It may surprise you, but as the Melbourne Motor Show draws to a close, I'm feeling thoroughly disappointed. Not for the fact that it's finished, and that there now won't be another one in Melbourne until 2011 - I'm disappointed because there wasn't a whole lot to see.I mean, yes, there were some important new releases, some great new eco-friendly technology, but ultimately, the appeal of something like a Motor Show is the variety of cars on show. That was missing this year - this is probably due to a multitude of reasons, the most important of which involves words like "economic" and "crisis". The spaces between cars was huge this year, and it felt almost empty. Not empty of people, but of cars. There is still strong public support for the Motor Show, as there has been for some years now, but this time, the carmakers just didn't rock up to the party. Perhaps this is why the Melbourne Motor Show has been rescheduled to every two years - Motor Show organisers want everyone to turn up.

There were so many quite important carmakers that were a no show that they were almost impossible to count. Not that it stopped me. I counted a total of 17 carmakers that ordinarily, would have been there, but were in fact absent. Count them if you don't believe me.

I certainly mourned Alfa Romeo, not just for the cars, but the seemingly mandatory sexy models in shiny red dresses. Instead, we had blonde bimbos in skimpy frills attempting to glamourise Toyotas. Not as satisfying.

Of course, American carmakers like Chrysler and Dodge and Jeep were absent, obviously because they are more strapped for cash than a boarding university student (and come from the same broke parent company). I didn't really miss them as much, coincidentally. Inexplicably, Hummer managed to get one solitary H3 under the lights of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. Why Lord, why? I did miss Citroen, however. I was very much keen to explore the insides and outs of the new C5, and fall in love with the C4's dash design (and 3-door hatchback) all over again.

In the sports car arena, both Ferrari and Maserati were missing, leaving only Lamborghini to wave the flag for exotic Italian carmakers. I have also been waiting for Aston Martin to turn up for what seems like an eternity - the last time they showed was 2007, from memory. Any glimpse of a DB9 is absolutely worth every cent of the entry ticket price.

Fiat wasn't there, which I was annoyed by - I was having fun guessing what accessories they would have on display in their 500 demo car. Fashionistas would have been further disappointed by Mini and Smart, as they too failed to show. Even Land Rover decided they'd give the 2009 Melbourne show a miss.

Probably the most significant were Jaguar and the venerable Mercedes-Benz - while the absence of Jaguar is easily explained (they were struggling before the world economy went into self-destruct mode) but Mercedes remains a mystery. Perhaps this is a by-product of rapidly falling sales in premium segments? Not even Volvo made a showing, and they had the new XC60 to promote.

So you would think that a less luxurious brand such as, say, Proton, would be there instead? Nope, wrong again. No Ssangyong either, which surprised me - they usually have a much bigger stand than what they deserve.

If you had never been to the Motor Show before, you'd be forgiven for thinking these carmakers didn't exist. But they do, and it's a greater sign than ever that they're in some financial strife. I would suggest to buy cars from them (not Proton and Ssangyong, idiot) - not only will it help to inject cash into these struggling carmakers, it will be lighter on your wallet. At some manufacturers, some cars are being sold for frankly ridiculously low prices, so take advantage of it.

So even though I'm going to hold a grudge against these carmakers for not turning up to Melbourne 2009, I'm suggesting that we support them by buying their products. I'm a bit of a hypocrite sometimes, aren't I?

MELBOURNE 2009: Wrap-up

From some of your responses to my recent article about the Subaru Stella on show in Melbourne, I guessed that you may think I'm the usual middle-aged car-nut. Apparently, I hate the environment, and electric cars. Clearly, these people can't read.

As I said in that article, I love electric cars. Not ones like the Subaru Stella, though. I prefer ones that actually are a significant step toward sustainable and environmentally friendly motoring. Like this Mitsubishi iMiEV. And guess what? It's coming to a showroom near you. This is the good parts you need to know:

The Mitsubishi iMiEV may only have a 47kW motor, but with 180Nm it will have impressive acceleration, and it has a healthy top speed of 130kmh. If you don't believe that those figures are enough to provide "normal" acceleration, you only need to consider that the iMiEV weighs just over a tonne - 1080kg. It's plenty, trust me. Power comes from Lithium-ion batteries, and can give the iMiEV a range of 160km, which is more than enough for most daily commutes, or your lazy Sunday drive. Recharging the batteries at the end of the day takes between 7-14 hours from flat to fully charged, depending on your power source. That may sound like a lot, but most of the time, it won't take that long to fully charge it, because it won't be fully flat to start with, if you know what I mean. Putting it on charge overnight will do just fine.

