Citroen unveils hybrid rally car

One of Citroen's big debuts at the Paris Motor Show was its HYmotion4 hybrid technology, which was fitted to the Citroën Hypnos and C4 WRC along with the Peugeot RC and Prologue. Unlike most hybrid systems, the French technology has no direct connection between the car's engine and battery, so the pack is recharged "through the road" when the car's regenerative braking is applied. There's a 125-kW electric motor attached to the rear axle that gets its power from 990 individual lithium ion cells wired up to produce 400-volts. The C4 WRC's driver can select from a number of modes to allow a specific amount of electric assistance, including running solely on the electric motor or using it as a short-term boost for added acceleration. This way, the car can be run in zero-emission mode or at full power, depending on the situation. Although no production machines have been announced with this new technology, the fact that the automaker has created four separate concepts with it shows that it is serious about its production possibilities.
source:autoblog

Citroen to launch a green sub-brand of eco-friendly cars based on the C-Cactus.

Citroen C-Cactus
Going green has been a mantra for the auto makers from quite some time and there have been many eco-friendly cars that have been showcased, especially at the major auto shows. Hybrids are also a favorite and the Honda Insight proved quite popular and there are speculations that a Tata Nano Hybrid could soon be unveiled.

Now British website iMotor is reporting that the French motor company, Citroen, is planning to launch a green sub-brand and will introduce a separate range of eco-friendly cars that will be based on the C-Cactus. What’s more, this new eco-friendly range, apparently, will be a stand-alone line up, something similar to their recently announced DS range.
An insider from Citroen gave this explanation, “We have announced plans for premium DS line of products. So it makes sense to do a similar thing with our future eco-friendly vehicles. Then we would be able to provide unique vehicles to three different types of person.”

The insider informed that the Cactus range of cars from Citroen has been targeted at users who are concerned about the environment. Apparently, the first car from the green sub-brand of Citroen would be a production version of the C-Cactus. It is expected to be out in late 2010.

New 2012 Citroen DS5 launched in the UK

The 2012 Citroen DS5 has been recently launched in the United Kingdom where the model has a starting price of 22,400 pounds.

According to the car manufacturer, the 2012 Citroen DS5 is available, in the United Kingdom, in three trim levels, the DSign, DStyle and DSport, where the entry-level version has a price of 22,400 pounds.


The DSign version can be ordered as the e-HDi 110 Airdream EGS6 114 (22,400 GBP), the HDi 160 six-speed manual 129 (23,400 GBP), HDi 160 six-speed automatic 154 (24,900 GBP) and the Hybrid4 200 Airdream EGS6 99 (27,600). Standard features on the entry-level are the dual-zone climate control, cruise control, rain and light sensors, USB, Bluetooth, keyless access and start.

Future owners of the DS5 will have to choose between four engines, the THP with 200 HP, the e-HDi with 110 HP, the HDi with 160 HP and the new diesel electric Hybrid4 which is offering 200 horsepower and four-wheel drive, while emitting just 99 g/km CO2. The top of the line Citroen DS5 is the DSPort Hybrid4 Airdream EGS6 107, which can be ordered from 32,200 pounds. The 2012 Citroen DS5 is already available for its future customers in the UK starting today, the 2nd of April, 2012.