I was at the Manhattan Land Rover dealership getting it in the rear when I was checking the floor models. The dealership still has the D2 on the floor along with the Freelanders.
The Freelander would be the best choice for the Hybrid Escape treatment if they desire it so. It is the lightest body and seems it can be done (but the interior touchs of carbon fiber are not my choice).
I hope that Land Rover will never create a Electric Landy!! As far as a freelander becoming a Eletric that sounds ok as im not convinced its actualy even a car.Maybe that appears to be an un enlightened view of things,but I am a petrol head and and will probobly never be convinced that electric would ever be an option for Land Rover. Should stay with cars like honda.
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82' series III 109 safari prepared 2.25 pet.WILL NEVER GET RID OF!!!!
Awhile you have and are entitled to that opinion, some of us like the Land Rover brand and want it not just to survive but to thrive in a complex automotive market. The Land Rover brand is the most agile brand on and off road use. Why not make it more in tune with the environment it was designed to trek in?
I make mention of the Freelander because it was the most modern of Land Rovers until the LR3 and the Storm came out.
Awhile you have and are entitled to that opinion, some of us like the Land Rover brand and want it not just to survive but to thrive in a complex automotive market. The Land Rover brand is the most agile brand on and off road use. Why not make it more in tune with the environment it was designed to trek in?
I make mention of the Freelander because it was the most modern of Land Rovers until the LR3 and the Storm came out.
Don't want electric? Fine.
Good point actualy about land rover being in tune with the enviroment in treks in.I believe that Land Rover is going in the opposite direction. The new lr3 with the td6 only gets 13 mpg in city. I dont know what they are thinking. I just think Land Rover wouldnt benifit from an elecric version.
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82' series III 109 safari prepared 2.25 pet.WILL NEVER GET RID OF!!!!
In the most recent Roversnorth newsletter, there's an article about a guy who modified his diesel to run on vegetable oil. He would stop by fast food places & get their used french fry oil (I am not making this up). He got all the way from Berkeley (of course,,,) to last years Rally and 1/2 way back before he had to buy some fuel.
My only concern with an electric or hybrid Rover would be off-road performance. I'm not generally "for" or "against" hybrid/electric vehicles. I figure the market will decide if it makes sense, and award producers accordingly.
However, with the anti-SUV and anti-4-wheeling nuts out there, and Land Rover already moving away from 'specialty' vehicles into more mainstream luxury SUVs (note the lack of even a solid axle Rover available in US) I'm hesitant to see Ford take Rover any farther down this road. Let them experiment with Fords..... I fear Rover is losing it's heritage, it's mystique, and it's soul.
In the most recent Roversnorth newsletter, there's an article about a guy who modified his diesel to run on vegetable oil. He would stop by fast food places & get their used french fry oil (I am not making this up). He got all the way from Berkeley (of course,,,) to last years Rally and 1/2 way back before he had to buy some fuel.
My only concern with an electric or hybrid Rover would be off-road performance. I'm not generally "for" or "against" hybrid/electric vehicles. I figure the market will decide if it makes sense, and award producers accordingly.
However, with the anti-SUV and anti-4-wheeling nuts out there, and Land Rover already moving away from 'specialty' vehicles into more mainstream luxury SUVs (note the lack of even a solid axle Rover available in US) I'm hesitant to see Ford take Rover any farther down this road. Let them experiment with Fords..... I fear Rover is losing it's heritage, it's mystique, and it's soul.
Another good point. I couldnt have said it any better. Thats what i meant to say.I feel that Land Rover is beginning to steer away from it's core audience,the commercial sector.I can't bear the thought of the Defender manufacturing getting sent to spain!!!Great for the Spanish economy but BAD for us.I.E anyone own a mexican volkwagen????Enough said! Electric cars are fine and good,but not for a vehicle who runs the risk of loosing anymore of it's fantastic history and is in jepordy of being "Run out of town". The anti 4x4 brigade in the UK is growing stronger and stronger pretty soon it will be impossible to off road or greenlane anywhere. I think I'm rambling now....sorry. Good point anyway.
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82' series III 109 safari prepared 2.25 pet.WILL NEVER GET RID OF!!!!
Interesting : Prius problems probe by US government
Thought this would be interesting:
Seems that there is a software bug in the software running the Toyota Prius. You get into the highway and the vehicle does a shutdown and you get stranded. Quite a few owners have complained to the US government and now there are a few articles on the newsfeeds.
Funny that this would be announced after Toyota announced the problem and they are fixing the bug with a software patch (not a tyre patch).
The more they change, the more they stay the same.
If Ford does hybrid, will Land Rover be far behind?
Article in the SUnday Times.
Looks like the shift is beginning for Ford. But will Land Rover follow, and remain a remaint of British Motoring.
Article below begins:
The New York Times July 24, 2005
The Green Machine That Could Be Detroit
By DANIEL AKST
IMAGINE that you are running a domestic automaker. Rising gasoline prices threaten your lucrative S.U.V. sales, a glut of car-making capacity promises ever more competition, and burdensome union contracts limit your ability to cut costs. Then there are the Chinese. They're beginning to put together the parts they've been making for years, and sooner rather than later, whole cars from China will arrive at scarily low prices.
Poster note: The Chinese are already going after Rover. FYI. Sorry.
What do you do? The easy answer is to follow the path that Detroit has taken for years. Grind out well-made but ho-hum vehicles and offer them at huge discounts. Let your debt rating fall below investment grade. And when California tries to impose mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases, you sue, even if some other states want the same stricter standards - and even if some consumers are lining up to pay hefty premiums for energy-saving hybrid vehicles that run on both gasoline and electricity.
