Archive for the ‘Electric Cars’ Category

Powerpuff Girl: all-electric Atomik 500

While there’s still no word on whether Fiat/Chrysler will bring an electric version of the retro-metro 500 to market, it appears that someone else will. Atomik Cars has taken the 500 Abarth and made it meaner and cleaner. The new company’s aim is to deliver a zero-emission vehicle that blends supercar performance with city car packaging. Atomik’s motto is “Anticipating the future.” It may well have succeeded.

With output from its AC brushless synchronous motors reportedly equivalent to that of a 300 horsepower engine, the Atomik 500 slingshots to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds. It has lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries in unknown quantity, a ceramic heating system to warm its passengers and a “Peltier A/C module w/o gas” to cool them. More details will forthcoming as its April debut at Top Marques Monaco draws near, but we can tell you that its rarity is all but guaranteed: only around 50 copies will be available for purchase.

Full technical details for Audi A1

 audi a1

Audi has just released technical details on its new A1 e-tron concept that debuted at the Geneva Motor Show. A1 uses an extended range electric architecture like the Chevrolet Volt, but with a compact and power-dense Wankel rotary engine/generator to keep the battery alive after power from the grid is depleted. The diagrams released by Audi show that the Wankel is mounted in the car’s rear behind the T-shaped battery pack that sits mostly under the rear seat. (more…)

Upcoming electric Infiniti?

Nissan’s president confirmed that an all-electric model was in work for luxury brand Infiniti, but nothing more has been said since. Additionally, Infiniti head Saito gave some clues of what to expect from an EV Infiniti.

According to Saito, Infiniti’s first electric vehicle offering will take the form of a small car, likely on par with the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series. Infiniti sees the compact luxury segment growing rapidly in the coming years, surpassing the current entry-level luxury segment, which includes cars like the Audi A4, BMW 3-Series and even Infiniti’s own G. (more…)

Mercedes-Benz F800 for Geneva

mercedes-benz f800 style concept

Yet another carmaker has revealed pictures of its concept car that will be revealed at Geneva Auto Show: Mercedez-Benz F800. The new car previews the next-generation CLS and shows a completely new design line for the German brand. As a premiere, the car comes with a new concept for the rear doors which are sliders, not swingers, exactly like those features on the minivans.

Other features are the incorporation of two different electric drivetrains: one version of the F800 Style is a a plug-in hybrid with a V6 petrol engine mated to a 100 hp electric motor (Mercedes-Benz says that the car can run 18 miles in full-electric mode). The other version of the F800 Style is a pure electric vehicle powered by an on-board fuel cell.

Concept car: Tesla EYE

ied tesla eye concept

Yet another EV concept car to make its debut at Geneva: Tesla EYE. It was commissioned by EV carmaker Tesla to a group of IED Turin (L ‘Istituto Europeo di Design of Turin) design students. The project brief was this – a 2+2 sports car that can be used everyday with an affordable price that targets young, cosmopolitan customers.

ied tesla eye concept front

A total of 11 lucky students of the Masters of Arts in Transportation Design programme at the IED coordinated by Pininfarina senior designer Luca Borgogno and FIAT senior designer Andrea Militello worked on the project, and were supervised by Tesla Motors chief designer Franz von Holzhausen. Pirelli and OZ Racing also helped out wherever needed.

Super Hatchback Concept (SHC)

super hatchback concept

I’d say that the SHC stands for Strikingly Hot Car! It’s designed by Jamie Martin and it’s by far one of the most interesting, eye-catching auto body concept revealed so far. It’s just my opinion, of course. I can, also, think of some competitors, namely 2013 BMW, this year’s Kia Ray or Pininfarina’s Alfa Romeo Spider.

It’s a delicious combination of a supercar and a 3-door hatchback, completed by style and hopefully, performance. The concept car is available in a choice of three next generation powertrains, including an electric / hybrid option. The body is composed of 65% Steel and 35% aluminum used for front wings, bonnet and bumpers and 30% glass reinforced plastic can be used for designated sections. Other features include (more…)

The Swiss EV: Protoscar Lampo 2

Protoscar Lampo 2

After a long period of having been awaited, finally, the Lampo 2 has come to the world to show off its peppery green engine. The all-electric car is based on General Motor’s Kappa platform. This is the same basis for the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and, in Europe, the Opel GT but what is most outstanding for the eco-friendly Swiss is its power. (more…)

Nissan Leaf: Perfection on wheels

I started to get tired of all the drawback that electric cars come with. Either they had short range, or were two-seaters, not to mention expensive or crazy-looking. It seems that people at Nissan share my opinion so they got to work and revealed to the world the all-electric handsome Leaf. (more…)

Awards for Audi

Audi put forward their newest auto products and both have won prestigious awards at Detroit Auto Show.

