B Zero breaks cover
The Pininfarina legacy continues with a
radical new car just released by the famous Italian design
studio. The “B0” as it is called (that’s “B Zero”, by the
way) is a four-seat hatch that is small, affordable and
all-electric, the product of a joint venture with French
battery specialist Bollore.
B
Zero
Since it is an all-electric plug-in, the B0 produces no
carbon dioxide or particulate emissions. Pininfarina also
has used body, trim and battery materials selected to
minimize the total environmental impact. All are reusable
and recyclable, while solar panels and regenerative braking
help make the most use of each charge, helping minimize the
drain on the electricity grid.
The electric motor develops 45 kW and is mated to an
automatic gearbox. Power comes from the Bollore-developed
lithium polymer pack, a sophisticated mix of batteries and
supercapacitors - the latter providing a substantial boost
to the efficiency of the regenerative braking system. The
company claims it is maintenance-free, with a battery life
expectancy of about 200,000 km.
It is no fireball performer with a zero to 60 kph time of
6.3 seconds, but amongst the small petrol-engined eco-cars
is reasonable. Top speed is reported as an electronically
governed 130 km/h, and with a claimed range of up to 250 km.
This would certainly make the B0 a good city/commuter
vehicle, but viability will depend upon price in the
marketplace. But just remember that it is B Zero, not B Oh!
Car Engineering and
physical laws
I was always taught that physics was an exact
science. What goes up must come down, for every action there
is an equal and opposite reaction, similar magnetic poles
repel, pressure is equally distributed in a closed vessel,
the speed of light is absolute, e+mc2 and all that kind of
stuff. Well, it’s not. If you ever want to disprove physics
as a science, then buy a race car. They do not obey physical
laws.
Give
us a push, lads!
You want an example? My perfectly good race car had
performed perfectly all day. For the last event, I drove it
down to the marshalling area to wait before going out for my
race. I was about 10 minutes early, so I turned the engine
off and waited for the signal to start the engine and move
out onto the race track.
The ‘start engines’ board was displayed, I turned on the
ignition and hit the switch, and not a cheep out of the
engine. The starter motor was working, the engine was
turning over, but it did not look or sound anywhere near
firing. The pit crew rushed over, and they quickly checked
under the bonnet. Everything was fine, all ignition wires
were in place, but no spark to the plugs.
Now this was the same engine that had driven me from my pit
to the marshalling area. This was ridiculous. The crew got
round behind and we attempted a push start. Still it
wouldn’t fire. The race started without me. I swore a lot.
We pushed it back to the pits and began to systematically
replace every part of the ignition system. Eventually, with
a new coil, it fired up, ready to go - but by then far too
late.
So how does a working coil just suddenly ‘not work’ any
more? Especially after the ignition system had been turned
off, so nothing was happening to the coil to make it
malfunction. That’s some electrical law that I’ve never read
about.
Mind you, I have always considered car electrics to be a
black art. Take the battery, for example, and I am sure you
have all experienced the following. You have a perfectly
good battery which is just over 12 months old. In your mind
that’s almost brand new. In fact, you can even remember how
much you paid for it, so it must be very new. And then one
morning it won’t turn the engine over. It worked perfectly
yesterday, and now it won’t, or doesn’t want to.
You push start the car and run it for half an hour, as you
suppose you must have left the headlights on, or something
equally as explicable. Turn it off, and hey presto! It’s as
dead as a dodo.
If you are really into masochism, you then borrow your
mate’s battery charger and leave it on all night.
Triumphantly you remove the cables and jump in. It doesn’t
work. Perfectly good one day, completely cactus the next.
Explain that one, Mr. Einstein.
My friends who know about these sorts of things tell me that
batteries in Thailand last about 18 months to two years.
Anything after that is a bonus.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked why the Daimler
Conquest was called the “Conquest”, and mentioned the
warning that the purchase price was five shillings and ten
pence over 1,511 pounds. Of course, that was to throw you
off the scent. It got its name from the fact that the list
price ex-works was 1066 pounds, Norman Conquest and all
that. The difference between 1,066 and 1,511 was sales tax,
stamp duty and tea money!
