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Detroit's New Stars
Move Forward
In the latest Detroit Auto Show, three new stars have been unveiled to be part of the electric car market. The first one comes from Toyota's prime brand, Lexus, Swedish carmaker Volvo and the prime German brand BMW.
The first unveiling is Lexus LF-LC concept is a departure from the very staid and conservative models. The LF-LC Lexus concept is a two-seater plus two hybrid sports coupe designed by the Toyota Calty Studio. Many pundits say that this design would remain just a concept car and not become a vehicle for commercial production, this design is in line with the previous Lexus designs such as the CT and GS. According to the company, this is a liberation of the sports coupe concept that would push the boundaries of car performance, styling and technology. The car is conservatively priced at $375,000 and has a front engine rear drive hybrid power train called the Advanced Lexus Hybrid Drive.
The second vehicle unveiled is the XC60 Plug-in Hybrid from Volvo. This is an updated version of one of the most successful family sedans in the company's stable. This plug in hybrid is of the same design as the V60 wagon that is immensely popular in Europe. There are two options, the gas and the diesel hybrid versions. The gas hybrid electric would become available in the United States by the year 2015. Stefan Jacoby, CEO of Volvo Cars said that the plug in hybrids would provide greater market advantages over all electric vehicles and projects it would take some time before the market share of electric vehicles makes a dent on the car industry as a whole. The XC60 is able to propel itself from zero to sixty miles per hour in just 5.8 seconds. In full electric mode, the vehicle is able to travel 35 miles while the gas engine would be able to travel 100 miles on the gallon while on a full tank of gas, it can travel 600 miles.
For the third unveiling, BMW introduces its ActiveHybrid 5 and ActiveHybrid 3, which are in truth higher mileage hybrid models of the company's sport sedans. The ActiveHybrid 5 would be sold across America by June while the ActiveHybrid 3 would be available by September. These vehicles have eight speed automatic gearboxes with functionality to overcome idling during full stop. The sticker price of the ActiveHybrid 5 would cost $61,845 that is more expensive than the conventional 535i. This design would not be distinguishable from the conventional car designs when compared to these hybrid designs.
Bobby Castro is the online editor at the EV News site, where he has published a number of articles about the Electric Car industry
Article submitted Thursday, January 26, 2012 & read 1 times.
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