRICKS
5 May 2000
Who says you can't teach an old industry new tricks? In fact, an industry as old as the car business could end up teaching the young upstarts in Web-savvy
Silcon Valley a thing or two, and along the way set the standard for business-to-business e-commerce on the Internet.
At least that's the dream of officials at General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and DaimlerChrysler AG. The so-called Big Three have agreed to create a cyberbazaar designed to handle as much as $740 billion US or more in on-line parts ordering, sales and distribution. The as-yet unnamed venture will streamline purchasing of everything from basic raw materials to mops to paper clips to whole sections of automobiles, say officials from all three companies. Not only will it manage $240 billion US in annual spending by the Big Three, but perhaps as much as an additional $500 billion US in purchasing by the automakers' suppliers.
It will be, says Harold Kutner, GM vice-president of worldwide purchasing, the "largest Internet business ever created. Nobody will be better. Nobody will be faster. Nobody will offer more to everyone involved."
Adds Ford's Brian Kelly, president of Ford's ConsumerConnect e-commerce division: "This venture will revolutionize every aspect of our company, and all of our companies, and in the industry, from suppliers all the way to consumers."
First, of course, the joint venture will need a name, clearly defined ownership and fee structures, a staff estimated to number about 500 and everything else associated with a start-up. And the technology of the network has yet to be fully developed by software developers and venture partners Oracle Corp. and Commerce One Inc. But officials from all the players say everything will be in place within weeks. If it's successful, says Bruce
Temkin, research director at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass., the auto industry's cyberbazaar will help create a new e-business standard for the start of the 21st century.
"This is the first major industry that has had very large companies come together in a large exchange," says
Temkin. "Lots of other industries will be looking at the auto industry to see how Ford, GM, DaimlerChrysler and other play together."
In essence, the Big Three have agreed to create a common platform for communicating online with suppliers and for suppliers to communicate with each other. Ironically, it was only four months ago that Ford and GM announced they would go it alone developing online purchasing networks. However, in response to complaints from suppliers about the complexity of learning more than one B2B system, a deal was struck to bring together Ford's AutoExchange and GM's TradeXchange procurement systems with DaimlerChrysler's already extensive but less formalized electronic supplier ties. Now the agreement has been struck, officials from the Big Three expect other automakers such as Toyota and Nissan to
join, along with an expanded pool of suppliers from around the globe.
"What we're really responding to is the power of being together, and the power of setting an industry standard, and the power of providing more value to our supply base," says
Kutner. "What we've done is kind of level the playing filed on exchanges, and provide a common process for the supply community around the world."
As such, the auto industry is leading the way in the exploding world of business-to-business e-commerce. According to the Gartner Group, Inc., in 1999 worldwide B2B e-commerce reached $145 billion US. But by 2004, Gartner projects B2B electronic commerce will surpass $7.29 trillion US. The explosion will come as B2B e-commerce evolves into the mainstream. Currently it's not. A recent survey of 2,500 companies by the U.S. National Association of Manufacturers found that 68 per cent did no business over the Internet. Temkin says that will change quickly, and the car companies' venture will have a major influence over how - if for no other reason than its sheer size.
Officials from GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler suggest the venture could eventually include more than 10,000 suppliers and a dozen automakers. Once up and running, the automotive cyberbazaar holds the promise of reducing waste and speed in the time it takes to develop new cars and trucks. Indeed, the network would not only manage electronic bids from suppliers, taking a commission along the way, but also act as a medium to pass all data and engineering design work between automakers and their supplies. The hope it so shave time off what is currently a 24-month, $1 billion US design effort for a typical new vehicle. Even a reduction of one month can save as much as $40 million US.
"The dimensions are staggering," says David Cole, head of the University of Michigan's Office for the study of Automotive Transportation. "It represents the merging of the e-world with asset-based manufacturing. This will go beyond the auto industry."
But the venture isn't just away to improve efficiencies in developing new vehicles. On the contrary, the cyber-network itself is being designed to generate revenue each time a company uses it, thus becoming that rarity on the Internet -- a business that actually makes money. Robert
Kimmitt, chief operating partner of Commerce One, Ford's technology partner in the venture, says that small user-fees for each transaction on the network could reach several billion a year. Ford's Kelly adds that commissions on actual transactions could range from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent, producing an additional $2-$3 billion in annual revenue.
