Electric car
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Girasole electric car packs horse hoof warnings
Apparently, we've used that simple "beep" to alert pedestrians when a vehicle is reversing or otherwise coming up on someone long enough, as Yoshio Takaoka, in collaboration with Italy's Start Lab SAP, has crafted a fully functional electric car that packs built-in "horse hoof" sound effects. The Girasole can be fully charged from a home AC outlet for around $1 per "tank," and can then travel nearly 75 miles at a top speed of around 45-miles per hour, but the standout feature on this otherwise uninspiring (albeit very green) automobile is the entirely bizarre "clip-clop" horn that "alerts pedestrians and other drivers" that the car is near. While we're not entirely sure why a next-generation vehicle is throwing back to the days of (way) old when literal horsepower was the main means of transportation, we'll give due props for the ingenuity, but equipping our vehicle with equestrian noises is likely the least of the worries here in the US.[Via AutoblogGreen]
AC Propulsion converts stock Scion xB into fully electric "eBox" car
Ever since we saw "Who Killed the Electric Car?" we've wondered when even more companies would get inspired to bring back this fantastic ride. Enter AC Propulsion, a California-based company that just debuted its eBox, a converted Toyota Scion xB with an electric engine. After you bring your own Scion, AC Propulsion will do the deed for $55,000. So what're the specs on the eBox? We're glad you asked: 180 mile range, top speed of 95 mph, and you can get a full charge in five hours right from your garage's wall outlet. Sure, that sounds like a lot for a car that's ordinarily pretty freakin' cheap (~ $18,000), but when you think that you'll never have to buy gas again over the life of the car, it just might be worth it.[Via AutoblogGreen]
Tesla Motors' looking to license Roadster's battery technology
After the glamorous unveiling of Tesla Motors' ultra-speedy, purely electric vehicle, it didn't take long for deep-pocketed believers to throw down their deposits for the yet-to-be-released Roadster. But apparently appeasing head honchos isn't all that Tesla's about, as it's now considering licensing the outlandish (albeit very remarkable) battery technology to other firms looking to jump in the EV game without all those up front R&D costs. In an exclusive interview with AutoblogGreen, the firm stated that Tesla "had been in talks with other companies" in an effort to get their 7,000 Li-ion cell pack out to other companies. While they couldn't pry much deeper than that, the biggest upshot to grabbing its technology is the UN-approved label that's been slapped on the 56 kWh, 366V Li-ion pack; its proprietary "redundant active / passive safety features" help prevent propagation of a "thermal runaway event" (read: an explosion), which certainly helps when trying to get your electric vehicle past those pesky regulators. Nevertheless, Tesla Motors is currently testing crashing "10 to 20 vehicles" in Europe to make sure all systems are go, and we can't help but hope a few more muscle car competitors that don't drink octane show up real soon.
Phoenix Motorcars intros a truly plug-and-play car
While everyone and their mother (this author's parents included) have bought one of those hot new environmentally-conscious cars like a Prius, there's an old-new game in town: the purely electric car. This isn't the defunct EV1 we're talking about here, nor some of those other models we've heard about before, this is the Phoenix Motorcars electric SUV, which can be plugged into a wall socket and recharged with the same plug that powers your garden party boombox. Just grab an extension cord, plug in your truck for six to seven hours, and bam, it's good to roll. Simple concept, right? Worried about power under the hood? It'll do 0 to 60 in under 10 seconds, and can sustain a top speed of 110 miles per hour. What about the range? It'll stayed juiced for up to 250 miles, which is a little more than half the distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Wanna take one for a spin? You'll have to throw down $45,000 for the pleasure -- the first 500 are due out in 2007, and the next 6,000 will be out the following year. One problem though, it's powered by lithium ion batteries, which have a potential to, erm, explode (if built by Sony, anyway). Still, Altair Nanotechnologies and Phoenix Motorcars say that they've fixed it with an inert anode made of "lithium titanate spinels," whatever that is. (Say, can't we get some of that action in our laptop batteries?)Update: We neglected to mention that while a normal charge takes six to seven hours, CNET also reports that you can juice it up via a "special charger in about 10 to 15 minutes." [Thanks, Andrew]
Venturi's Eclectic solar / wind-powered car
Forget biodiesel and fuel cell-powered vehicles, how about a whip that doesn't require any fuel whatsoever? The Venturi Eclectic, touted as an "autonomous energy vehicle," gets its charge from wind gusts and 8.2 square feet of solar cells atop its roof. The four-person ride boasts a 22-horsepower purely electric engine, is powered by liquid-cooled NiMH batteries, and can reach a (yawn-inducing) top-end speed of nearly 32mph. While it's no Wrightspeed X1, the designers had "daily driver" in mind when the Ecletic was crafted, but considering it'll only roll 31 miles on a full charge, you best take the scenic (read: sunny) route to work if you're facing a long commute. The car does sport an option to recharge via AC power, should you face darker (and calmer) than expected conditions, but since it weighs just 772 pounds, a foursome shouldn't have too much trouble using the tried and true "push method" if worse comes to worst. Scheduled for production in June 2007, this oh-so-green automombile will run you €24,000 ($30,511) -- if you can manage to score one of the 200 that'll be built, that is.[Via MobileMag]
