Mazda Motor plans the electrification of all its vehicles by the early 2030s, Kyodo News (in Japan) reported, without citing sources. A Mazda spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.
Mazda’s lineup does not currently include any all-electric vehicles, though it sells one hybrid model, a version of its Mazda3.
According to Kyodo, Mazda it will introduce electric powertrain technologies beginning with the 2019 models. .
To catch up with other larger automakers including Nissan Motor, which already market electric cars, Mazda has partnered with Toyota Motor to develop technology.
Mazda has also developed an ultra-efficient compression-ignition gasoline engine, which can be used in hybrids, and plans to incorporate that into its cars from 2019.
Unveiling the new technology last month, Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai said its gasoline, diesel and electric vehicle technologies would “co-exist” in the future.
The automaker, which also specializes in highly-efficient diesel engines, on Thursday launched a new CX-8 model in Japan, which is currently only available as a diesel model.
Other global automakers are planning to shift away from internal combustion engines towards electrification in the coming years.
Volvo said in July that all of its new models from 2019 would use electric motors, while Jaguar Land Rover said this month that it planned to roll out electrification across its lineup from 2020.
And they ask me why I drink . . .
How much you want a bet – 20 years from now……. all the same forces and powers who are today championing electric cars will be all worried about what is happening to the batteries in these electrics…. when they are sitting rotting in the dump…. or even the cost of dismantling and recycling them…. but don’t worry…. the wise all knowing government will be ready with a whole stack of new regulation and taxes….. which the sheep will happily accept as its for the environment…..
(for those who follow – we’ve just been through a cycle here in the UK where 20 years we were being pushed into diesel as its more “green”…. now suddenly we are being taxed as it turns out the wise government has decided they are not as green!)
I just saw an article elsewhere where Mazda was slamming electric cars as ‘coal powered’.
http://jalopnik.com/mazda-would-like-to-remind-you-all-that-electric-cars-a-1802765273
It reminds me of the conversation between the station owner and the manager in O Brother, Where Art Thou? when the managers says they have to most fast on the Soggy Bottom Boys, gotta get a step up on the competition and the owner says Oh yes yes yes, gotta stay up with the competition which always seemed to me he was mocking the manager. Damn keyboard, can’t start another paragraph. It seems as if VW was singled out just because they WERE the #1 automaker and were pushing diesel technology. Toyota has always been in bed with Eloi and probably would like a bigger stake in Tesla. VW simply wasn’t politically correct with the progressive crowd or whatever the hell you want to call them, the deluded bunch seems more accurate or simply communistas. While BO lacked the all out wars the Shrub foisted on us, he seemed to do everything else he could to destroy the country.
69 Cheating Volkswagen Diesels Stolen From Silverdome Parking Lot.
https://consumerist.com/2017/09/13/69-cheating-volkswagen-diesels-stolen-from-silverdome-parking-lot/
What could go wrong for the end user of these types of vehicles. {/sarcasm}
Imagine what could be done if vehicles were designed with a 2,000 lb max weight.
Smaller engines could be used. (less weight to move around)
More fuel efficient vehicles (less weight needs less fuel to move around)
Complex engine designs not required to get every last tenth of MPG improvement.
Could vehicles be as safe as a 3,000 or heavier vehicle?
Everything else being equal no. If more vehicles were lighter this could be a moot point for most drivers. Vehicle safety/integrity is mainly important in the event of a crash with other objects.
More costly materials can be used to maintain higher levels of strength and vehicle integrity, but each person would need to perform a personal cost/benefit analysis. Most people would prefer the safest vehicle that is available at a reasonable cost. Most people have a budget that determines what they can afford and/or buy. I like Porsche Boxster cars, but they are not in my budget.
I have wondered how my 67 Malibu Sport would compare to a new car of that weight in a serious front end wreck.
It had seat belts that I used and so did most of my passengers. No shoulder belt but a seat belt with no tensioners.
Adjust them to your comfort. They had big backing pieces on the underside of the body and they weren’t gonna fail especially since they were 2 inch belts.
That car weighed less than 3400 lbs. It was tough though and flew as far as 100 ft without failure of anything. Now that 100 ft jump was on a bridge seemingly designed for it with a good ramp on either side. I often drove smooth dirt roads with places that seemed like off road racing….that often were. In fact we used to race these roads frequently. Dukes of Hazard didn’t have shit on us since we didn’t fold ours up. I still can’t watch the opening scene where they cut the footage a hair short. .or long as the case may be when that Charger would start folding up as it landed. That hurt me.
I recall seeing a picture of two big rig car haulers out in the woods loaded with 10 identical black TA’s….and they bent worse than Chargers.
I have doubts about 4000lb + new cars being able to take this with their uni body design, and I’m not speaking of the actual car destroying jumps.