1965 Plymouth Barracuda

Preventing from traffic jams with electronics and connected cars

Honda Motor announced the successful development of the world’s first technology to detect the potential for traffic congestion and determine whether the driving pattern of the vehicle is likely to create traffic jams. It's been developed in conjunction with the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo.

Rather than providing information to help the driver avoid existing congestion based on current traffic information, the system monitors the acceleration and deceleration patterns of the vehicle to determine whether the driver’s driving pattern is likely to create traffic congestion. Based on this determination, the system provides the driver with appropriate information, including a color-coded display through the on-board terminal, to encourage smooth driving which will help alleviate the intensity of acceleration and deceleration by trailing vehicles, thereby helping to prevent or minimize the occurrence of vehicle congestion.

The test results demonstrated that the system helped increase the average speed by approximately 23% and improved fuel efficiency by approximately 8% of trailing vehicles.

Read the full story here : http://world.honda.com/news/2012/4120426Traffic-Congestion-Prevent/index.html

1987 Jeep Commanche Sportruck

1983 Honda Civic Sedan

1974 Dodge Tradesman Camper

CESA 2012 interview : Guillaume Devauchelle (Valeo) part 3

Last but not least, this is the last part of our interview with the R&D director from Valeo. Guillaume Devauchelle speaks of hybrids with an exclusive technology.

"Given the CO2 regulations in Europe and US for 2020 and beyond, it is now obvious for the automotive community that hybridization of powertrains is no longer an option. Hybrid means breeding together an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and an electrical motor. The electrical motor allows to recover kinetic energy during braking in the form of electricity which is stored in a battery and made available for the next acceleration where the electric motor will provide extra torque to the ICE which, in turn, will need less fuel.

The problem with the hybrids is that they use a powerful electric motor to allow significant range of electric drive. To do this a high voltage is needed, which turns the battery big and expensive. The battery is the main on-cost of an hybrid, and all of them today suffer from an overcost and overprice which limits their market penetration.

Valeo's affordable hybrid concept is streamlined by 2 main concepts: First, to turn an hybrid cheap, the main lever is to reduce the voltage to reduce the cost of the battery. This requires to limit the power of the electric machine. Second, to use the long experience in StopStart micro-hybrids systems (that Valeo invented) using cheap, alternator-based, electric motor. Extensive simulations have shown that limiting the power to 12 kW allows to save up to 10-15% of fuel on the European cycle while allowing a low 48V voltage system. Also, limiting the electric drive to take-off and some low speed cruise operations allows to have a reasonably small battery pack.

Valeo's affordable hybrid system consists then in a Belt-Driven Starter Generator with 12 kW peak power, inherited from our former StARS StopStart system, together with a small 300Wh 48V battery and a 48V-12V DC/DC converter. All together the cost of the system is halved compared to traditional hybrids. Vehicles have been built to demonstrate this "right sized" system with value-to-cost optimization and OEMs have all shown high interest for this solution in the past months. We have no doubt this will turn hybridization into a real mass-market, why we have tagged our system "Hybrid4All".

1980 Datsun 210 Sedan

1984 Ford Escort GL

CESA 2012 interview : Guillaume Devauchelle (Valeo) part 2

For CESA 2012, R&D director from Valeo speaks about the connected car and applications from smartphones.

"The connected car offers a new range of opportunities to increase safety & comfort as well as to reduce CO2 consumption. We are working on the embedded devices that will enable the car to be connected to its environment using all available wireless standards (GSM, LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, RF...). We see the crucial role that the connected mobility of the end-user will have in this new paradigm.

We already demonstrated some examples on how the car's systems could evolve : last September 2011 with Park4 Remote at the IAA in Franckfurt (autonomous Parking Manoeuvre with a remote control on a smartphone) and in the first quarter of 2012 with eSkin (connected display of the future that allows you to use safely your smartphone computing power while driving for off-board navigation for example) and many more to come...

Valeo firmly believes that connected Driving Assistance systems will also further contribute to C02 reduction by reducing the travel time (increased flow, quick & direct access to parking) and by optimizing the powertrain energy management thanks to the available extended horizon offered by connectivity".

To be continued with next Valeo and Hybrid4All.

