The 2006 was a very good year for the auto industry. Many cars and many technologies ware put to the test some of them past with flying colours. Especially the hydrogen cars and the hybrid ones than can be a very good alternative for this period, when we pass very gentile from the gasoline engine to the hydrogen engine. This will be a very long process but it's clear as the sky that the future will be a hydrogen one.
So let's start and see what models clawed their way into our automotive hall of fame :
- Best Sport Sedan is taken by ACURA TSX;
- Best Sport Compact goes to AUDI A3 2.0T;
- Best Luxury Sports Sedan is given to BMW 3 -SERIES;
- Best Performance car is swift away by the CHEVROLET CORVETTE;
- Best Full Size Sedan make is way to CHRYSLER 300;
- Best Muscle Car goes to FORD MUSTANG GT;
- Best Family Sedan to HONDA ACCORD;
- Best Roadster taken by the MAZDA MX-5;
- Best Sport Coupe to MAZDA RX-8;
- Luxury Sports Car taken by PORSCHE BOXTER;
It's seems that for 2006, we had a brace of affordable roadsters in the form of Mazda MX-5 and the awaited Pontiac Solstice or the new Ford Fusion and the fully redesigned Hyundai
Sonata and Volkswagen Passat took as by storm and came reinforced with a fresh face lift.
For 2007 we have at entrance for example the Jeep Commander that you can drive anywhere with seven people to fit in. A lot of space, right? Ultra-luxury Commander Overland comes with more standard equipment, platinum-chrome exterior accents, and wood, leather and suede inside.
It offers utility and a roomy, airy cabin with rear seats that are progressively stepped up in a theatre style, making for the back-seat riders a view of the road.
The motorization comes with A choice of V6 and V8 engines that are available. The mid-level 4.7-litre V8 seems an excellent choice, the responsive acceleration performance for driving through traffic and a slightly lower fuel economy than the 3.7-litre V6.
But something big is coming form BMW, that is going to release to the market a very limited edition of a hydrogen-powered luxury performance car in 2007, which will be based on the company's high-end 7-series luxury sedan.
The BMW Hydrogen 7 will run on the streets with a 260-horsepower 12-cylinder internal combustion engine, that is capable of running on either premium-grade gasoline or hydrogen, according to the company. The new car will come with both a conventional gasoline tank and an additional fuel tank for liquid hydrogen stored in a container, so the car's dual-mode drive provides an overall cruising range of more than 400 miles which is nice when you are on a long drive.
The Hydrogen 7 will be based on the BMW 760Li, the BMW largest and the most expensive sedan. The 12-cylinder BMW 760Li has a price of $118,900, no price has been announced for the Hydrogen 7,yet. This car is tested by selected users that will pay a monthly rental fee and must live near an area where are available hydrogen fuelling stations.
Besides BMW witch hopes to rise interest in hydrogen technology, others like Ford Motor Co. that designed a concept car using an internal combustion engine powered by hydrogen and General Motors Corp. that is working on developing fuel-cell cars that run on hydrogen are already drown to this new technology.
BMW has received offers from politicians and executives, rock stars and TV stars that are all eager to help create visibility for this new technology like Madonna, David Suzuki, Al Gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
