Citroen’s new green machine on Home Services

Jan

Citroen’s new green machine

posted by admin in Window Cleaning

Making its world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week, Citroen’s C-Cactus is an eco-friendly concept car brimming with clever thinking and dramatic design. It is designed, says the French concern, to demonstrate how an extremely environmentally-sensitive design is feasible for a similar price to a conventional car.

Low on consumption ? like the cactus plant, geddit? ? this diesel hybrid model returns better than 3L/100km on the EU combined fuel consumption cycle, and emits just 78g/km of CO2. This is all brought about by reducing weight and by drastically cutting the number of components ? including even doing away with a conventional dashboard and bonnet. This diesel hybrid design even has ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) mode using electric power only.

You could say that Citroen has gone back to the drawing board and taken a bold new approach to eco-friendly design with the C-Cactus concept, which may look a little strange and a world away from the C4 platform on which it is based.

Using an ultra-clean Diesel Particulate Filter System (FAP in French), the C-Cactus’s hybrid HDi drivetrain combines a 52kW HDi diesel engine with an electric motor that provides an additional 22kW. For urban driving, the car’s ZEV mode provides silent, all-electric operation, and for journeys requiring successive acceleration and deceleration, the Citroen’s system limits fuel consumption by using both types of energy.

New design techniques help to keep production costs down to the point that Citroen predicts that its future diesel hybrid production cars could be sold for a similar cost to that of current conventional cars.

Citroen’s engineers consolidated the number of parts and mechanisms required, incorporating several functions into a single part where possible and removing non-essential items where they could.

The cabin exemplifies this, by using just over 200 parts ? about half the number employed by a conventional car of similar size. One of the first moves involved the elimination of the dashboard, with its original functions as well as loudspeakers, gearbox controls and navigation system now grouped on the central console and the car’s steering-wheel-mounted, fixed-centre controls. Just to be really clever, the ignition key doubles as an MP3 player. You’d be less likely to lose it if you’re also using it outside the car.

The C-Cactus’s quirky exterior has a unique personality and style, but is focused very much on simplicity. A replica of the front bumper section, which includes the headlamps and trademark Citroen chevrons, also makes up the lower part of the rear tailgate. The design of the cars front end consists of just two parts: the fixed bonnet comprising the front wings and a flap giving access to the vehicle-maintenance functions.

The door panels are made of just two parts, compared to 12 in a conventional car, and because the automatic air-conditioning system virtually makes it unnecessary to open the windows, Citroen’s engineers have removed the opening mechanisms and replaced them with simple sliding panes. Remember the original Mini, everyone?

The airy, expansive cabin has a panoramic glass sunroof and a large windscreen. The front seats have just two elements: a comfortable, moulded, integral-skin foam part and a solid monobloc frame for fixing them to the floor rails.

The C-Cactus uses a significant number of recycled or recyclable materials. The windscreen, windows and tyres are all recyclable, as are the steel door panels, which are unpainted but which have been treated for corrosion. Environmentally-friendly cork and felt are used for many parts and the patterned floor uses recycled leather taken from off cuts.

The car’s 21-inch wheels were developed in conjunction with Michelin, and use large-diameter low-profile tyres which help to reduce ground friction and simultaneously boost fuel efficiency while keeping production costs down.

The cabin decor is meant to symbolise nature and the environment, and has been created through the removal rather than the addition of material. The patterns cut out from the door panels show the felt inserted between the panel and the metal. A clip-on bag replaces the passenger-side glovebox, and can be taken from the car when required.

The C-Cactus has a touch screen on its centre console that includes a navigation system and onboard computer, while two loudspeakers are built into the central console, minimising wiring and installation costs.

With similar dimensions to those of a family car, at 4.2m long and 1.8m wide, Citroen’s C-Cactus has a boot, offering up to 1000 litres of load space. The rear seats can slide up against the front seats while the floor pan, which is integral with the rear bench, slides forward to reveal a sub-floor that provides an almost flat surface for loading bulky objects.

When asked, the people at Citroen say that the C-Cactus is a concept only, but that many of the show car’s ideas will come into play in future models. A version of the C-Cactus’s drivetrain is to be introduced in late 2009 powering turbodiesel hybrid versions of Citroen’s and Peugeot’s C4 and 308 models respectively.

As for the C-Cactus’s styling. Well, it might attract attention at motor shows, but it would be a mistake in arch-conservative New Zealand where there are still those who haven’t got used to the 1955 DS19 model. Poor souls!

Tags: anc, Environment, includes, lt, maintenance, mechanisms, objects, Operation, pace, provide