1967 Buick Riviera

2013 Lincoln MKL/xh. '49 Cosmopolitan Redux!

The Lincoln MKL would be the marque's flagship lineup, available in sedan, coupe and shooting brake bodystyles, unique in America. Drivetrains would include rear wheel- and all wheel-drive and powertrains would consist of Ecoboost and Hybrid engines. Lincoln nomeclature would grow to include an "x" and an "h" to denote the all wheel drive and hybrid options. An "s" model would mean the car was equipped with the most powerful supercharged engine available. The "L" models would be approximately 18-inches longer than the current MKS, with a wheelbase in the 118-120 inch range. I know I use "suicide doors" quite often on my chops, but there is a reason to include them on my Lincolns, besides their historical ties to so many classic Lincolns.  They would add so much "street theater" to the car's reputation. They could be powered opened and closed for little expense or engineering issues, and would really make the marque stand out in a daily driver's experience. I think they're exactly what Lincoln needs to differentiate itself in today's market. Click image to enlarge to almost full screen!

1986 Chevrolet Sprint ER

CESA 2012 Interview : Guillaume Devauchelle (Valeo) part 1

For CESA 2012, Guillaume Devauchelle, R&D director at Valeo, speaks about the new Vedecom Institute in Paris area.

"In a context of unprecedented global change in both the demand for and use of personal transportation, the Vedecom Institute aims to increase the energy efficiency of personal transport and to decrease the presence of harmful emissions in priority urban and suburban areas, by inventing new mobilities at the same time as new vehicles.

No industrial company, no services operator, however powerful, will be able to achieve this on his own. It requires the automobile manufacturers and suppliers, the higher education and research establishments, the territorial collectivities, the mobility operators, the infrastructure engineering companies and managers, the city planners, the economists, the sociologists to work together in inventing and deploying these new mobility systems. VeDeCoM creates such a strategic alliance, for the first time in the world.


The entire car industry is reaching out to stakeholders in mobility systems, information services, and energy sectors. Vedecom will bring together a unique set of global specialists with multi-disciplinary skills, at the same time and in the same place, providing them with the environment and structure so needed by a fledgling industrial sector with a bright future.

It is a threefold programme, electrification of vehicules, connectivity and driving delegation, architecture and services which aims at addressing the whole system issues, in a multidisciplinary manner: design of new vehicles, design of new ways of drives, from assisted driving to automatic driving, design of new technology blocks, from mechatronics power traction, security controls and telecom assisted connectivity, offering best potential for massive new system introduction, a mandatory objective for having the required impact on energy consumption. Demonstrations, on annual basis, also show progress and test user acceptance. The Vedecom Institute is a brand new organization that is set to become a benchmark in the blossoming sustainable personal mobility sector, in order to get an energy reduction by at least a factor of 2 over the next 10 years.

Vedecom displays a technological reference to support the design and implementation of the “Grand Paris”. Being located in the Satory region at the north of the “Plateau de Saclay”, VeDeCoM is already asked to participate to the definition of new “eco-quartiers” around the new Grand Paris metro stations in this area. The new systems will serve as demonstrators and later on as benchmarks for the whole public transportation network, in Paris and worldwide, providing excellent grounds for companies to export their experience, and for researchers to attract students and high level personalities in France".

To be continued with next Valeo and the connected car...

1966 Thunderbird Speedster Showcar

"If I Had Been There"

Quick Study: Loyal blogreader, "Bobf," suggested I try a Speedster version of the mid '60s Thunderbird. This is what I came up with, in the manner of a period '66 Ford showcar, complete with Cragar wheels, whitewalls, cut-down windshield and redesigned side glass. I "welded" the rear fender skirts into the body, removed the doorhandles and nameplate, added the sidepipes and a modified '66 Mustang scoop trim piece, all things they might have done in the Ford studios of the time. I wouldn't mind taking a country drive in this Tbird! I started with a base photo from a website called Bold Ride, found a background image at a wallpaper site and did the rest with the magic of Photoshop.

