Archive for October, 2009
The artistic passion and flair of Kia Motors designers are on display at Kia Design Artworks at the 2009 Gwangju Design Biennale
The theme of the Gwangju Design Biennale 2009 is ‘The Clue.’ The event will showcase 1,951 pieces of art by 519 designers and 376 companies from 48 countries. The biennale features exhibitions based on the five themes of clothing, eating, living, enlightenment and enjoyment. It also includes project exhibitions themed ‘Design to Save’, ‘Design to Care’ and ‘Design to Share. Under the direction of Kia’s new-concept art project, Kia designers expressed their ideas based on a wide range of themes.
The 41st Tokyo Motor Show officially opens to the public from October 24 to November 4 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, near Tokyo. It provides a feast of innovative concepts and new production cars from world famous automobile manufacturers.
The Tokyo Motor Show is one of the most well-known auto shows in the world. It began in 1954 and is held every two years with an outstanding success.
Among the participants of Tokyo Motor Show there are such companies as Honda, Suzuki, Toyota, Mazda, Daihatsu, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Yamaha, Harley Davidson, Lotus and others. 109 car and motorcycle manufacturers participate in the 41st Tokyo Motor Show, and 270 passenger cars, electro vehicles and motorcycles are showcased. 39 cars and motorcycles make their world premieres at the show. Main events include test ride programs for passenger cars, motorcycles, and electricity-assisted bicycles.
The wide exposure, colorful design, a full program of exhibitions, a huge number of companies-participants and visitors – all this makes the Tokyo Motor Show 2009 one of the most significant events in the automotive industry.
The Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV is a new-generation concept car under the theme of “The EV: its dawn and future”. This is the brand new Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV, a new car which will be showcased at the Tokyo Motor Show 2009.
The Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV new hybrid-electric system can operate in several modes including pure electro vehicle, series hybrid, parallel hybrid, charging, regenerative, and power supply mode.
At the Tokyo Motor Show 2009, Mazda Motor Corporation will showcase the world premiere of its advanced next-generation engine line-up and automatic transmissions – The Mazda Kiyora concept – providing driving pleasure and environmental and safety features for all customers.
The Mazda Kiyora is a compact concept car that is both extremely eco-friendly and fun-to-drive due to the combination of Mazda’s next-generation direct injection Mazda SKY-G 1.3 engine and new compact and lightweight six-speed Mazda SKY-Drive automatic transmission.
At the Tokyo Motor Show 2009, Toyota Motor Co will show the FT-EV II Concept, a battery-powered microcar that is more radical than the first version of the concept model that was announced at Detroit Show 2009 in January.
The FT-EV II is a compact EV (electric vehicle) designed for short distance travel. What’s amazing about the FT-EV II is that it is “more compact than ultra-compact “iQ” (just 107 inches long), but still with seating for four passengers.
Tokyo Motor Show 2009 will be held for a period of 13 days from October 23 to November 4, 2009. It opens to public from Saturday, October 24. It’s announced that the show theme will be “Fun Driving for Us, Eco Driving for Earth.”
Subaru’s latest prototype model will be displayed to the public for the first time at the upcoming show. Billed as an environmentally-friendly grand touring car, the Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept is a four-passenger hybrid vehicle equipped with gullwing doors.
Nanotechnology is a branch of engineering that deals with design using very small particles and with the manipulation of individual molecules.
Scientists at Rice University have designed the world’s smallest car. The nanocar has a length of 3 nanometers and a width of 2 nanometers. A human hair, by comparison, is about 80,000 nanometers in diameter. The wheels are buckyballs, which consist of 60 atoms pure carbon formed like a sphere.
The world’s largest car-maker Toyota Motor Corporation is planning to bring its small car brand Daihatsu on markets of India, Brazil, Russia and China.
Toyota Motor Corporation and its daughter company Daihatsu (Daihatsu is 51.2% owned by TMC) are going to produce a new Daihatsu brand car.
The small car will be the absolutely new compact car, which will be marketed by both companies. It will be launched in the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011 being built under the codename Entry Family Car (EFC).
The Robot Harvester is designed by industrial designer Olga Kalugina. It is a self driven robot created to scan street territories and shopping centers for trash and accumulate them to the right place for disposal and recycling.
Honda Motor Co develops a new personal mobility devise – first drive system that enables movement in all directions. It was designed to take up the same amount of space as a human being to be safe and unobtrusive enough to mingle with pedestrians.
Key specifications of U3-X experimental model:
- Length – 315 mm
- Width – 160 mm
- Height – 650 mm
- Battery Type – lithium ion battery
- Operation time (fully charged battery) – 1 hour
- Weight – 22 pounds and is small enough to be carried as hand luggage
Honda’s new U3-X experimental vehicle device looks like a unicycle. It has the regular large wheel of a unicycle, which is made up of many tiny motor-controlled wheels, packed inside the bigger wheel. The device can move in any direction, including not only forward and backward, but also directly to the left and right and diagonally, just as in human walking. To move, you lean your body weight the direction you want to go.