Ford's been talking about Ecoboost since around the time of the Crimean War. And now, finally, we can bring you some definitive information. First, it's going to be a $700 option – which is paltry as automotive options go, to say nothing of engine options that run into the thousands. Second, the first FoMoCo forray in Eco-Boostland will deliver a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine. The blown powerplant should make well over 300 horsepower in vehicles like the Ford Flex and Lincoln MKS. Both could use a serious dose of tire-shredding power. Ford is also planning to Eco-Boost the F-150. Automotive News reports the variant will make more than 340 horsepower, 340 ft lbs of torque. The savings in gas is approximately 20 percent versus a V8 engine – keeping in mind that Ford's V8 engines actually makes less than 340 horsepower. Speaking of which, where does this leave Ford's V8 engine program? I'm not sure, but I can tell you with certainty that (1) a 340 horsepower twin-turbo V6 Mustang would be pretty phenomenal and (2) Ford is still going to need some V8 engines for image if nothing else. Especially in the 'Stang.

An Aveo that sounds like a Corvette? The Detroit News says it's possible using technology developed by Eberspacher GmbH and its North American subsidiary after exhaustive research [sorry– couldn't help myself]. The system, called "ActiveSilence," goes Lotus' "Safe & Sound" system one better. It works by inserting a heat-resistant speaker into the exhaust system in lieu of a muffler. Then, depending on driver preference, sound waves from the speaker can either cancel engine noise completely or tune it for a variety of sounds from limo quiet to a roaring big block. Those who want to turn their ride into a rolling ghetto blaster can even blow music out their tailpipe. The system is ready for production but an Eberspacher spokesman said it would be two or three years before you'll see hear it on the road. Once that happens there's bound to be a booming business in downloadable sounds to personalize your car with the automotive equivalent of ring tones. But the burning questions is: will it include a jack so you can plug in your iPod?

Oh me, oh my, GM is opening a new powertrain development center in Pontiac, MI. Why? According to GM Media Online, "Time equals money, and in keeping with this formula, General Motors today opened a brand-new, state-of-the-art global Powertrain Engineering Development Center that will bring advanced, fuel-saving powertrains to market faster and at less cost by reducing 10 weeks from its powertrain development process." Funny, doesn't building huge facilities equal money too? But seriously, GM says that powertrain development savings will hit $200m this year, thanks in part to this new facility. The 450k square foot building is "where GM will develop and test the Chevrolet Volt's electric drive unit, motors, power electronics and engine," according to the press release (note the use of future tense). The General will also use the facility to develop electric motors for fuel cell and hybrid powertrains, as well as other advanced gasoline, biofuel and clean diesel engines and transmissions. Compressed-air pallet lifters cut test changeover times from 24 hours to 20 minutes. New dynamometers can test every powertrain in all conditions. A global operating system unifies the development process and by shifting early calibration testing from raods to labs, GM says it can cut ten weeks from development time. Which should come in handy if they want to get the Volt developed within the already "well-pushed time envelope".

Bloomberg passed on an unsubstantiated report in Nikkei English News that claims Honda, Nissan and Toray Industries are teaming-up to develop new carbon fiber materials for mass-produced automobiles. Toray is the world's largest producer of carbon fiber. They're hoping to make it economically feasible to use the material in large enough quantities to reduce vehicle weights by up to 40 percent. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is kicking in ¥2b over a five-year period to help fund the research. It didn't say if this project would be an extension of existing carbon fiber nanotube research, or if it will explore new materials. Either way, with new tailpipe and fuel economy regs in the offing, the race to add lightness has begun, plug-in hybrid or no.

New Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards are enshrined in federal law. It's 35mpg by 2020, or a 4.5 percent annual increase. So why would The Big 2.8, Toyota and Porsche renew their efforts to raise the bar? Especially as someone might be looking for federal loan guarantees… As mob boss Carl Rojeck said in "My Favorite Year," "the fighting is in rounds." Now that the The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) writing the fine print, the kvetching starts afresh. To switch movie references, "Can you squeal like a pig?" The Detroit News reports that The Big 2.8 have filed paperwork urging NHTSA's pen pushers to "roll back proposed 4.5 percent annual increases in fuel efficiency requirements between 2011-15." Apparently, "the new rules will force them to slow the rollout of some advanced vehicles." Huh? Wouldn't it make them speed-up? Go figure. GM: We can't build enough Volts [more on that in a separate post]. Toyota: the 2011 requirements are "too aggressive." Ford: the proposal "seems to impose a disproportionate share of the burden on domestic manufacturers." Chrysler: ""It will cost Chrysler LLC thousands of dollars per vehicle in additional technology, not hundreds of dollars." Porsche: We might have to "leave the U.S. market until such time they develop new vehicles with advanced propulsion systems." Hyundai: bring it on! 