So what are the downsides, assuming there are any? Yes, there are, but crucially, as I would like to point out, they are not as significant as they are with the Stella. Like the Stella, the iMiEV is expensive. At $30,000, it may be a seriously hefty price premium for a car that is only 3.4 metres long (a whole half a metre shorter than the Colt, which isn't a huge car to start with), but nevertheless, I must commend the iMiEV for putting environmentally friendly motoring within the financial reach of a lot of people. Not everyone, admittedly, and a car this small may not be practical for some people, but the iMiEV is highly space-efficient, since it is an electric adaptation of the hugely successful Mitsubishi i (which sadly isn't sold here).

Yes, it does have some limitations, but the Mitsubishi iMiEV is a huge step in the right direction, and one that is useable for an average Joe like me, everyday. That's a win-win. I can only hope that the Australian public take to it warmly, which will encourage other car makers to bring their new, high-tech electric cars to Australia.

MELBOURNE 2009: Mitsubishi iMiEV is Electrifying

When the Motor Show comes to my home town, you just know I'm going to go all out. This is the first of a series of articles about the Melbourne Motor Show - not a large Motor Show by world standards, but this year, there are more new unveilings and locally relevant cars and concepts on show than ever before. For those of you who are international (not Australian) readers, don't worry - most of these articles will be highly relevant to you too.

So I've started with the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic - which is already sold in the UK, but will soon arrive here in down under. This is one of the most important cars of the Motor Show this year, because, crucially, the Fiesta ECOnetic aims to be the most economical car available in Australia when it launches later this year. How economical is it? Try just 3.7 Litres of diesel per 100 km, and on the environmental front, less than 100 grams of CO2 emissions per kilometre. Which, in Australia - where the hyper-economical cars of Europe are currently not available - is a revelation. Definitely beats the Toyota Prius for green-credentials, anyway, which is fine with me, because I don't like it very much.

The crucial difference between the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic and the aforesaid Prius is clearly price. The ECOnetic is set to be priced at around $20,000 - which makes helping the environment within the reach of so many people. This is the way we have to save the environment until the electric cars arrive - not wacky hybrids that are ugly, environmentally unfriendly to make, and aren't particularly efficient. This car even has a decent amount of power - 66kW and 200Nm, if you please. There seems to be no downside to the ECOnetic, because not only is it economical, it is a real car, and has real performance, and a price-tag that is well and truly in the real world. And if the Fiesta ECOnetic sells well, Ford might also bring the Focus ECOnetic and Mondeo ECOnetic to Australia, which sounds like it's exactly what the doctor ordered.

Greenies, start your engines. Turbo-diesel engines, I mean.

MELBOURNE 2009: Ford Fiesta ECOnetic Slaps Hybrids in the Face

Swiss firm Rinspeeed are a kind of odd-ball company that like to push the envelope. A lot. For instance, last year, they created a car that you could drive through water. Not just on the sea bed, but actually through the water, just like a fish. Just Google "Rinspeed sQuba Concept" to see for yourself. So when one of the biggest Motor Shows in the world came to a home-country city, they went all out. This bizarre looking car actually changes body shape, depending on how many passengers the car has to take.

Now I've been studying these pictures for a good half-hour now, and have been reading the Rinspeed press release, but I still don't really understand how it works. Here's my theory. Basically, the rear of the car, including the rear wheels, slides out, increasing the wheelbase of the car, even though the glass area (the roof) doesn't change. So I'm slightly doubtful about the amount of extra room this system provides. If there is no extra cabin space for extra passengers, what is the point of the extra length, and how does this car swallow more passengers, anyway?

Probably more relevant to today's automobile industry is the fact that this car is an electric sports car, which weighs only 1050kg, goes from 0-100kmh in just four seconds, and has batteries that recharge using solar power collected from panels in the roof. Yes, it's wierd, but it's interesting all the same.

