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Kia’s Pop Is An Itty-Bitty EV

Kia plans to roll into next month’s Paris auto show with an itty-bitty electric three-seater that looks like a doorstop.

The Korean automaker didn’t offer any details on the car, which is about the size of a Toyota iQ but far more futuristic. The only thing Kia will say is it hopes to bring “innovative design chic and dramatic styling to the city car segment.”

There’s room for two people up front and, supposedly, a third in the back just like the teeny-tiny Murray T25 city car concept. The cool asymmetric dashboard (visible in the top-down view) provides plenty of leg room for the front seat passenger. But since the Pop is just 11 inches longer than a Smart ForTwo, it’s gotta be a tight squeeze in the back.

It’s a concept, so you’ll probably never see the Pop in a showroom. But we’re always happy to see automakers thiinking about electric  city cars.

Images: Kia. More after the jump.

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Mild-Mannered Suzuki Sedan Tops 200 MPH

A heavily modified Suzuki sedan has just joined the 200-mph club at Bonneville and set a land speed record in the process.

Road & Track’s Sam Mitani hit an average speed of 203.720 mph during a two-way pass at Bonneville on Wednesday morning, setting a new record for the blown gas coupe category. He just topped the previous record of 202.301 mph.

Obviously this is no ordinary Kizashi coupe. The guys at R&T went nuts building the car. They gave the engine a set of forged pistons and con rods, a modified intake manifold, a custom exhaust, a Turbonetics turbocharger (running as much as 16 pounds of boost) and an intercooler to increase the horsepower from 185 to 583 — at the wheels. Putting all that power to the ground required beefing up the six-speed transmission and installing an ACT clutch.

The interior got a roll cage, racing seat and harness and an aluminum bulkhead. The car rolls on 15×7 steel wheels wrapped in Goodyear rubber. An air dam keeps the front end planted, and a parachute helps bring things to a stop.

Although several people have set records on Suzuki motorcycles, this is the first time a Suzuki automobile has been in the record book.

Photo: Suzuki. Some videos after the jump

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China’s Private Pilots Fly Under The Radar

China’s private aviation industry is growing with some serious regulatory shackles attached. Unfortunately for the growing population of Chinese pilots, there are so many restrictions on flying in the country, many are resorting to flying under the radar, both literally and figuratively.

If you want to fly somewhere in China in your own aircraft, there are many, many hoops to jump through. Requests must be filed days, even weeks in advance. And the requests have to be made in multiple places to keep everybody happy. There’s no chance of just hopping in your plane and flying to a meeting on a moment’s notice.

So instead of dealing with all the red tape, many pilots are simply choosing to fly illegally.

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General Motors Is Going Public

GM’s turnaround is almost complete.

Today the General filed the first reams of paperwork needed to go public, a move that will free the automaker from government ownership and pay back the last of the billions it needed to stay afloat following its bankruptcy last year.

GM’s 700-page S-1 Registration form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission begins the process that will lead to the initial public offering of stock. Although no date has been given for the IPO, analysts tell Reuters it could come as early as October. There also is no word on how many shares might be offered. The company’s stakeholders — including the U.S. Treasury and possibly the United Auto Workers and the Canadian government — will sell common stock. GM also will offer Series B preferred stock.

“The amount of securities offered will be determined by market conditions and other factors at the time of the offering,” the company said.

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As America Grows Fatter, It Burns More Gas

There is no doubt Americans are getting fatter and fatter. The latest stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the number of people identifying themselves as obese grew 1.1 percent — an additional 2.4 million people — between 2007 and 2009. The number of states with an obesity rate of 30 percent or more tripled, to nine, during the same time.

Beyond the myriad health implications of our expanding waistlines comes another side effect: We’re burning more gasoline. As Consumer Reports notes, obesity is prompting more people to buy larger vehicles, which burn more fuel — and emit more CO2.

It cites a 2006 study by Entrepreneur.com that found almost 1 billion gallons of gasoline burned each year can be attributed to passenger weight gain between 1960 and 2002. That’s .7 percent of all fuel burned in passenger vehicles annually. Every one pound increase in average passenger weight boosts annual fuel consumption by more than 39 million gallons.

Another study, conducted last year by Resources for the Future, found that as obesity rates climbed, so too did the number of vans, SUVs and pickups sold — from 16 percent of all vehicles in the 1970s to more than 40 percent in recent years. Granted, part of the increase also can be attributed to the fact such vehicles became more mainstream and suited to daily use.

But the same study found that a 10 percent increase in obesity rates cut the average fuel economy of new vehicles demanded by 2.5 percent. In other words, as our waistlines grew, our concern with fuel economy shrank.

Photo: batgeek / Flickr

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Ambient Lighting Makes Drivers Feel Safer

Automakers are increasingly using gentle ambient lighting inside their vehicles, a trend that not only makes the cabin nicer but could increase safety and consumer perceptions about the quality of the car.

A study by engineers at BMW and the Lighting Engineering Group at Ilmenau University of Technology found ambient lighting improved drivers’ perceptions of a vehicle’s interior. Such lighting, which is offered in an array of colors in a growing number of mid- and high-end automobiles, intensifies spacial perception, enhances the perceived quality of materials and makes drivers feel safer.

