Trends: A ‘Green’ L.A. Auto Show

Honda FC Sport
L.A. is a leading area for automotive trends, and the Los Angeles Auto Show has a history of being the ‘greenest” of the international auto shows. This year was no exception. Among the highlights was Honda’s FC Sport hydrogen fuel cell concept, a futuristic supercar with the same three passenger seating configuration as the McLaren F1, with a driver sitting in the middle with two passengers slightly rearward and to the sides of the driver. In the FC Sport, however, the passengers sit outboard of Honda’s V Flow fuel cell stack. The car’s high power electric motor is positioned just forward of the rear axle with hydrogen storage tanks packaged above. Battery mass is centrally located low in the FC Sport for optimum handling. The FC Sport was developed at Honda’s Advanced Design Studio in Pasadena, California.

MINI E
One of the worst kept secrets – but most anticipated reveals – in L.A. was the electric rendition of the popular MINI. This two-seater (rear seats are displaced by a lithium-ion battery pack) will be leased to 500 business users and select individuals in Los Angeles, New York, and New Jersey over the coming year as part of a test fleet program. The battery location is important to maintain the MINI’s center of gravity for balanced handling, and along with revised spring rates and suspension tuning delivers the fun-to-drive response MINI aficionados have come to expect. The MINI E is 661 pounds heavier than a standard MINI. A single electric motor mounted under the hood drives the front wheels. Lease price (including insurance) will be $850/month for the one year test program. It offers a range of approximately 150 miles and can be recharged in about two hours from a 220 volt outlet. The MINI E is the first effort from BMW Group’s Project I (Innovation & Ideas) division.

Ford Fusion Hybrid
The redesigned 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and stable-mate Mercury Milan Hybrid are taking direct aim at the Camry Hybrid. Ford’s new model boasts very impressive performance figures with quicker acceleration than the Camry and 6 mpg better city fuel economy. The Fusion Hybrid delivers 39 mpg for city driving with a range of over 700 miles around town. This is made possible by improvements throughout the hybrid system that include the ability to operate solely on electric drive at speeds up to 47 mph. The Ford Fusion Hybrid is one of Green Car Journal’s Top 5 for 2009™ and was a finalist in the 2009 Green Car of the Year® program.

Hyundai Blue Drive
In an announcement at the L.A. Auto Show, Hyundai committed to having the most fuel efficient fleet in the industry by 2015. The goal is to beat the 2020 mileage mandate of 35 mpg by five years, which would be quite a feat. The Korean automaker will do this with a plan it calls Blue Drive, which employs direct injected turbocharged models, hybrid technology, and extended mileage vehicles. Most significant was the announcement that Hyundai will utilize a new and more powerful lithium-polymer battery technology and a parallel hybrid drive system that pairs a 2.4-liter gasoline engine with a 30 kilowatt electric motor in the coming Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. Hyundai also showed its HED-5 i-Mode six-passenger crossover in L.A. that debuted in Geneva. However, this time around it was powered by a highly efficient, gasoline direct injection 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine.

CNG Toyota Camry
Toyota announced in advance of the show that it would be unveiling a compressed natural gas (CNG) Camry Hybrid, pairing an alternative fuel with efficient hybrid drive. A pair of 3,600 psi CNG tanks mounted in the spare tire well of this Camry concept allow a range of 250 miles without burning a drop of gas. Running on CNG, Camry’s Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain delivers performance on par with the standard Camry Hybrid and a 33 mpg combined fuel economy average – just one mpg less than the gas model. In addition to the fuel conversion, Toyota dressed the CNG Camry with a few custom touches that include a front end treatment devoid of a grille, a full body kit, lowered suspension, and aftermarket alloy wheels wrapped with aggressive Bridgestone Potenza run-flat tires, the latter to make up for the lack of a spare tire.