The 34th International Motor Show in Barcelona starts ttoday with the unveiling of five new models.

• The Seat Altea Freetrack which unveils the latest TDI engine good for 170 HP and 36 mpg used in other VW brands.
• The new Kia Picanto with 40-plus mpg in 1.0 and 1.3 gasoline, and 1.1 diesel offerings.
• A subcompact wagon, the Peugeot 207 SW which can be equipped with antiparticullate filters
• The Citroën C4 sedan also available with antiparticullate filters for 45-50 mpg diesel engines
• The Opel Corsa GTI, less ecofriendly but a decent grown-up subcompact that is still good for 35mpg. Watch this because GM is bringing Opels to the US as Saturns.

The Motor Show has started with a non-declared war between the Spanish government and car manufacturers. Plans in Spain include the widspreading of biofuels and supporting the CO2 emissions limits coming from the European Union to 140 g/km. In order to incentivate more efficient cars, it was proposed to change the tax system but automakers declined that the current system was good enough. Currently 33 percent of the price of a car in Spain is taxes and tags: 16 percent of VAT (sales tax) and the "license plating" good for an extra 17 percent. The proposal wanted to change that 17 percent according to how the car polluted, from 10 to 30 percent.

Among the 5 introductions, only the Peugeot and the Kia emit less than 140 CO2 g/km. The Seat is good for about 146 and the Citroën, 160 because of the drag the third body adds to the bodywork.

Related:

• The new SEAT Altea Freetrack MPV-CUV

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the Suzuki Ionis fuel-cell concept.

Back in October 2005 when Suzuki first unveiled the Ionis fuel-cell concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, Autoblog covered the news thus, "Let me say this again...Suzuki will NOT be ignored."

Well apparently something is being ignored because the press release I received today says, "Although not intended for production, Ionis gives a glimpse of where Suzuki might soon be heading with eco-friendly production vehicles."

And I have a feeling it's either Suzuki's fuel-cell development, or the Melbourne Motor Show. Surely Suzuki have something new for the show?

The Ionis concept is features a drive-by-wire control system and zero-emissions hydrogen fuel-cells mounted under the floor. Also of interest is the in-car entertainment system that allows passengers to download music via wireless Internet access and to watch satellite TV.

Analysis: You'd have to hope that a company could make some headway with fuel-cells in fourteen months, and while the Melbourne Motor Show is far from the world's largest, it's still a little disappointing that the Ionis concept is all Suzuki can muster for the occasion. Still, it's an interesting beast and perhaps Suzuki will surprise me yet with their progress on fuel-cells.



Related:

• A call to URGE² - Use Renewably Generated Electricity, Efficiently
• Need a chauffer? How about one driving the Nissan X-TRAIL Fuel Cell Vehicle?
• Mazda's RX-8 Hydrogen RE hits the snow and ice for the first time

[Source: Suzuki]

Parveen Batish introduces the Saab BioPower. Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the Saab 9-5 BioPower.

Parveen Batish has recently taken on the role as the director of both Saab and Hummer in Australia - two very different brands with very different focuses. AutoblogGreen sat down with him at the Brisbane Auto Show to ask about the environmental strengths of each brand.

ABG: You are looking at bringing the Saab 9-5 BioPower model to the Australian market and you're expecting that will come on-line sometime later this year?

PB: What we've done at the moment is we've got four demonstrator vehicles here being used by Queensland government and Q-Fleet for a month or so just to see how it reacts to the Australian market. And if those trials go well, and if there is a demand for it, then we're ready to introduce that car. Really, our message is to the government, to the community, to petrol companies, we've broken the chicken and egg situation, we've got the car, what we need now is the fuel.

We can't invest in putting the tanks into the ground, someone else has to do that. We can't invest in bringing ethanol to the bowser, but we're happy to work with anybody. We're working with three or four ethanol producers already and some of them are very close to having the first E85 filling stations. But that's all we can do, is work with them. We've just said to everybody, "look, we've got the product, sell us the fuel."

Interview continues after the jump.

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the BMW 3 Series Convertible.

BMW debuted its new 3 Series Convertible to the Australian public at the Brisbane Motor Show on Friday. Featuring a retractable hard-top roof for the first time, the 3 Series Convertible boasts the fastest operating three-piece retractable hard-top in its class taking just 21 seconds to fold into a compartment behind the rear seats.

