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| Click to enlarge |  | Volkswagen EcoRacer
Photo: Robert J. Pennington | | | Click to enlarge |  | Subaru B5 TPH Hybrid System
Photo: Bruce Whitaker | | | advertisement | | | | Click to enlarge |  | Toyota FINE-X
Photo: Robert J. Pennington | |
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| Click to enlarge |  | Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrd
Photo: Perry Stern | |
Visitors to the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show couldn't help but notice them.
More than a dozen vehicles with environmentally friendly technology are at this year's show, reflective of a growing concern by consumers and many automakers about the impact that vehicles are having on the Earth.
Mazda showed the world's first rotary engine mated to an electric motor in a new concept version of its RX-8 four-seat sports car. Mazda also displayed a family minivan that can operate on either gasoline or hydrogen. This Mazda Premacy concept van, which is being tested, also has some hybrid characteristics.
Honda illustrated that fuel-cell cars no longer have to look like awkward, five-door hatchbacks, which is the shape many of the early fuel-cell vehicles have taken. Thanks to some downsizing of fuel-cell components, Honda's latest FCX concept fuel-cell car is an elegantly styled four-door model with comfortable passenger room, an airy glass roof and a lower center of gravity for improved handling. It also features a hydrogen-absorbing fuel tank that has improved fuel capacity, pushing Honda's fuel-cell car's range to 350 miles, which is close to some conventional vehicles today.
Toyota's Fine-X concept fuel-cell car, meantime, took maneuverability to a new level by incorporating an electric motor into each of its four wheels. Combined with narrow tires and a large-angle steering system, this four-seat hatchback can rotate on the spot and pivot to get into parking spots unlike any conventional auto.
For the first time, Subaru mated a turbocharged boxer, four-cylinder engine to an electric motor in a new, sporty, hybrid concept car called the B5-TPH.
And Mercedes-Benz showed its latest fuel-cell car. The compact F 600 HYGenius five-door hatchback not only has no emissions out of its tailpipe, it makes use of the onboard electric power created by the fuel cell to keep drinks in the cupholders warm and adjust the driver seat in new, innovative ways.
Current and Future Models
These and other futuristic "green" car concepts join many of today's state-of-the-art "green" cars that are already available for sale.
Honda's FCX, for example, was in front of the new-generation Honda Civic Hybrid sedan that derives its power via a small four-cylinder gasoline engine mated to an electric motor. The result is a five-passenger sedan that mixes and matches the use of gas and electric power to extend traveling range and maximize mileage. Posters hung around the show hall pictured the Civic Hybrid and proclaimed it was "Civic on Earth."
Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal at www.greencar.com, said the Tokyo show, which for years has been a showcase for fuel-saving technology, has stepped up the effort noticeably this year.
There seemed to be a message: Many automakers are more aggressively seeking ways to reduce vehicle impacts on the planet.
Wide Views of Fuel Efficiency
Recent global events shaped the backdrop of the show.
Officials were aware of rising oil prices around the world. The prices have been prodded upward recently by growing oil demand in industrializing China. Hurricanes that disrupted supplies in the United States in late summer also spotlighted the vulnerability of the auto industry's main fuel source.
Add in ever more stringent pollution requirements in countries around the world, including China, and worries about global warming, and it was evident that green technology is a growing trend, not a fad. For example, industry officials at the show talked about sustaining the auto industry for the long term with the green technology by reducing pollution and making better use of oil, which is a non-renewable resource.
As Dave Hermance of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. put it, "We want to sell cars for a long time into the future. So we have to minimize our impact for the good of the long-term business."
Ben Knight, who oversees research and development at American Honda, said officials at his company have "always focused on fuel efficiency" as part of an engineering-based culture. He said Honda engineers continue to do so with research on a variety of technologies besides fuel cell.
Indeed, in a separate interview, Takeo Fukui, president and chief executive officer of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. in Japan, said there are still more fuel efficiencies to develop from the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE).
"It's totally wrong if you think there's no more evolution of this [ICE] technology," he said. "We can continue developing [new ICE technology] . . . Honda never gives up in this area. In the next three years, Honda will [have] a new-generation VTEC engine."
The current four-cylinder VTEC engine, now known as i-VTEC, has resulted in both better gas mileage and power performance.
Meantime, Tom Carney, sales and marketing director at American Suzuki Motor Corp., said higher fuel prices have been bringing more shoppers to Suzuki dealers in the U.S. He attributed it to Suzuki's long reputation as the maker of small cars, which because of their lightweight, small dimensions, are typically thriftier with their fuel. "The definition of an SUV is it's almost becoming a four-letter word," Carney said. As he spoke, Suzuki showed its Ionis fuel-cell concept car nearby. The Ionis is a minicar—smaller than most other fuel-cell concepts—and illustrates that even hydrogen needed for a fuel cell doesn't have to be wasted in a larger-than-necessary vehicle.
Two Directions?
The Green Car Journal's Cogan noted that fuel-efficient technology is being used to address two types of issues: Fuel savings and improved performance.
For example, at hybrid leader Toyota, the Prius is marketed as a fuel-efficient, midsize, five-door car.
But the Lexus GS 450h, which was on display in Tokyo, will be marketed as a performance-oriented, high-tech, gas-electric hybrid sedan for luxury car buyers. Lexus spokesman Bill Ussery said independent tests have clocked the GS 450h moving from 0 to 60 miles an hour in just over 5 seconds. This is sports car territory.
Cogan noted that green technology gives car companies an opportunity to do more than save fuel and reduce pollution. As the GS 450h shows, they can use it to boost a driver's enjoyment of a vehicle, too.
Another example in Tokyo was Volkswagen's EcoRacer concept. Because of a carbon fiber body that reduces the vehicle's weight to just 1,873 pounds and a new-generation, fuel-sipping turbodiesel engine, the EcoRacer roadster is an example of "the most economical sports car [in terms of fuel] of its time," according to the company. The bright yellow two-seater can get up to 142 mph, yet achieves 69 miles a gallon and can travel more than 621 miles on a tank of fuel.
Ann Job is an automotive freelance writer.
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