Cygnet axed because iQ production ending – Bez

Last month, news emerged that production of the Aston Martin Cygnet has ceased, and now Aston Martin boss Ulrich Bez is telling us why the Toyota iQ-based curiosity was axed. Apparently, it’s because the little Toyota itself will be no more come next year.

“We stopped the Cygnet as Toyota itself will stop the iQ in 2014 and we don’t want to invest any more,” the 70-year-old German said. “We had a great start with Akio Toyoda, whom I still have a great relationship with. But Toyota didn’t follow up the support like it does with Tesla and its marketing of other products,” he added.

“I think Aston did a good thing with the Cygnet and I’m disappointed it didn’t work out. It’s a great little car, particularly in London. It will be a cult car in the future and will be well looked after.”

So is the the innovative sub-3m Toyota iQ, which is five years old now, heading for retirement with no successor in sight? In response to Bez’s remarks, Toyota says that there are no plans to end iQ production and declined to comment further. Want a collector’s item? Not sure if it’s still around, but a Cygnet was advertised on oto.my last year for RM350k.

The post Cygnet axed because iQ production ending – Bez appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.

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via Paul Tan's Automotive News http://paultan.org/2013/10/29/aston-cygnet-axed-because-iq-production-ending/

Mozilla starts crowdsourcing data to help devices find your location without GPS

Mozilla's got a full plate between browsers, Firefox OS and a mess of other projects, but that hasn't stopped it from starting a new initiative. The software community has set up the experimental Mozilla Location Service to collect crowdsourced geolocation data from public WiFi networks and cellular ...



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Volvo completes study of cordless charging for EVs

Some news on the inductive charging front. Volvo, working as part of a consortium of companies, has successfully completed a research project on cordless charging for electric cars and buses. The automaker supplied the car for the inductive charging project, which was a Volvo C30 Electric with a power output of 89 kW.

The project, initiated by Flanders’ Drive, the knowledge centre of the automotive industry in the Flanders region in Belgium, studied the possibilities of inductive charging for electric vehicles, and the technology has shown great potential.

Tests demonstrated that the C30 Electric can be fully charged without a power cable in approximately 2.5 hours. With inductive charging, it’s a case of simply positioning the car over a charging device and charging starts automatically.

Inductive charging uses an electromagnetic field instead of a cord to transfer energy between two objects. An induction coil creates an alternating electromagnetic field from a charging base station, and a second induction coil in the portable device picks up power from the electromagnetic field and converts it back into an electrical energy, which then charges the battery.

The technology is common in electrical home appliances such as electrical toothbrushes, but isn’t yet commercially available for charging EVs, not is there yet a common standard for inductive charging.

In parallel with the research in inductive charging, Volvo also studied slow and regular charging together with Inverto, which was also a partner in the project, and says that research and evaluation on the feasibility of the technology in its hybrids and EVs will continue.

The post Volvo completes study of cordless charging for EVs appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.

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via Paul Tan's Automotive News http://paultan.org/2013/10/29/volvo-completes-study-cordless-charging-evs/

Motorola's 'Project Ara' smartphone platform switches out hardware as easily as apps

We were intrigued by the Phonebloks concept phone that teased the ability to switch out a handset's components the way most users change ringtones, and now Motorola is putting its resources behind it. Called Project Ara, the advanced Technology and Products group is working with Phonebloks creator ...



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Plex Cloud Sync beta stores your media across multiple online services

As good as Plex Sync may be at keeping media libraries in harmony, it's not very helpful to mobile Plex users who can't always store or stream large files on their devices. After today, they won't have to worry. The company has just launched a beta version of Cloud Sync, which saves ...



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Volkswagen Vento TSI introduced in India – the Polo Sedan gets 1.2 TSI, DSG and ESP

Volkswagen has given the Volkswagen Vento (known as the Polo Sedan in Malaysia) a third engine variant in India – it’s now available with a 1.2 litre TSI engine and a 7-speed dry clutch DSG transmission, a big technological upgrade over what the Vento is available with now.

The new Vento TSI (6-speed manual available as well) will be offered alongside the Vento, which is currently available either with a 1.6 litre normally aspirated engine mated to either a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic gearbox, or a 1.6 litre turbodiesel engine available with a 5-speed manual box. In Malaysia, our Polo Sedan is the version with the 1.6 litre petrol engine and 6-speed auto.

Although the 1.2 litre TSI motor has the exact same 105 PS output as the 1.6 litre normally aspirated engine, it’s the torque that counts – the TSI can do 175Nm from 1,500rpm to 4,100rpm while the 1.6 litre motor only has 153Nm at 3,800rpm. DSG should also transmit more of that power to the wheels.

Getting the 1.2 litre TSI and DSG combo also means that the Vento TSI gains ESP stability control, a feature that’s currently missing on both the Indian spec Vento and the Malaysian spec Polo Sedan. Other equipment upgrades over the Indian spec Vento include an RCD 320 head unit and 15 inch Lakeside alloy wheels, among other spec ups.

Now that the Polo Sedan will be locally assembled in Malaysia with a new lower price of RM86,888, could there be room for a Polo Sedan TSI at a premium at the previous Polo Sedan CBU’s price range?

The post Volkswagen Vento TSI introduced in India – the Polo Sedan gets 1.2 TSI, DSG and ESP appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.

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via Paul Tan's Automotive News http://paultan.org/2013/10/29/volkswagen-vento-tsi-introduced-india-polo-sedan-gets-tsi-dsg-esp/

EA Sports is divorcing Tiger Woods, teases next-gen PGA game

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