Aussie Motoring

Car insurance is something most drivers never want to talk about. It’s not exciting, it’s not sexy but it certainlyis expensive and necessary. One UK insurer has found a way to charge drivers a premium based on a number of factors measured by a little black box fitted to your car.

Norwich Union has been testing the GPS based system since 2003 and now they’re ready to offer it to all their customers. The computing power and data storage needed to run the system is amazing and even if you’re not a computer nut you’ll still find this story fascinating.

It’s also something that you can expect to see here in Australia before too long because the most important piece of software needed to run this system will be available as freeware to all insurers.

Earlier this month Chrysler in America announced that it would be stopping production of the Chrysler Crossfire and the PT Cruiser convertible. Of course by extension that means they’ll disappear from Australia too.

The Crossfire was supposed to represent the “synergies” between Daimler and Chrysler for many Crossfire components were shared with the Mercedes SLK but apparently something was missing and sales were not quite what Chrysler was hoping for.

One sports car enthusiast that I spoke to had looked at a Crossfire with a view to buying one but the $80,000 price tage for a car that offered a rather strange driving position (her opinion) was enough to make her change her mind.

I guess the fact that the only PT Cruiser convertibles I ever saw were in the rental car parks at various airports may have something to do with why Chrysler is dropping that vehicle from its lineup too.

… still hard to sell.

While hybrid cars are beginning to appear in every greater numbers on our roads environmentally friendly hybrid trucks are an absolute rarity, even in the United States. In fact they are so rare that the world’s biggest fleet of hybrid trucks - owned by Fedex - only numbers around 95.

Urban environments should be ideal for hybrid trucks because of the stop-start traffic and manufacturers suggest that hybrid trucks could return some great savings in fuel but truck operators see a bigger picture than just savings in fuel. Truck operators look at the initial cost of a hybrid truck, the reliability, the cost of repairs etc. etc. and that’s where the attraction of hybrid trucks beings to fade.

While environmentally friendly cars sell in great numbers and so have an economy of scale that same economy of scale is not there for truck buyers. For example in Europe trucks such as this Renault Midlum

©RENAULT TRUCKS

are produced in quite limited quantities. In Europe there are 7 brands competing for sales and each can only manage arounnd 15,000 units a year. That’s nowhere near the number at which economies of scale cut in to reduce the price.

So unless governments begin to offer subsidies to truck makers and buyers we’re unlikely to see a take-up of hybrid trucks and certainly not here in Australia.

If you want to read more then follow this link to an interesting Reuters article that puts the problem in perspective.

Just over 20 years ago Honda started thinking of producing a car that produced nothing but water vapour and now that car is about to be released to the public in the United States.

The FCX Clarity is powered by an electric motor that draws its power from a fuel cell that converst hydrogen and oxygen into electricty. Additional power is passed to a lithium-ion battery pack through regenerated energy when the vehicle is braking.

With a range of only 432 km and a need for specialised refueling stations it’s unlikely that we’ll see the Honda FCX Clarity here in Australia any time soon but perhaps one day these, and other, emission free vehicles will be on our roads.

Honda have produced a very informative website about the FCX Clarity and you can find it by following the link.

1971 GTHO Phase III Falcon stolen in Perth

Earlier this month fully restored red version of this classic Australian muscle car was stolen from a collector in Perth. Sadly this car is now right out of circulation and, unless the thieves are caught, it’s unlikely it will ever be seen again. With only 300 of these cars ever produced these days such a vehicle could never be re-birthed.

I had the good fortune of being able to photograph (and listen to) this 1970 version of the Falcon GT here in Queensland earlier this year. You can read more about this particular car here

Kia has unveiled its first mid-sized SUV for the first time. The Kia Borrego is expected to go on sale in Korea early next year with overseas sales commencing around the middle of the year.

The Kia Borrego features a body-on-frame construction and will have seating for up to seven occupants. The Borrego will be powered by a V6 and, in some markets, a V8 will be offered as an opption

The Kia Borrego is named after a bighorn sheep native to California.