BMW Electric car

By Herman Silochan

Friends often ask why I don’t go on press days to the Detroit Auto Show, so at least I’ll have unrestricted view of all the models and meet with the experts and manufacturers.

I say that I’d rather wait until opening day for the public, to mix and mingle and hear what ordinary folk have to say, as I feel that their opinions are what matter.

After all this is Motown, home to some of the most knowledgeable working class people in the automotive world. This year, residents voted with their feet, returning to Cobo Hall in numbers that I haven’t seen in the past four years. By noon on Saturday all the halls were jammed, everybody and their grandchild taking digital images by the thousands.

As an annual visitor, I know instinctively that a little bit of sun has returned to this beleaguered city. Let’s hope that for the sake of motorcar builders in the United States and here in Ontario that this positive roll will keep up for a very long time.

Ford and General Motors took centre right stage, literally, as you enter the salons, and their presentations on the whole were hard to beat. Not to downplay what Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda have to offer, after all their cars are still among the top sellers, but a notch has been taken away from them. Earn or losing a point means gaining or losing a billion here or there.

If any car won my second look was the Ford Fusion in its several iterations. It’s handsome, inside and out, the finish was superb, the panels were close, as good as those super metallurgists, the Germans with their Porsches, Audis and Benzes.

Ford has followed up this with two smaller sizes, the Focus and the Fiesta, these two rounding out, what I consider for the North American industry, winners.

GM electric concept

Close by is GM, with its array of Buicks, Cadillacs and Chevrolets. My preferred choice here is the Buick Regal GS, about as sporty as a regular sedan you can get, but sitting a few feet away is another winner, the Malibu. These are good family cars, with numbers and performance to add value as a major household asset. One of the significant criteria I use in assessing ownership is a combination of replacement value and long term maintenance cost after the warranty expires. Let’s face it, the superb Volkswagen Taureg SUV is an awesome vehicle to drive, but the cost of replacing brake rotors and pads can cost as much as a used 10 year old domestic sedan.

But if the North Americans are showing some signs of rebirth, the Germans have taken automotive technology to the cutting edge, again literally. Going through the structural engineering on an Audi, is a combination of high art and science; it shows everywhere. In perhaps one of the best booklets of any product anywhere, Audi imbues such pride in its philosophy, history and technology, that you feel it even in the composition of its promotional sentences. As close to a Swiss watch on wheels as you can get, but at a pretty price.

Right across the spectrum of colourful metal and rubber is another emergent reality, something introduced about five years ago, and growing. That is the arrival of electrics, or hybrid gasoline-electric, especially the Toyota Prius. Billions have been invested, and more to come, so that this is the coming highway reality. There is an electric car in your future, especially so as the ten year cycle of ownership is now about to revolve.

The Chevy Volt had received the most press, and sadly, the most confusion. Some marketing people tell me that touting the Volt as an electric car, when it in fact it has a small gasoline engine to extend the range, was a miscalculation by General Motors. Sales have been dismal for such a large project on what is really a fine car. Never mind the bad publicity it received over an engine fire after a recent collision of one of these models. GM is working hard to correct this, and sales are expected to meet marketing projections. A combination of battery and gas will give you a range of 610 kilometres.

However, a Volkswagen, diesel Jetta TDI can give you 40 miles per gallon or 14.6 kilometres per litre; a full tank can take you to Ottawa and back without a refill, i.e. 710 kilometres.

Meanwhile over at a Japanese area, the Nissan Leaf is getting free positive press on a pure electric, even with its limited range, averaging about 140 kilometres. Still not enough for a summer trip to Ottawa.

But the public is becoming aware that transportation future is with something electric, it’s just that we will have to re-organize our lifestyles to integrate these whirring gizmos on wheels with new mobility.

Getting into the electric act is now a new range of commercial vehicles, and a few new companies were at Detroit to show off their wares. Quite impressive I’d say, given that some of the backers are seasoned automotive executives. Let’s wish them well as we try to clean up the planet for a little more sunshine.