Innovation is the buzzword de jour for industries undergoing major upheaval. But a study by the annoyingly-named German consulting firm Invensity GMBH, shows that automakers face unique barriers to innovation despite major industry-wide challenges. EE Times Europe details a study of 100 German development team leaders, R&D managers and design engineers from automotive OEMs. The report claims that cost pressure and reliability requirements are the greatest barriers to innovation. Some 46 percent of respondents said automotive industry, innovations are more difficult to implement than in other industries. Only 26 percent believe that the automotive industry is more innovation-friendly than other industries. Yes, well, cost and reliability pressures can actually spur innovation. So, as one of the world's most competitive industries, do automakers really have anything to complain about? Nope. It's the companies who've ignored competition to squeeze short-term profits out of antiquated technology that really need to be worried. And, now, are.

Much like BMW, Audi is taking the forced induction route for upping horsepower of its V6 engines– rather than just increasing displacement, a la Mercedes or Nissan. Audi officially announced the specs on its anticipated 3.0-liter V6 TFSI engine (the T must be silent, or refers to totally supercharged, not turbo). The new powerplant will pump-out 290 horsepower and 310 lb ft of torque. On paper, it's nearasdammit the same as BMW's 300 hp/300 lb ft turbocharged 3.0-liter I6 engine. The bottom line: Audi anticipates stronger fuel economy than they'd get with a bored-out larger displacement naturally aspirated V6. Not to mention the packaging and weight benefits. Oh wait. Anyway, a tuned version will probably power the next generation Audi S4, rather than the current 4.2-liter V8. This is great news for Audi fans, since the 3.2 -liter V6 they've been using so far in the A4 and A6 is down on power compared to German, Japanese, and even American rivals. And we can't have that, can we?

Whenever we talk about alternative powertrains in development, some people (this writer included) inevitably say: gasoline and to a lesser extent diesel are past, present, and medium-term future. But a number of sources claim Mercedes Benz is thinking otherwise; they're dumping the need for petroleum-based fuels in their future products in favor of electric, fuel cell, and (yuck) biofuels. Apparently Benz has spent billions of Euros on a "sustainable mobility" plan. According to the UK's Sun, Mercedes plans to spend another $14b or so in the next seven years to further develop the petroleum-free lineup. Will Mercedes give up sales in all the parts of the world in which there is no infrastructure for electric or fuel cell cars? The hedging response: their cars would still be capable of running on gasoline or diesel– meaning that biofuel flex fuel cars would satisfy this wild claim from the British tabloid. Even still, huh?

Toyota's dominance in hybrid technology has other OEM's straining to leapfrog on to The Next Big Thing. While GM tries to beat ToMoCo to the PHEV punch, Mazda decided to combine three imperfect technologies into one over-the-top rolling lab. By modifying a Wankel rotary engine to run on hydrogen, and then adding a hybrid system, Mazda's Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid wins the prize for the most complicated possible approach to high-efficiency motoring. But let's not condemn this franken-hybrid to the scrap heap of engineering excess just yet. Wards Auto has learned that the Japanese Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport has given the Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid permission to undergo testing on Japanese roads. Of the three systems, hybrid technology is clearly the most promising. But Mazda's blind technophilia has mated it to an immature fuel source and an inherently inefficient ICE. Who cares that it gets 124 miles from a tank of hydrogen and boosts power 40 percent over a "standard" hydrogen Wankel. Mazda plans on leasing these people-movers in Japan later this year. Here's hoping that the lease comes with an uncompromising warranty.

We've argued for some time that OEMs should respond to high fuel prices by improving and lightening existing models and drivelines, rather than developing moon-shot, "game-changing" technologies. Et voila! Green Car Congress reports on the Pintle Regulated Venturi (PRV) induction system, developed by PRV Performance. The PRV-9 induction system is a bolt-on replacement for stock intake manifolds. By inducting air through a venturi throat, the doo-hickey burns a high-velocity homogeneous fuel-air blend more efficiently than standard induction; eliminating throttling losses and improving fuel vaporizing, precluding cylinder wall stratification. [You can read all the gory technical details at Green Car Congress] PRV Performance tested its intake on a JDM D15B SOHC-equipped Honda Civic, driving it at a steady 65 mph on a hilly 203-mile test run. The Civic achieved a reported 52 mpg, up from 41.7 on an unmodified Civic, with similar reductions in pollutant emissions. The EPA has tested an earlier prototype at 48 mpg, and will test this newer system later this year. PRV Performance claims that the technology is hybrid-compatible. 

