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Chevy explains why two MPG numbers are better than one
So, are you confused about the presence of two MPG numbers on your newly delivered Volt? Fear not, the folks at GM are doing their best to educate the huddled masses about the Volt's industry-leading fuel economy, and just how the EPA arrived at the car's previously released 93MPG (electric equivalent) and 37MPG (straight gas, homey) ratings. No word on plans for a film explaining where the missing 137MPG went. Check the video after the break.
Moto Mundo world tour pushes all-electric Nissan Qashqai to its limit
They're far from the first to put an all-electric car to an endurance test, but the team behind Moto Mundo are certainly near the head of the pack when it comes to sheer ambition. They set out from Denmark with a pair of Nissan Qashqai SUVs turned electric by AfutureEV back in June, and recently entered the US after making treks across Scandinavia, Russia, Mongolia and China. As for the vehicles themselves, they apparently have a top speed of 130 kilometers per hour and a range of 200 kilometers on a charge (at 80 kph), although they can apparently eek out 300 kilometers in "slow city driving." Making the trek even more impressive, as one Autoblog Green commenter has pointed out, is the fact that two similar cars converted by AfutureEV have apparently burst into flames and sparked some serious fires. No such problems have plagued Moto Mundo's trip, though, and they're soon set to roll into the Detroit Auto Show for an appearance.
Volkswagen's London Taxi Concept: smaller, prettier, more electric than the real thing
London would do well to dispense with the Concept label right now and just turn these into its next fleet of people carriers. Volkswagen has unveiled the latest in a series of World Taxis it's doing, prettying up London's admittedly iconic black cabs with a sheen of new paint, an all-electric drive, and an infusion of tablet-based infotainment. Based on the Up! city car, the London Taxi Concept has an estimated range of 186 miles and takes an hour to go from zero to an 80 percent charge. It also has a grayscale version of the Union Jack emblazoned on its roof, guess that's just how VW rolls. Sadly, we doubt anyone will be in a hurry to heed our sage advice and start using this concept any time soon, particularly since it doesn't pass London's taxi regulations at present, but it's a harbinger of a future we'd like to see become real.
World's first Nissan Leaf delivered -- it's black, like the future of gas-powered cars
Somebody at Nissan knows how to keep to a calendar, it seems, as the promised December US deliveries of the Leaf began over this weekend. A big deal was made out of the first one's arrival, a shiny black number purchased by Olivier Chalouhi from the San Francisco Bay Area, which will be accompanied by Leafs landing across the other launch markets of Arizona, Southern California, Oregon, Seattle, and Tennessee. A second batch of Nissan's all-electric hatchbacks is coming on December 20th, with the company promising a nationwide US launch for 2012. In the meantime, Hawaii and Texas will be the next locales to join the fun early in 2011 and reservations will be reopened soon thereafter. Sadly, some "additional markets" are expected to be pushed into the latter half of the year -- guess Nissan knows how to use a calendar to mark off its delays too.
Hertz plug-in rental program to boast 1,000 vehicles, including the Tesla Roadster
Hertz is getting serious about its about-to-launch, by-the-hour plug in car rental service Connect by Hertz. Set to launch on December 15th in New York City, the company has plans to extend the service into San Francisco, Washington D.C, Texas and London by the end of 2011. The list of cars in the fleet which will be available to rent now includes the previously announced Nissan Leaf, the Volt, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the Tesla Roadster, the Smart ED, and the Coda Sedan. The program will start extremely small, with only 20 total vehicles available to rent to begin with, but with a plan for between 500 and 1,000 by the end of 2011. The Hertz EV rental program has a fee to join up, and the cars will be rented on a first come, first served basis, but you can sign up now if you're ready to get behind the wheel of one of the aforementioned silent bad boys.
