Kia is reportedly considering the use of ultra-capacitors to store electrical energy in the next generation version of its fuel cell vehicle. Ultra caps have an advantage over batteries in that they can absorb and release energy much more quickly. Unfortunately, they don't have as much capacity and are currently much more expensive. There is a lot of work being done on capacitors and EEStor has made claims of tremendous progress. So far, though, EEStor has not publicly demonstrated any prototypes of its capacitors. In its current form, the Sportage FCEV has a range of 235 miles. Interestingly Honda has gone the opposite direction for its fuel cell vehicles. The previous-generation Honda FCX used ultra-caps but those have been replaced by a lithium ion battery in the FCX Clarity.

[Source: The Telegraph]

Well, fancy that. It appears as if Kia will have more than one hybrid on display at the upcoming Paris Motor Show. We already knew to expect a hybrid version of the cee'd five door hatch, and now we get word that the Soul will get some hybrid lovin' too. In addition to the gas/electric model, the regular Soul is also expected to be in attendance. We're not quite sure yet what's underhood of the cee'd hybrid, but Kia's gone and made things a bit easier to decipher on the Soul by placing a transparent hood on the concept, along with a clear floor so that passers-by can clearly see all that goes into making a mini hybrid 'ute. A 1.6-liter four cylinder engine is paired with a 15kW electric motor and both send power through a CVT transmission to the front wheels. The result? Forty-eight miles per gallon and CO₂ emissions of just 117 g/km - pretty good for a vehicle in this class.

[Source: Autoweek]

Kia is said to be set to show off a hybrid version of its cee'd hatchback, which is available in many countries that are not named the United States. This isn't the first hybrid that the Korean automaker has developed; the hybrid Rio gets that honor. In the past, Kia officials have indicated that it will unveil a hybrid Elantra for its home market sometime in 2009. Following a year later will be a hybrid version of its Sonata mid-sizer, which we are expected to see at the upcoming L.A. Auto Show later this year.

So far, we don't have many details on the cee'd hybrid, though some are saying it will be a production model for Europe by 2010 after being shown at the Paris Motor Show next month. The car will apparently sport a gasoline engine underhood to go along with whatever hybrid system the automaker is using. We like the look of the interior (pic available at the source link), with its digital-look gauges and what appears to be some sort of "eco-gauge" at the far right. More details when we get them. Thanks for the tip, Miha.

[Source: Kia-World]

It's back to school season and, since buses aren't available everywhere, for some people it's time to drive the kids to their classes. With all those important soccer football matches games, swimming lessons and family escapes on long weekends, you need a vehicle with enough seats for your children and a place to keep all their gear. Minivans tend to be heavier than sedan counterparts, not only because of size, but because they have the latest security additions available. But can you keep your mileage high while driving such vehicles and reduce your emissions? For European minivans, the keys include keeping the vehicles compact, developing them from compact cars and using diesel powertrains. Follow us past the jump for a look at what the European market has to offer.

[Source: Auto News]

Earlier this week when Hyundai America product development VP John Krafcik revealed that the company would unveil a hybrid version of the Sonata at the LA Auto Show, some of the PR people in the room seemed to be caught by surprise. Now the Chairman of the Hyundai-Kia Auto group, Mong-Koo Chung has confirmed that and more. Over on the Kia Buzz blog, the chairman has affirmed production of a hybrid version of the Elantra in Korea in 2009 followed by a mid-size hybrid (namely the Sonata) in 2010. Mong seems to think that more environmentally-friendly cars actually make business sense judging from this comment "low-carbon, environmentally friendly cars represent a high value-added industry of the future that will promote sustainable growth." The ability to offer more efficient, less polluting vehicles are expected to actually be a selling point as fuel prices and environmental concerns increase.

Going beyond the hybrids, Hyundai and Kia intend to continue pushing forward with fuel cell technology as well. The group wants to commercialize hydrogen vehicles beyond the 66 vehicles they have running in the field today. The company plans to expand the field test fleet to 500 vehicles by 2010 and begin series production in 2012. Mong hasn't indicated where the company plans to sell these vehicles and how customers will get fuel.

