Tech at the Detroit Motor Show
The biggest motor show in America was a roller-coaster ride that saw the launch of a host of green vehicles, which proved a distinct contrast next to the massive trucks, off-roaders and SUVs presented at the show. It was a sign of the times, as the Americans are still at the tipping point of deciding which of the opposing fields to throw themselves behind: environment friendly cars or the hulking pickup trucks which are such a big part of the American lifestyle.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Considering the sheer amount of green-tech at the show, however, the environment conscious field seems to be gaining ground.
Honda has always been at the forefront of automotive tech, and their solid footing in North America means most of their new tech is brought to the road in their biggest market. The FCV concept shows off a fuel-cell vehicle that has been optimised for the road, and will reach dealerships by 2018. It's a replacement of the FCX Clarity, and is 33 percent smaller, yet more efficient with 60 percent more power density, having an impressive range of 300 miles and astonishingly, can be “refueled” in less than 3 minutes.
The more mainstream green car race saw Chevrolet launch a brand new model, the urban city crossover Bolt, and an updated second coming of the Volt sedan. The Bolt is strictly a concept, but it is rumoured for production sometime around 2017. GM made the bold claim of a price tag of less than 30,000 USD when it does, and that is a fair estimation, as EV technology becomes cheaper each year, with GM having developed a solid all-rounder hybrid in the form of the Volt already. That technical know-how can help if the giant wants to invest in an all-electric vehicle.
The Chevy Volt is quite an important car for America, the main torch-holder for hybrid vehicles amongst the mass manufacturers in the US. GM seems to have made a risky decision however, as the second generation Volt is completely new from the ground up, and shares little with the outgoing model. Either they made significant progress since the last model, or they've made a blunder in dumping money into fixing things that weren't broken, since the last Volt was a remarkably well-rounded car. Whatever the issue, GM can't really play around with development costs, considering how the green car race is heating up. A 1000-mile range between filling up is impressive enough to pull in the buyers.
Tesla, the poster-child for America's drive towards greener cars, took a huge hit following CEO Elon Musk's comments on the firm's delayed profitability, the firm's stock dropping a huge 9 points immediately afterwards. With the automotive and worldwide press treating Elon Musk as a pseudo-celebrity, his stinging comments about the future of the hydrogen-fuel cell powered car have stirred up Toyota and others, and they responded in a similar fashion. This sort of taunting competition can be a driving force behind the development of greener cars, but considering the wide open playing field, it's important that the green side doesn't self-destruct from internal squabbling. The bigger picture is what counts.
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