Geneva Motor Show's 'Green Vision' pavilion showcases latest in low carbon vehicles
Sun 18 March 2012
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The Geneva Motor Show, which took place from 8 to 18 March, again showcased several new low carbon vehicles and concepts in its 'Green Vision' Pavilion which featured 7 world premieres. As part of a 'Green Trials' zone, 13 different brands presented a total of 19 different electric vehicles for test drive experiences.
Low carbon highlights from the show included:
- Mitisubishi's Outlander 4x4 showed a fully integrated solution with a clean diesel engine which will also accommodate an EV-based plug-in hybrid powertrain. When fitted to the all-new Outlander, the Mitsubishi plug-in hybrid EV system claims a range of over 800 km and very low CO2 emissions targeted below 50 g/km.
- Infiniti EMERG-E is the brand’s first mid-engined, range extending electric sports concept car with up to 300 mile range and is reported to do 0-60mph in 4.0 seconds on a 300kW power output from twin motors. The model had substantial UK involvement in its design and development.
- Honda's electric rear-wheel drive two-seater open sports car, the EV-STER, made its European debut at the show. It's built from light weight carbon materials allowing for an increase in the vehicle’s performance and giving it a range of around 100 miles and acceleration from 0-37 mph in 5 seconds.
- Hyundai i20 had its world premiere at Geneva and has the lowest CO2 emissions of any conventional powertrain, at 84 g/km. This is due to new engine options available to buyers, the 1.1-litre, 3-cylinder ‘U-II’ diesel unit that generates 75 PS.
- Mercedes-Benz's Vito E-CELL minibus is set to be available in more than 15 European countries from May 2012. It will have a range of around 130km (80 miles) and has been aimed at the passenger market, designed for short routes involving numerous stops in pedestrian zones or city centres.
- The Toyota Yaris Hybrid was shown for the first time in its production-ready form. The Yaris' emissions have been announced at 79 g/km CO2 (which equates to fuel economy of 80.7 mpg) making it the lowest CO2 combustion engine vehicle in the mainstream market. It will go on sale in June this year.
- The Ford Focus Electric was on show and is due to go on sale in the UK next year. It has an estimated range of 100 miles and charge time of three to four hours; the electric Focus is Ford's flagship model for its new fleet of electric vehicles.
However, despite the Chevy Volt (known in the UK as the Vauxhall Ampera) being named Car of the Year 2012 at the Show, General Motors’ has decided to suspend production of its Volt plug-in hybrid sedan in Michigan because of slow sales, calling into question the willingness of car buyers to take-up the more costly electric and plug-in hybrid technologies.
In related news, Toyota has said it plans to increase the portion of hybrid vehicles sold in Europe to 14 per cent of its fleet this year and 20 per cent in 2013 or 2014, driven by the hybrid version of the Yaris sub-compact, its forthcoming plug-in Prius, and other models.
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