Bianca Bartz
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Concept cars are getting tinier, greener and more fuel efficient. Volkswagen’s latest concept, the UP! was displayed at the Frankfurt Auto Show and made a huge impression despite its ueber-mini design. In addition to VW, General Motors is also looking at reducing the size of future vehicles. GM’s “triplets” include the Groove, Beat and Trax and “are even smaller than the new Agila being introduced by GM’s European Opel division during the Frankfurt show,” the Car Connection explains. GM$ will be introducing eight new Two-Mode hybrids this year. Early hybrids “work best in stop-and-go city traffic,” but the new technology “promises to boost fuel economy on the open highway, as well.” “Anyone who wanders through the nearly dozen different display halls at the Frankfurt Messe will likely come away convinced that in an era of record-high fuel costs and mounting worries about global warming, small is the big theme for automakers around the world.”  But the real breakthrough could come in the form of plug-in hybrids, suggested Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe, as he unveiled the Opel Flextreme concept. With its oversized lithium-ion battery pack, the prototype could go 30 miles on electric power alone, charging up either from a wall outlet or by running its small diesel motor as a generator. Similar to the Chevrolet Volt, shown at last January's Detroit auto show, a version of Flextreme could hit showrooms early in the next decade.
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