Peugeot to supply EDF Energy with clean diesel vans
British Electric utility EDF Energy has just acquired 250 new light commercial vehicles from Peugeot powered by the company's latest diesel engines. The fleet includes 207 Expert and Partner vans that are also prepared by Peugeot at a special distribution center. Typically, fleet vehicles of this type are sent to different locations to get the special equipment they need such as radios, phones, badging and any other aftermarket bits. The Peugeot center takes care of all the work in one location.
Michelin's energy saver tires still exclusive to Peueo
t
I was hoping that the new Michelin Energy Saver tires that debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show might be coming to North America.It looks like i was wrong.I just called Michelin and they said no dice. What's the point in developing a next-gen LRR tire if you're not going to sell it to people who need it? i guess for now it will continue to be exclusive to Peugeot and Europe. Too bad. I was looking forward to a 20% drop in rolling resistance and an additional 3-4 miles per gallon.We knew from the get-go that Peugeot would have exclusive use of the tires until February 2008 and that these tires will be standard on the 90 HDI and the 110 HDI 308 models. Of the tires Michelin sells in the U.S., the eco-branded tire is the. There's a video of the Energy Saver tires after the jump.
Auto-News' list of low-CO2 SUVs in Germany
Not long ago, we published a list of SUVs available in Germany with the highest mileage possible. But what about - at least on legal terms - how much CO2 a car produces? Never fear. Auto-News has a list of the "cleanest" SUVs on sale in Germany (and I'd say most of the EU), all of them producing less than 200 g/km of CO2, so it complements that previous list which had no information about CO2. Just remember that automakers should have an average of 130 g/km in four years' time.
Most of these models are also available in the U.S. but, as usual, without the high-mileage diesel powerplants Europeans love. The list is after the jump. Vehicles with DPF (Diesel Particulate Filters) have these letters added to the marque and model. The picture above shows the SUV in the 20th position, the SsangYong Actyon 200 Xdi 4x2.
Peugeot adds new 170hp 2.2L diesel to 807 minivan
Peugeot has added a third diesel engine option to their 807 minivan lineup in Europe. A new 170hp 2.2L unit is being added to the existing 120hp and 136hp 2.0L engines. The 2.2L is available with either an automatic or manual transmission both with 6 forward speeds. With a manual, the new engine is rated at an ample 273lb-ft of torque, a number that jumps to the 300lb-ft with the automatic. Peugeot hasn't published the mileage figures yet for the new engine but the existing 136hp diesel gets 33mpg (U.S.) on the EU combined cycle so the new engine will likely be in the high 20s at least. If Chrysler adds the new Mercedes 2.2L diesel to their U.S. minivan lineup, it would give them a real leg up on their competition in that segment if they could achieve numbers near 30mpg.
Peugeot's Intelligent A/C can improve efficiency when used all year long
What's this? Peugeot is now recommending that drivers continue to operate their air conditioning systems all year round. Most drivers typically don't use their A/C much in the winter months for obvious reasons. However, if the system lies dormant for extended periods the internal refrigerant pressure can drop off, meaning that the system will be less effective and efficient the next time it's needed. By operating the system for even a few minutes a couple of times a month it will stay in better working condition and save fuel when it's turned on for real. Apparently using the A/C when defogging the windows can also improve the effectiveness by dehumidifying the air in the car. All new Peugeots are equipped with a thermostatically controlled A/C compressor that monitors the ambient and set temperatures to only run the compressor when it's actually needed to minimize the load on the system.
PSA sends a Peugeot 307 Hybride to the Challenge Bibendum
Besides the entries from Daimler, Volkswagen and Renault/Dacia, Peugeot has also sent a green model to the Challenge Bibendum in Shanghai. The model is the Peugeot 307 Hybride, which matches a hybrid system to a diesel engine that is certified to run on biodiesel in blends up to B30 (ok, PSA: Put it on sale, maintenant!). The model is based on the current 1.6 liter diesel which is one of the top-selling diesel engines in Europe (you can see it in the Mini, the Ford Focus, the Volvo S40, the Peugeot 308, the Citroën C4 and the Citroën C4 Picasso) and is, in fact, one of the cleanest diesels available in the market. For this model, Peugeot added a hybrid system (not new) and filled the tank with diester (the French name for B30). The result: 74 grams of CO2 per kilometer.
