By Esther Misa Chavez
INQUIRER.net

ON its 100th year anniversary, the world’s largest automaker, General Motors Corp. launched its much anticipated “green” car, the Chevy Volt. Sharp, sleek, and sporty, it is vaunted to leapfrog all competitors in the race to bring the greenest, coolest environmentally correct car in the market.

Proud of its game changing design and performance, GM promptly introduced its lead exterior designer to the press, particularly the Filipino-American media, since, it turns out, Gary Ruiz, 33 is a Filipino-American, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. This second generation Filipino-American understands Tagalog but can’t speak it well. No matter. His designs speak an international language well understood by all.

Ruiz initially studied pharmacology and was on his final year at Ohio State University when he grew enamored with industrial design. Quite a big shift from chemistry to engineering but Ruiz dove into it and, soon, was in the center of the world of automobile design.

Shortly thereafter, he was assigned to a leadership position in one of GM’s high-priority projects, the E-Flex Design Studio, where he and his team were charged with the aesthetics of the exterior design of GM cars, particularly the Chevy Volt. He was also involved in the initial designs of the GM’s latest muscle retro-car, the 2008 Camaro.

Ruiz is proudest of the fact that GM put in a concerted effort to produce a vehicle like no other — an electric car that’s “beautiful, and that’s going to decrease dependence on oil, reduce emissions, appeal to environmentally conscious drivers as well as to gear heads.”

Here is an electric vehicle that will run for 40 miles on single battery charge before it switches to gasoline use. In an all-electric mode, when the generator kicks in, it will rack up 100 miles to the gallon.

The Chevy Volt has just catapulted GM to world prominence and, in Ruiz’s own words, “long term prosperity.” At 100 years old, GM has left big footprints in automotive history and is leaving fresh new ones at the forefront of the race to save the planet.

(Photo courtesy of General Motors Corp.)

In the recent 2nd Philippine International Motor Show, INQUIRER.net speaks with several car manufacturers about the recent concept cars they have lined up in the future. These “cars of the future” are now using other alternative means of powering engines, including electricity (using more powerful and less expensive batteries). Hybrid cars are also the rage today, as manufacturers respond to pressures the global green movement to come up with ways to cut on energy consumption amid the oil price increases.

Here’s a video interview with Mitsubishi vice president for customer service Dante Santos who explains how an electric car works.

Here’s a video interview with Korean carmaker Kia Motors explaining the displayed “fuel cell electric vehicle” or FCEV. The FCEV runs on electricity produced by combining stored liquid hydrogen with oxygen, as explained by Edgardo Castro Jr., training manager for Columbian Autocar Corp, Kia’s local distributor.

Here’s also a closer look at Toyota’s hybrid Prius sedan that alternately runs on gas and electricity. Toyota has created a hybrid pickup naming it as one of their “cars for the future.” Unveiled earlier this year, the Toyota A-Bat is further elaborated on by Allen Rufo, Toyota Philippines vice president for customer service marketing, who also gives his views about hybrid vehicles in the local market. Video taken at the Philippine International Motor Show held at the World Trade Center.

Finally, Japanese carmaker Honda unveils a new version of the Jazz, also called Fit in other countries. In this video interview, Honda Philippines head of sales operations Voltaire Gonzales talks about the new features in the Jazz.

By Aida Sevilla-Mendoza
Inquirer

TOKYO, Japan–At a glittering international event like the 40th Tokyo Motor Show displaying 520 new vehicles of 30 carmakers at a venue spread over 440,000 square meters, it is difficult to hold the attention of the 1.5 million visitors expected, including thousands from overseas, during its 16-day run.

On Press Preview day, several manufacturers caught the eye by exhibiting outrageously styled concept cars. While the designs of the three concept cars presented by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. were not as edgily in-your-face futuristic as the Toyota HI-CT, Honda Puyo or Nissan Pivo2, they looked more user-friendly, more practical and more ready to leap from the drawing board into commercial production in the near future.

And for visitors already in the market for a new car, Mitsubishi unveiled the latest iteration of the Lancer Evolution, which is one of the fastest high-performance mass production cars in the world yet is affordably priced. The more sedate version of the Evo X, the 2008 Lancer sedan (named as the Galant Fortis in Japan) was also on view.

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