Value your bodily safety too much to get within shouting distance of an
electric motorcycle or a
two-seat Segway? Our friends at
AutoblogGreen have you totally covered with a test drive in the utterly safe, normal and boring Dodge Circuit EV. It's based on the same powertrain that
Chrysler is stuffing into all of its
ENVI vehicles, but with the lightweight Lotus-derived frame on top, there's quite a bit of get-up-and-go to it. Unfortunately, the cabin is a bit cramped, and Chrysler still has some bugs to work out with its EV platform. Right now the regenerative braking bites right away, instead of letting the car coast, requiring constant use of the accelerator to keep moving, but Chrysler is working on it. There are still big questions on price and availability, but so it goes with most electric vehicles -- at least this one seems fairly ready to go.
Note: Gallery jumps to
AutoBlogGreen
posted Apr 23rd 2009 10:23PM
Normal and boring?! I think it's pretty sexy for an EV.
...could it have been sarcasm?
Engadget needs to just get over themselves and stop pretending they're funny. I feel like everything I read here I have to read again, just to figure out what the fuck they're talking about because they're too busy trying to be sarcastic to make sense.
@ dasgluten
I think it's funny, and I enjoy reading Engadget because of it.
I think you just need to get over yourself and go read a normal and boring tech site like Gizmodo.
@Das Gluten
I agree, it gets old.
@Das Gluten: Maybe you are too stupid to understand and/or just fail at reading. :P
"Sense of entitlement --- people who believe that the world "owes" them and they want to collect NOW. People with this type of attitude always want more. Whatever you do is never good enough for them, and they also generally show no gratitute or express any thanks--even when someone goes out of their way for them. Like the most spoiled of royalty, they merely expect that they should be the center of your world at all times. "
Very sexy for an EV!!! I would drive it.
Well you better get your order in before Monday...
Thats when they go bottoms up...
No more HEMI you fat americans
AGAHAHAAAH!
VIPER!!!!
at least its pretty...
thats fucking cool looking.
its exciting that they're actually getting to work on elecric cars people would actually want to drive...
(keeps fingers crossed on pricing)
You can rest assured that it will have _a_ price.
Everything has it's price.
Letting the car coast? Who doesn't just use cruise control now? Not having to replace brake pads as often sounds good too.
Plus, it's sexy as hell.
Cruise control is pretty worthless in Connecticut and Vermont, where I do most of my highway driving. Too many hills that the cruise will over/under compensate for. I'm sure I'd use it all the time if I lived in Florida : )
Well when your car only has a proportional cruise system thats gonna happen. Newer cars are either PI or PD controllers making them much better on the up and downhills.
I'm sure you can set this to 80 and it'll stay there no matter what.
Can I has one?
Wow! A Dodge that doesn't look dodgy...
Because it wasn't designed by Dodge...
Nope i guess a mini viper looks nothing like a dodge.... You fail. And yes i guarantee it came from the design studios in Detroit. the chassis is lotus not the body work. please read before speaking!
Please compare this car to the Lotus Europa then tell me Dodge designed it. You're an idiot. Throwing on a different grill does not count as designing a car. http://www.desktopcar.net/wallpaper/8637-2/Lotus_europa-S_37.jpg
@Nathan
Dodge did very well design the car's drivetrain. The chassis, interior, and most of the bodywork come from the Europa. Take that as you will, Dodge has has many cars over the years that were just their sheet metal over Mitsubishi vehicles; it's unfortunately common for them.
Utterly boring? Paul has a lot finer taste than me, apparently...
"but with the lightweight Lotus-derived frame on top"
ooooh you mean exactly like the Tesla ?
I think Tesla does a better "rip off of a lotus design for an electric car" car
It's more than just the "frame" that is Lotus. The EV doesn't have a frame, and neither do most modern cars.
The Tesla is the Lotus Elise/Exige/Europa platform with Tesla's electric drivetrain.
The Dodge EV is is the Lotus Europa with Chrysler's electric drivetrain.
For both of these cars, Lotus designed the ENTIRE car except for the drivetrain.
If you look for photos of the Lotus factory in Hethel, you will see Elises, 211s and, Tesla's all on the same assembly line.
Class are you paying attention to this? This is how you build an EV styled in a way that people will like. Now class... Excuse me Ford are you listening? Toyota? Toyota don't you tune me out. Behave GM or I will call Barry... CHRYSLER! FIAT! What in God's name are you doing back there! Keep your hands to yourself!
does every electric car have to be a lotus?
you can have a hummer designed one if you want....