GENEVA 2009: Rinspeed iChange Shapeshifter

The last couple of WTF?! articles have been about stuff that really has been, well... kinda cool. Now it's no more Mr. Nice Guy. It's time to bring you more of the wierdest cars in the universe. And they don't come wierder than this. Quite a lot of electric powered concept cars are poor excuses for a car. But this concept, from the greatest minds of Kyoto university, no less, takes the cake. Because this electric car, which weighs only 60 kilograms and has a grand total of one seat, is made from panda food. I'm not joking.The BamGoo, as it's unfortunately called, is made almost entirely from bamboo, and would make a perfect culinary snack for a hungry panda. The significance of it is that bamboo is one of the fastest growing materials on earth, making it, uh... thoroughly renewable. Forget the crash test safety, the fact is looks like a tumbleweed, and the car's odd tendency to blow over in a mild wind - this thing can go a total of 50 kilometres on one charge!!! That's incredible... NOT.Even the woman in the picture below looks pretty embarassed. And so she should be - this is probably the dumbest and most impractical green car that's been created for quite a while, which is saying quite a lot. I've said it looks like poo, I've said it looks like a tumbleweed, but I've finally realised what it really looks like - this is a peanut on wheels.

WTF?! #8: The BamGoo That Looks Like a Poo

I've given quite a few updates on the new Mazda3, which is due for release in April - and rightly so, because in my opinion, it will be the most important new model of 2009. But now we finally have pictures of the best Mazda3 of them all - the turbocharged Mazda3 MPS. And something random called the Mazda3 i-stop. But M, P and S are three letters we like very much.Although Mazda has revealed that it will not be making a turbocharged MPS variant of the current Mazda6, it has gone ahead with the Mazda3, citing the recent successes of such cars as the Volkswagen Golf GTi as a reason why the MPS is a good business strategy. But seemingly, Mazda have set their sights far higher than the Golf GTi - Mazda are very obviously pitting this MPS as an Subaru Impreza WRX killer.

And when you look at it in comparison to the dowdy new WRX hatch, it certainly does. If I were to describe how well the WRX is killed, I would describe a process involving meat cleavers, dismemberment and eating wobbly bits for breakfast. We only have three pictures of the MPS before it's shown at the Geneva Motor Show in March, but what I see I like very much. A wicked rear spoiler, aggressive yet complementary bodykit, and a huge bonnet scoop (though probably fake) are some of the many highlights. It even features a cool little "MPS" badge on the front grille. Speaking of the front grille, it has been well documented in this blog that I'm not a big fan of the new "big mouth" grille, although here in the MPS, it somehow manages to look just right. The proportions indicate a wide stance and a decidedly unholy attitude.And that really is what the Mazda3 MPS is about - attitude. It's something that the new WRX lacks. In terms of performance, the MPS has everything covered, despite carrying over the 2.3 litre turbocharged MZR engine from the previous model (albeit with a few tweaks). Still, there's a lot to be said for the previous model's figure of 190kW, and you can also expect a 0-100kmh time of about 6 seconds flat. I say this because the new MPS would be bucking the trend of current Mazdas if it was heavier than the previous model, which I doubt.
But because "being seen to be green" is the order of the day at the moment, Mazda have announced news of a new fuel saving technique, called i-stop. Why "i-stop"? I dunno, maybe because it stops the use of the letter "i"... look, it's an odd name, and I don't get it either, but what you need to know is that it is a new engine technology that will eventually be used on all the proletarian 2.0 Litre Mazda3s, and will increase efficiency and economy by 12 percent, which on a Mazda3, will be about one Litre every 100km. If I put it that way, it doesn't sound like much, but with i-stop, the Mazda3 will become pretty much the most economical car in its class, which is far more impressive.
And of course, Mazda are boasting about the fact both the 2.0 Litre i-stop engines and the turbocharged MPS meet tough Euro V emissions standards, which mean that they don't release more than 0.5g of Carbon Monoxide and 0.08g of Nitrous Oxides (stuff that makes acid rain) into the air per kilometre. These Euro V emissions will be in force by September this year, so it's nice that Mazda have been proactive about it.It remains to be seen when i-stop will make its way onto cars here in Australia, but nevertheless, it's more evidence that the car industry is trying to turn itself as green as possible... and make a cunning marketing strategy out of it at the same time.

NEWS: 2010 Mazda3 MPS and i-stop

This is the first teaser picture of the Opel Ampera, Opel's version of the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, and is to be fully revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March. But of course, it is a teaser picture, and reveals nothing because of artistically dimmed light - until IN YOUR FACE digitally enhanced the image, creating this exclusive new vision of Opel's new electric headliner.