[Source: Kia Buzz]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Escape Hybrid

Girls Girlz, are you in the market for a new sport utility? If you are looking for help from your parental units, consider checking out this article from Carz4Girlz on how to show your parents that you need that Escape hybrid to save on gas. Not only does the world's first hybrid SUV (which has gained a few siblings since its introduction) get very good fuel mileage (in the thirties) in comparison to its leading competitors, it also uses recycled materials in its interior. Take a look at our driving impressions of the latest Escape and Escape hybrid here.

But what is you want an SUV but your 'rents just can't swing the extra scratch for a hybrid? The other recommendations from the Girlz are to opt for the Kia Sportage, which in V6/automatic guise returns just 17-mpg city and 21-mpg highway, or the Honda CR-V, which does better at 20 in the city and 26 on the highway with an automatic. We say stick with the hybrid.

[Source: The Auto Channel]

Kia has released the specifications for the new Forte, the Korean marque's new compact sedan. While the car is slightly larger the current Spectra (wider by 65 mm and 25 mm longer), the announced specs manage to reduce fuel consumption.

In its home market in South Korea, the Forte will have two powertrains available, one gasoline and one diesel, spotting the same engine size, 1.6 liters. The gasoline version will have 124 HP and produces 159 lb/ft of torque. Mated to the automatic transmission, it will provide 33 mpg or 7.1 l/100 km, which improves the Hyundai Elantra's fuel economy (a close corporate relative) by 15 percent. Regarding diesel, the engine has 128 HP and will reach mileage of 39 mpg (or 6.1 l/100 km). A 2.0 liter will follow on directly, and may be the only engine we get in the US when the Forte arrives on North American highways and byways in 2009.


[Source: Kia World]

So-called "Eco driving" lamps are nothing new in many cars, but somehow they have never been included in any Korean cars until now. Kia has just launched an updated version of the Optima sedan and it features a lamp that changes colors within the speedometer. In a post on the Kia Buzz blog, Hyun Jin Cho of the company's Sustainability Management Team discusses the techniques that drivers can use to save fuel. Most of these are pretty obvious but bear repeating such as go with the flow of traffic, avoid hard acceleration and check your tire pressures regularly. To help drivers achieve maximum fuel efficiency, Kia is adding the ECO lamp that glows red when you're driving too aggressively, white when driving in a typical fashion and green when ... well, you know what that means.

Kia recently did a test where they had 100 drivers take out ten of its cars on a four-mile loop. After the first loop, the drivers were shown how to take advantage of the ECO lamp and subsequently improved their fuel efficiency by 10-20 percent. It's nothing new but it certainly is worth repeating that that providing drivers with some feedback on their behavior can help to reduce fuel consumption.

[Source: Kia]

Do you have a small family and a dog? For many Europeans in that or a similar situation, station wagons are the ride of choice, despite the SUV and minivan craze. Buying a station wagon often means that you're buying a fuel efficient vehicle which can carry lots of stuff, and some of these vehicles can even seat seven. The key to an fuel-saving family hauler is finding that elusive combination of being compact in size, roomy inside and fitted to a efficient powertrain. Compact minivans, SUVs and CUVs sometimes fit these qualifications, as we discussed when we posed a list of European fuel saving people carriers. That list included some station wagons that seat seven, and today's list expands on that and shows the 20 most fuel-efficient station wagons on sale in Europe. Don't think all of them are made by European automakers. Find the full list after the jump.

Here in the United States, consumers who fill up their fuel tanks are just now beginning to see the type of pain that Europeans have seen at the pump for years. Reactions to the recent rises in gasoline and diesel fuel are pretty much what you would expect, with new car purchasers eschewing gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient models left and right. Even manufacturers have gotten into the game, offering low cost fuel for up to three years in Chrysler's case, or giving gasoline away for free for a few months, as Suzuki has done.

These same manufacturers, though, are not planning on such tactics in Europe, where the trend has been towards smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles for a long time now. Only Kia is considering fuel incentives at all, according to Auto Express. Even here in the states, the cheap gas ploy has seen decidedly underwhelming response, so we don't expect to see many manufacturers opt for this type of incentive much in the future. Just building more fuel efficient cars in the first place seems to make much sense, wouldn't you say?