Matt - These companies go after Lotus chassis mainly due to the lightweight chassis and bodywork Lotus is known for. The weight helps acceleration and braking performance, plus it extends the range of the vehicle; the chassis also has high rigidity, and when you're dealing with oodles of torque at effectively 0rpm, this also helps the car's dynamics. These same properties are why a 132hp naturally aspirated Elise can school a car with two and three times the horsepower around the twisties.
wow. dodge looking for a european look for their cars now? while i would like to say it's nice, as long as it has that dodge logo, i'd rather have something like the charger or magnum.
Try getting one of those ready built as an EV. Most are going to Lotus because they have been going lighter and safer for decades on their cars designs, just what you need for an EV to work properly and to get certified road safe in all 50 states.
Yeah, big deal, Dodge and Chrysler soon will be owned by FIAT.
I love my Caliber and think an electric version of that would be great, but Chrysler will soon not exist.
can car-makers STOP shamelessly using the same lotus elise/exige chassis as every other manufacturer making electric cars?!?! please?
the lotuses look downright boring now...
i think they should make them look like '93 buick skylarks. the green one.
You do realize that that's a myth, right? It's been pointed out many times, but the Tesla Roadster is NOT built on a Lotus chassis.
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog3/?p=74
One of the more common misconceptions about the Tesla Roadster is that it is an electrified Lotus Elise. This has been an interesting problem to deal with because the Tesla is vastly different from an Elise and it is important that people are aware of this. In fact, we recently counted how many parts the two cars shared and the total number was under 7% by parts count. If you were to analyze it by parts value, the number would be even smaller.
So you could say that the Tesla is similar to a Lotus Elise, except it has a totally different drivetrain , body panels, aluminum tub, rear sub-frame, brakes, ABS system, HVAC and rear suspension. The Tesla also neglects to carry over the gas tank, emissions equipment and exhaust. If you were to try to convert an Elise to a Tesla and started throwing away parts that aren’t carried over what you would basically be left with a windshield, dashboard (complete with airbags!), front wishbones and a removable soft top.
@tha-don:
1972 Buick Electra 225 - 19 feet of awesome
lol @ tha-dawn i had one of those
@CraigJ
7% different parts is a funny statistics to quote (statisticians are liars by definition), since bazzilions parts are in the combustion engine and the transmission (just the combustion engine and the drivetrain contain 90% of the part count, so by quoting that statistic, they basically admitted the obvious, and that the car is now electric), and they reinforced the frame (it's Elise frame which is reinforced for more weight; you could call it a completely different part, I call it Elise frame version B), and had to use different suspension in the back, because the motor mounts are not the same.
In short, it IS a modified Elise with electric motor. Tesla will tell you otherwise, because they're running a risk of identity crisis. And because they're being compared to a 45,000 dollar car, which makes it a tough sale, so instead they quote a sub 4 second 0-60, which gives the package a better appearance.
The fact that Dodge is riding on the same chassis (ver C, reinforced to Dodge specs), and has the same interior and overall shape is sorta spooky. I'd think Dodge could invest a little more money into this, and create something of their own.
I'm not dissing Tesla. I'm just saying the apple didn't fall THAT far from the tree. And these are all very close cousins of Tesla. Tesla's 93% "different", can be applied on a molecular level, and then 2 cars even of the same model are 0% the "same".
my dodge! al bundy's trusty old dodge! so thats what the original color looks like! most dodges have disintegrated by now.
Finally a car that doesn't look like its electric. I agree with a lot of the comments above this is a very nice looking car design wise.
People act like in 20 years all "consumer" cars won't be electric. Soon they will all blend and we will lose the features of the cars that were there for practical purposes. Grills etc.. that look nice and stylish will just be there for nostalgia sake, until they vanish. I'm getting my civic coup in a month, by the time I get my next car I want to see a electric porsche.
ummmm have you seen the Tesla roadster? You think that looks like a prius or something?
Read AB Green more... Ruf has already unveiled their electric 911concept:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/03/03/geneva-2009-ruf-greenster-evolves-the-electric-porsche-concept/
Then, you have the hybrid Cayenne:
http://www.newsoxy.com/hybrid-cars/porsche/article11679.html
And nevermind that Dr. Porsche was a pioneer in early electric vehicles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohner-Porsche_Mixte_Hybrid
Did you not expect something built on top of a lotus to be cramped, haha.
too bad Chrysler is going into chapter 11 next week, :-(
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/23/nyt-u-s-preparing-chrysler-for-bankruptcy-as-early-as-next/
Are the few commentators who call this thing pretty, Chervolet lovers? If so I have nothing better to say.
What is that even supposed to mean?
don't know what it meant paul but you made it funny
Ruined thanks to Dodge's utterly predictable design language. What's the point anyway? Chrysler will be dead within the next few months. Tesla Roadster to the rescue!
The car is hot til you get to the rear 1/3. It looks so off. Why mate a Lotus front with an Eclipse booty?
Muscle cars suck.