The Audi A8 was given the ‘Award for Design Excellence’, this being  the second year in a row that Audi has won the ‘Award for Design Excellence’, which was given to the Audi Sportback concept in 2009.

The other winner is Audi e-tron, which was given the overall ‘Best in Show’ Award. It was almost a unanimous decision, even if it is a concept. Judges say they were impressed by the car’s size and proportions.

Seems Audi is keeping up with the Joneses!

Great Expectations: VW Compact Coupe

Forget the stupefyingly unimaginative name! This here is a car that has real production potential, and is also downright handsome to boot. This is the New Compact Coupe, VW style: technology, get-up and some pretty impressive performance figures.

It is a very well proportioned car, stylish, catchy, not to mention it’s as green as my hemp seedling Tesla Motors’ Roadster. We didn’t expect otherwise, VW!

The New Compact Coupe is motivated, primarily, by a TSI gasoline engine that is as fuel efficient as it is sporty, putting out150 PS of power. That TSI engine is paired with an electric motor that gives out and additional 20 kW / 27 PS. And you also get one of the best gearboxes in the industry, VW’s 7-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG). And as far as those performance figures are concerned, check these out: 45 mpg, 0 to 100 km/h in 8.6 seconds and it puts out just 98 g/km CO2, and top out at 227 km/h.

(more…)

R8 Baby Brother bowls over

You take an Audi, place R8 on its back and slide through lanes with zero emissions. How does that sound? Not to mention the looks of this e-tron. The German manufacturer has done it again. They have impressed Detroit Motor Show attendants with this electric concept of R8, which was revealed last year at Frankfurt.

Shorter and smaller than the TT, it is based on an aluminium space fame chassis, and gets carbon fibre reinforced plastic body panels to keep weight to an absolute minimum. The batteries are placed at the rear axel, behind the passenger’s seat so they maintain a gravity center, only that baby brother has just two batteries instead of four, like Audi R8.  These drive the rear wheels, and are capable of delivering up to 204bhp. Other figures promise the car will sprint from 0-62mph in only 5.9sec, while top speed is 124mph, though limited to preserve the batteries. With a potential range of 155 miles, company engineers promise the car can be fully charged in as little as two hours, though owners will need a special 400volt electricity supply, or you can charge it at your regular power outlet in…11 hours…which makes me believe you will get that 400volt supplier.

(more…)

Stupendous 3,319.03 lb-ft of Torque E-TRON Off by One Figure

Bugly Audi flaunted themselves with the all-electric version of a shrunken R8, overpraising the supposedly 4,500 Nm-of-torque engine on e-tron (3,319.03 pound-feet!!!!). The figures made many eyes roll, many mouths drool and surprinsingly many more calivers take a pen and paper and start calculating. And it seems they were right: Audi got the sums all wrong! (more…)

Free Electric Cars In Israel And Denmark

A new company called Project Better Place is collaborating with Renault to make electric cars more practical. The main problem with these environmental-friendly vehicles is that of recharging, because this takes hours, and their range is considerably shorter than gasoline powered cars.

The new project raised $200 million and is aimed at installing recharging infrastructure in Israel and Denmark, so that the cars will be recharged alike cell phones. The outlets are placed at parking lots throughout the country, in a number of 500,000 in Israel only, and a similar number is slated for Denmark. That is one outlet for every six parking lots.

(more…)

Meet Trev, the Australian electric car

The staff and students of the University of South Australia presented an impressive two seat electric car they named Trev.

Trev is a three wheel electric prototype, powered by a lithium-ion battery able to ensure a ride of maximum 90 miles at a top speed of 75mph. An aluminum honey comb chassis, fiberglass body and low rolling resistance tires with really light alloy wheels are what make the electric battery last the full 90 miles.

This environment friendly vehicle has only one door, but offers space for two passengers, seated one behind the other.

Blog Directory - OnToplist.com MV Blogs Directory Business Directory for Miami, Florida Yellow Pages for USA and Canada  Top Blogs  Blog Directory TopOfBlogs BlogMeeting.com Blog Ratings Web Hosting This site is listed under Vehicles Directory  Dr.5z5 Open Feed Directory BLOGbal Top Blogs - Increase SEO of Your Blog, Blogging Resources Automobile Blogs  Webfeed (RSS/ATOM/RDF) submitted to http://www.feeds4all.nl