The number of light sources inside an automobile has grown tremendously in the past decade, and the trend isn’t expected to slow. Previous studies have shown that distracting and uncomfortable glare is eliminated when luminance is kept below 0.1 cd/m² (candela per square meter, a measure of luminance). Other studies show drivers feel less distraction when they can control the lighting level.

But what does all that ambient light do for the driving experience?

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New York Startup Brings Sharing to Cycling

Car-sharing services are increasingly popular in the United States, particularly in urban areas where it’s more convenient and cost-efficient to borrow a car instead of own one. But many urban dwellers and visitors still find a car impractical because of parking, traffic and other concerns.

Enter bike-sharing services, which slowly but surely are making their way across the United States and Europe. As many cyclists know, bikes have low overhead, they’re good for the environment, they’re good for you and they’re convenient. For those reasons and more, the growing number of bike-sharing services are popular where they are available.

One bike-sharing service getting a lot of attention lately is SoBi, or Social Bikes. The startup, founded by Ryan Rzepecki, approaches bike sharing differently, saving some serious cash upon deployment and giving riders more flexibility.

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Caution: Seattle Speed Limits Subject to Change

Seattle motorists have hopefully noticed that speed limit signs along I-5 now display different numbers depending on traffic volume.

Part of the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Smarter Highways project, the new signs are meant to relieve congestion and also indicate when motorists should merge or when a lane is closed due to construction or an accident.

“This type of information helps prevent the panic braking that causes collisions,” said WSDOT Toll Division Director Craig Stone. “This section of I-5 has a collision every day on average and we expect Smarter Highways to help reduce that.”

While similar signs have popped up on interstates around the country, Washington’s system has regulatory power. Ignore that new speed limit or “lane closed” sign, and you’ll get pulled over.

After a week in action, WSDOT is calling the project a success so far. Speed limits changed minutes after the system was activated on August 10, letting drivers know they should slow down before reaching a patch of slower traffic.

Later, merge arrows routed traffic around a medical emergency. According to WSDOT, “traffic flowed past the incident without sudden braking, last-minute lane changes, stops and collisions.”

We have yet to drive on the stretch of I-5 with the new signs. If you have, let us know how you think they’re working.

Photo: WSDOT / Flickr

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The Seat Belts On The Bus Go Click, Click, Click

Ever since Nils Bohlin invented the three-point safety belt back in 1962, clicking that seat belt has become an everyday life for most Americans. Unless, of course, you’re riding along the highway in a motorcoach.

That might change. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed a requirement that seat belts be installed on all new motorcoaches. The requirement would not apply to school buses and may not apply to used buses.

Despite the motorized seat belt fad of the early ’90s, the “Click It Or Ticket” campaign and even New Hampshire’s comparatively lax “common sense for all” seat belt law, the commercial motorcoaches that ply highways between cities, airports and casinos are still not required to offer seat belts for all passengers.

That’s because traveling by motorcoach is extremely safe. Only 19 fatalities occur on average each year out of 750 million passengers who travel by long-distance bus yearly.

When a crash occurs, most passengers are protected by cushioned, high seat backs which create a zone of protection. However, passengers can still be ejected — and that’s where seatbelts help.

NHTSA estimates that 77% of rollover-related fatalities from motorcoach accidents would be prevented by on-board three-point safety belts, which is why Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote in his Fast Lane blog that putting seatbelts in motorcoaches “just makes sense.” Already, larger carriers have begun ordering buses with belts. For instance, Greyhound estimates that 20% of their fleet will have seat belts by the end of this summer.

The proposed regulation (which is open for public comment until October 18, 2010 and can be read in its entirety in PDF form here) offers 90 pages of commentary and research that support the proposed requirement.

We find it particularly interesting how the DOT weighs costs and benefits in the proposal, and operators of existing buses may end up getting a financial break. The report acknowledges that most older buses are operated by smaller companies that can ill afford the high cost of retrofitting an existing vehicle, and actively seeks comment from interested parties.

Photo: John Vachon / Library of Congress. Passengers at the Greyhound terminal in Washington, D.C. board a bus bound for Richmond, Virginia on the day before Christmas, 1941.

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Students Build World’s Most Efficient Car

A team of high school students has developed what it claims is the most energy-efficient car in the world, an electric vehicle that reportedly gets the equivalent of 300 mpg. The school hopes to have it recognized by the Guinness Book of Records.

As you might have guessed, the students at DeLaSalle Education Center in Kansas City, Missouri school didn’t develop the vehicle on their own. They had help from Bridgestone America, both at the company’s technical center in Ohio and its test track in Texas. The car reportedly achieved the equivalent of 300 mpg during testing there.

The car is built on the chassis of a 2000 Lola Indy, an open-wheeled racer. It has been extensively modified with an ultra-lightweight frame and clear plastic bodywork. The Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 tires increase efficiency by minimizing rolling resistance.

The students built an electric powertrain and made several tweaks to maximize efficiency. Although it’s not exactly a mass-production model, the students hope that the car inspires others to work on the fuel efficiency of more consumer-targeted electric cars.

This story was written by Duncan Geere of Wired UK. We’ll have more in a follow-up story soon.

Photo: DeLaSalle Education Center

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