But these are just projections. The actual amounts will become more clear once the network is running. At that point, with revenue numbers more clearly in hand, the partners plan to spin off the venture in an initial public offering that one Wall Street analysts suggests could have a market capitalization of $30-$40 billion US. A decision on the IPO could come as early as the fourth quarter of this year.
In the meantime, the challenge is to get the technology started and to make it work not only easily, efficiently and reliably, but also in a completely secure fashion. Encryption codes, for instance, will have to be developed to ensure that automakers and suppliers do not have access to each other's plans. Not an easy task, and one that could take longer than officials from the Big Three are projecting. And all the participants must become comfortable using technology that is new and completely different. Indeed, the auto industry has long been dominated by face-to-face supply purchasing practices marked by numerous conferences and mounds of paperwork. Eliminating much of that will amount to a major cultural shakeup in the car industry.
"It is essential that all participants feel a sense of trust and security in the integrity of the system," says Dick Baker, head of the Business-to-business unit at market research firm J.D. Power & Associates.
"The educational requirement is an inherent part of the process."
The network must also be set up so that it does not run afoul of U.S. Government anti-trust legislation. On that score, auto executives say they aren't expecting any trouble and that corporate lawyers have already given the venture the go-ahead. The key point to remember is that while the cyberbazaar will establish B2B standards, each car company and its suppliers will use it differently and no one will have access to competitive data belonging to another. In addition, suppliers will also use the network to trade amongst each other and reduce their own supply costs.
Truly, then, this is a huge venture being driven by what some have criticized as a hidebound auto industry. Wall Street analyst Gary Lapidus of Goldman Sachs says that the extent of the network's tentacles could extend beyond even what its founders are suggesting.
"It's now likely to attract a dominant share of the automotive industry, the commercial-vehicle industry and a whole lot of other industrial sectors as well," says
Lapidus.
SIDEBAR
The company: an as-yet unnamed venture to put as much as $740 million in automotive-related purchasing online.
Partners: GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Oracle Corp. and Commerce One.
Ownership: GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler will own equal stakes, while Oracle and Commerce One will own lesser stakes estimated at 10 per cent each.
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 AUTOMAKERS SHOW OFF DIFFERENT VISIONS OF CAR OF THE FUTURE
28 April 2000
NEW YORK -- If there's one thing the traditional Big Three North American automakers agree on it is that they disagree in their vision of the automotive future. At least that's the impression given by a baker's dozen of concept vehicles unveiled by automakers during this year's auto show season.
For DaimlerChrylser's North American division (the former Chrysler Corp.), the (near) future is filled with plenty of horsepower and rakish good looks. Does the name Hemi ring familiar? More on that shortly.
For Ford Motor Co. the future is all about connectivity and bandwith and
megabites. Picture your car as an iMac and you...well, you get the picture.
And for General Motors the future is a real Hummer. Not the brutish Hummer so loved by the American military, but rather a kinder, gentler Hummer.
Concept vehicles, of course, are exercises in styling and engineering designed to allow automakers to test the waters (so to speak) for new ideas and innovations. They're featured at auto shows and are always a major drawing card for visitors, who in turn provide valuable feedback. If the public likes what it sees, or even just parts of some larger concept, that's often enough for a green light to the production line.
So as Detroit-based manufacturers have set about showing off their latest ideas, it's been a surprise to see how unalike their thinking has been.
Take Ford's J Mays, who as chief designer has plenty to say about the future of Ford products.
"We're operating in a world where you measure power in gigabytes and pipeline bursts, not horsepower," Mays says.
Thus, Ford showed a trio of boxy concept vehicles called 24-7. As in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The
24-7 wagon, coupe and pickup are colorful, smooth pods that clearly took inspiration from Apple Computer's popular
iMacs. They did, however, seem more
high-tech appliance than personal transportation in any traditional sense.
Those looking for gauges and controls where they would normally be found, instead are met by a
dashboard-mounted video projection screen capable of being configured just like the desktop of a computer. And yes, you can program up different background and gauges. And yes voice activation
operates everything from stereo to access to the Web.