The essentials of the Ampera are pretty much the same as the Volt - you get a 65km fully electric range, and when that is all used up, a petrol combustion engine kicks in to charge the lithium-ion battery. It's called "Voltec", but whatever. This car's more environmentally than any Prius, and that rocks. From this picture, we can see that when it comes to shape, the Ampera is pure Volt - but with a drastically altered face. Actually, that's a lie. It appears to be drastically altered, but on closer inspection, we can see that the headlights remain unchanged. But the overall look is very different, so I call that a success.

In fact, we've seen this face before, on the Opel Flextreme Concept of 2007 - which was also an electric car - so I've provided a picture of that too, so you can get a better idea of how the Ampera will look. I realise that this picture of the Flextreme is an illustration, but in this illustration, the alloys of the Flextreme have been lifted and plopped right onto the Ampera, heightening the visual connections.

More importantly for us Aussies, the Ampera is the first look at what the Holden version of this stunning electric car might look like - replace the Opel badge with a Holden one, because the word on the wire is that Holden will take this instead of the Chevrolet version.

And providing it's priced well enough, I'm sure I'll put my money where my mouth is. I would buy an Ampera, that's for sure - I've been a petrolhead for too long, I reckon. It's about time I became an electrichead.

NEWS: Opel Ampera Set To Make Chevy Volt Sexy

I like green cars - I like cars that are environmentally friendly, but I've never really like the Toyota Prius. Why? Other Prius-haters cite figures of fuel consumption that apparently aren't that economical, some people say a European diesel is more efficient, Toyota has been accused of halting greencar progress, etc. - but I'm a lot more simplistic. I believe that the latest generation of green cars should be accessible to the wider world, not just green fanatics - green cars should become the "people's car" of the new millenium. But average joes don't want to drive something that looks like my bathroom soap and pretends to be too technologically advanced for simple minds like mine. In this way, the Prius' appeal is limited, and it's environmental impact (although debatable, anyway...) remains limited. Which is sad, and it almost seems like Toyota does this on purpose - the Honda FCX Clarity doesn't look bad, neither does the Chevy Volt (well, it looks more normal than the Prius does, at least give me that). But anyway, this is the new, 2010 Toyota Prius. Basically the story is "more of the same". The new model does refine the concept slightly however.

It doesn't get lithium-ion battery technology like the Chevrolet Volt (the Toyota remains with nickel-hydride), but it has become even more fuel efficient, even though the 1.5 Litre petrol engine has been upsized to a more powerful 1.8 Litre. Hopefully now the Prius won't be as slow as we remember it was, but Toyota won't speculate on exact efficiency figures just yet - I will keep you posted. Instead, they've announced a 0-100kmh acceleration figure: 9.8 seconds, which puts it only one tenth of a second slower than the Corolla.

What Toyota really have been bragging about is the drag coefficient of the new Prius - the lowest in the production car world. At 0.25, it surprised even me, but I suppose it a car looks like a piece of soap it had better be aerodynamic, huh? To put it in perspective, the Ferrari 599 has a drag coeffiecient of 0.33 - and it too is considered rather slippery.

There's not much to say for the prius in terms of design - they've kept the basic shape, which I've never liked, they've given it a face similar to the Corolla, which I've never liked, and they've kept the retarded split rear window thing, which you guessed it, I've never liked. Toyota have been saying that for this new model, they rejected the futuristic ideas of the current model and went with a more conventional, user-friendly design - but this new interior doesn't look very useer-friendly at all, so I hope they're right.

In the end, I still believe that the Prius is an irrelevant car - why did the current model have to cost $40,000 and still only be equipped with two airbags? - and it remains to be seen whether the new model will adress this. But first impressions have me betting that it won't.

DETROIT MOTOR SHOW 2009: The Next-Gen Toyota Prius for Next-Gen Greenies

I suppose I wanted to bring this story to you a while ago, but really, I wanted to be well-informed before I made a decision to love or loathe the Chevrolet Volt. I wanted to be knowledgeable of all that it can and can't do, so I could bring you an informative article. For a change.

This is an important car. And as soon as a carmaker claims that their latest car is "theoretically emissionless" and not only that, will be going to production as shown, you can't help but raise an eyebrow. Is it General Motors spin? I'm pleased to say that it probably isn't.