The HumanCar puts your passengers to good use: pedaling
Yeah, it's not going to replace your Hummer any time soon, but the HumanCar is a fun new way coast around town and burn off a few calories while your at it. Of course, pedal-powered cars are not a new idea, but the mix of an electric motor and some clever engineering allow this thing a bit more pep than your average Flinstones-mobile. The car is completely symmetrical, so two passengers can pedal while two passengers steer (yes, we said two), and then trade off once the former get tired. The whole contraption can hit speeds in excess of 60 mph on the downhill, and is steered by "body angulation of the two front operators," which sounds entirely unresponsive for speeds like that. HumanCar Company is marketing the vehicle both as a mode of low-speed transportation and as a team builder for corporations, and it's already been implemented by Intel and the US Army. We don't know the price, but we're pretty sure the cost involved in bribing a few close friends to pedal this thing for us would put it well out of our price range.[Via AutoblogGreen; thanks Nik]
First batch of Tesla Motors electric cars sold out
It wasn't too long ago that Tesla Motors had its (admittedly glamorous) unveiling of the forthcoming Tesla Roadster -- you know, the 130-miles per hour battery powered whip that rolls 250 miles on a single charge. While it can't be too shocking to see a few celebrities here and there plop down unspeakable amounts of coin to get their hands on something new, don't tell Tesla that the reaction to its creation is surprising. Less than a month after this extra-green automobile hit the pre-order market, all 100 that were offered up are now claimed. Just doing simple calculations, we're seeing a company that went from next to nil in terms of sales to $10 million in capital quicker than a shipment of crude oil could hit the American shores. Martin Eberhard, the CEO of Tesla Motors, reported that "all 100 are gone," which means those hundred highfaluting individuals that have paid the $100,000 deposit have guaranteed themselves one of the first Roadsters off the production line in 2007. While the buyers may end up paying more than the deposit price when taking delivery, it's fairly unlikely they'll see any partial refunds if the MSRP somehow clocks in under 100 grand (considering the apparent popularity), and we've heard that both of Google's co-founders, as well as eBay's Jeff Skoll, have thrown down for the seemingly coveted ride. There's no word on when Tesla plans to re-open its bank account for the next wave of orders, but if such an opportunity does arise, you should probably call dibs with some level of haste if you plan on shunning those costly fuel pumps next year.
Homebuilt "Evette" electric car gets 200 miles per charge
It may not be as badass-looking or quite as fast as the Wrightspeed X1, but Tom and Yvette Sines' "Evette" electric car does have the edge in at least one area: it's street-legal. And it ain't too shabby in terms of performance either, with a range of 200 miles and a top speed of 60 miles per hour. Like the Wrightspeed, however, a big chunk of the car is nothing but batteries, with twenty-four 12-volt batteries packed into that fiberglass body, which can supposedly be recharged at a cost of just $2 (although they'll have to be replaced every three to five years). While it's a one of a kind wonder for now, the husband and wife duo are currently seeking investors to help them mass produce the car, which they say could go for as little as $25,000 once production ramps up -- although we're guessing they'd probably have to change the name, or face some expenses of another sort.[Via Autoblog Green]
Tesla's electric roadster is lean, mean and very green
Last night a host of fancy society-types, car buffs and our good friends from AutoBlog got a unique chance to check out Tesla's electric sports car. The zero-emissions whip (it's so green it doesn't even have a tailpipe) will get about 250 miles on a single charge, and reaches speeds of about 130-miles per hour, with a 0-60 time hovering around a pretty impressive 4-seconds. Stop driving it long enough to peek under the hood and you'll find a 3-phase, 4-pole AC induction motor and a Power Electronics Module at the heart of this slick ride. Don't run out to the car dealership yet, as these babies aren't hitting the streets until mid-2007, and when they do, they'll run you somewhere between $80,000 and $120,000. It sounds like a lot, we know, but just think of the looks you'll get as you drive by at 124-mph, completely silently. Plus, it'll be a great place to install your new Bluetooth-enabled head unit. Check the source link for a lot more pictures and even video from the big unveling.
Wrightspeed X1: electric now among world's fastest cars
Which electric car has a quarter ton of batteries, a 100 mile range, recharges in 4.5 hours, and can best the nearly all the world's fastest cars in a 0 to 60 drag -- including the Ferrari 360 Spyder and Porsche Carrera GT? It's ex-Cisco and DEC engineer Ian Wright's Wrightspeed X1 electric racer, now second only to the 3-second Bugatti Veyron. Sound too good to be true? Well, it will set you back $100,000 and they're by no means commercial. But if for some reason you're looking for a better way to melt the skin off your face hitting 8Gs of blinding software-optimized electric horsepower, we've got the car for you.[Via CNN and MobileMag]
