On today’s show…GM ceases its operations in Venezuela…Jeep reveals a plug-in hybrid in China…and a look at the advantages of creating hydrogen fuel from renewable sources. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
GM CEASES VENEZUELA OPERATIONS
General Motors has been selling cars in Venezuela since 1948 but yesterday the company announced it has ceased operations in the country due to the government seizing its assets. On Wednesday, authorities took over its plant and the company claims it also illegally took other assets such as vehicles. General Motors says it will take all legal actions to defend its rights and the U.S. government is also looking into the matter. Even though its operations have been halted, GM will still provide parts and services to its customers through its dealers. The auto industry in the country is a disaster due to Venezuela’s economic crisis. Reuters reports that only 2,800 vehicles were produced in the country last year, down 75% from 2015. And this year it’s even worse, in the first two months of 2017 only 240 cars have been built, mostly by Toyota.
HONDA TO BUILD NEW WIND TUNNEL
Honda announced it’s going to invest $124 million to build an advanced wind tunnel in Ohio. The facility will be used to develop and test both production vehicles and racecars. The new tunnel will be able to create wind speeds of 192 MPH. It will be located at the company’s Transportation Research Center in East Liberty and construction is slated to kick off this summer.
LYNK & CO. PUSHES BACK U.S. & EUROPE LAUNCH
Lynk & Co., the newly created luxury brand from Chinese automaker Geely, was originally targeting next year to start selling vehicles in the U.S. and Europe. But those plans have changed. Automotive News reports that it will now launch the brand in San Francisco and Berlin, starting in 2019. Because owners will have the opportunity to share their cars, the company chose those locations due to the high amount of car sharing in those cities. The launch is also being delayed because Lynk & Co. wants to secure a company-owned network of dealers before it begins sales.
And we’ll take a look at a couple of Shanghai Auto Show reveals right after this.
JEEP UNVEILS PLUG-IN HYBRID CONCEPT
Stricter fuel economy regulations in the coming years will force even the most unlikely of brands to electrify some portion of its lineup, including Jeep. That’s why it just debuted the Yuntu Concept at the Shanghai Auto Show. It’s a plug-in hybrid that was designed with the Chinese consumer in mind. It’s distinctly a Jeep, you’ll notice cues from other Jeep models, but those horizontal headlights also give the Yuntu a little bit of a Volvo vibe. Suicide doors give way to a futuristic interior that has a ton of screens to keep everyone entertained and copper accents that really pop. The Yuntu is a good looking concept, but it’s still very clearly a concept.
HONDA REVEALS CR-V HYBRID
And speaking of hybrids, Honda pulled the wraps off the CR-V Hybrid for the Chinese market. It uses the same powertrain setup as the Accord Hybrid, which consists of a 2.0L engine, two electric motors and a lithium-ion battery pack. Honda is currently not releasing any other details about the system or its fuel economy targets. The CR-V hybrid will go on sale in China soon and while Honda hasn’t officially said it will come to the U.S., we have to believe it will come to the U.S.
And speaking of “green” vehicles, coming up next, a look at the advantages of creating hydrogen from renewable sources to power fuel cell cars.
CREATING HYDROGEN FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES
One of the big benefits of fuel cell powered cars is they only emit water. However, 95% of the hydrogen used to power those vehicles is created from natural gas, so a carbon footprint is being created. But Bryan Pivovar from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory told us on Autoline This Week there are opportunities to create hydrogen from renewable sources. And it has advantages over using batteries.
(The ATW preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
For more insight into the viability of fuel cells, you can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching, have a great weekend and we will see you right back here again on Monday.
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Comments (10)
April 21st, 2017 at 12:44 pm
Yes, water is ubiquitous resource but does not overcome the problem that we do not have an efficient process to make Hydrogen. Yes, you can use renewable energy to make Hydrogen, but it takes 48 to 51kWh to make 1 Kg of Hydrogen (5Kg to fill the Honda Clarity). It would be much better and efficient to use that energy to run your house (50kWh = 3 to 5 days for most people) or charge electric car batteries.
Look around to you see wind and solar farms popping up all over? NO! So the point where we can produce so much renewable energy that we cannot use it all during the day, is a long way off. I do not think we will reach that point in our life time at the rate we are going. It’s only at that point will it make any sense to use the extra capacity to make Hydrogen.
April 21st, 2017 at 1:10 pm
I remember from science class that is you used solar or wind generated electricity and pass this current through water you could break apart the Hydrogen and Oxygen components into their base elements.
From Classroom.com: ” Water molecules can be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen molecules by a chemical reaction called electrolysis. When an electric current is passed through liquid water (H2O), it changes the water into two gases—hydrogen and oxygen. The molecules of water break apart into individual atoms.”
Why not use sea or ocean water to capture the Hydrogen atoms and combine the Oxygen atoms into Ozone “O3″ to rebuild the Earth’s Ozone Layer?
This would save the Planet in multiple ways!
Reduce our dependance on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gases while protect the Earth’s biosphere / surface by rebuilding the Earth’s Ozone layer which protects us from cosmic radiation and the solarwind.
Have a Happy “Earth Day” tomorrow 04/22/2017!
April 21st, 2017 at 2:20 pm
Interesting that Honda is investing big buck in a high-dollar wind tunnel. They must not believe that CFD simulation gives them good enough results.
April 21st, 2017 at 2:58 pm
Perhaps the front of the Jeep Yunto concept is close to what we will see on the refreshed Cherokee. Mark Allen, recent guest on AAH, said the refreshed Cherokee will tone down the look considerably from the current version (thank goodness!). The Yunto concept seems to have just the right combination of futuristic and classic Jeep cues to make a lot of buyers happy.
April 21st, 2017 at 3:23 pm
I really like the look of the Jeep Yuntu. I agree with GM Vet, about the “right combination”. I was looking at the photos next to the Chrysler Portal, and even though the painted bits draw your eye in different directions, the overall size and shape appear similar. Could these both be related platforms with very different styling cues?
April 21st, 2017 at 4:01 pm
#3 Honda seems to like using real wind for testing things. A few months ago, they rented the shuttle landing strip at Kennedy Space Center to test Indy cars. I think they wanted to test them at higher speed than they can attain on a regular race track.
#2 You can get hydrogen by electrolyzing water, but as George points out in #1, it takes a lot of energy to get much hydrogen. The electricity can probably be better used to charge batteries, run home A/C, etc., than electrolyzing water.
April 21st, 2017 at 8:46 pm
I guess you gotta give all them hi-paid engineers something to diddle with , but I believe that in the end, simplicity rules—& pays ! Nissan Note ePOWER
April 23rd, 2017 at 1:07 pm
There should be a rule that when someone writes,”fuel cells emit water” that they add, “and batteries emit nothing.” Fuel cells and their water has become a trite phase adding nothing to our understanding.
April 23rd, 2017 at 7:37 pm
#8. I agree. As I mentioned a week or so ago, and George stated in #1, it takes a lot of electricity to hydrolyze water. That electricity, even “free” from renewable sources, is better used charging batteries and supplieng homes, tban electrolyzing water for fuel cells.
April 24th, 2017 at 8:52 am
Just a little observation about the Yuntu story; in the drawing of the concept with the suicide doors open (3:28 in your video), the image in the rear quarter window is from a different viewing angle than the rest of the drawing (the view doesn’t match). It is as if you are looking down into that window but the rest of the image is straight on. I realize this is an FCA drawing and not a mistake of Autoline, but I thought some of you might like that catch. I wonder how many eyes have viewed that before FCA released it?