B T W :

This car inspired me... I'd love to see a TV show based on the automobile industry in Detroit, circa 1958-71. It could be a Mad Men-ish look at a major automotive design studio, and its execs, designers, clay modelers, and their wives, boyfriends, affairs, drinking and swearing habits, their custom cars, rushed clay models, weekends at the Grosse Point Yacht club, hijinks, shenanigans, their personal relationships... You know, but with a heavy emphasis on the cars and how those cars affect their lives, professionally and personally. There could be a 10-minute Epilog at the end of each 80 minute episode; an historic "sidebar" of an actual show car and short history and sexy trivia.

B T W :

Marty Martino, a new reader to casey/artandcolour, but a long-time car builder and afficionado, mentioned the '63 Thunderbird Italien when commenting about my Speedster. A long time ago, I did a chop of what a square-edged '64 'Bird might have looked like with a fastback, hence my '64 Italien 2. I think this chop is about 5 years old. I'll take another stab at a factory Tbird fastback one of these days.

 

A full length brushed aluminum lower body side strip was added, too.

Welcome to ID4Car, new partner for CESA 2012

Created at the end of 2005 under the name of Premium Automotive Cluster, the competitiveness cluster iDforCAR supports the innovation in the whole of the Vehicles sector today.
Encouraged by the carmakers, this cluster fulfils the expectations and the needs of all the actors of western France, and particularly the SMEs engaged on the way of niche and specific vehicles. iDforCAR gathers today more than 170 members : enterprises, research laboratories and economic development partners.
More than 74 projects have been certified since 2006. Amongst them, 42 projects have been financed with a global budget of 100 M€, of which 45 M€ came from public R&D aids.
One of the highlights is the AutosarLab programme. Managed by iD4CAR and based on the expertise of two companies, Geensys and Kereval, the ambition is to act as a source of high-level expertise in the development and testing of embedded computer systems. AutosarLab supports projects at every phase of the V-Model, from initial studies to installation testing. The programme includes awareness raising, need detection and support activities.

Embedded systems of the future being developed in Systematic Cluster

Located in Paris area, and dedicated to complex systems (including transport and automotive), System@tic cluster is preparing the car of the future. The Automotive & Transport Working Group aims at mastering the complexity of electronic architectures and embedded-systems to meet the need for technological development concerning embedded systems in automotive, railway and truck industries, leveraging the expertise and competences of all these sectors.
This Working Group is structured around six technology areas, called “Development Axes”:
- Electronics Architecture
- Dependability of monitoring systems
- Software tools and Methods
- Diagnosis
- Human-machine interfaces
- Algorithms & data fusion for localisation and vision

It also cooperates with the Telecom Working Group

Read the full story here : http://www.systematic-paris-region.org/en/automotive-transport

New partners for CESA 2012

CESA welcomes new partners with three automotive clusters (Mov’eo, Pôle Véhicule du Futur and Systematic), the national automotive platform (PFA), the french federation for electric and electronic equipements(FIEEC : Fédération des Industries Electriques, Electroniques et de Communication) and the Rhône-Alpes area.

We remind that the congress will take place on 4th and 5th December 2012 in Paris.

AUTOSAR and automotive electronics trends from Vector

CESA 2012 Partner


As a partner, Vector is delighted to share information about automotive electronics.
Here comes first a technical article about a Plug and Play Solution for AUTOSAR Software Components. You will learn how it's possible to exchange individual software components in flash memory without linking the entire project. This accelerates software development at each of the individual suppliers.
Read the full story here : http://www.vector.com/portal/medien/cmc/press/Vector/AUTOSAR_SWC_Austausch_ATZ_Elektronik_201202_PressArticle_EN.pdf

The second part of the contribution is a review from Dr Beck, founder of Vector, about old and new trends. He looks back on 2011 and writes about key topics for 2012. The paper is about AUTOSAR, functional safety, E-Mobility and Ethernet in the car.
Link : http://www.vector.com/portal/medien/cmc/press/Vector/Trends2012_ElektronikAutomotive_201201_PressArticle_EN.pdf