The hatchback, which by the way is usually a style of vehicle that puts a premium on
sportiness, had of all things a projection screen under the rear liftgate. Tailgate
party-goers rejoice. Ford chief executive Jac Nasser, Mays' boss, says the emerging technologies in the
24-7 will show up in many Ford vehicles during the next three years. Some Lincoln models, in fact, will get
voice-activated systems in 2001 that allow drivers to call up stock quotes, weather reports and even emergency help through
in-car Internet connections.
"The car becomes an Internet on wheels. It becomes a portal to the Internet," says Nasser.
The Web, though, seems far from the mind of DaimlerChrylser's North American product development chief, Tom Gale. Wearing a big
car-lover's grin, he has showcased four concept vehicles, highlighted by the Dodge Viper
GTS/R.
"It's as close as we could get to "a street-legal race car," says Gale, describing a modified Viper, powered by a massive
500-horsepower V10 engine, with 19- and 20-inch wheels, a massive gull wing on the rear and tight fender lines all around. Zero to 100 km/h times were estimated at 3.8 seconds.
Not surprisingly, Gale and DaimlerChrysler North America president James Holden admit that their company could build and bring to market the Viper
GTS/R, as well as three other concept vehicles: the Chrysler Hemi 300 C convertible, the Dodge Maxx Cab hybrid pickup truck and the Jeep Varsity "urban adventure vehicle." The former Chrysler Corp. developed a reputation during the '90s for showing concepts such as the current Viper and Plymouth Prowler roadster that later became production models.
In the case of this most recent crop of four concepts, all are built on existing mechanical architecture or "platforms" so the basic building blocks are in place and proven.
"All of those cars have real feasibility," says Holden. "You can read into that what you want. There's nothing up there we couldn't build."
Adds Gale: "It's a very pragmatic look at what we would do to blur the edges between our concepts and production."
If the Hemi 300 C convertible becomes a production candidate soon (perhaps on sale as early as 2003) it will likely please those who remember the Hemi named used on Chrysler's
high-output engines of the '50s and '60s. Horsepower-wise it's got the right credentials: a
5.7-litre V8 rated at 353 hp, driving the rear wheels. Based on the current 300 M sedan, the
four-seat Hemi 300 C (complete with disappearing power top and pop-up
rollbar, is also a peek at the next 300M due in less than three years.
"The 300 C begins to provide the kind of icon for Chrysler that we've been searching for," adds Gale, alluding to the fact Chrysler continues to strive to move its image
up-market.
If the Hemi 300 C is a vision of Chrysler going up-town, then the Jeep Varsity "blurs the line between boulder and boulevard, without compromising the Jeep brand," says Gale.
Under the Varsity's skin you will, however, find the Jeep Grand Cherokee
platform-albeit with a 300 horsepower, V6 engine. The Varsity, though, while trying to hold firmly Jeep's tough
off-road image, is more a hybrid vehicle-part truck, part car, part minivan.
And the Maxx Cab, too, rides on the mechanicals of an existing DaimlerChrysler product. In this case the Dodge Dakota platform. Gale calls it "pickup truck for families." So while the Maxx Cab has a
1/2-ton payload, it's cabin is large and airy. Here is, says Gale, what happens when
cab-forward design (as evidenced by wheels pushed to the far corners) meets pickup.
Among its more interesting features are an integrated picnic table and chairs,
built-in child seats and a
rear middle seat that slides forward to put kids in reach of parents. There's also a console for a laptop computer and a DVD entertainment system to keep those riding in the rear busy on long trips.
Among the concept vehicles GM has shown, the model most likely to come to market first wasn't even dreamed of a year ago. But last December GM acquired AM General of Indiana manufacturer of the Hummer, and therefore the Hummer H2 Vision Vehicle sport utility vehicle took centre stage among GM products.
The H2 Vision Vehicle is a refined version of the Hummer that became famous in the early '90s Gulf War. But unlike the latter, the H2 doesn't have exposed fasteners and rivets and its sheetmetal is more rounded and less massive, even though it remains a monstrously intimidating
all-terrain truck.
