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Toyota claims its future EVs will have a range over 600 miles
The company also continues to push hydrogen fuel cars.
Porsche debuts its Taycan safety car at Le Mans
This Porsche Taycan Turbo will serve as a safety car during a support race ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans event.
A virtual race will replace the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June
The 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans has been postponed, so organizers will put on an esports race using rFactor 2 on the originally scheduled date, with teams using pro and esports drivers to compete in the endurance event.
Ride shotgun in this 360-degree Le Mans video
Sure, 360-degree video is practically old news at this point, but we've never seen an example that works as well as this. To coincide with the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race, Nismo (Nissan's motorsports division) has uploaded a 360-degree lap of Circuit de la Sarthe, the course that plays venue to the contest. Although it's probably more immersive on your PC or laptop, we'd recommend also watching it through the YouTube app on your phone or tablet, as you'll be able to use your device's gyroscope to move the camera in any direction you chose.
Nissan's ZEOD RC prototype racer completes first all-electric lap at Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (check after the break for details on how to watch, for free) hasn't even started yet and already history has been made. During warmups, Nissan wheeled its ZEOD RC prototype race car around the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe track running only on battery power, a first. ZEOD stands for "Zero Emissions On Demand" with the car squeezing a 1.5-liter three cylinder engine that produces 400hp, two electric motors and the regenerative breaking of a Leaf RC into a frame similar to the DeltaWing prototype that raced at Le Mans before. Did we mention that it has no rear-view mirrors? Ray Harroun would be appalled. Update: Unfortunately the ZEOD RC's time in the actual race was quite brief, as it succumbed to a suspected transmission issue after just 5 laps around the circuit. Nissan plans to take the experience and include it in their LM P1 race car next year, the GT-R LM Nismo.
What's on your HDTV this week: 'Game of Thrones' season finale
This week the NBA Finals and NHL Finals could both come to an end, but the finale we think most of you will be watching is Game of Thrones. Episode #40 is titled "The Children" and is the longest one HBO has aired yet. The showrunners promise this is one of the best episodes yet, and that it will break the show's pattern of a big bang in the penultimate episode followed by a relatively quiet finale. Beyond that, there aren't many videogame releases this week while everyone's eyes are on E3 2014, but Blu-ray include the first season of the new Cosmos, True Detective, and Tim's Vermeer. Oh, and some tiny event called the FIFA World Cup (the US team plays its first game Monday afternoon). Check after the break for a list of what's new this week plus a few trailers, and drop a note in the comments if you see any highlights we've missed.
GreenGT H2 eyes-on: the first fuel cell-powered racer to tackle Le Mans
The 24 hour race at Le Mans held every year is among the most punishing automotive tests on the planet: race-bred machines running top-speed (or close) for a full day. Recently, gasoline-powered cars have had their dominance usurped by diesels, who themselves are now losing to hybrids. The next step? It could be EVs. The GreenGT H2 will take the grid of next year's 24 hour race as an experimental entry, driving the full race distance pushing only water vapor out its tailpipe. Hydrogen is stored in the two large tanks running down the sides, while the massive fuel cell stack itself is situated behind the driver. Power output is somewhere north of 500 horsepower, which is quite healthy for a car that the company hopes will be down under 1000Kg (2,200 pounds) by the time it hits the track in anger. Enough to win Le Mans? Almost certainly not, but it'll be fun to watch it try. Steve Dent contributed to this report.
Audi's e-Tron becomes the first hybrid to win Le Mans, saves the planet at the same time
Audi's R-18 e-Tron diesel-electric hybrid has become the first car of its kind to win the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race. Audi and Toyota both submitted environmentally friendly racers, but the latter's LMP1 crashed, which left the German automaker to a 1-2 finish (while a pair of non-hybrid racers placed third and fifth, respectively). Unlike battery-based hybrids, the R-18 uses a hefty turbo-diesel V6 pushing power to the back wheels, along with a flywheel to recover braking energy and drive a motor attached to the front wheels. The company has revealed that it's actually testing this far cheaper, battery-free system in a production vehicle, so perhaps it's only a matter of time before you'll be able to go a full day on a tank -- give or take the odd rest stop.
