Electric
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Remember e-Wolf? A few years back the German firm released a couple of preview images teasing a new electric supercar that’s still in development. Well, e-Wolf has been busy, releasing a number of other electric cars in the recent past, the latest of which is the new Alpha 1 SRF (Silent Radical Force). Using a chassis sourced from British firm Radical Sports Cars, e-Wolf has managed to build a zero-emissions track car powered by two electric motors and an array of lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are rated at 41.5 kWh and by themselves weigh 770 pounds. Together with the batteries...
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2012 Tesla Model S Prototype Spy Shots: ExclusiveThe Tesla Model S is due in 2012, packing an all-electric drivetrain, a luxurious, high-tech interior, and stunning good exterior looks. These spy shots show you the first near-production example we've seen.
Nelson Ireson -
Solar Windows For Buildings: Will Cars Get The Tech Next?A Californian start-up has just received an award of $100,000 as part of the "GE ecomagination Challenge" for an energy-saving idea that could change the way that buildings are constructed. Pythagoras Solar from San Mateo has created windows laced with solar cells and the potential benefits for...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Roadster Hits The Autocross Course: VideoOne of the raps on electric cars is that they are not high-performance vehicles, at least not in the traditional sense.
Tim Healey -
Lotus City Car Concept Details, Sales To Start In 2014: ReportLotus canned the Elan, but the City Car, or Ethos as it will be called in production, will see production, according to the latest report.
Nelson Ireson -
AC Propulsion Electric Pikes Peak Car To Defend RecordCan an electric race car get within three minutes of the all-time record up Pikes Peak? Team Yokohama and AC Propulsion want to find out.
Nelson Ireson -
Renault might not sell any cars in the United States but that won't stop them moving into town. With partner Nissan the international group has opened a research and development office in the heart of Mountain View, Silicon Valley. The Renault-Nissan Alliance was created in 1999 and now sells one in ten of all the cars sold worldwide. The new office will be a centre for research and development of the group's IT technology, which comprises graphical user-interface displays, in-car internet connectivity and smart-grid research. Nissan's "Carwings" telematics system as found in the Nissan Leaf...
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Google Buys 30 Leafs, Volts, and 250 Charging Stations: VideoGoogle built its reputation as a small, simple search engine, but there's nothing small about the company's investment in electric vehicles. Google has just placed an order for 30 Nissan Leafs and Chevrolet Volts, as well as 250 EV charging stations from Coulomb Technologies. Google will add the...
Richard Read -
Want A Piece Of A World Speed Record? Bluebird Electric Car Team Needs Your HelpOne of those pesky, little complaints that today's electric car just can't live down is the fact that it can't quite perform at the same level as its dirtier, gas-pumping brethren. It can't travel as far. It can't drive as fast. And it may just leave you for dead in the middle of nowhere. But the...
Chris Weiss -
Volvo C30 Electric Car Leases Start This Summer, In EuropeVolvo showed us its C30 Electric zero-emissions hatchback at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show back in January, which included a crashed example with the car's expensive battery pack fully intact, but now the automaker has confirmed that customer leases are about to start. Unfortunately, those leases are...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
MIT Researchers Working On Liquid-State Batteries That Can Be ‘Refueled’One of the biggest hurdles towards the mainstream acceptance of electric cars is the lengthy period of time, usually around six to eight hours, that it takes to top up their batteries. Compare this to filling up a gasoline or diesel powered car, where topping up a tank takes only a matter of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tesla Model S ‘Alpha’ Build Mega-GalleryThe Tesla Model S electric sedan is on track for a market debut in the middle of next year, although the production version of the car is scheduled to be revealed at the end of this year. We say production version as we’ve already seen a number of Model S sedans in the past, though all of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nissan has announced that its Leaf Nismo RC Concept electric race car concept from the recent 2011 New York Auto Show will be making a demonstration run at the Le Mans Vers Le Futur, a support event for the 79th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Leaf Nismo RC was never meant to be a one-off concept, which is evidenced by the Japanese automaker's commitment to showcasing the car in front of audiences all around the globe. It is in fact now serving as a rolling laboratory for the accelerated development of electric cars and aerodynamic systems, as well as a platform for the development of...