"It's pretty much a vision of where the Hummer brand could go," says Clay Dean, the design manager of GM trucks. "We feel that the brand can sustain and hold several models that build on its brand image."
In fact, GM North America president Ron Zarrella confirms that in 2002 GM will begin building a production version of the H2 concept at a new $200US million assembly plant in South Bend, Ind.. Zarrella says he anticipates sales of 30,000 to 40,000 annually.
And harkening back to the days of the old Chevrolet El Camino, GM also showed the Chevrolet
SSR-for super sport roadster. The SSR, a rear-drive cross between a '50s hot rod and a pickup truck, appears both fast AND versatile. Fast comes from the
6.0-litre V8 engine.
The GMC Terradyne, meanwhile, clearly is more truck than car-although it does have four power doors that slide forward and backward. Power for the wheels comes from GM's latest turbo diesel V8.
In a sense, the front-wheel drive Buick LcCrosse is a bit of both SSR and
Terradyne. It's powerful (265 hp. from a
4.2-litre, 32-vavle V8 engine) but while it may look like a luxury sedan, it has a retractable rear and
fold-down rear seats that allow conversion to a pickup truck.
Least fanciful of all the GM concepts is the Opel Zafira Snowtrekker front-wheel drive van. Destined for the European market, it was developed with French Ski maker
Rossignol. Among the standard equipment are special Rossignol
T-Power short skis. Power comes from GM's latest 2.2-litre direct-injection diesel engine.
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 CAR OF (NEAR) FUTURE WIRED 24 HOURS/7 DAYS
31 March 2000
Telematics is all the buzz among automakers racing to connect drivers 24 hours a day, seven days a week in cars that put the Web on wheels.
Telematics? The word refers to the technology used in two-way communications services from a moving vehicle. And according to report just released, 50 per cent of new cars sold in the US, Western Europe and Japan will be
telematics-capable by 2006.
Produced by London-based Strategy Analytics Inc., the report predicts that telematics applications - including
e-mail, personal information management, and push/pull e-commerce - will likely emerge as a mix of largely voice-activated
in-car terminals and portable devices. Growth, says the report, will be especially strong in the large and luxury car markets, with 85 to 90 percent of new cars supporting telematics by 2006.
But even now early telematics systems are available. General Motors already offers what it calls OnStar services with many of its pricier models. OnStar is GM's own cellular option that allows drivers to connect to real-time voice-activated information and reservation services. OnStar also automatically calls emergency services if an airbag is deployed in the vehicle. GM officials say they plan to increase the OnStar subscriber base from a current 100,000 users in North America to some three million in two years.
To help in that goal, GM has entered into an alliance with Internet giant America Online Inc. (AOL). Among the benefits GM gets through its link with AOL is more content for Virtual Advisor, an OnStar option to be available in some GM models later this year. Virtual Advisor will allow drivers to use voice commands to download e-mail, voicemail, and the latest in news, stock market and weather reports.
Not to be outdone, Ford Motor Company has inked a deal with Sprint Corp. to hook future Ford products into Sprint's wireless Internet network, a fledgling system that allows users to access Web content via cell phones. In the fall, Ford plans to offer Sprint PCS wireless service in some Lincoln luxury models in the U.S., with Canada expected to follow. Using Motorola Corp.'s popular
Star-Tac cell phone, drivers will be able to gain access to Sprint's
voice-operated wireless Internet system. And like GM, Ford earlier this year struck an alliance with Yahoo! Inc. to provide content for its in-car Internet portals.
But the big automakers are not alone in working to Wire your car to the Web. Microsoft Corp. has partnered with Clarion on the
AutoPC, which is an
in-dashboard navigation system using Windows CE software that is already on sale for about $1,500. In addition, IBM and Motorola have announced a partnership under which the two companies will begin to develop wireless Internet technology for cars.
The technology would allow drivers to send e-mail, check on stocks or even engage in impulse buying while they drive. Company officials say the jointly-developed devices could appear in cars by 2002.
Motorola, which has been providing telematics devices to automakers such as GM and Mercedes-Benz since 1996, is known to be working on a production version of an advanced multimedia,
multi-access device for connecting wirelessly to not just the Web, but also satellites and cellular networks. A prototype of the device called iRadio was shown late last year at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas.