Audi R18 Hybrid spotted in the flesh, sounds as good as it looks
Remember that gorgeous looking R18 hybrid from Audi that raced into our hearts earlier this week? Well, we found this video of it in action. If you can look past the flock of applauding suits, you'll get a sneak-peek at this beast on the track. Sadly we'll have to wait until Le Mans before we can really smell the rubber, but in the meantime, there's a gallery of renders below to keep you going. %Gallery-149377%
Audi goes hybrid and ultralight with R18 Le Mans racers
Generally, when we talk hybrids, we're talking about a car that either powers itself on batteries at low speeds, only firing up the internal combustion engine when a little extra giddy-up is needed, or an electric car that turns the gas-powered piston pusher inside into a glorified power plant. Audi's e-tron quattro is a little different, though. The R18 sports a four-wheel drive system that powers one axle with an electric motor, while the other gets its juice from a 510 hp V6. The e-tron quattro also has a sibling, the Audi R18 Ultra, which seeks to compensate for the added weight of a hybrid drive train by using extremely lightweight materials, like carbon fiber, wherever possible -- including the gearbox. Both cars will be making their debut at the Le Mans 24 Hour on June 16th. For more details check out the PR after the break.
Forza 4 Le Mans Series DLC Pack drops 10 new whips on Feb. 7
No, "Le Mans" isn't French for "The Dudes" -- it's the name of a city located in northwestern France that has played host to the annual "24 Hours of Lemans" endurance race since 1923. The awesome thing about Le Mans (the race, not the city) is that manufacturers build beautiful, incredibly fast vehicles specifically to handle the event's unique challenges, and those prototypes are the focus of the lastest DLC pack for Forza Motorsport 4.Well, by "focus" we mean "there's also a Dodge Challenger owned by a UFC dude," but mostly the DLC is about Le Mans' proud racing heritage. Jump past the break for a complete breakdown of the 10 cars your 560 Microsoft Points will earn you when this pack arrives on February 7.%Gallery-146156%
Inhabitat's Week in Green: electric vehicles gear up to race, Apple's new HQ, and living architecture
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week we revved up Chevrolet's Volt and hit the streets for an elusive test drive of the hotly-anticipated electric vehicle. We also saw electric aviation soar to new heights as the pint-sized Cri-Cri airplane broke the electric aircraft speed record. The world of EV racing is also picking up the pace as GreenGT unveiled an all-electric supercar for the Le Mans race and Honda's CR-Z Hybrid beat out scores of gas-guzzling autos in a 25 hour vehicular marathon. High-tech architecture broke new ground as Apple announced that world-renowned architect Norman Foster is designing its new headquarters, and researchers revealed work on a living skin that could one day reinforce buildings and infrastructure with a hard, coral-like armored coating. We also watched as a crop of gorgeous bubble gardens popped up in the streets of Paris, and an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn was updated with a high-tech transforming facade. In other news, this week the energy world was buzzing about a new type of organic solar cell inspired by wasp exoskeletons, and the largest photovoltaic plant in the United States officially opened in Nevada. We also saw several eco technologies take hold on the home front: researchers developed a hot solar-piezoelectric hybrid fiber that could be used to create energy-generating clothes, and Lavish & Lime rolled out a cute set of digital shower timers that are perfect for kids.
C64 emulator approved for iPhone
Well how about that. A Commodore 64 emulator for iPhone is nothing new -- we covered the fact that one had been developed a little while ago. Here's what is new (and a little surprising, to be honest): Apple approved it. In an environment where Apple seems intent on rejecting anything that might encroach on their platform, even just a little bit, they have apparently allowed an emulator right there on the App Store. There are catches, of course -- the emulator comes bundled with five officially licensed titles: Dragons Den, Le Mans, Jupiter Lander, Arctic Shipwreck and Jack Attack, and more will be available to purchase soon, so it'll all be above board and legit (and the flip side is that if you want to play classic titles like Elite or Ultima, you'll have to hope that whoever owns the rights to those will let them see release). The biggest catch is that the emulator doesn't come with BASIC support enabled by default (although, via Daring Fireball and the iPhone Blog, it's possible to get to it via a backdoor), so it's more of a C64 arcade emulator rather than an actual software emulator. But of course this is a step in the right direction -- someday we may finally see official SNES or NES emulators running in full glory on the iPhone and approved and available to purchase on the App Store. This emulator, simply called C64, is available right now on the App Store for $4.99.Update: This app has been removed from the App Store because it was possible to enable the BASIC program. Look for it to return without that functionality.
Panasonic's EVOLTA bot sets his doe-eyed sights on new endurance record
After risking life and limb to show off Panasonic's double-As in a harrowing climb up the Grand Canyon, EVOLTA is back for more record setting hijinks. This time, however, he's been tasked to pedal his adorable little heart out on a miniature tricycle. The plan is to take this year's Le Mans race by storm and break some sort of world record for distance traveled by a robot -- though we're not sure how exactly that's defined, since EVOLTA isn't exactly a speed demon. This new version of the bot has been completely revamped to ride a bike and follow an infrared path blazed by his superiors. A couple of videos are after the break. [Thanks, Alex]
