Honda Announces FCX Clarity - hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles

With crude oil crossing $130 a barrel, everyone is thinking of alternate fuel. Though hybrid cars are becoming popular, people need more fuel efficient vehicles. Honda Announced FCX Clarity which is a hydrogen-powered fuel cell car. Honda claims that it gives three times the mileage of a petrol car or twice as much as hybrid car.
Honda FCX Clarity emits only water as a by-product. So, they claim that there is no global warming not pollution. These cars will take a long time to become commercially viable as there are no petrol bunks which fill hydrogen. It will take atleast 3-4 years when we will see a few of them on road. Again the car has to be rightly priced, if not, people will never buy it.

There is a nice article about the FCX clarity launch on http://www.autoindustry.co.uk/news/16-06-08
As per this article, they want to introduce the vehicle in the US in the following way

-Step 1 -- Based on respondents' residential location, the list of potential customers has been narrowed to approximately 500 people living in very close proximity to publicly-accessible hydrogen fueling stations, including planned or existing stations in Santa Monica, Torrance and Irvine.

-Step 2 -- Customers meeting the geographical criteria will receive an e-mail prompting them to take a customer selection survey if they are serious about wanting to lease an FCX Clarity.

-Step 3 - The survey will qualify customers based on driving patterns, vehicle needs, vehicle storage and financial criteria.

-Step 4 - Customers qualify for the next steps, including an interview with American Honda.

I think till Clarity becomes commercially available, Toyota Prius will dominate the US market

Tata's Rs 1-lakh car - the Nano

So the much waited Tata's Rs 1-lakh car - the Nano is here. There were a lot of people questioning if Tata's could stick to their word of getting a car at such a low cost. Yes, they have proved it again that they can revolutionize this industry.
Thinking about this car, so many thoughts run through the mind - both positives and negatives.



Positives

This is definitely a boon to the middle class for whom affording a car is a dream of their lifetime. Thinking about the dust and heat that is present in our cities, this car is a big relief.
As the families grow and get little ones in to their family, people have to start thinking about getting 4 wheels. It is definitely not safe driving in India on a 2-wheeler. It is a scary picture when I see women sitting on 2-wheelers, balancing on single side of a 2-wheeler with a kid in her arm, where the kid is getting squeezed between the two parents. Sometimes, in bigger families, the elder kid is fighting for his space on the petrol tanks of the motor cycle when the driver is struggling to balance the vehicle. At times I see 3 kids and two adults on a single 2-wheeler. I think it is time for these people to upgrade to a small family car.
Rains are another nightmare times when it is very difficult to travel on 2 wheelers. Public transports are never reliable in such conditions.

Nano Taxi

Today, an auto rickshaw costs around 1 lakh to purchase. With the introduction of Nano, I think a lot of auto drivers will probably think of buying a Nano and using it as a taxi. I am sure, some smart company will quickly come out with an LPG kit for Nano, which can lower the cost of running. Given a choice I would prefer traveling by a Nano than an auto rickshaw. But for that the price of traveling by a a Nano-taxi should be comparable to traveling by a rickshaw

Negatives

Well, without having seen the car personally I cannot comment anything negative about the car. Ofcourse, one cannot expect too much for 1 lakh. The car doesn't come with most of the features (rather - no features). As they say, 'you pay peanuts, you get monkeys'. I wanted to bring out my thought on the implications that this car might bring on our infrastructure. In cities like Bangalore, people are already struggling with the terrible infrastructure. Bangalore has one of the highest vehicle density in the country. This city already boasts of the highest number of 2-wheelers in the city. The roads are all cramped. This car is just going to add to our agonies further. There are days when people take over 2 hours to reach their home after work, and in 2 years if there are a lot of cars on road, we can only think of reaching home the next day morning.
Today there is an auto rickshaw strike in Bangalore. It was a pleasure driving to office as there were no auto rickshaws on the road. I didn't have to use breaks much and I didn't have to change gears often. I think rickshaws constitute anywhere between 5-10% of vehicles on Bangalore roads. After removing more than a lakh of autos from the streets, the roads had decent traffic. Now imagine if around a couple of lakhs Nano's got added to our streets - "God help us please - are you listening". A few months back I read in News Papers that someone was making a few under passes in Bangalore in 3 day's time. I wonder when that project will see the light of the day. I hope it is time for the Govt to seriously has to start thinking about these kinds of projects.
I am not even going to talk about the fuel consumption which will add a burden on our reserves, nor am I going to talk about the heat and noise emitted by these cars.

Pricing

1-lakh is just the dealer price and one has to shell out atleast another Rs 25,000 to drive a car home. If one decides to add a few accessories like seat covers, better tires, AC,etc, then the car price will come close to 1.5 lakhs, which is still a reasonable.
If one can make a down payment of Rs 25,000 and take a loan for the rest of the moeny, then they can have a car for an EMI of around Rs 2000 p.m.

Happy Driving ...