Mitsubishi i is the new name of the i MiEV for American market, coming next fall for $30,000
Mitsubishi promised it'd bring the i MiEV over to the US before 2012 and now it's rehashed that pledge with a slightly more detailed roadmap and an indicative price point to boot. Maurice Durand, the company's communications manager for North America, is quoted as saying the newly renamed i will cost "around $30,000" when it launches, which is expected to happen in fall 2011. Sales expectations are a very modest 20,000 units by 2015, but apparently the idea is for Mitsu to just get its foot in the US electric vehicle market before introducing more powerful and versatile people carriers. The i is pitched as primarily a commuter's vehicle, though it has been enlarged slightly to accommodate US safety regulations and "larger frame people." Be honest, Maurice, you mean larger waistline, not frame.
Nissan New Mobility Concept EV seats two, looks to a more sustainable future (video)
Nissan's Leaf may be the company's one-size-fits-all EV play for the mainstream market, but the company is apparently not content with just the one horse in its electric stable. Unveiled today at its Yokohama HQ, the Nissan New Mobility Concept is a teeny tiny two-person transporter that aims to solve the problems of commuting in high-density urban and tourist environments. You'll notice there's only one seat in the image above and videos after the break, but we're still talking about a proposed design here rather than the finished article. Range is set at 100km (62 miles) and maximum speed is 75kph (47mph), both of which should betray the little doorless vehicle's humble ambitions. Skip past the break to see it gliding around soundlessly inside Nissan's vast halls.
DBM Energy's electric Audi A2 completes record setting 372 mile drive on a single charge
116 miles in an electric vehicle? No problem. But you'll quite literally be pushing your new Nissan Leaf another 250 miles to achieve what's being hailed as a world record in Germany. Little Lekker Mobil, a four-seat Audi A2 refitted with an experimental electric powerplant as part of a government sponsored project with Germany's lekker Energie and DBM Energy, just completed a 372-mile (600-km) stretch of road between Munich and Berlin on a single charge, a journey that lasted around seven hours. Even with the heater running, the modified A2 with fully usable trunk arrived with spare electricity in the "tank." The battery uses DBM Energy's KOLIBRI AlphaPolymer Technology said to be 97 percent efficient and chargeable from virtually any socket -- plug it into a high voltage DC source and it can be fully charged in just six minutes according to the car's driver and battery inventor, Mirko Hannemann. While Hannemann wouldn't be pinned down on pricing for the battery, the 27 year old did say that it would be more powerful and cheaper than conventional lithium ion batteries. He even went so far as to suggest that his company was ready to begin mass production of the batteries now -- presumably aided by the large sacks of money he'll be handed after pulling off the record breaking stunt.
Nissan Leaf launches in Europe, takes us for a drive
26,000 people can't be wrong, right? That's the current tally of Leaf pre-orders that Nissan has collected from US and Japanese drivers excited by its all-electric hatchback. Yesterday, the car that's built to plug into the same wall outlet as your toaster held its official pan-European launch party -- with the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, and Portugal getting the first deliveries in early 2011 -- and we were on site to grab a few closeup pictures and some precious time in the driver's seat. American drivers should look out for a new set of keys in their mailbox this December, so there's probably no better time than now to give them a preview of what they're getting themselves into. Jump past the break for more on the Nissan Leaf.%Gallery-105887%%Gallery-105918%
DC Fast Charger joins the ECOtality EV charging station fleet, looks like a fuel pump
You can't help but smile, can you? ECOtality's latest entrant into the rapidly expanding Blink line of EV chargers looks awfully familiar to avid motorists, and for good reason. Designed to mimic a conventional petrol pump, the DC Fast Charger should blend right in when installed in Best Buy parking lots, gas stations and beyond, with the company aiming to get these positioned in a wide variety of locations in order to ease "range anxiety." We're also told that motorists will eventually be able to utilize the Blink Network Smartphone Application in order to locate the nearest charging station and receive GPS directions, and an RFID-enabled payment system makes it easy to drain your wallet, rejuvenate your vehicle and get you back on the open road. There's even a 42-inch LCD on the top, and while it's primarily engineered for ads and information, we're sure a few wire swaps would have your Xbox 360 displayed in no time flat. The DC Fast Charger should be hitting 16 major American cities in the near future, and there's a video after the break to tide you over.
