Ford clears the way for quick dealer profits August 14, 2010
Posted by richard in : History, Minutiae of cars, Technology, What I learned today , add a comment
Ford Quickclear heated windscreen tech is something invented not for customer convenience, but to please the UK’s largest car dealer network.
Well, sort of.
History time: it’s been around since the 1980s, and was designed to make life easier on winter mornings. Drive away in seconds, instead of minutes, went the promo (remember the man with the Orion in the print ads?).
Whether that was actually possible in cars with chokes, choking on sub-zero temperatures, is a moot point, but the thought was there.
Actually, though, I reckon it was developed to be a dealer-pleaser, too.
Dealer hots
Ford has more than 500 dealers across the UK (and maybe loads more back in the day). Each may have, ooh, between 20 and 100 used cars sat outside to lure people in.
Enter one cold snap, and cue frosted-over windscreens for each. What will be obscured by such an event? Yes, the price sticker hanging from the sunvisor behind the opaque screen.
In terms of manhours, this represents a lot of expenditure (and a veritable deluge of moaning). How better would it be to slash (silence) this with just the press of a button?
Of course, it wasn’t a perfect plan. Not all cars would be fitted with Quickclear screens. The higher-margin posh cars would be, though (Granada Ghia X and the like). They’re the ones in which dealers would have most cash tied up, and which they wanted to sell fast.
Quickclear would ensure the risk of missing vital marketing opportunities were minimised. Cue dealers quickly clear(n?)ing up (ahem).
OK, I admit. Ford probably didn’t invent Quickclear to please its dealer network. There, I jest, with tongue in cheek.
But knowing how thorough the brand is, I don’t doubt the consideration could have helped push the tech through in the planning meet, or featured in the strategy document presented to the Board…
+ What other unexpected uses for car tech can you think of?
+ Do you know of any other ‘Eureka’ type car inventions?
+ Ford is market leader and has Quickclear: coincidence?
VIDEO: Porsche 911 Turbo on test July 25, 2010
Posted by richard in : News clues, What I learned today , 1 comment so far
CAR feature photo shoots consist of artists doing their magic and journos doing all they can to actually be useful.
We clean the cars, polish their wheels, shuffle them about to get the right angles, take notes, try to stay out of the sun, Tweet and try to manage emails/calls/SMS from the office.
That’s for the statics. Moving shots? We find sexy corners, drop off the snapper on the most dangerous spot possible, and drive through said corner many, many times.
Such practice means we get progressively faster, perfecting our line and seeing how sideways we dare get someone else’s car. It makes us feel like an F1 driver, in our own little fantasy world.
Studio-trained photographer par excellence Alisdair Cusick caught a little of this on a recent shoot for Total 911. Watch the video below – it’s your man, flapping in the flatspot of a Turbo flatnose.
Ace fun! Ali will always say just one more run. And I never mind – particularly this time round…
+ Check out Ali’s site for some image-based brilliance
+ What sort of things would YOU get up to on a car photoshoot?
+ Have you been on a car photoshoot and have ‘interesting’ tales to tell?
UK car industry not looking for handouts July 1, 2010
Posted by richard in : Green cars, News clues, What I learned today , 4comments
THE era of handouts from the State could well be over – but it seems the car makers are not seeking them, anyway.
Automotive Council co-chair Richard Parry-Jones says that, contrary to widespread belief, the UK car industry does not want (and is not dependent on) more Government aid.
Instead, it wants ‘consistent, aligned, positive messages. Rhetoric is far more important than people realise.’
He told all this to delegates at the SMMT International Automotive Summit on Wednesday – right before business secretary Vince Cable pronounced the era of Government aid was, well, over. Well timed, then, you could say…
Cable will be receptive to Parry-Jones’ thoughts; they sit alongside each other in chairing the Automotive Council, following the departure of Peter Mandelson. It’s actually meeting today, incidentally, where RPJ will force home his message at the Summit.
‘’We are not asking for more!’ said the ‘Ford-do-fun-cars legend’ at the SMMT Summit. ‘But we want the existing money (that’s been promised) well spent – with focus.
‘2010 is not about more funding, but about more intelligent use of it.’
Besides, the Automotive Council never actually demanded handouts anyway, despite what the mainstream impression may be. What about scrappage, then? That was ‘necessary action to bridge a gap.’ Emergency times need emergency measures.
‘We now have a much leaner, fitter industry. What we need now is a strategic approach to our sector.’