Suzuki SX4 gets a Puegeot diesel, overseas at least
When our Autoblog colleague Chris Tutor spent a week with the Suzuki SX4 recently he came away less than impressed with the fuel economy. Chris only managed 21 mpg with the all-wheel-drive compact. Unfortunately for Americans enamored with the cute little SX4's styling, the current 2.0L AWD powertrain is the only setup available right now. Over in Europe, buyers now have a new option in the form of a Peugeot 1.6L diesel driving only the front wheels. That combination yields a more palatable 44.4 mpg (US) on the EU combined cycle. If Suzuki could offer a similar combination here for something close to the $15,000 price of the current AWD model, they might have a real winner.
When people carriers don't have to be gas-guzzlers
rAuto-News has published again another list of money and CO2-saving cars in Germany. Now it's time for the people-carriers. They have to seat at least seven, although the two seats at the back are usually only suitable for children. The list includes a selection of compact Station Wagons, compact (and not so compact) MPVs, and three vehicles which are usually delivery vans but they have windows around and more seats. You would think that all these vehicles are diesel, but the truth is that you can find two natural gas powered vehicles. Their consumption figures is then converted to gasoline equivalent. You will also find a couple of cases of badge engineering. As said, the SWs and some of the MPVs only have 2 extra seats for children, but at least half of the models can decently seat 7 adults.Some of our readers asked for US availability. None of this car, except the last one on the list (Mitsubishi Outlander, pictured here) is available in the US, and not with the diesel engine.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Full speed ahead on fuel diversity
Sebring '08 Preview: Full speed ahead on fuel diversity!
The American Le Mans Series kicks off its 2008 season next weekend with the 56th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring in central Florida. The ALMS has long had the most diverse field of race cars of any major series in North America and this year it's getting even more so as the series makes a push for greener racing. This is the only series that has cars running on three different fuels; gasoline, ethanol and diesel all play a major part. In the LMP1 class, Audi is kicking off its third year running the diesel-powered R10 TDI. They'll get competition this time from Peugeot, which is bringing one of their 908 HDi prototypes to race in the U.S. for the first time. In the production-derived GT1 ranks, the Corvette C6Rs will tackle an Aston Martin DBR9 with all of them using cellulosic E85 fuel. The same fuel will also power an LMP1 Lola entered by Intersport racing. The rest of the field for now will continue using the E10 ethanol/gasoline blend that was used in 2007. As the season progresses and going into 2009, other teams are likely to make the switch to E85 and possibly even diesel. Although Honda representatives were non-committal at the Detroit Auto Show, it appears that they are looking hard at diesel power especially as they are about to introduce a diesel-powered Acura TSX in the U.S. next year. ALMS officials are also encouraging other alternative powertrains, such as hybrids, and they are open to looking at all options. When the 2008 draws to a close at the Petite Le Mans race at Road Atlanta this fall, ALMS will also introduce their first Green Challenge that will measure a variety of sustainability efforts by teams in addition to their on-track performance and fuel efficiency. ALMS officials are working hard to encourage innovation and diversity in the field that can help advance powertrain and fuel technology. For those of us who enjoy motorsports it's by far the most interesting and exciting series to watch and I for one will be among the happy spectators this year.