Motorola says iRadio will be a next-generation entertainment system for obtaining
real-time traffic reports, downloading and listening to digital music and audio books, and accessing voice and e-mail. Motorola is working with a Redwood City, Calif.-based company called Command Audio to integrate "audio-on-demand" technology into the iRadio system. Command Audio's technology lets users scan forward and backward to find news stories they want.
Hewlett-Packard, Sony and several other large electronic firms are believed also to be working on a wide range of in-car telematics devices.
Technology Business Research analyst Joe Ferlazzo sees automakers working with a broad range of partners and suppliers to develop telematics devices that appeal to consumers.
"I don't think you will see devices coming directly out of Detroit so much as their partnering with other companies," Ferlazzo says. "GM and others are moving on their own as part of a trend to
Internet-enable all the areas of our lives which are not yet Internet-enabled."
Joanne Downie, Strategy Analytics' managing consultant, agrees that partnerships are critical because no one company possesses the full range of expertise necessary to link cars to the Net.
"Car makers have little, if no, service experience, and cellular operators, applications specialists, and content providers have very limited knowledge of the
in-car environment," she says.
Downie says her company's study suggests that in revenue terms, the world market for
in-car telematics terminals will grow from $7.7 billion US a year during 2000 to $24.3 billion by 2006. In production terms, the study predicts that the world market for
in-car telematics terminals will grow from 4.8 million units in 2000 to 24.8 million units by 2006.
So what might a fully wired production car look like, say, in 2004? Earlier this year Ford showed off a lineup of concept vehicles called "24-7" that attempted to answer that very question. The 24-7 lineup now making the rounds of auto shows in North America includes not just a four-door sedan, but also a pickup and a station wagon.
What all three share is a dashboard and interior of clear plastic that can be programmed according to a driver's individual preferences. Up to four drivers can use voice commands to customize interior colors, gauges and music choices. In-car technology also allow the driver and passengers to access real-time route assistance directed by a global positioning system, e-mail, a hands-free mobile phone, weather reports and custom features such as stock readings. There's even a camera built into the rearview mirror that allows the driver to communicate with others via the Web in real time.
J Mays, Ford's vice-president of design, says 24.7 puts mom or dad's office on wheels, while keeping "the kids connected to their friends through the Internet -- all with the simplest voice command. It's a new approach to functional family transportation."
Mays and others in the industry emphasize that the technology required to turn your next car into a rolling information center like 24.7 is literally just around the corner.
"We can do most if not everything you see here (in 24.7) right now," says Mays. "So it's a question of when, not if."
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 SIDEBAR: WHAT'S A CONCEPT VEHICLE?
17 March 2000
Concept vehicles are the creations of engineering and design departments. They are a way to test the limits -- the limits of what is feasible from a manufacturing point of view and what is acceptable from the point of view of the buying public.
With trucks now accounting for more than 50 per cent of the new vehicle marketplace, automakers are looking to expand into smaller niches by creating vehicles off of existing platforms, or the basic mechanical architecture of a vehicle. Thus, automakers are pushing the boundaries of size, styling and features in light trucks, using the existing platforms of current pickups and sport-utility vehicles.
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 GM SHOWS LATEST GENERATION FUEL CELL CAR
2 March 2000
GENEVA - With an eye to global warming and leadership in emerging 'green'
automotive products, General Motors Corp. claimed that it now has the world's most most-advanced fuel cell stack - besting competition from
Vancouver-based Ballard Power Systems in terms of size, cost and efficiency.
The Opel Zafira fuel cell concept vehicle is the "most advanced operational fuel cell today," said GM president Rick Wagoner. The five-seater is based on GM's popular European passenger van and
will be tested in Europe this summer. Powered by liquid hydrogen, it has a
driving range of 400 kilometres and can drive as fast as 140 kilometres per
hour.
Wagoner said that new fuel-cell stack is 15 per cent smaller than the nearest competitor and half the size of GM's previous effort. However,
a commercial version of the fuel-cell vehicle is at least four to five years away, he said.
Still, the Zafira fuel cell concept vehicle will pace the marathon at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, this summer.