From the birthplace of George Orwell, now the most-watched nation in the world, comes news of a car that has nanny-cams of its own. Car Magazine UK tells us that the new Vauxhall/Opel Insignia will offer a camera system that can read traffic signs, and  alert the driver when they have violated them. GM's Traffic Sign Recognition system uses a Hella-sourced (not in the Nor-Cal slang sense) wide-angle camera, that can take 30 photos per second at a range of up to 100 meters. It can recognize traffic signs, and by comparing them to an on-board database, it can tell if the driver is violating their edicts. When you drive your Insignia at 25 mph in a 20 mph zone, expect a "reminder" to flash on your dashboard, removing any doubt that you are, in fact, breaking the law. Though the proliferation of remote speed-control cameras in Britain give this option some merit there, less repressive societies will doubtless provide much weaker markets for GM's new technology. Still, when we heard that GM would "democratize technology" with its newly-upmarket Opel/Vauxhall brands, the last thing we expected was an option that facilitates continuous government intrusion into the driving experience. Sounds more like they've "totalitarianized technology."

Here's another feature to put in the category of cool stuff Ford offers that won't sell cars– alongside movable pedals, SYNC and a Tron-inspired keyless entry system. The Blue Oval Boyz are now offering subscription-free 911 service. If the SYNC system detects a crash, airbag deployment, emergency fuel cut off and so on, its automatically calls 911. Ford has contracted with the "National Emergency Number Association" to deal with the details. Although the system's unlikely to get anyone to darken the dealership door, props. The biggest bonus to this kind of service: the resell to existing owners. As any salesman will tell you, once someone survives totaling their newish car, they frequently go straight out and buy another one of the same. This is nice 'n all. But what we all want really is the EcoBoost twin turbo engine.

Mergers have not always treated the car industry well (hello DCX), but in the cutthroat EV/HEV/PHEV game, joint-venture hookups now appear to be the order of the day. Toyota's got Panasonic for a partner, Daimler's got JCI-Saft, and Nissan has NEC, while GM juggles Cobasys, A123 and LG Chem. Now, two new joint ventures are joining the electric drivetrain development fray. PSA (makers of Peugeot and Citroen cars) has joined Mitsubishi to develop an EV drivetrain for city cars. Auto Motor und Sport reports that Mitsubishi will bring knowledge gleaned from its own partnership with battery maker Yuasa to the joint venture. Elsewhere, Bosch and Samsung have set up a joint lithium-ion battery venture in Korea, according to Green Car Congress. The new venture, SB LiMotive Co. Ltd, will open its doors this September with production beginning in 2010. Samsung's lithium-ion expertise from its consumer electronics battery business will meet Bosch's vehicle-based electronics experience in hopes of creating new industry-leading electric powertrains. Samsung has already developed a manganese-oxide-based lithium-ion cell for EV use; it's looking into vanadium-oxide as a next-gen anode for EV applications. For the eager EV suitors of Silicone Valley (hello Tesla), these hyperconglomerate hookups could mean even more competition for OEM affections, says CNET. Gotta pass those genes proprietary technology development costs along…

Remember when we told you Toyota would be dropping $673m on new battery facilities? In addition to expanding next-gen Li-ion production (and next-next-gen development labs), ToMoCo also wants to increase its current-spec NiMH production capacity. And no wonder. Toyota can't keep the NiMH batteries in stock, limiting sales of its hybrid lineup. The AP reports via the San Jose Mercury that Toyota's investments in production capacity won't bear fruit until next year. "Hybrids are selling so well we are doing all we can to increase production," says executive VP for production Takeshi Uchiyamada. "We need new lines." But the ramifications of Toyota's lack of insight (pun kinda intended) aren't limited to lost sales. Uchiyamada acknowledges that white-hot demand for the NiMH packs are preventing him from extending Toyota's production-greening efforts to the production of "green" hybrid cars. (Figure that one out.) As the industry pioneer in hybrid manufacturing, Toyota's battery shortage is clearly a measure of its product's success. On the other hand, as a longtime leader in production efficiency, it's hard to believe Toyota was caught napping by demand for its hybrids. It seems that when it comes to hybrids, Toyota's "just-in-time" ethic translates a little closer to "hurry up and wait." 

First and foremost, in terms of Nissan, four times more EV range equals 250 miles. This according to Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Nissan's executive VP of R&D. That's slightly more distance than the all-new Toyota Land Cruiser can cover with a single tank of gas. Nissan's first-generation lithium ion packs are good for just 75 miles. The second-gen batteries will arrive in that most magical of years (2010) to propel an unspecified vehicle a bit over 100 miles. Third-gen lithiums will show-up right when the Mayan calendar ends (2012), and propel a car 185 miles on a charge. As AutoblogGreen's Dom Yoney points out, it's best not to compare these (hypothetical) numbers to the Tesla Roadster's (hypothetical) numbers. Apparently there's a metric called "watt hours per kilogram" involved, but my brain is too small and lizard-like to comprehend. Nissan lithium ion battery production will begin in earnest next year at 13k units before ramping-up to a 65k units. Eventually.