Cable ‘heavy hitter’
He hopes to have a receptive ear in Cable, he added. It is ‘promising’ that ‘another heavy hitter has been appointed as business secretary.
Mandelson was very influential, said Parry-Jones. ‘The initial signs from the new coalition administration is that it wants continuity.’
But the burning question on every delegate’s lips – what about the £5k green car grant? Surely this has already been promised? Is it right that this is now in doubt?
Well, none of the speakers really wanted to focus too much on it, not least Cable, who later said ‘no decision has yet been made.’
No, the UK car industry is not looking for any more handouts. But how much of what we’ve done so far in promoting the country’s ‘decisive global role’ in the fledgling low-carbon agenda has been based on the £5k grant arriving in 2011?
In the next few weeks, we’ll find out…
+ Is Parry-Jones right?
+ Is Cable right to be throwing car maker plans in doubt?
+ What are electric cars all about, anyway?
EV mystery: What is CENEX? June 29, 2010
Posted by richard in : Green cars, Technology, What I learned today, ev , add a comment
ELECTRIC car news reports often contain reference to trials, incentives or other such, in association with CENEX.
This appears to be some sort of mysterious body facilitating the genesis of all these EVs – or, if nothing else, finding bags of cash for said genesis.
So, just what is it? The National Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon Vehicles, which is based in Coventry and Loughborough.
Yup, OK. Again… what is it?
An industry-led government PPP initiative, that’s what. Check that: in this context, it’s actually a ‘delivery agency’, no less, supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
If (like I was) you are still no clearer, let me (try) and explain. It’s basically a PR agency. Running since 2005, its aim is to promote UK market development, in low-CO2 and fuel cell tech in transport.
Set up at the behest of automotive industry chiefs, amongst others, it’s helping give the fledgling green car industry a leg-up.
It works in association with bodies such as Regional Development Agencies – One North East is one; Advantage West Midlands is another. CENEX brings together sellers of green tech with the public sector sorts who might buy it, through a kind of match-making speed-dating operation.
Remember, those in the public sector may not necessarily be at all bothered about cars and their tech. They won’t necessarily have fleet sector-type initiatives that private corporates run, either. So, here is a Government alternative, with the happy bonus of increasing public EV awareness, too.
Today, the green car industry is fledgling, and thus massively fragmented. What it needs is a centralised body to help coordinate things and pump out messages of unified strength. CENEX is that body.
CENEX runs two key schemes.
Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme
Funded by the DfT to the tune of £20m, this is aimed at getting green vans and cars into the public sector for trials. Councils will take on the cars and run them for a set period, throwing them at the mercy of workers.
Quantitative and qualitative findings will be fed back to CENEX via the councils, to see what the reality of fleet EV use is.
If you’re wondering why there’s a load of fuss about it at the moment, it’s because CENEX has timetabled March-June 2010 for delivery of the electric cars.
Oddly, it’s vans that are forming the core of the trials. That’s because there are more electric vans listed on the programme list. The only cars are the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid.
Low Carbon Knowledge Transfer Network
Funded by the Technology Strategy Board, this is a kind of low carbon car enthusiast’s club for businesses. It is a single ‘network’ for all with a business interest in low CO2 cars (such as EVs) to collaborate via, decide on Best Practice and share knowledge.
It includes universities, business suppliers, business customers, research and technology organisations and the finance community.
The KTP brings this lot together via a (private) web portal and various networking events. LCV 2010 is one such example. It’s being held at Millbrook in Bedfordshire, as effectively the CENEX ‘motorshow’. There’s also been the Green Vehicle Congress, and loads of other under-the-radar things.
CENEX sounds a load of old Quango-doctery, but it’s actually doing a pretty good job. Press release after press release encouraged by it is getting the EV message out there, and slowly, word is starting to get out there.
I’m plugging into the CENEX chaps right now, to see what else they have to say. Come back for more soon, I hope, on what they have in store next to help drive EVs…
+ What do you think about initiatives such as CENEX?
+ Are you seeing a benefit from the body?
+ Are you actually now any clearer as to what CENEX is?
Lotus shows how to enrage the motoring journo June 27, 2010
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars, News clues, What I learned today, pr , 3comments
LOTUS this week fired up an apoplectic rage of motoring journos exploring ingeniously creative alternative takes on the image of Colin Chapman spinning in his grave (I respectfully bowed out after I read Autoblog’s hybrid quip…).
Why? Because the firm has announced its intention to move upmarket.