Nation-E's electric Hummer H1 can power itself and others
It may not be the first electric Hummer out on the roads -- we hear a certain Terminator-turned-Governor has one -- but Nation-E's so-called AngelH1 is something of a first nonetheless. Not only is it an all-electric Hummer H1, but it packs a 60 kW battery that lets it double as a mobile charging station for other vehicles, construction sites, or even buildings in an emergency situation. No word on pricing or availability just yet, but it looks like Nation-E is taking a bit of a cue from DieHard to demonstrate its battery technology -- the company will be using one of its 40kW batteries to power a three-hour DJ set at the E-Car-Tec exhibition in Munich, Germany later this month. Full press release is after the break.
Best Buy teams up with ECOtality to install EV charging stations at 12 stores
Best Buy has already started selling some electric scooters and motorcycles in its stores, and it's now about to expand even further into the EV business. The retailer has just announced a partnership with ECOtality, which will be providing Best Buy with some of its Blink EV charging stations that will be installed at twelve stores in Tucson, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle by March of next year. That's being done as part of the government-funded EV Project that ECOtality is overseeing, and Best Buy says that it may install chargers at additional stores if the initial test phase proves to be successful. Full press release is after the break.
Jaguar C-X75 is the 780bhp electric supercar we've all been waiting for, likely to keep us waiting (video)
Ouch! It really stings to see the curvaceous spectacles that car designers can come up with, only to then find out the resulting electric speedsters are either far too expensive or nowhere near becoming a reality. Latest in this group of four-wheeled objects of desire is Jaguar's C-X75, which roars from 0 to 60mph in 3.4 seconds, cranks out 780bhp courtesy of a quartet of electric motors and a pair of micro gas turbines, and reaches a screaming 205mph at its absolute zenith. You can go for 68 miles just on electric juice or 560 if you let the gasworks recharge the Li-ion battery pack on the go. So it's gorgeous inside and out, it comes with swan doors, high-res LCD screens and an aluminum body, and it has less chance of being on sale than a dodo sandwich. Yep, it's an electric supercar alright. See the C-X75 on video after the break.
Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell is an E-lectric limited production vehicle
Here's what you could be driving... if only you lived in Europe. Mercedes-Benz has announced, and promptly sold, a limited production run of 500 electric A-Class hatchbacks. Bearing the same E-Cell designation as the somewhat tastier-looking SLS model from the deutschen automaker, this little goer squeezes 95 horsepower and a 93mph top speed out of a 70kW motor. Those are relatively humble specs, but they also mean the electrified A-Class can last a healthy 124 miles between recharges. So long as this thing doesn't go all Tata Nano on us -- and Mercedes says its thermomanagement is top notch -- we wouldn't mind seeing a few more electro hatchbacks rolling off the assembly line and maybe even reaching markets outside the present France, Germany and Netherlands. Let's make it happen, Daimler!
