Chery launches micro hybrid A5 BSG in China
Over in China, former Bricklin and former Chrysler partner Chery Motors has finally launched its A5 BSG sedan. The BSG is kind of like GM's mild hybrid system, but without the nickel metal hydride battery. It's essentially nothing more than an auto-start stop system on on the compact sedan. The belt-starter-generator (hence the BSG) system was developed in cooperation with powertrain specialists Ricardo. Fifty of these cars were provided for officials to use during last summer's Olympic Games in Beijing. At $10,940, the A5 comes in at half the price of BYD's F3DM hybrid, but it also appears to offer half (if that) of what its competitor does.
[Source: China Car Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 10:00AM (1/20/2009)
All new cars should AT LEAST have auto stop-start just like they have air bags.
Idling is a waste.
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Red 10:09AM (1/20/2009)
Spoken like someone who's never driven an auto stop-start equipped vehicle...
There are more efficient methods of curtailing emissions.
Tim 10:31AM (1/20/2009)
Red #2:
I could not care less about C02. Man made global warming is a giant SCAM! In FACT, 31,072 American scientists have signed this petition REJECTING the "man-made global warming junk science DOGMA designed to replace our sovereignty with a “New World Order”.
http://www.petitionproject.org/
I DO however care VERY MUCH about our nation depending on foreign oil and exporting our US $Dollars for oil and I DO care about our "leaders" using that as an excuse to wage endless occupation and wars in the middle-east.
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Red 11:45AM (1/20/2009)
You do realize an auto stop-start system only increases efficiency, at current best 5-7%, right? If you added auto stop-start to a 2009 Honda Fit, you would gain a whopping 1.7mpg. How exactly will that get us off foreign (and domestic oil)?
For the record, my comment about emissions had nothing to do with "global warming". It was in regards to the poor air quality of densely populated areas like Los Angeles, which can directly be contributed to a variety of factors, including but not limited to petroleum-burning automobiles. I want my children healthy and safe, not asthmatic and weezy.
Regardless, there are still more efficient methods better suited to the automobile.
Herm 1:17PM (1/21/2009)
every little bit helps.. the correct thing to do is an economic analysis.. does the extra cost of the stop-start pay for itself?
If you a global warming believer then that also changes the equation.
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