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Posts with tag Renault

Renault / Project Better Place shows off new electric sedan prototype


We'd heard Renault was prepping a new electric car in conjunction with EV start-up Project Better Place, but no one had actually seen the thing until its unveiling today in Tel Aviv. The car itself only has a 125 mile range, which is where Project Better Place's network of charging and battery swap stations come in. But since those aren't intended for rollout until 2010 in Israel and Denmark, Renault won't have any EVs immediately available to buyers -- making this consumer-friendly sedan more of a precursor to the supposed $0.5-1 billion the Renault-Nissan alliance are lining up to invest in their respective electric vehicle businesses.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

Limited edition Renault Sandero to boast Nokia branding, N95


Nothing shows your complete and unwavering devotion to a handset maker like buying an ultra-rare vehicle with its logos on there, wouldn't you agree? Those vigorously nodding up and down (well, those vigorously nodding up and down in Brazil) can get set to grab a limited edition Renault Sandero, which will come "fully equipped with Nokia's navigation system and [undisclosed] car add-ons." The super-special Sandero will come stocked with an N95 and cost around €17,650 ($27,693), but you'd better hurry, as only 1,000 of these niche motorcars are being built. It's like Nokia heard your cries for letting the chance to nab one of those co-branded Twingos slip through your too-busy-texting thumbs or something.

Nissan, Renault and Better Place team for electric cars, charging points in Israel


While there are many rational and irrational reasons for the delays we've seen in production of a mass-market and massively adopted electric car, most of the major issues seem to be addressed by this new initiative going down in Israel. One of the primary problems with electric cars is refilling, and that's going to be nicely addressed by entrepreneur Shai Agassi's Project Better Place, which will build a charging network of 500,000 plug-in points across the country. Other issues were a bit more easily addressed: since Israel is a small country, the limited range of electric cars isn't as much of an issue, and the government subsidies should make prices competitive -- with the eventual cost of ownership significantly less than gas cars to sweeten the deal even further. Nissan and Renault plan to built the cars, naturally, and hope to port the concepts into other vehicles in other countries in the near future. The plan is to launch the first cars in Israel around 2011.

Renault teams up with Nokia for Twingo Nokia special edition


How appropriate that a car not much bigger than a cellphone (okay, that's an exaggeration, but this thing's pretty tiny) would get slapped with Nokia branding, right? Sadly, the integration between the automotive and cellular worlds isn't particularly tight here; Renault hooks up proud new owners of Twingo Nokia special editions with Nokia 6110 Navigators -- perfect for use with the integrated Bluetooth -- but that's about it. There's some sort of "Nokia tech-themed" decal stuck on the Twingo's B-pillar, too, but we're pretty sure that thing would have to get removed right quick if we found ourselves with one of these in the garage. Sorry, Nokia; don't get us wrong, we're happy to take a 6110 off your hands, but no free advertising for you. Especially when it doesn't look badass.

Another Brit puts complete faith in GPS system, nearly perishes

Alright Britain, we've given you quite enough passes on this whole "blind faith in GPS" thing, but now we're going to need an explanation. In yet another case of a British individual nearly losing their life thanks to a complete and utter lack of common sense, a 20-year old Birmingham University student was following a GPS' directions to Carmarthenshire for the first time, only to have her vehicle destroyed by a speeding train while she watched. Oddly enough, the dame followed the route onto an "unmarked" (saywah?) railroad crossing, but rather than actually contemplating the situation, she proceeded to lift the nearest gate, drive her vehicle squarely onto the tracks, and then went to lift the far gate in order to cross what she reportedly thought was "a normal farmers' gate." In the meantime, a train made its way in her direction, and while she admitted that she considered getting back into the vehicle in an attempt to move it, thankfully she didn't follow through on any more unbelievably bad decisions. Needless to say, the car was trashed along with the GPS, but perhaps the most comical part is the fact that the lady has vowed to never use a navigation system again in protest for it nearly killing her -- we'd suggest staying off the roads altogether.

[Via El Reg]

Renault Twingo concept car goes tech crazy

If you can manage to squeeze yourself and three of your nerdiest buddies into this tiny car, y'all are going to have the one of the most gadget-laden rides ever perpetrated by man. From the pics you can tell the Renault Twingo concept is bristling with iPod docks, and a dashboard mixer puts them all to good use, but there's plenty of other stuff going on here. The car sports USB and Bluetooth connectivity, and each seat gets an audio jack for listening to an independent source, in case the front seat DJ isn't mixing it up well enough. There's also a 15-inch LCD, which is backed by an in-car PC with internet access of some sort. When you open up the hatch, there's some chilled beverages awaiting, and the speaker system points backwards to blast sound into the quickly assembling crowd of Very Cool People that suddenly will want to be your friend. Check out plenty more pics after the break.



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