Brisbane show-goers are the first to see the new BMW models since their world debut at the North American International Motor Show in Detroit. Set to go on sale in Australia in late March, the 3 Series Convertible comes with the choice of 160 kW 325i straight-six, magnesium-aluminium engine, or the new top-of-the-range all-aluminium Twin Turbo 225 kW six in the 335i.

In discussing green technology with Toni Andreevski, PR & Corporate Communications Manager for BMW Australia, I learnt that BMW, through its dynamic efficiency strategy, have turned to plastic panels to reduce the weight of their vehicles in a bid to simultaneously improve performance and fuel economy. Highlighted in the picture above, this 335i panel is made of plastic for just the second time in a BMW model, the first being in the 6 series. Unlike the 6 series though where the panel is painted separately to the rest of the body and then attached at a later time, BMW have developed a system where they can attach both steel and plastic panels to the frame and paint the entire car in one step while still achieving a completely uniform finish across all the panels.

Mr. Andreevski also highlighted the pitfalls of some current hybrid implementations where boot space is drastically reduced which BMW feel is impractical for their customers. Instead, BMW has been following a dual-burn hydrogen / petrol research strategy alongside development of their current fuel efficient diesel range. As another example of trying to reduce vehicle weight, Mr Andreevski indicated that development is progressing well in producing the hydrogen fuel tanks for the Hydrogen 7 model from aluminium instead of steel to halve their weight from 200 kg / 440 lbs to 100 kg, and later from carbon fibre composites to halve the weight again to 50kg.

Unlike hydrogen concept cars under testing by other manufacturers, Mr. Andreevski was proud to say that the BMW Hydrogen 7 has been produced to full production spec which involves crash testing, incineration tests and even shooting bullets at the hydrogen fuel tank.

Analysis: I can only imagine that painting steel and plastic body panels and achieving a uniform finish must be very difficult. Now that BMW has worked it out, they will be in a position to swap plastic panels in and out as they desire to reduce vehicle weight while still maintaining the ideal 50/50 weight distribution. Lighter cars are faster cars, but they are also more fuel efficient cars as the Hyper Car concept has shown us.

By the way, for the record I found the BMW's iDrive system to be far easier to use than most auto journalists give it credit for.

Full press release for the release of the BMW 3 Series Convertible follows after the jump.



Related:

• eGMCarTech: BMW 5 Series diesel to reach U.S. by 2009
• BMW pumps up 1 Series Down Under with next-gen diesel
• Step right up! How automakers have placed their bets on future powertrain technologies

[Source: BMW]

Click on the image for two high-res images of the BP Ultimate Unleaded GM Holden Monaro.

BP had a display at the Brisbane Motor Show promoting their Ultimate Unleaded high octane fuel as improving performance and so reducing fuel consumption. BP Ultimate Unleaded has an octane rating of 98 in comparison to regular unleaded fuel in Australia has an octane rating of 91. Ultimate Unleaded also has three times less sulphur than regular unleaded plus engine cleaning additives resulting in cleaner emissions and more effective and complete combustion.

BP's display had a modified GM Holden Monaro where half the cylinders of the V8 engine were fed regular unleaded, while the other half were simultaneously fed Ultimate Unleaded. Used fuel intake valves had been removed from the engine to display the build up of carbonaceous deposits on the regular unleaded valves compared to the virtually clean Ultimate Unleaded valves. TVs also displayed video of the inside of the fuel intake manifold where again, the regular unleaded had coated the walls with carbonaceous deposits in comparison to the clean walls of the Ultimate Unleaded manifold.

In terms of actual performance results and fuel efficiency benefits, BP says that "Ultimate Unleaded can give you up to 8.3 percent more power, with an average power gain of 5.9 percent. Ultimate Unleaded can increase fuel economy by up to 4.2 percent with an average benefit of 2.8 percent."

Analysis: BP sells their Ultimate Unleaded product at a significant premium over regular unleaded so buyers need to be convinced of the benefits. Lower sulphur emissions and better performance is a good place to start - after all, 2.8 percent really adds up on millions of barrels of oil.



Related:

• GM Holden Commodore adds duel-fuel option
• Recent drop to $2 gas just might help Detroit's SUV sales, Europe is immune
• Ford, GM clash over best alternative fuel

[Source: BP]