Now I'm the first to acknowledge that without a C.E.O.-sized paycheck, I am far from qualified to run a major manufacturing business. But isn't it possible that Ford and General Motors are on the wrong path?
What if one of them decided to break from the pack? What if a major automaker decided to reinvent itself as the world's first and only green car company, producing only hybrid, clean-diesel and other high-efficiency vehicles? Not Birkenstocks on wheels, mind you, but enjoyable, functional cars that get great mileage.
Consider the advantages. Such a company could drive down the cost of producing hybrids by attaining economies of scale. It would be ready - nay, eager - to comply with stringent clean-air rules wherever they were imposed. It would be positioned to exploit the federal mandate for low-sulfur diesel fuel, which will open the door next year to cleaner-burning diesel engines. And it would no longer have to compete as much on price, because consumers have shown a willingness to pay more for more efficient cars.
So imagine that you're in charge of this company. From a marketing perspective, you're in heaven. To the environmentally conscious, you sell the prospect of saving the earth even as you appeal to the class vanity of affluent customers who might otherwise never dream of buying an American car. Are there many of these people? You may be surprised. As a proxy, consider the number of National Public Radio listeners: 26 million. Your motto with this crowd is simple: "Do the right thing."
But the beauty of your venture is that it can also appeal to meat-eating S.U.V. owners. To them, you sell self-sufficiency, patriotism and the war on terror - the satisfaction of telling foreign oil producers to take their oil and drown in it. And your motto can still be "Do the right thing."
Your vehicles will certainly have cachet. After all, hybrids are already de rigueur for some movie stars and their imitators in Los Angeles. Imagine having the brand that encapsulates enviro-chic all over the world. This is marketing that money can't buy.
But isn't there a danger here - that your company will become just a niche player? I don't think so. New vehicles with hybrid electric engines are expected to grab 3.5 percent of domestic sales by 2012, up from 0.5 percent last year, while clean diesels are expected to get 7.5 percent, up from 3 percent, according to J. D. Power-LMC Automotive Forecasting Services. Together, the projected total is 11 percent. For perspective, Toyota's market share last year was 12.2 percent and Honda's was 8.2 percent.
There was a hint the other day that Ford just might get it. In the automotive equivalent of those Peaceable Kingdom paintings in which predator and prey lie side by side, the Sierra Club joined Ford Motor to promote a new hybrid version of the Mercury Mariner sport utility vehicle. Unfortunately, Ford will make only a relative handful of the hybrid Mariners.
O.K., but aren't there technological barriers to building a clean car company? Could a major automaker retool itself this way culturally as well as physically? Sure it can. It would be costly, but there is precedent. The entire American auto industry retooled itself to emphasize quality, and it now makes some of the most dependable cars in the world. Maybe the best way for an automaker to manage this latest transition would be to build a new brand, the way G.M. once did with Saturn. In this new case, however, the brand would consume the parent company.
Business as usual isn't an option. Change is risky, but in this case the consequences of doing nothing are a sure bet - one that I personally wouldn't want to take.
Daniel Akst is a journalist and novelist who writes often about business. E-mail: culmoney@nytimes.com.
What ever happened to those GEO Metros anyways? Did they not get 50 mpg or something really close to that?
Hybrid... maybe Hybrid with propane engine?
How about just getting some info on conversion from petro to LPG in the USA. Good luck with that one. I am beginning to believe I will have better luck converting it to solar power.
What ever happened to those GEO Metros anyways? Did they not get 50 mpg or something really close to that?
Hybrid... maybe Hybrid with propane engine?
How about just getting some info on conversion from petro to LPG in the USA. Good luck with that one. I am beginning to believe I will have better luck converting it to solar power.
Yes you are right. My reply was obviously misinformed as I haven't spent the time to research Hybrid/electric cars, as this, at the moment is of no interest to me. Irrespective of the advances made in technology in this field,as you put it, Toyota, Honda & Ford do not weigh as heavy as LR, and besides, who wants to go off-road in a S**tbox?
I guess over 300hp is of no interest. I guess 300hp can't move your rover around. I guess 300hp is too "new" for this type of technology.
You say an elctric hybrid engine cannot lug around a Rover? What do you live in a hole? Production cars today with hybrid technology boast over 340HP, more than your Rover (and better gas mileage).
diesel electric hybrids..whether or not you want to hear it.. that is where it is headed.. oil at 61 a barrell and King Fahd died today..
well the first step is clean diesel in the US, get consumer's actually seeing the benefits of it both in gas milage and $$. Then they'll slowly edge towards petrol/eletric hybrids in higher-tier brands(as lexus and MB are already doing).
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AHO Rugby, a drinking club with a rugby problem. www.ahorugby.net
"My experience through life has convinced me that, while moderation and temperance in all things are commendable and beneficial, abstinence from spirituous liquors is the best safeguard of morals and health."
- Robert E. Lee
well the first step is clean diesel in the US, get consumer's actually seeing the benefits of it both in gas milage and $$.
If you have access to cable/satelite, you might want to track down the series Trucks!. They did a entire show on bio-diesel from an outfit called Fuel Freedom America.
Pump in used frying oil, do the tritation (sic), add the right amount of lye and myth alcohol and mix away. They used a new diesel truck and besides the smell of french fries, they said the truck performed better than pump diesel.
How about making home gasoline or equilivent please? PLEASE?
Adam in 96 (damn gas) D1 in New York (310 gallon and rising)
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Most likely the Freelander would get it....
What the hell???
That's great..........
Huh?
Interesting : Prius problems probe by US government
If Ford does hybrid, will Land Rover be far behind?
Wrong.....
Linear Mode
