Honda Motor Co. is about to introduce a low-cost hybrid car, a version of its Fit subcompact that is popular in Japan. Honda is expected to begin selling the Fit hybrid as early as next year for under $12,000, less than $1,500 more than the gasoline-only Fit. This would make the Fit the first hybrid to cost less than $12,000 and thus the first hybrid priced to go mainstream.
Honda's Chief Executive Takeo Fukui recently noted that the price premium for a hybrid needs to fall below $1,680 before hybrid will go mainstream. The proposed Fit hybrid meets Fukui's criteria. Fukui noted Honda has not yet made the strategic decision to produce hybrids in large quantities like Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co., but automotive industry experts believe Honda will make a major commitment to hybrids with the Fit.
Even with the differential between hybrids and gas-only cars coming below $1,500, consumers will not earn back their investment in gas savings, so the market for hybrids is still dependent on those consumers who place environmental concerns higher than price concerns. Even the gas-only Fit is environmentally fit, with its 1.3-L engine reaching 56 mpg.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
A new battery design, which replaces lithium with abundant and low-cost elemental sulfur, is still in its nascent stages but shows real promise for giving batteries more energy potential.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
0 
