Well, no one was really expecting a huge showing from the Big Three, but it's the absence of several of the Asian automakers that will really make this year's show seem slow. With nothing from Acura, Hyundai, Infiniti, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan or Suzuki, the show schedule is a little light. Much of the void will be sucked up by some major debuts by Honda and Toyota along with a few interesting additions from Kia and Subaru for good measure.
Well this seemed almost inevitable. After watching Tesla and Chrysler suck up all the glory for electric cars that are basically Lotuses with batteries, the British sportscar builder has announced that it plans to build an electric car of its own. In a report in yesterday's Financial Times, Lotus CEO Michael Kimberley said, "Don't be surprised to see an electric Lotus shortly."
Fisker will be showing their Karma S (for "Sunset") at the NAIAS. Not much is known at this point, other than it's a plug-in hybrid. The maker claims a 50-mile range from a single charge of the lithium-ion battery, before the gas engine kicks in. Also claimed by Fisker is that the car produces up to 408 hp.
Here's Green Car Advisor's take: Fisker To Unveil New Plug-In Concept at Detroit Auto Show
Well, so do I. Mr. Prez-Elect, can I get a bailout too? Oh, pretty, pretty please…
So when is this "I want a bailout" insanity going to end?
The Renewable Fuels Association has recently place in a request for $1 billion for financial aid to help struggling ethanol producers so they can finance current operations. In addition, the RFA — the ethanol industry's lobby — has also suggested to the incoming administration that it create a $50-billion federal loan guarantee program to finance investment in the ethanol producers' expansion. Give me a break.
Here's Green Car Advisor's take: First Wall Street, Then Automakers, Now U.S. Ethanol Industry Wants a Bailout
Lexus will debut their first purpose-built hybrid at the NAIAS, the HS 250h. It's believed that this luxury hybrid, like other Lexus models, is to be spun off an existing Toyota platform; that being the next-gen Toyota Prius–also to be unveiled at Detroit.
They're starting to come out of the woodwork folks. Soon everyone and their mother is going to be asking for government financial aid. Tesla is the next to step up to the plate, stating that if they don't get some help, their less expensive electric sedan will be delayed.
"We can't move forward with that without a major amount of capital," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said. "If we don't get any government funding, then what we need to do is we need to move until the capital markets recover, which could be a year or two years from now."
Talk about boosting your "street cred" among sports car fans! That's just what happened to the tiny upstart Tesla electric sports car company. It turns out that Porsche is on the inactivity list to get one, presumably so they can tear it apart to see what makes it tick.
Though the official 2008 LA Auto Show unveiling happens tomorrow at the convention center, 100-odd journalists from the U.S. and Europe had a meet-and-greet with the Mini E today on the 2nd floor rooftop of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. We're told a crane was used to hoist the show car up here. Probably, it was a rather sturdy crane, too, as the Mini E is a fatty at 3,229 pounds — a normal Mini Cooper S lists at under 2,700 pounds.
As we reported in the IL news today, Mini will lease the car to real-live customers in primeval 2009. The 450 lessees will get to keep the car for 12 months, paying $850 per month. That figure has nothing to do with the actual cost of the car, which packs 5,088 laptop-grade, lithium-ion cells (housed in 48 modules and packed into 3 storage boxes in the hatch area). That monthly payment includes all service visits (every 3,000 miles), insurance and the installation of a 220-volt box in the customer's home — allowing 2-to-3-hour recharges of the 35-kilowatt-hour battery pack.
The lessee selection process promises much competition and disappointment, as the Mini Es will be doled out to both businesses and private individuals and only to those living in greater Los Angeles and the NY-NJ-CT tri-state area.
Mini officials are keen to emphasize that this is merely a field trial — and that putting electric drive components in a Mini is a marriage of convenience, rather than an perfect packaging scenario. All drivetrain components (201-hp electric motor, batteries) are sourced from California-based AC Propulsion and then shipped to Munich, where they are installed in a Mini Cooper shipped from Oxford.
"A conversion is always a bad compromise," one BMW engineer told us. "The saint structure would be purpose-built. If I had the chance to build an electric car from scratch, to create a car with some performance, I would go for rear-axle-drive."
Later, we got a chance to drive the Mini E. We'll tell you all about it in an upcoming first drive.
Erin Riches, Senior Editor
It's kinda foggy and rainy here. So with that in mind, here's a few automotive-related items to occupy your time on just such days:
Canada Fines Company for Advocating Carpooling (here)
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Detroit Is Tanking, But Toyota's in Trouble, Too (here)
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Futuristic Green Transit: 10 Vehicles for 2010 (here)
So you think hybrids are only for save-the-earth "greenies," and/or folks who just get their jollies laughing by at gas pumps?
Well then you may be in for a surprise here. It turns out there is a brave new company out there that is appealing to the gearhead-hybrid fan–assuming such a creature exists. If not, Paul Goldman, CEO of JuicedHybrid.com (here), is doing his level best to create such a mortal and market.
I recently spent some time on the phone with Goldman, and I sense he may be onto something here: that being the "performance" hybrid aftermarket. Yeah, we all know a hybrid, with its all-powerful electric motor can be quick to accelerate, but has anyone thought of "modding" these hybrids to enhance the looks or performance aspect? Well Goldman has, and I suspect he may be among the first of many hybrid-specific performance companies that are bound to sprout up.
Think not? Well consider as hybrids become more and more popular, there are certainly going to be a few folks who will go out and try and have some fun with these until now rather somber vehicles. Hey, that's what's always happened in the past, be it hot rods, sports cars, or muscle cars. Why should it be any different with hybrids?
Now, if only someone can figure out a way to make these 3-pedal vehicles–then I'm in!