So to this week. An easy one. Which pre-1970 Bugatti models
came in left hand drive?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Anyone want a
second-hand Honda?
The scuttlebutt in the EffWun circles is that
there are 30 groups of people stampeding through the Honda
F1 Racing garages, waving shedloads of money to buy the team
that Honda pulled the plug on at the end of 2008.
Quite frankly, I do not believe that there are 30 genuine
purchasers out there. Remember that not only do they have to
buy the complete team, buildings, spares etc, but they also
have to fund the whole shooting match for the 2009 season.
Even if they buy Honda Racing for a nominal $1, there’s a
few million dollars needed to complete the season.
However, the media circus states that Honda Racing CEO Nick
Fry’s confidence is growing that the team will be on the
grid for the start of the new Formula One season at the end
of March.
Since Honda sent shockwaves through the sport by pulling out
of F1 five weeks ago due to the global economic crisis, Fry
and team boss Ross Brawn have been involved in talks with a
number of prospective new owners.
Fry concedes to being initially sceptical that a resolution
would be found, but as time has progressed, his optimism has
increased.
“Right at the start of this process (F1 supremo) Bernie
Ecclestone said he was 100 percent confident we’d be on the
grid in Melbourne,” said Fry to autosport.com.
Fry confirmed he and Ross Brawn are now in talks with Honda
in Japan about which of the offers would represent the best
way forward for the company. “We had, as you might expect, a
huge amount of interest at the start - probably well in
excess of 30 groups came to us.” In the car sales lingo, the
tyre kickers.
“We have narrowed that down to something in the region of a
dozen, and we’re currently talking to Honda about what is
the best bet for the future,” says Fry. “Many of the
potential owners have been kind enough to talk about this as
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to get something which
does have the chance to do very well in the next couple of
years,” remarked Fry.
“In this economic environment it is difficult, there is no
doubt about it, and we’ve got to be careful that we look not
just at 2009, which frankly is the least of our worries. It
really is making sure we have a long-term future for the
staff. Neither Ross nor I want to stand there and say that
everything is fine if, in one or two years time, we fall
flat on our face again. So we are really looking towards a
two, three, five-year plan for the team.”
Unraveling the PR speak, the above paragraph really means
“Ross and I want to make sure we have a job for the next
five years, while we get our pension plans sorted out!”
Is it a bird? Is it a
plane?
Well, it sure as hell ain’t Superman! This is the
only Helicron in the world, built in France in 1932.
The
flying Helicron
In the late 1930s this one-of-a-kind Helicron was placed in
a barn and forgotten. More than 60 years later this strange
little piece of automobilia was rediscovered, rebuilt, and
reintroduced to the world. Although the manufacturer and
real history is unknown, it is believed that this car was
built in France in 1932.
Following WWI, many aircraft engineers were demobbed and
they turned to the auto industry to try and use their
knowledge, and oddities like the Helicron were the result.
More than one propeller driven car has been made with
results of 59 miles per hour having been achieved at
Brooklands by one in 1912.
As in this example, a few entrepreneurs developed
propeller-powered cars with the notion that propeller power
was an efficient means of moving a vehicle. On this car,
when the wooden propeller is spinning at full speed, the
Helicron can hit freeway speeds exceeding 75 mph.
As far as is known, this is the only Helicron in existence,
and is owned by Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.
Toyota stamps out snake
bite!
In its never ending plan of making life better
for Toyota drivers, Toyota Thailand has come up with a novel
sales gimmick for its 2009 line-up.
With so many venomous snakes in Thailand, some of which are
amongst the most deadly in the world, the new Toyota models
feature a “Viper Control System”, according to the official
Toyota Thailand website.
You should be covered for the common Malaysian Pit Viper and
Russel’s Viper, but I am not sure if the Toyota Viper
Control System will extend to the Thai Cobra.
This Viper Control System comes as “timer integrated” or
“manual with three step adjustable”, but how this is applied
to the venomous snakes is not described in the website.
Presumably, this is a dealer responsibility to make sure all
new Toyota drivers are conversant with the Viper Control
System.