Couple travels around Australia and gets 75 mpg in a standard Peugeot 308
When you hear about a "3-liter car," what do you think of? For this story, think not of a car with a 3-liter engine but one that uses 3.13 liters of fuel per 100 km. That's 75 miles per gallon (U.S.) we're talking about a simple Peugeot 308. John and Helen Taylor traveled 14,580 km in Australia (9,100 miles) using a Peugeot 308 with a standard 1.6 HDI 110 HP diesel engine. The Taylor's 308 was a standard model, just like the ones you can buy it from the showroom (at least in Europe and Australia), including Michelin Energy XM1+ tires. They used 453.94 liters of Shell diesel for the trip, which broke a previous record (with a 307) of 3.49 l/100 km (67 mpg U.S.). The CO2 figures (which Peugeot states include the supply chain) were a mere 90.3 g/km.This makes it almost unnecessary to wait for the hybrid! But, please, Peugeot mate this powertrain to a hybrid system and treat the exhaust gases.
PSA pushes back diesel hybrid and moves it upmarket
While it has looked like Peugeot would be the first company to market a mainstream passenger vehicle with a diesel hybrid powertrain, it now looks like it won't come as quickly as previously thought. PSA (parent company of Peugeot and Citroen) has been developing a diesel hybrid system in cooperation with suppliers Bosch, Continental, Valeo and Thyssen-Krupp. The system was originally supposed to debut in the compact Peugeot 308 in 2010. The cost of developing the system was to have been partially subsidized by the French government. With the European Commission putting the screws to that plan, PSA and its partners will move forward without the handout. As a result, the company has decided that in order to recover those development costs, they need to apply the system on a more expensive model first, which of course means the volumes will be lower. The change in plans also means the new powertrain won't appear until at least 2011. At the current rate, Peugeot may still be first to market, unless Mahindra's plans for a diesel hybrid version of their pickup come to fruition in 2010.
Peugeot to run 12 Hours of Sebring with diesel-powered 908 HDi
When the American Le Mans Series held their winter test session at Sebring a couple of weeks ago, Peugeot dropped by with their diesel-powered 908 coupe. For their first visit they did pretty well, beating the more experienced Audi R10s by eight-tenths of a second. In the hands of Stéphane Sarrazin the Peugeot also beat the previous lap record - set by the Audi during qualifying for last year's race - by more than two seconds. Peugeot announced on Friday that they will return to Sebring March 12-15 for this year's running of the 12 Hour race. The ALMS season opener will kick off the tenth season for the series. The addition of the Peugeot will mean three diesel-powered LMP1 cars at Sebring. With their ultimate goal being victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans at this time, it's unknown if Peugeot will run any other races in North America this year. Hopefully they will decide to stick around for a full season of fun, or at least turn up for the Detroit Grand Prix on Labor Day weekend.r
Geneva 2008: 2009 Ford S-Max and Mondeo get new 2.2L diesel
Ford just announced a brand new diesel engine option for its larger passenger vehicles in the European market. Set to debut at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, the 2.2L four cylinder was co-developed with Peugeot and has an output of 175hp and 295lb-ft of torque at just 1,750rpm. The diesel is Euro-IV compliant and uses a particulate filter. The third-generation common rail injection system uses Bosch piezoelectric injectors that can provide up to five fuel pulses per ignition stroke. The new engine will available in the Mondeo, the S-Max medium van and the Galaxy large van. On those vehicles, the emissions are rated at 165, 176 and 179 g/km of CO2, respectively. This will be the first Ford engine equipped with intelligent oil monitoring system that will track driver behavior and ambient conditions and inform the driver when an oil change is needed. Depending on conditions, the engine may be able to go as far as 12,000 miles between oil changes.
· r
Peugeot 308 runs the length of the M25 motorway on less than £10 of fuel
The M25 is a 117-mile-long motorway that circles the outskirts of London,England. Right now, diesel runs about $8.14/US gallon at Motorway service centers in Blighty. (So if you think we have it bad, well, we don't.) Peugeot decided to do a demonstration of the efficiency of its new 308 S HDi 90 by driving it around the M25. The Ford Focus-sized 308 left with a full tank and accepted 1.99 imperial gallons (2.38 US gallons) when it returned to the starting point. That works out to 49 mpg (US) at an average of just over 50 mph for the trip. The total cost of the trip was just £9.95, which pretty low for a trip in the UK these days. Thanks to a CO2 emissions rating of only 120g/km this model of the 308 gets into one of the lowest tax bands with a annual fee of only £35. Come October, when the revised congestion charges go into effect in London, that CO2 rating will allow 308 owners to get into Central London free of charge.