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Mitsubishi's i-MiEV: A Battery Backup For Your House?If you own a computer, chances are good that you’ve got it tied into a battery backup just in case the power goes down while you’re hard at work, ignoring the adage to “save early, save often”. If you work in IT, you may even have massive uninterruptable power supply (UPS)...
Kurt Ernst -
Fisker Karma Hits The Track At Formula 1 Monaco Grand PrixThough the car is officially in production, there’s still no sign that deliveries of the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid luxury sedan in the U.S. are about to start despite continuous claims that the car is coming. Despite the setbacks, Fisker managed to roll out one example of the svelte sedan...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Thermoelectrics Could Harness Exhaust Heat, Improve MPGIn an internal combustion engine, fuel is burned to power the engine, but as a result a lot of heat is also produced. Most of that heat in ordinary vehicles is wasted; but what if you could catch the energy from the heat, turn it into electricity, and use it to increase your fuel efficiency? Well...
Kevin Lee -
Tesla Winding Down The Roadster, Introducing Model X Crossover ConceptWell, after years of giving electric car hopes and dreams, the Tesla Roadster is winding down toward an end. According to paperwork filed with the SEC, Tesla plans to stop Roadster production in December. Instead of a sexy, Lotus-based convertible, Tesla will be transitioning to more practical...
Chris Weiss -
Porsche Reaffirms Performance Electric Car PromisePorsche may not be the first name you think of when you think electric cars--Tesla, Nissan, Chevrolet, even Smart are more likely--but that may change, especially if you're into speed and handling. Porsche recently reaffirmed its promise of a year ago to build electric performance cars. A year ago...
Nelson Ireson -
Feeling lazy? Don't feel like driving home from work tonight? Sounds like an autonomous car would be right up your street... ZMP's RoboCar doesn't quite have the aesthetics or practicality (and especially not the performance) of Google's automated Toyota Prius, but the technology it demonstrates is no less relevant. Japanese firm ZMP has shown off the RoboCar's latest trick in a new video. During a leisurely, golf-cart style drive around a quiet parkland road under the control of a young woman, the RoboCar scans the route ahead, taking note of its own position and the topography of the land...
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Protoscar Lampo3 Electric Car Packs Three Motors, 560 horsepowerIn 2009 Swiss engineering and design firm Protoscar unveiled its first Lampo electric sports car prototype, and just one year later the firm unveiled the follow up to the original Lampo, the aptly named Lampo2. Now, almost exactly two years after the unveiling of the first Lampo prototype, the guys...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Electric Race Car Hits The Track: VideoThe Nissan Leaf Nismo RC electric race car is an intriguing look at the (very likely) inevitable future of motorsports, and the day we're all talking in volts, amps, and kilowatt-hours instead of horsepower and fuel capacity may not be that far off as we saw yesterday with the Formulec EF01. While...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Formulec EF01 Electric Race Car Does 0-60 In Three Seconds, Starts Racing In 2012Meet the Formulec EF01, a truly awesome single-seater electric race car which combines speed and efficiency with sustainability and respect for the environment. Designed and created by South African firm Formulec and its technology partner SEGULA Technologies, the new electric race car is capable...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Audi Becoming Energy Producer With New e-gas TechnologyOne of the greatest arguments against electric cars is not their limited range, low top speeds or long charge times, but the fact that their electrical power is usually generated by means of heavy polluting coal burning power stations or potentially worse nuclear reactors. Audi acknowledges this...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Move Over Tesla, Delta Motorsport Launches 150 MPH E-4 Electric CoupeOver in the UK, a relatively new company by the name of Delta Motorsport and based at the famous Silverstone race circuit, has designed and built from the ground up a sporty coupe with a distinct sportback design and zero-emission electric drivetrain. The company boasts a 0-60 mph time of less than...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran