Williams Auto Group

New Nissan Rogue Krom Due December 2009!

Here's the latest in the Nissan Krom specialty vehcicles lineup - the 2010 Nissan Rogue Krom.  According to Nissan, "The new Rogue Krom edition is designed to offer a unique dimension to traditional compact sport utility vehicles with its aggressive sport styling, exclusive 17-inch wheels and a center-exit sport-tuned exhaust.  Nissan also offers a Krōm edition of the popular Nissan cube."  Click here to visit the official Nissan Krom Website!

The 5th Generation 2010 4Runner is Arriving Soon!

The Philadelphia Examiner called it a "new SUV that actually wants to go off road".  Taller, wider and longer than the 2009 model, it's capable, it's comfortable and it's beautiful!  The new fifth-generation Toyota 4Runner is due in early November, and you can learn all about it, as well as see some great images of this vehicle, here!

Can I Borrow an Extension Cord?

So we hear the talk, we read the blogs, and we watch the stories on the news - electric vehicles are coming.  And that means fully-electric vehicles, not part-gas/part-battery hybrids, but actual plug-em-in-and-drive-em electrics.  Have you figured out yet where to plug in your electric car?  It's a question with implications for the auto industry, the nation's electric power supply grid, and the practical, everyday way we will use our cars in the future.

One immense consideration here - how will our local electric grids handle the addition of thousands (millions?) of electrics being plugged in at once to recharge for the morning commute?  And what about daytime recharging - what will the added demand of recharging electric vehicles do to the grid on a humid 100 degree August day?  How about when large numbers drivers come home (when the load is already maxed out) and turn on air conditioners and lights, and plug in their cars?  Can the grid deal?

The short answer: no, or at least, not yet.  And the problem seems to be a local one.  According to an article at Cnet.com, people who are expected to buy plug-in cars tend to live close to other people who will want plug-in cars.  This means clusters of vehicles plugged in to a recommended 220 volt charging station, straining local power distribution structures, adding a peak load onto an existing peak load, and leading to localized blackouts and other service interruptions.

Fortunately, there are solutions on the horizon.  One electric utility, according to the Cnet article, "plans to offer a 220-volt charger along with a timer. The consumer would be able to get off-peak rates--called dynamic pricing--by charging between 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m.

"Smart-grid technology, whereby homes are equipped with meters that can communicate with the utility, gives more flexibility. In that case, the utility could charge three electric cars in succession or at different rates overnight to ease the draw on a local circuit. Or the utility could offer consumers a menu of charging alternatives.

"In about seven or 10 years, utilities are envisioning vehicle-to-grid capability in which a plug-in electric car owner would sell electricity from a battery back to the grid. A driver could program the system so that the stored energy is sold only at a certain price."

In any case, it seems that electrical distribution infrastructure improvements will be part of the evolution of transportation.  Stay tuned!

More From the Electric Avenue - Nissan

According to Nissan Motor Company President Carlos Ghosn, Nissan will expand its line of electric vehicles to the luxury Infiniti brand in as little as two years, and also will create an electric commercial van to sell to governments and fleet customers.  Speaking at the Tokyo Auto Show, Mr. Ghosn's comments indicate that the auto industry expects electric vehicles to penetrate multiple market segments and become a fixture in the world of transportation.

For example, click here to meet the Nissan Leaf - Nissan's initial entry in the consumer electric vehicle market.  The electric commercial van could have potential for delivery, taxi service, postal service and more.  And how's this for a unique concept car - the Nissan Land Glider, an electric motorcycle-shaped vehicle with a single front and single rear seat.  While it is unlikely that we will ever see the Land Glider in our Williams Nissan showroom, the groundwork laid by concept cars like the Land Glider will guide the design and engineering of the cars of the future - and the future may be closer than you think!

The Battery 500 Project

A paradox of modern life is that as technology advances, our ability to accurately perceive the future diminishes.  What technology will we be using in our everyday lives, and when?  How will tomorrow's discoveries impact the future we understand today?  And will we be able to afford the future when it gets here?

The lifestyles and driving habits of we Americans are inextricably intertwined, and one function of this blog is to highlight future automotive technologies.  Most of us now realize our driving habits will change (after all, everything changes), but how?  And what could be more iconic of the future of automotive engineering than the electric car?

But there's a problem.  The lithium ion and nickel-metal hydride battery powerplants available today have a maximum cruising radius of about 50 miles, and nothing in the pipeline is promising a cruising radius of more than about 100 miles.  So IBM Corporation is gathering the experts in the field of batteries/electrical storage technology with the goal of creating a battery technology which will yield a vehicle cruising radius of 500 miles.  Keeping in mind that today's gas-powered vehicles have an average cruising radius of about 300 miles, this goal, when achieved, will boost the electric car into the mainstream of daily American life.  Right?

The whole enterprise hinges on something called energy density - the amount of energy stored per kilogram of battery weight (measured in watt hours per kg).  Factor in nanotubes and lithium/air proton harvesting, and it all begins to sound very - well, very futurish, even though the time frame for this project is only two to three years.  But I'm already over my head here - to read a great article on the subject and view a five minute video on The Battery 500 Project, click here.