· r
Peugeot to announce 2008 race plans Feb. 15, possible ALMS run
rWhen the American Le Mans Series held their annual winter open test session at Sebring last week a newcomer showed up for the party. Peugeot brought over one of the 908 HDi diesel race cars that dominated the Le Mans racing series in Europe in 2007. Peugeot is apparently testing the waters to determine if they want to take on the Audi R10s on US tracks. While nothing is official yet, things are looking promising. Peugeot managed to set the fastest overall lap time of the three-day test session at 1m 42.801s, over eight-tenths of a second faster than the Audi. Peugeot will be making an announcement on February 15 about what their 2008 racing plans will be and whether that will include the full ALMS series.
The American Le Mans Series kicks off its 2008 season next weekend with the 56th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring in central Florida. The ALMS has long had the most diverse field of race cars of any major series in North America and this year it's getting even more so as the series makes a push for greener racing. This is the only series that has cars running on three different fuels; gasoline, ethanol and diesel all play a major part. In the LMP1 class, Audi is kicking off its third year running the diesel-powered R10 TDI. They'll get competition this time from Peugeot, which is bringing one of their 908 HDi prototypes to race in the U.S. for the first time. In the production-derived GT1 ranks, the Corvette C6Rs will tackle an Aston Martin DBR9 with all of them using cellulosic E85 fuel. The same fuel will also power an LMP1 Lola entered by Intersport racing. The rest of the field for now will continue using the E10 ethanol/gasoline blend that was used in 2007. As the season progresses and going into 2009, other teams are likely to make the switch to E85 and possibly even diesel. Although Honda representatives were non-committal at the Detroit Auto Show, it appears that they are looking hard at diesel power especially as they are about to introduce a diesel-powered Acura TSX in the U.S. next year. ALMS officials are also encouraging other alternative powertrains, such as hybrids, and they are open to looking at all options. When the 2008 draws to a close at the Petite Le Mans race at Road Atlanta this fall, ALMS will also introduce their first Green Challenge that will measure a variety of sustainability efforts by teams in addition to their on-track performance and fuel efficiency. ALMS officials are working hard to encourage innovation and diversity in the field that can help advance powertrain and fuel technology. For those of us who enjoy motorsports it's by far the most interesting and exciting series to watch and I for one will be among the happy spectators this year.
Couple travels around Australia and gets 75 mpg in a standard Peugeot 308
When you hear about a "3-liter car," what do you think of? For this story, think not of a car with a 3-liter engine but one that uses 3.13 liters of fuel per 100 km. That's 75 miles per gallon (U.S.) we're talking about a simple Peugeot 308. John and Helen Taylor traveled 14,580 km in Australia (9,100 miles) using a Peugeot 308 with a standard 1.6 HDI 110 HP diesel engine. The Taylor's 308 was a standard model, just like the ones you can buy it from the showroom (at least in Europe and Australia), including Michelin Energy XM1+ tires. They used 453.94 liters of Shell diesel for the trip, which broke a previous record (with a 307) of 3.49 l/100 km (67 mpg U.S.). The CO2 figures (which Peugeot states include the supply chain) were a mere 90.3 g/km.This makes it almost unnecessary to wait for the hybrid! But, please, Peugeot mate this powertrain to a hybrid system and treat the exhaust gases.