Lotus will, in the future, be about challenging Ferrari and Porsche, in their exalted price brackets, rather than being the next obvious trade up from a Caterham.
And with this, many have assumed, comes a move away from everything the brand stands for. Lightweight, simple, light, affordable, only add lightness, don’t weigh much, all of these will be thrown out of the window, it is predicted, when Lotus starts instead selling Plutocratic Panamera rivals.
Me, though, I’m a dissenter. I reckon it’s just what Lotus should be doing. And, get this, feel Colin Chapman would agree.
Why? Well, why did he start making road cars in the first place? To finance the racing car team. And the more you can charge for those cars, the more money you have to go racing. Bingo.
OK, one of the first Lotus was the simplistic Seven. But this gradually moved over for higher-profit, more upmarket models, such as the Elite, the Eclat and, yes, the iconic Esprit. The period price lists reflected the trend, showed Chapman’s thinking.
So, why not the same approach today? After all, Lotus carries stonking brand currency. It’s back in F1, and doing a pretty good job to boot (as I write, a Lotus sits on the Valencia grid in 19th. Million-time World Champ Michael Schumacher, in the big-bucks Benz F1 team? 15th…).
It would be remiss of management not to trade on this value. Besides, who’s to say a move upmarket will distill the famed Lotusness? Isn’t there more opportunity for lightweight innovation and clever tech details with higher-margin cars – and wouldn’t Chapman have relished the opportunity?
Besides, it’s not even as if the aged Elise itself is all that cheap anymore. No, I’m all for it.
And if part of the move means Caterham can buy the production line for the Elise, and carry on the tradition with a sister to the Seven, then power to ‘em…
+ Do you agree with me?
+ Can Lotus pull off a move upmarket?
+ Just HOW cool would a Caterham Elise be?
Suzuki Swift superhikes engineering June 26, 2010
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars, Technology, What I learned today , add a comment
Suzuki’s all-new Swift may look nothing of the sort, but there’s far more of interest below the same-again surface.
At the Austrian launch, Suzuki flew over a veritable entourage to explain all this to me. Talk about love for their job… these guys showed a surprise passion I just wasn’t expecting from Suzuki.
So, what did they say? Plenty. Here’s some snippets…
Take the all-new platform, for instance. This has been engineered to be both more rigid and more solid in a crash. Yet, despite ever-increasing demands from customers and Euro NCAP legislators, it’s also lighter than the old one.
That’s despite being 90mm longer than before, with a 50mm wheelbase stretch! How so, I politely implored?
Well, explained chief engineer Nayoyuki Takeuchi, through greater use of high-tech, high-tensile steel. ‘The old car had 46 percent high tensile steel, up to 590Mpa in grade.’ Steel experts (no, not him) will know all about this.
‘The new Swift is 52 percent high tensile, with grades up to 1570Mpa. This is an extremely effective strategy for weight saving.’Steel experts will be impressed. I’m not a steel expert (despite being a Steel fan), but know 3x more stiffness is A Good Thing.
Many panels are thus thinner than the were before: the higher-quality steel can be a of a thinner gauge yet still outdo the old ones for strength.
There are also detail tricks to further boost the rigidity of the Swift. The boot opening, for example, is smaller than before. By reducing the ‘hole’ in the rear of the car, flexing is reduced.
Suspension components have also been strengthened, again without gaining in weight. A significant, tangible improvement here is a rear twist beam that’s 50 percent more laterally rigid (50 percent! Good Lord). This aids handling precision by reducing component-flexing ‘slop’.
It’s also 2kg lighter, and a full 25 percent stiffer in roll stiffness. Even the rear hubs are 2kg lighter, thanks to a 3-in-1 hub assembly. Yup, they too are more rigid as well.
And for some truly innovative thinking, look to the steering. Suzuki has fitted a variable ratio rack; it’s faster just off-centre, to improve dynamic response for the driver.
Wind on more lock, though, and the ratio slows. Why? It means less effort is needed, so the electric power steering motor can be downrated, so achieving better mpg from the reduced power draw!
Amazing, I thought, as I went back to the test route. Wasn’t expecting all that, and made me see it in a new light. This car feels plain high-quality and thoroughly engineered as a result: if prices are right, it will be a bargain.
Thing is, will anyone notice?
+ Some cars just ‘feel’ plain well-engineered – which stand out for you?
+ Is Suzuki right to carry on with the same-again styling?
+ What’s the difference between Japanese and German engineering thinking?