Tata Indigo XL review

Yesterday, my friend Nawaz called me up to get some thoughts on buying a new car. He had been doing some research himself on the web and also been talking to his other friends. From what he had heard from his friends, he seemed to have been quite impressed by Tata Indigo XL. When he called me up, he was very upbeat and was explaining the features a lot. He asked me if I could go along with him to the Tata show room to take a test drive of the vehicle. I agreed and went to the show room with him. I had never test driven a new car and it was my first time.
Tata Indigo has petrol and and Diesel variants. In each of these variants, they have two models - Classic and Grand. At the showroom 'Grand' was there a display piece and we started inspecting while we were waiting for the executive to come and attend to us. The car looked good. At first glance, the most impressive thing about the car is the space. There is a lot of room inside. The back seat is very spacious and 3 people can sit very comfortably. Tall people won't have any problem stretching their legs when they are seated in the back seat.
By now the executive came to us. She started explaining the features of the car. The classic is the more basic model which has a 1.4 ltr engine. The boot (trunk) is quite big, but still not as big as I had expected it to be (as there is a lot of room inside). The interiors are not very great with the car. They have tried to give a wooden finish to the front panel, but it is made of plastic and doesn't go well with the car. The 'Classic' comes with premium fabric upholstery which is pretty good. One very good feature which I haven't seen in any sedan is split AC. There are separate AC ducts for the back seat. This feature is something, I have seen only in Qualis and Tavera. But even in those, the AC ducts are on the roof, but in Indigo, they are at the bottom (between the two front seats). This is a cool feature. Another unique feature is the chiller. The chiller is in the glove box and can keep your cool drinks chill (ofcourse the AC has to be ON for this). Fog lamps, all 4 power windows, power steering, rear defogger and central locking, front seat height adjustor (for both seats) are all default in the Basic model. There is no Cup holder for the driver's seat. It is there only for the passengers in the back seat.
The basic model comes at around 6.1 or 6.2 lakhs on road in Bangalore and is a good buy.
The Grand comes with a few extra features. It comes with leather upholstery, 4 speaker DVD player with two LCD displays behind both the front seats, a car phone kit (free nokia phone and a charger) and power seat height adjuster.
Now it was the time to test drive. I took out the 1.4 petrol for a drive. I could only drive it in busy Bangalore traffic. It had a smooth pickup even when the AC was on. The gear shift was smooth. Really not much complain with the car. This is not to be considered as the the full 'GO' for this model as the drive was only for 2 kms in traffic. One has to drive the car before making their choice. However there were a few things I was not comfortable with the car. The gear seemed to be very far from the driver's seat. One has to reach out for it. I am used to driving a Maruti Baleno which has a very big front window shield which gives a very clear view of the road. I was not very happy about it in this car. For tall people whose head almost reaches the roof, the road view is not very clear.
After the test drive of the petrol version, we tried the diesel version. I sat in the car and turned the ignition on and I was immediately disappointed. There was a lot of engine noise and vibration. It was like sitting in a truck (OK, I am exaggerating here, but I was very unhappy). The Grand Diesel comes at around 8.75 lakhs in Bangalore. Who would want to pay so much money for a diesel car with just 1.4 ltr engine which makes so much noise. Atleast I wouldn't. The diesel versions of Verna are so smooth when compared to Tata Indigo. Classic makes a good buy for that price, but Tatas will have a difficult task selling the diesel version of Indigo XL, that too when they have the image of a taxi.

Baleno review

To write about Baleno
I think it is value for money car. Before it was discontinued, it was available at 6.1 lakhs on road (with 70,000 corporate discount) value for money. It is a race machine with a top speed of 175. It is one of the fastest cars in the segment (1.5-1.6 ltr) which can do 0-100 in 10-11 seconds ( though I never tried it, many of the forums say that it is faster than a Honda city)
Also I get a very good mileage of 11-12 within the city with AC and 15-16 on the highway while cruising between 100-140 with 5 people in the car. Not many cars in the segment have this good mileage. The gear ratio is very good. It goes at low speeds even at high gears. I don't have to change gears too often in the city traffic. I can pull through in 3rd gear even with 5 people.
Baleno has got one of the best ACs and the best sound proofing. I recently sat in a Honda city and could every conversation outside.
It does not have all those great interiors as the Verna, but has everything you can ask for in a car. It has got very comfortable bucket seats, 3 cup holder, 2 ashtrays (for front and back seats), Arm rests for both front and rear seats, power mirrors, steering height adjustment, cigarette lighter,central locking with auto cop, etc
The boot is quite spacious (though not as big as the new Honda city) and serves most my purpose.
Few things I think that the Baleno misses are the air bags, Rear window wiper and rear window defogger ( vxi has this - of course you can't give everything in Lxi).
Does not have the elegant looks of an Ikon or an Accent, but got a beasty look which I kind of like (may be because I own it). The rear design could have been better like that of a Honda city. The rear is what gives it the beasty look.

What I am most unhappy with Baleno is its headlight power. It should have been better. Night driving is not very easy especially on a highway, as the throw is not very far and not very bright. I am planning to put a higher wattage bulb

The Lxi and Vxi differences are mostly cosmetic which include rear spoiler, alloy wheels, Power antenna, automatic climate control, front seat driver seat height adjustment.

Overall, I am very happy with this car.