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 GM TAKES WRAPS OFF CONCEPT, ROADSTER AND MINIVAN
2 March 2000
GENEVA - You can see the future of Cadillac in its Imaj. The Imaj, pronounced the way the French say "image," is a luxury
concept car GM showed at this year's Geneva Auto Show. It will be the design inspiration for the next-generation Cadillac Catera and Seville
sedans, said GM officials at the show. The Catera is due for a re-design in
the fall of 2001, while the Seville is scheduled for a re-make in the fall
of 2003.
About the size of the current Seville, the Imaj has a pointed front end, egg-crate grille and vertical headlights and taillights. The rear
seats recline with foot rests, the rear doors are hinged at the rear and
those in back can enjoy their own "infotainment" display screens. Like any good car of the future, it boasts Internet access, along with a
glass roof that becomes opaque at the flick of a switch. The driver can switch from rear-wheel- drive to all-wheel-drive at any speed, any time.
The Imaj has adaptive cruise control and rear obstacle-detection systems
that combine to create an "electronic cocoon" of safety.
GM officials concede that their company's image in Europe needs work and
the four-passenger Imaj should help boost interest in a Cadillac lineup that appealed to less than 1,000 buyers last year in a European car market
of more than 15 million.
The last of 10 GM concept cars show in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago and
here, the Imaj boasts a supercharged Northstar V-8 engine rated at 425 horsepower. It also has fun-flat tires and card-key access. Italian
jeweller Bulgari worked with GM to develop the car's aluminum luggage, an
exclusive fine clock and distinctive instrumentation.
Not so fanciful and eminently more real for today's buyer were two other GM
vehicles introduced at Geneva: production versions of the Opel Speedster
roadster and the Opel Agila microvan. Both will go on sale only in Europe
(not Canada or the U.S.) later this year.
The two-seat, mid-engined Speedster has a new 2.2-litre aluminum engine with 147 horsepower that will launch it from 0-100 km/h in about six
seconds. Visually, the Speedster's taut skin and big wheel arches resemble
a concept GM showed last year at Geneva.
One of the Speedster's more unique features is a fold-away roof that is stowed in a special bag behind the seats. A silver-coloured hardtop is
optional. But make no mistake the Speedster is all about serious
performance. While it's fast and sporty, it does not have power steering,
air conditioning seat warmers or central locking.
The Agila microvan, developed jointly with Japanese partner Suzuki Motor
Corp., is powered by 1- or 1.2-litre engines. The front-wheel-drive vehicle
can convert quickly from a four-seater with a trunk to a two-seater with a
flat floor providing a lot of luggage room.
Interesting though they may be, both Opel models would be wholly unsuitable
for Canadian and American buyers. In the case of the Speedster, it's too
basic. And the Agila is just too small.
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TOYOTA PRIUS HYBRID CAR TO HIT MARKETPLACE THIS SUMMER
Feb 21 2000
Though prices have yet to be announced, Toyota Canada officials have confirmed that the Prius hybrid-drive sedan will go on sale this summer as a 2001 model.
The Prius has already been available in Japan since 1997, where total sales have been in excess of 30,000.
But the four-door, five-passenger Prius to be sold in Canada and the United States has been substantially altered to conform to the demands of the Canadian and U.S. markets, say Toyota officials. Those demands include cold Canadian winters and the longer driving distances at higher speeds common in both countries. In sharp contrast are Japanese driving conditions which revolve around generally slow-speed, congested commutes of short distances.
Among the changes for the Canadian and U.S. markets are a different design of the catalytic converter, a vapor-reducing gas tank, a smaller, lighter battery back and more horsepower and torque.
Primary power for the Prius comes from a 1.5-litre four-cylinder gasoline engine rated at 58 horsepower and 75 foot-pounds of torque. The gas engine is supplemented by a 30-kilowatt (40 hp.) electric motor powered by a 38-battery pack. The Prius is driven by either gas or electric motor, or both, depending on driving demands. A computer-controlled system constantly adjusts the ratio of power from both drive systems in order to maximize both fuel efficiency and performance, while minimizing emissions.
Standard equipment will include automatic air conditioning, power windows/door locks/side mirrors, cruise control and an anti-theft system.
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