EV 101: Electric car basics June 9, 2010
Posted by richard in : Green cars, Technology, What I learned today, ev , 4comments
ELECTRIC cars are a new technology with different standards that require familiarisation.
To help, I’m getting my head around it all – and plan to blog my findings as I do so.
Creating a sort of motoring journo-level EV 101: all you (and we) need to know about electric cars.
Where do we begin? With the basics. An EV spec sheet contains lots of jargon that makes no sense at first. Here’s my take on demystifying the standard stuff.
• What is an electric car?
A combustion engine is replaced by an electric motor. Instead of a fuel tank, modern electric cars use lithium ion batteries.
An invertor is needed to convert battery DC power into EV’s favoured AC power. A power control module is required to control the power. Most electric cars also feature an onboard battery charger module (no hunting for the charger, mobile phone style!).
• What makes an electric car move?
Power from the battery is transmitted to the electric motor via the transformer, under the watch of the power control module. In the motor, it is turned from electromagnetic force into a torque.
This turning effect drives a shaft that turns the wheels.
Motor type
2 main types: DC brushless and AC.
DC
Brushless DC motors dominate for hybrids and plug-in hybrids. Peak point power efficiency is higher: for their size, they pack a punch. However, the magnets for them are costly – and, as they get bigger, magnetic losses grow. They are thus not ideal for higher-output EVs.
The little smart ev uses a 55kW brushless DC motor, though (it’s light and will only ever seat 2, so can get away with it).
AC
These motors rule for EVs (hence the power invertor they all have). Just as there are various engine layouts (inline 4, V6, etc), there are also different motor types.
EV AC motors use the principal of a rotating magnetic field, as discovered by Nikola Tesla (for it is he). Basically comprise an outside stationary stator. The coils within it are fed with AC current, creating a rotating magnetic field.
Inside, there is a rotor, attached to the output drive shaft. This is turned by a form of interaction with the rotating magnetic field. Currently, two key types are on the market.
• AC Synchronous
Current is supplied direct into the rotor, creating a magnetic field around it. The rotating magnetic field in the stator induces a torque on this stationary rotor field, causing it to rotate in time with it. Hence, the synchronous classification.
Used in: Nissan LEAF (80kW), Renault Fluence (70kW), Mitsubishi i-MiEV (47kW)
• AC Induction
NO direct current supply to rotor. Instead, it’s induced by the rotating magnetic field – the conductors on the rotor are ‘excited’ and try to follow this round: rotating as they do so! They don’t catch it up though: there’s always a difference in rotation speeds. This is the slip ratio.
Used in: Tesla Roadster (185kW), MINI E (150kW).
Electric car units
• kW
Power output of an electric motor. Directly proportional to bhp: 1kW = 1.341hp (150kW = 201bhp).
• kWh
Energy capacity of a battery: the maximum kW that can continuously be produced for an hour. Familiar to home owners: it’s how electricity companies calculate domestic usage.
• Energy density, Wh/kg
How much a battery can hold. Higher is better – means a longer running time!
• Power density, kW/kg
How much it can deliver on demand. Focus here is on power bursts rather than a long running time.
Battery type
Lithium ion batteries dominate for electric cars. They store more energy, are lighter and have a longer lifespan than older batteries such as NiMh.
There are various different chemistries. The chemistry of the battery determines its electrochemical performance. The characteristics of each will be covered in due course!
So…
What next? Well, for me to become an EV rockstar, that’s what. The (even) harder work thus begins, for a journo who, for 3 decades, has been firmly combustion-based…
Do come back to find out how I get on.
+ How well do you understand electric cars?
+ Do you find the different measurements easy to understand?
+ How daunting do you reckon explaining EVs to readers will be?
EV shock from Nissan LEAF news
How torque curves will change in the future
What the iPhone can teach us about electric cars
MINI not so mini? Blame the photographer! June 4, 2010
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars, What I learned today , 1 comment so far
MINI isn’t mini anymore – you don’t have to hunt on forums for long to find this grumble.
Indeed not: the current hatchback is 3699mm, which is far larger than the original. Just as, well, a Ford Mondeo is 4788mm long, whilst the first Cortina was 4274mm (and 300mm narrower!).
It’s also true to say the fact Mini was frozen in a 1959 mould for 50 years, rather than developed and progressed along with its peers, accentuates this impression of big bones.
However, MINI designer Gert Hildebrand explains part of it actually IS an impression. ‘Our cars always look bigger in photos, due to their rounded shapes.’