On board Apps to create new revenue streams for European Vehicle Manufacturers

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (Connectivity, App Stores, and Cloud-based Delivery Platforms: Future of Connected Infotainment and Telematics Market), finds almost every OEM is developing and hosting apps on popular application stores in the next year.
Most of them have already flooded the market with free apps focusing on areas such as customer relationship management (CRM) and breakdown assistance, while others have created value-added apps such as remote start/stop. But, new developments such as the Nokia MirrorLink, using which Alpine has already created an aftermarket head unit, are also opening up new revenue opportunities for VMs to enable smartphone apps inside the car in a complete remote terminal fashion with controls using vehicle human machine interface (HMI). This, in turn, is creating a massive interest in HMI elements as both revenue generator as well as brand differentiator. Concepts such as Chevrolet MyLink, GMC Intellilink are examples of this HMI response by automakers.
Interest from handset makers such as HTC, Samsung, LG and Sony in the Nokia MirrorLink standard underscores its potential of becoming an industry standard, allowing VMs to standardise and make revenues out of apps.

Link : http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/press-release.pag?docid=252936144&ctxixpLink=FcmCtx1&ctxixpLabel=FcmCtx2

1961 Plymouth Fury Design Tweak

Refining One of Virgil Exner's Last Masterpieces

For this week's design tweak, I chose a 1961 Plymouth Fury 2 door hardtop. While I find the original Exner design stunning, its contemporary buying public didn't agree. Many automotive hacks wracked their brains trying to colorfully describe this car—The Car that Ate Tokyo—a riff on the Japanese horror flicks of the day, comes to mind, and they still do to this day in classic car magazines. The "pinched" grille and dramatic headlight placement seems to be the car's main issues, although the suddenly finless body was referred to as a "plucked chicken" by Exner himself. My main issues are with the details. There are fussy chrome doodads, fussy side sculpturing and an abundance of shiny chrome slathered in the front. Ironically, Lexus is just now introducing its new "spindle" grille across its entire lineup, and it's almost exactly the same shape as this '61 Plymouth. See the BTW sidebar at the end of this post. Let me describe how I "fixed" it to my own tastes.

T H E   C H O P — First I "radiused" the rear wheel wells. This means I opened up the fenders to reveal the entire wheel and tire. The original had a very low wheel opening which didn't really relate to the front wheel well and made the rear end look like it was dragging. I think this change did the most for "lightening" the look of the car. I resculpted the sides, continuing the front fender shoulder all the way to the back of the car instead of ending it at the front door. I also eliminated the ornate trim behind the front doors, and lowered the entire car about 3 inches so it sat closer to the ground hugging the tires more. At the front, I blackened-out the grille, which simplified the look of it, and made the dramatic "swoosh" around the protruding headlights work better. I added a satin chrome "header" above the now-black grille, with P-L-Y-M-O-U-T-H letterspaced across it. This serves to "rationalize" the grille shape, giving more prominence to the horizontal aspects of it, rather than the angularity of the opening. The front bumper was simplified too, deleting the rather baroque center section with its five raised ridges, and I raised it a few inches so it wasn't so close to the ground.

The original photo of the '61 Fury. Note the odd way the front fender shoulder sculpturing stops at the front door cutline, though the chrome trim continues. Also, just behind the front door is a set of chrome hash marks that seem really out of place, though they do serve as a start for a small sliver of white paint, matching the two-toned roof. The rear of the car seems to drag, a combination of the now-finless rear fenders and very low wheel well opening.

BTW: 

Exner has the last laugh after all, as Lexus introduces its brand new "Spindle" grille on its entire lineup. I call it an updated '61 Plymouth grille!


U P D A T E :  For some reason my chop wasn't enlarging from the thumbnail. Now it should be.

Former french minister of environment : EVs are necessary

In an statement for France Mobilité Electrique, the web site of Avere France*, former minister Jean-Louis Borloo says that EVs are absolutely necessary.
More than two years after the launch of french national plan for electro mobility, the first vehicles are hitting the market. Thanks to companies and public authorities, thousands of units have been ordered for the next 4 years. But, Jean-Louis Borloo claims for a faster adoption. The target is to cut the CO2 emissions of 3 % by 2020, saving 17,5 millions of tons compared to 2007.
According to Mr Borloo, EVs should account for 27 % of the whole market by 2025. In 2030, incomes from the development of clean cars should represent 15 billions euros, saving in the same time jobs in the automotive industry.

*An association promoting EVs and electromobility