Ex Certified Suv 2.4l Cd 6 Speakers Am/fm Radio Mp3 Decoder We Finance on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Honda returning to F1 as McLaren partner

Honda must really love Formula One racing, as evidenced by today's announcement that the Japanese automaker is returning to the world's most popular motorsport for the fifth time in its history. Honda has entered into a team partnership with McLaren to develop and manufacture power systems - the engine and energy recovery system - for the 2015 F1 season. McLaren will be in charge of chassis development and running the day-to-day operations of this newly formed team, which will be called McLaren Honda.
Honda says its decision to reenter F1 racing had to do with new regulations for the 2014 season that require cars to be powered by a 1.6-liter direct-injection turbocharged V6 engine paired with an energy recovery system. Apparently the chance to develop this particular powertrain for F1 racing was too enticing for Honda to pass up, which suggests it has bigger plans for the knowledge learned while developing these systems beyond just winning races.
As mentioned, this is Honda's fifth foray into F1 racing, the first being back in 1964 when it participated as its own team through 1968. Its longest stint came from 1983-1992 as an engine supplier, during which time it partnered with many teams, including McLaren, and won six Constructor Championships. Honda then returned from 2000-2005 as an engine supplier for British American Racing (BAR) before buying that team outright and running it as Honda Racing from 2006-2008. Then the global economic crisis hit. Honda's return to the sport will surely be welcomed by fans as its partnership with McLaren should produce a formidable team. It's a strong signal that the company has returned to health after a few tumultuous years, and hopefully its rediscovered motorsports mojo will help yield more passionately engineered street cars.

Recharge Wrap-up: Charging in Iceland, Smart "For" campaign, Honda open sources Smart Home

Iceland's EV charging network is expanding by 200 units. A subsidiary of Northern Lights Energy called EVEN is providing and installing the rapid chargers, which it hopes to have installed by the end of the year. EVEN's Gisli Gislasson says, "We couldn't wait for the government and decided to do our part in this." Iceland's government hopes to have 10 percent of the cars on its road powered by sustainable fuels by 2020. Read more at Iceland Review. Argonne National Laboratory is working to create universal charging for electric vehicles. Through its new Electric Vehicle Interoperability Center, the group is studying ways to standardize charging so any type of electric vehicle in any country can charge at any charging station. Additionally, the research is working on ways to better integrate electric cars to a smart grid, to the point where EVs could even act as part of the grid, charging when they need it and providing electricity during peak hours. Go to Phys.org for more details. Smart has launched its "For" campaign in Europe. The maker of the tiny city cars is reaching out to the public through updated branding, ads through various channels and social media engagement to get people thinking about Smart in fresh ways. The campaign emphasizes the "For" idea, as in "For challenging the status quo," "For loving the city," etc. Also as part of the campaign, Smart will be embarking on a Europe-wide roadshow to 15 different cities, where the public can learn more about the cars – particularly the Fortwo and Forfour models – and even arrange a test drive. Read more in the press release below. Honda is publicly sharing plans associated with its Smart Home project. The project, which goes beyond cars and into the home to look for ways to live efficiently and reduce CO2 emissions, involves sustainable energy and heating and cooling methods, smart lighting, sustainable building materials and waste management, passive design and, of course, vehicle charging. Now, technical details such as architectural plans, mechanical drawings, furniture specs and CAD data will be open-source and publicly available for any interested parties. Check out the Honda Smart Home website to learn more, or to start downloading the plans yourself. "FOR" brand campaign: smart: More than just a car Functionality, innovation and joie de vivre – these are the brand values that make smart so unique. smart sees itself as a future-oriented, visionary brand that stands for a great idea.

SAE World Congress: Honda FCEV fuel cell stack has cells just 1 mm thin

The only update we have for people who are paying ultra-close attention to the progress of the hydrogen-powered Honda FCEV concept is that we now know how thin the individual cells in the car's fuel cell stack are. Speaking at the 2015 SAE World Congress in Detroit this week, American Honda Motor Company Manager of fuel cell vehicle marketing, Steve Ellis, told AutoblogGreen that the fuel cell stack is now 33-percent smaller and offers a 60-percent improvement in power density. We knew this already. What we didn't know is how Honda got there. Ellis said that these improvements are due in part to a reduction in the size of the fuel cell thickness. Each cell in the stack is one millimeter thick, he said. For everyone who isn't counting the millimeters of this car, here's the broader situation. Honda and the state of California (and others) are working hard on getting H2 infrastructure up can running. "The stations are accelerating as we speak," Ellis said. Three new stations have opened in the last few months and the state has pledged $20 million per year until there are 100 stations in California. Honda has also invested in FirstElement to install stations. The production FCEV will feature a range of over 300 miles and have a three-to-five minute refueling time. The car will launch in Japan in March 2016, with US and European sales starting at some unspecified time after that.