Looking back at Ford's EV past, forward to the 2012 Focus Electric and a 2013 plug-in hybrid
Did you know that Ford's first electric car, the Comuta, was released way back in 1967? It was a perfectly goofy looking thing, with a top speed of 37mph and a range of 40 miles -- if you didn't go near that top speed. More of a concept than anything, only a handful were made available for sale, and at this point it certainly looks like the company's immediate plans for EVs are similarly conservative. DailyTech pulled together an analysis of Ford's future offerings in the electric and plug-in hybrid space and it's obvious the Blue Oval is taking its time making sure the EV water is warm before jumping in. First up is the Transit Connect, a 100 mile range electric van intended for fleet use and, with a price well north of $30,000, not expected to sell in droves. Next will be the Focus Electric, due next year and, while this one will be substantially cheaper and more consumer-friendly, Ford execs expect it too will have low demand. The primary reason for this is that Ford still believes that pure EVs are not ready for mainstream adoption, with battery technology unable to provide reliable power at the range of temperatures people actually want to go somewhere. The Focus Electric mitigates this with both liquid heating and cooling, but for now the company thinks the best mix is a traditional, power-split hybrid, where the gas engine can drive the wheels if the batteries can't cope. That's unlike the Chevy Volt, which is only driven by batteries. To this end Ford has a new, mystery plug-in hybrid vehicle coming in 2012. What kind of car? All we know is it's "not a Focus." That can mean only one thing: F-350 Super Duty PHEV edition. [Photo credit: Ford Motor Company]
General Motors upping Chevy Volt production by 50 percent in 2011
On Friday, during a visit from President Obama to its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, GM announced some good news for all the Volt fans out there. Production from 2011 to 2012 for the electric vehicle -- originally slated at around 30,000 units -- has been boosted to a projected 45,000 units, a 50 percent increase. The Volt, which has a range of 340 miles (on gas -- it goes approximately 40 miles on battery alone) is being produced at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which received $336 million in investments to prepare for the production. The full press release is after the break.
Ewee-PT is how you say 'Segway' in German (video)
Billed as "the Segway's little sister," this self-balancing electro scooter comes from a small German company called Ewee. The idea behind it is pretty simple: file down all the extraneous bits, keep the stuff that keeps you going, and presumably try to sell it to hardy macho types who like the barebones aesthetic. You accelerate by leaning forward and decelerate by doing the opposite, while steering is handled by a joystick (apparently "driving pleasure is gauranteed"). We're not sure how much trust we're willing to invest in either the company or its product, but exclusive retailer fun-components does have it ready for pre-order today, so if you're feeling adventurous with your €799 ($1,039), feel free to pay their site a visit. The rest of us are going after the break to watch the video.
Driverless vans set off on intercontinental trek from Italy to China (video)
You might not have expected the future to look like your granddad's groovy camper van, but take a closer look here and you'll find that this is indeed nothing like your forefather's people carrier. The VisLab team from the University of Parma have taken a fleet of Piaggio Porter Electric vehicles, strapped them with an array of cameras, lasers and other sensors, and topped them off with solar panels to keep the electronics powered. Oh, and lest we forgot to mention: the vans are (mostly) autonomous. VIAC (or VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge) is the grand name given to their big demonstration: an 8,000-mile, 3-month tour that will ultimately find them arriving in Shanghai, China, having set off from Milan this Tuesday. You can follow the day-by-day development on the blog below, though we're still being told that practical driverless road cars are a measure of decades, not years, away.
Tesla Roadster goes continent-hopping, expands markets to include Canada and Japan
Seems like reports of the Roadster's demise were indeed exaggerated. Tesla has announced it's bringing its iconic electric automobile to five new nations. Canada and Japan are accompanied by Hong Kong, Poland and Turkey in being able to now take deliveries of freshly charged Roadsters. Of course, sufficiently motivated buyers could have imported theirs by now, but it's always good to have local support on an official basis and this does seem to signal a more ambitious outlook on the part of Tesla. Also included in the press release -- yours to peruse after the break -- is word that the company has shifted 1,200 Roadsters since inception. That might not be a lot but you have to start somewhere, let's hope the next 1,200 don't take nearly as long to hit the road.
Brammo goes street fighting with the 100mph Empulse electric motorcycle (video)
When we took Brammo's Enertia motorcycle for a test ride last summer we found it to be a lovingly crafted and fun to ride bike that really only disappointed when it came to ultimate performance -- far closer to your average scooter than your average sportbike. Since then the company has gone racing, taking on the iconic Isle of Man as part of the all-electric TTXGP and finishing third place with a top speed of 102mph. That fully-faired bike was called the TTR, and now the company is making a naked version for you: the 100mph Empulse. Read on for full details and a little video too. %Gallery-97553%
