Peugeot Hybrid Air launched at Geneva
One of the most interesting unveilings at this year’s Geneva Motor Show was the new Peugeot Hybrid Air – a car that promises to really shake things up in the automotive industry.
While the Hybrid Air doesn’t run entirely on air (it’s actually coupled with a petrol engine), Peugeot say that their new compressed air hybrid is set to overtake its electric-powered rivals, like the Toyota Prius, when it gets its official release in 2016.
Peugeot claim their new car is ‘an innovative full-hybrid gasoline solution. An important step towards the 21/100 km car by 2020’. And looking at some of the figures, it’s easy to see why they’re so excited about it.
With no need to include an electric motor, or find space for a lithium-ion battery, the car will be cheaper to buy (estimates are currently around the £17,000 mark), and it’ll also create extra savings with an impressive fuel economy of about 81 miles per gallon.
Peugeot also say their new hybrid is capable of achieving a 45% saving in consumption in city driving, and offer a 90% increase in range when compared to conventional engines.
You can read more about how the innovative new hybrid engine works on Peugeot’s website, where they give a more detailed account about its inner workings and projected fuel savings.
Is driving getting cheaper?
To reach the proposed target of CO2 emissions, the European Commission has recently proposed a new 95g/km CO2 limit in a bid to reach an overall CO2 reduction of 60% by 2050.
While the limit is set to increase the price of a new car purchase by approximately £860, research conducted by Cambridge Econometrics and Ricardo-AEA (a leading international energy and environmental company) has shown that motorists could stand to recover this £860 in less than three years.
The new CO2 limit actually increases fuel economy by 25%, which would allow for savings of roughly £350 each year in fuel. This would mean that, over the course of a car’s serviceable life, the average motorist could save up to £3,300.
The new proposed CO2 limit might be good news for motorists, but we wonder about how the manufacturers will fare, and what effect the proposed limit could have on the automotive market.
Looking for a space?
It’s been used in a number of American cities for a while now, but the Parker app – an award-winning application that allows you to quickly spot vacant parking spaces – is being trialled by Manchester City Council.
The app works by utilising sensors which are placed in the parking spaces themselves, so that once a car moves off, the user is then alerted that a space as become available. And the Parker app also comes with the added bonus of being able to tell you where you parked, just in case you managed to forget – which happens to us all at some point!
With its complicated one-way system, Manchester city centre has always been difficult to navigate – and motorists slowing to a near standstill to check for parking spaces on every corner has only made things worse.
We’ll have to wait 6 months to see how successful the app is in reducing congestion, but we guarantee that there will be other local authorities keeping a close watch on its development.
Find out more about the Parker app.Posted in Auto Shows, Blog, New Car Launches, Road Safety