PSA pushes back diesel hybrid and moves it upmarket
While it has looked like Peugeot would be the first company to market a mainstream passenger vehicle with a diesel hybrid powertrain, it now looks like it won't come as quickly as previously thought. PSA (parent company of Peugeot and Citroen) has been developing a diesel hybrid system in cooperation with suppliers Bosch, Continental, Valeo and Thyssen-Krupp. The system was originally supposed to debut in the compact Peugeot 308 in 2010. The cost of developing the system was to have been partially subsidized by the French government. With the European Commission putting the screws to that plan, PSA and its partners will move forward without the handout. As a result, the company has decided that in order to recover those development costs, they need to apply the system on a more expensive model first, which of course means the volumes will be lower. The change in plans also means the new powertrain won't appear until at least 2011. At the current rate, Peugeot may still be first to market, unless Mahindra's plans for a diesel hybrid version of their pickup come to fruition in 2010.
Peugeot to run 12 Hours of Sebring with diesel-powered 908 HDi
When the American Le Mans Series held their winter test session at Sebring a couple of weeks ago, Peugeot dropped by with their diesel-powered 908 coupe. For their first visit they did pretty well, beating the more experienced Audi R10s by eight-tenths of a second. In the hands of Stéphane Sarrazin the Peugeot also beat the previous lap record - set by the Audi during qualifying for last year's race - by more than two seconds. Peugeot announced on Friday that they will return to Sebring March 12-15 for this year's running of the 12 Hour race. The ALMS season opener will kick off the tenth season for the series. The addition of the Peugeot will mean three diesel-powered LMP1 cars at Sebring. With their ultimate goal being victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans at this time, it's unknown if Peugeot will run any other races in North America this year. Hopefully they will decide to stick around for a full season of fun, or at least turn up for the Detroit Grand Prix on Labor Day weekend.r
Geneva 2008: 2009 Ford S-Max and Mondeo get new 2.2L diesel
Ford just announced a brand new diesel engine option for its larger passenger vehicles in the European market. Set to debut at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, the 2.2L four cylinder was co-developed with Peugeot and has an output of 175hp and 295lb-ft of torque at just 1,750rpm. The diesel is Euro-IV compliant and uses a particulate filter. The third-generation common rail injection system uses Bosch piezoelectric injectors that can provide up to five fuel pulses per ignition stroke. The new engine will available in the Mondeo, the S-Max medium van and the Galaxy large van. On those vehicles, the emissions are rated at 165, 176 and 179 g/km of CO2, respectively. This will be the first Ford engine equipped with intelligent oil monitoring system that will track driver behavior and ambient conditions and inform the driver when an oil change is needed. Depending on conditions, the engine may be able to go as far as 12,000 miles between oil changes.
· r
Peugeot 308 runs the length of the M25 motorway on less than £10 of fuel
The M25 is a 117-mile-long motorway that circles the outskirts of London,England. Right now, diesel runs about $8.14/US gallon at Motorway service centers in Blighty. (So if you think we have it bad, well, we don't.) Peugeot decided to do a demonstration of the efficiency of its new 308 S HDi 90 by driving it around the M25. The Ford Focus-sized 308 left with a full tank and accepted 1.99 imperial gallons (2.38 US gallons) when it returned to the starting point. That works out to 49 mpg (US) at an average of just over 50 mph for the trip. The total cost of the trip was just £9.95, which pretty low for a trip in the UK these days. Thanks to a CO2 emissions rating of only 120g/km this model of the 308 gets into one of the lowest tax bands with a annual fee of only £35. Come October, when the revised congestion charges go into effect in London, that CO2 rating will allow 308 owners to get into Central London free of charge.
· r
Peugeot to announce 2008 race plans Feb. 15, possible ALMS run
rWhen the American Le Mans Series held their annual winter open test session at Sebring last week a newcomer showed up for the party. Peugeot brought over one of the 908 HDi diesel race cars that dominated the Le Mans racing series in Europe in 2007. Peugeot is apparently testing the waters to determine if they want to take on the Audi R10s on US tracks. While nothing is official yet, things are looking promising. Peugeot managed to set the fastest overall lap time of the three-day test session at 1m 42.801s, over eight-tenths of a second faster than the Audi. Peugeot will be making an announcement on February 15 about what their 2008 racing plans will be and whether that will include the full ALMS series.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)