At first, the Volt seems close to normal. It is based on the next-generation Astra platform, is front drive, front engined... yet nothing is as it seems. I'll start with what I know best - aesthetics. At first I thought it looked funny, like a joke - I mean, why are the windows indented into the shape of the body. Why does it seem to look like it tried to look normal, but couldn't? Because this car has an electric motor, and for it to be effective the Volt needs to be as aerodynamic as humanly possible. Aerodynamics govern the way the Volt looks. Given that GM had to achieve such a feat in aerodynamics, the Volt doesn't look half bad. A bit gawkily futuristic, but hey, it's a brave new world out there.

But what was that I just said? The Volt has an electric motor? Yes, it does. It is the principle motor of the car, and is what drives the front wheels. The Volt also has a not-so-futuristic petrol engine, but GM says that it really doesn't even need to be there, in most consumer's cases. Did you think it was a petrol-electric hybrid like the Toyota Prius? Think again. At the helm is the 112kW electric engine (with an instantaneous 370Nm of torque), which is connected to a high-tech lithium-ion battery. Even Toyota, with it's next-generation Toyota Prius, hasn't fully developed the lithium-ion technology for everyday use. So far, so good. The battery will power the Volt for 65km, but then has to be plugged in to a mains power supply to recharge the battery overnight. 65km may not sound like much, but GM has somehow researched the subject and found that it is enough for approximately 75% of private american drivers. That figure could be a crock, but it sounds about right to me.

So what about the other 25%? Sometimes we need to travel more than 65km, and although the Volt is emissionless when it runs on electric power, what do you do then? This is where the petrol engine comes into the equation. Only one the battery has no power left does it start up, and even then, it does not actually directly power the wheels of the car. Instead, the 55kW generated by the 1.4 litre engine is used to power the electric engine until you can find mains power supply. Even in this situation however, the Volt uses only 4.7 litres/100km. About the same as the current Prius, then.

Other upsides to this car are numerous. A full 65km charge in mains power will cost only roughly $1.20. If you're commuting around town in your little Yaris-sized small car, doing 7.6/100km, you will save 1520 litres of fuel a year, which, even at the currently lower-than-usual prices, would be $1672 a year. Or about 5.9 tonnes of greenhouse gas. Impressive. But then I thought about the greenhouse effect a little more, and wondered: if the Volt charges from mains power, and mains power isn't green power (like Australia, where Coal power stations are the most common) - is the Volt really a green car? There are people on both sides of the fence, some arguing that the Volt would still create less CO2 that the average car, some arguing that it would produce more.

But I decided that this is irrelevant. The Chevrolet Volt present a way that everyone with a car can be carbon-negligible, and if governments were truly serious about making that a reality, they would continue the process that creates a green power grid with more renewable energy sources. With everyone driving Chevrolet Volts, the fault rests on the government if we are still producing heaps of CO2. Sort of like "well, we all went out and bought Chevy Volts so we could all go green, now it's your turn". Yeah, that's about right.

Downsides? It weighs 1750kg, so don't expect blistering performance, even if all that torque is available as soon as the tacho needle leaves 0 rpm. Will it be expensive? Only time will tell, but expect GM to make it as competitive as it possibly can. Why? Because GM is failing - without properly good sales, it will go bankrupt, just like everything else at the moment. It can see that the Volt could be a world-changing (but more importantly for them, profit-changing) car, provided people buy them buy the bucketload. And encouraging that will most definitely mean a price incentive.

In my belief, a car like the Chevrolet Volt should be partially subsidised by the american government, so that it reaches as many people as possible, and prevents climate change as much as it possibly can. If everyone in America (300 million) saved 5.9 tonnes a year like the Yaris driver (and most will save more), you're looking at nearly 2 billion tonnes of CO2 that the human race hasn't emitted. It's becoming more and more important, even for the future of the human race, that this car sells. And sells phenomenally. Because there just isn't a car anywhere in the world that makes negating carbon emissions so accessible and possible.

So when can we all buy one? In America, it will go on sale in late 2010 (if everything goes as planned), and elsewhere in the years following that. Expect it to arrive here at the earliest in 2012. It can't come soon enough.

I've given the US of A a bit of a sledging lately - but this is their chance to prove my sentiments unfounded. I want a Chevrolet Volt. I want an American Car. I never thought I'd say that, but I want an American Car. It is desirable.

NEWS: Chevrolet Volt to Save the Planet