[Source: Auto Express]

At the Madrid Motor Show this week, Kia is showing off its latest entry in the low CO₂ derby with the eco_cee'd hatchback. With power coming from 1.6L diesel that automatically shuts off whenever the vehicle is not in motion, the oddly named eco_cee'd is claimed to improve the standard cee'ds 50mpg (U.S.) to 60.3mpg (U.S.). The new variant also goes from a 5 to 6 speed gearbox, adds low rolling resistance tires and the usual array of aero tweaks that get added to such low carbon specials. So far, this one is a concept but a production version is likely before long. The 104g/km CO₂ will appeal to drivers in the growing number of cities that are imposing emissions based taxes and congestion charges.

[Source: AutoCar]

The Kia cee'd is the first Korean car to earn a TÜV environmental certificate. The certificate means that the car is made following the ISO 14040 and ISO 14062 norms, showing that the process of designing the car took its environmental impact into consideration.

The ISO 14062 standard relates to the integration of environmental aspects into the design and development of a vehicle, as well as how recyclable the car is. The ISO 14040 standard, which measures the ecological balance of a car, considers the environmental impact of a vehicle through its entire lifecycle, from production to the end of its life. It also takes in consideration the efforts made to save fuel and reduce CO₂ emissions, as well as the type of materials used. The Mercedes 2008 C-Class was also awarded the TÜV certificate.

[Source: Kia via Auto-News]

In the process of creating and building the Kia cee'd, Kia has won two environmental certificates from the well-known German institution TÜV. At a ceremony in Seoul, Korea on Friday, TÜV gave Kia DFE (Design for Environment) and a LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) certificates for the way Kia is building the cee'd in Zilina, Slovakia. The DFE award certifies that the car was environmentally designed and developed. The LCA takes a broader look, and is given to vehicles that have a lower lifetime environmental impact. TÜV certificates for green cars are not often awarded; when the 2008 Mercedes C-Class won a similar certificate from TÜV last year, it was just the second such certificate for a car, ever.

The Pro cee'd is seen in the photo above. More details on Kia's awards after the jump.

Kia's primary reputation in the US is for building inexpensive basic transportation. However, back in the home market of South Korea, Kia has been working with corporate siblings Hyundai on a variety of alternative fuel vehicles. Kia Strategic Planner Hyun Jin Cho has a post on the Kia Buzz blog about some of the company's projects. Even before getting gobbled up by Hyundai a decade ago, Kia was actually the first Korean manufacturer to build an electric vehicle with a battery-powered van called the Besta. Since their affiliation with Hyundai, Kia engineers have been involved in fuel cell research and part of the combined company's hydrogen test fleet includes several Sportage SUVs. The current version of the FCEV Sportage has a 215-mile range with 5,000psi compressed hydrogen on board. Nearer term, Kia has built a number of hybrid vehicles that have been running in test fleets since 2005. A production version is planned for a 2009 retail launch. One project not mentioned but likely to first hit the U.S. market will actually be a new diesel V-6 destined for the Borrego in 2010. We got a look at that engine in January at the Detroit Auto Show and it's currently being tested at the Hyundai Kia Tech Center near Ann Arbor MI.

[Source: Kia Buzz]

Better known for their two-for-one sales and mechanical issues, I was surprised to hear about the crash safety rating awarded to the Kia Optima in the most recent round of tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Optima scored better than its competitors, namely, the Chevrolet Malibu, Dodge Avenger, Infiniti G35, Mitsubishi Galant, Nissan Altima, and Saturn Aura in all but the side impact evaluation. Here, the Optima's score was greatly improved from previous iterations. In the most-frequent-to-occur accident, the rear crash, the Kia was the only one the achieve the highest rating of "good". These results aren't spread out evenly amongst the entire Kia line-up, however, as the Sedona minivan seems far superior to the Sportage not-so-cute "mini-ute".

Now, I know what you're thinking, "But what about the H3 Hummer? That thing's built like an Kia-crushing tank." It turns out the H3 makes a lousy Kia crusher. It received a poor rating for rear crashes and only acceptable for front and side impacts. If a crushed tibia is acceptable. Talk about adding injury to 13 miles per gallon of insult.

I would suggest spending some quality time at the Institute's website before making a decision on any vehicular purchase. Hit the jump if you are interested in seeing the mid-sized sedans meeting their demise and you can check out all the details from the press release.