The bulbous lines and details of MINI appear disproportionate in shots. ‘This is why we always try to get relativity in images – another car, a person, and so on.’
French makers love getting beach ball-wielding people in images for traditional reasons. MINI does too, but it seems the reasoning is a bit more purposeful.
There are other tricks to make it look smaller too, though. ‘Wheel-to-body relation is important. This is why we have 5 Series sized wheels on a MINI! Big wheels make a bigger car look smaller. The wheel is an important factor.
‘Front overhang is also important – for the MINI, it should be as short as possible. It’s much more expensive to package mechanical components here, but the MINI’s front overhang proportions are unique and have to be retained.
‘Besides,’ adds Hildebrand, ‘it also has benefits for the chassis guys.’ It’s not often designers and engineers find themselves united, but the need to retain mini-ness seems to have achieved that here (even if there may still be a division over wheel size).
Certainly, it’s a better solution than only selling MINIs in black. Or, Gok Wan, does this only make people slimmer?
MINI theory on two nation future
Advice from Ford’s Walter Hayes
Social media strategy advice needed! May 29, 2010
Posted by richard in : Technology, What I learned today , 7comments
SOCIAL media channels continue to both expand and mature. There are ever-more out there – but norms are also developing for the established players, too.
This has got me thinking strategy: I need one!
Here’s my thinking so far: WordPress is my key blog, where my longer, more considered musings go. This is where thoughts developed over several days live; where discussions with car people will be housed – basically, it’s the one I’ll sit down with a pot of tea to work on.
Posterous? This is utter genius for pinging out images, fast. Mine’s lined with Twitter, so I can take an image on the iPhone, email it and have it Tweeted in one seamless 20-second process. It’s genius.
Twitter, of course, is Twitter – it’s where conversations occur, where random snippets go, where people get an idea of what folk are up to and are thinking.
But then what? It’s struck me that I have lots of longer observations that are, to put it simply, too short for WordPress and too long for Twitter! I need another microblog – and am loathe to use Posterous for words as it’s so beautiful for imagery.
Thus, I’m trying out Tumblr. This seems pretty involved and feature-laden at the moment, but I’ve the Bank Holiday to play with it. Unless, that is, you have other tips! If so, do please join in the conversation and help me out.
All good strategists, after all, need guidance…
+ What’s your favourite microblogging platform?
+ Which microblogs do you use for what?
+ How did you develop your social media strategy?
Mini theory on two nation future May 23, 2010
Posted by richard in : History, Technology, What I learned today , 3comments
MINI is expanding vehicle production abroad with the new Austrian-built Countryman.
The model is assembled by Magna Steyr in Graz, using a production line to be shared with a new small BMW crossover model. They will use capacity vacated by the BMW X3’s move to Spartanburg, US.
Controversial stuff? What about MINI UK? Is this MINI losing its British soul? Not a bit, argues MINI designer Gert Hildebrand. Rather, it is ‘a new family member.’
MINI will always remain a volume British-built car, he explained. ‘Its Britishness is at the very heart of it.’ And this future is going to be centered on Oxford – which now appears to have gained an official ‘profile’ within MINI.
‘The Oxford Family will always keep the core values of the car. The Countryman is a bigger brother, with which we can go further. We can develop things with it than we can’t with the Oxford Family.’ Hence, 5 doors, 4-wheel drive, VW Golf-like dimensions. All the things the Mini never offered.
Back to the UK though, Hildebrand constantly refers to the Porsche 911 when discussing the Oxford Family MINI. Which means the Countryman, and no doubt other variants too, will be MINI’s equivalent of the Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Panamera. (Lest we forget, the Cayenne is actually built by VW, in Slovakia…)
The differentiation extends to a completely different colour palette for the MINI Countryman: ‘Not a single colour is shared with Plant Oxford. This car must be optically different from the hatchback, to recognise its bigger brother status.’ Nothing like using colour for instant differentiation…
And for those who say the very idea of a non-mini MINI is anathema, Hildebrand references his favourite Issigonis car – the 1100. ‘That was related to the classic Mini, but was recognisably nothing other than an 1100.’ The 1100 was, of course, also designed – by Pininfarina – rather than defined by Issigonis.
‘With the Countryman, we have an historical joint to it.’ Rather this than some sort of spurious historical link to wood-laden Travellers…
+ Are you happy with the Oxford Family definition of MINI?
+ What are your first impressions of the Countryman?
+ Do you agree with Hildebrand’s interpretation of the 1100 link?
