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Fiat 500 to enter Guinness Book of Records

Fiat's classic mini, the 500, a direct descendant of which is set to be unveiled in mid 2007, has just qualified for The Guinness Book of Records, as, earlier this month, more than 750 “Cinquecentisti” (Cinquecento means 500 in Italian) created the world’s longest one model traffic ‘jam’ at over three kilometres in length!

More than 5000 enthusiasts gathered at Garlenda in Italy for the 23rd International Fiat 500 Owners Meeting, to watch 500 Fiat 500 cars create the largest 500 insignia in the world on the Dei Fiori racecourse at Villanova d’Albenga. Then, as the ‘convoy’ headed off towards Casanova Lerrone, it exceeded the two miles in length required to beat the record.

But, the “Cinquecentisti” plan to take this further as next year is the 50th anniversary of the Fiat 500, and it will also be the eve of the new Fiat 500 launch, so the Fiat 500 Club Italia, organisers of the event, are calling on Fiat 500 owners and fans from around the world to start making preparations to travel to Italy for the biggest Fiat 500 event in history.

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Electric powered MINI QED Concept with 640 Hp!


309,9
Kgm of tourque, 0-100 km/h (62mph) in just 4,5 seconds, 240 Km/h top speed and 1.500 Km autonomy

Sounds perfect don’t you agree? PML’s Mini concept was unveiled at the British Motor Show this week and it features 4 electric powered motors (one for each wheel) that generate a stunning 640 Hp (160 Hp each). More astonishing is the torque that sums up to a total of…3.000 NM or 308,9 Kgm !!!

According to PML, the all wheel drive electric powered mini needs a mere 4,5 sec (!) to accelerate from standstill to 100 km/h (62mp/h) while it’s top speed reaches 240 km/h (149 mph). PML say’s that athough a production model would be a bit slower (0-100 km/h in 6 seconds) the impressive 1.500 km (932 miles) autonomy will be retained.

Another real cool thing is the fact that the car wears a 250 cc 2 stroke petrol engine attached with a generator that supplies power to the batteries. As the battery level reduces, the rear mounted engine/generator starts to automatically top up the battery. So when you arrive at your destination you simply park the vehicle knowing that when you return the battery will be replenished!

Although the project wasn’t supported by BMW (BMW UK Ltd requested that PML mention that they have no involvement with the project and that such conversions invalidate warranty) PLM hope that a car maker will be interested in the technology.

I on the other hand hope PML can keep it’s promise concerning their systems hugely impressive specifications.

Item

Original target specification

Emissions
Autonomy
Top speed
Acceleration
Braking
Fuel
BHP

Zero
1500 km
200 kph minimum
0-100 kph in 6 secs
No mechanical brakes
Zero carbon
250 bhp minimum


Current specification

Emissions
Autonomy
Top speed
Acceleration
Braking
Fuel
BHP

Zero for 4 hours
1500 km
240 kph
0-100 kph in 4.5 secs
No mechanical brakes
Carbon neutral option
> 640 bhp

Specifications

Motors: 4 x 750Nm 1800rpm high efficiency Brushless permanent magnet sine wave Hi-Pa drive™ 24 phase water-cooled

Drive electronics: 4 x 480Amp 450V Hi-Pa drive™ 24 phase sine wave inverter IGBT water cooled CAN bus communications

Battery: 300V nominal 70Amp Hour Lithium Polymer 700Amp peak

Battery Management system: Active cell balancing, temperature and voltage monitoring CAN bus communications

Ultra Capacitor: 350V 11 Farad 700Amp limited

Energy re–circulator: 1400Amp continuous IGBT water cooled CAN bus communications

Generator

Engine 250cc 2 cylinder 4 stroke gasoline 15kW at 7000rpm

Generator 20kW continuous at 250V 80Amp

Controller350V 80Amp water-cooled CAN bus communications

Display: Touch screen high resolution LCD with steering wheel and 4 area screen menu indexing Displays battery, ultra cap, fuel status, mileage calculator, boost display and options for GPRS link to allow remote diagnostics and tracking Diagnostic and configuration menus CAN bus communications

Traction control: Dynamically distributes torque when any wheel is in skid management mode to obtain optimum tractive effort and stability.

Steering sensor: Optional addition to provide feed forward input to traction control system. Allows driver intent and wheel alignment to influence vehicle stability and tractive effort functions.

Vehicle attitude, yaw and gyroscopic sensors: Optional addition to provide further stability inputs to traction control system. Allows vehicle orientation and direction (if different from steering wheel implied direction) to be accounted for in determining optimum tractive effort distribution.

Differential/torque share functions: Standard feature incorporated within each wheel to allow optimum speed and torque share when cornering. Minimises tyre scrub and power wasted energy.

Efficiency optimisation: Dynamic management of power delivery to wheel ensures best use of available power. Accounts for motor related efficiency variations across speed and torque ranges.

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