Concepts keep on trucking in Detroit
Striking 2-seater is more of a toter than a hauler
For-us pickup, 3B Smart shows its smaller-than-aMini Cooper electric
Among the more interesting flights of fancy at the Detroit auto show this week was the ultimate ecofriendly pickup from city-car maker Smart: the electric Smart For-us concept.
The Daimler brand’s two-seater micro pickup is significantly bigger than the Smart Fortwo sedan — about 3 feet longer at 139.6 in., which puts it a few inches shy of a Mini Cooper.
That makes it more useful, and likely more comfortable, than a Fortwo, but don’t plan on throwing 4x8 sheets of plywood in the back of this tiny city vehicle.
In fact, the bed is set up to handle a pair of Smart electric bikes and to charge them, which in a sense is another form of range-extender for the electric truck.
The For-us uses the electric drive and lithium-ion battery from the Fortwo electric due on sale this spring, so it should get something approaching its estimated about-80-mile range, after deducting for the larger size.
VW shows off stylish electric Beetle
It isn’t just the electric powerplant that fires us up about Volkswagen’s E-bugster concept, it’s the cool looks of the car itself.
The concept shows the customization potential for the new Volkswagen Beetle that just went on sale in the fall. With flared fenders, 20-inch wheels and its flat roof, the E-bugster looks like it’s ready for some street racing.
But in the end, it’s all about the electric power. E-bugster’s electric motor puts out the equivalent of 114 horsepower and can go more than 100 miles per charge with a lithium-ion battery. The battery weighs almost 700 pounds, and is recharged via a plug underneath the VW logo on the hood.
Chrysler mystery van sneaks into Detroit
So much information leaks ahead of time that there seldom is a true surprise at a U.S. auto show.
But more or less out of nowhere, a radically styled van called 700C showed up among the models displayed at the Chrysler Group area.
No media information kits. No explanatory placard. No public relations person at the ready with a deep dive. A true mystery van.
The van is, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says, a concept vehicle meant to test reaction. If journalists and show-goers like the 700C, it could provide a design basis for the next-generation Chrysler minivan, probably coming about 2014.
The 700C is about the size of the current Chrysler Group minivans and, except for the pointed-oval side windows and pinched-top rear view, it seems to hew to the conventional family van formula: front drive, two sliding side doors, three rows of seats.
New Mini Roadster promises topless fun
It’s fun and it’s small. What more do you need? Here comes the Mini Roadster, another fun counterpoint to all the serious luxury sedans and family haulers at the Detroit show.
The Roadster comes billed as the first open-top two-seater in the growing Mini family and is a droptop version of the new two-seater coupe. It is, as Mini puts it, a “spontaneous, unadulterated recipe for urban driving fun.”
The car is designed to be simple, too. No fancy motors driving that canvas roof. It’s raised or lowered by hand and folds flat behind the seats, keeping the car’s lines intact. Sure, the car is small, but the top takes up no trunk space and there is a high-opening tailgate to accommodate more luggage.
There will be three engines. The Mini Cooper Roadster will put out 121 horsepower. Next is the Cooper S Roadster at 181 horsepower and finally the Mini John Cooper Works Roadster, with 208. They are coupled to six-speed manual or automatic transmissions.
Due on sale this spring, the Roadster will start at $24,350, plus shipping. That’s $3,050 more than the coupe, but it is $600 less than the Mini Cooper convertible with a back seat.
Acura targets entry-luxury buyers with ILX
With a new generation of luxury buyers now in their 20s and 30s, Honda’s Acura division is taking aim with a new entry-level sedan that it hopes will introduce them to the brand — and keep them.
Acura unveiled the ILX “concept” at Detroit, ahead of the production version that is due on sale in late spring, pricing TBA. The ILX will include a version that will be Acura’s first hybrid car.
“First-time luxury buyers place the highest value on exterior styling, affordability and environmental issues — and that’s a virtual definition of what we have created with the new Acura ILX,” said Jon Ikeda, head of the Acura Design Studio. Honda has tried to “position ILX as the first opportunity for many young buyers to enter the luxury market.”
Acura is giving ILX youthful technology features, including text messaging from the car and a Pandora Internet radio interface.
The base model will be powered by a 2-liter, fourcylinder engine, while a performance model will have a 2.4-liter four-cylinder paired with a six-speed manual transmission. And then there will be the 1.5-liter gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain, Acura’s first.