Electric Cars
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Historic American car brand Detroit Electric, now based in the United Kingdom and backed by Chinese funds, has outlined plans for three new cars. Impressively, the electric car startup is promising to introduce the three cars over the next three years. They include a sports car, sedan and SUV. A teaser sketch hinting at the profile design of the three cars was released by Detroit Electric on Wednesday at the 2017 Low Carbon Vehicle Event in Bedford, U.K. Detroit Electric’s original plan was one that mimicked Tesla’s start. The company developed an electric sports car based on a...
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2018 Nissan Leaf: 150 miles of range for $30,875Tesla has been stealing much of the limelight when it comes to electric cars, and for good reason, but Nissan and its Leaf shouldn’t be overlooked. The humble hatch is still one of the best-selling electric cars in the world with more than 283,000 examples sold since launch. Now there’s...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
British start-up Alcraft aims to build an electric shooting brakeYou've never heard of Alcraft Motor Company. That's because this is the start-up's very first attempt at building a car. Foremost, may we say it looks lovely. It's called the Alcraft GT, and it's attempting to bring sex appeal to the electric car. At the helm of the project is David Alcraft, the...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla's Musk says air suspension coming to Model 3 in 6 monthsThose eager to get their hands on a Tesla Model 3 may be better off waiting until the options list rounds out a tad more. Right now, a Tesla Model 3 is limited to only a few options such as colors, wheels, and the choice between a short- and long-range variant. In fact, colors other than black cost...
Sean Szymkowski -
Flush with cash, Detroit Electric to announce full vehicle lineup in SeptemberFlush with cash from a major Chinese investor, Detroit Electric is on the verge of announcing a full lineup of electric cars the company plans to launch in the coming years. The historic American brand was revived in 2008 by a former Lotus engineer together with Chinese interests, and has since...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Could electric cars use manual transmissions?There's concern among many enthusiasts that the manual transmission is on its way out. This coincides with the notion that electric cars are the future and internal combustion engines will continue to fall out of favor as electric car charging infrastructure and technology exits infancy. If there's...
Sean Szymkowski -
Daimler’s Smart brand will use next month’s 2017 Frankfurt auto show to preview its vision for personal transport of tomorrow. The preview is in the form of the Smart Vision EQ ForTwo concept, a fully self-driving electric pod car ideal for shared urban mobility. Some readers will recall that Mercedes showed a similar concept in 2015 in the form of the F015, but Smart’s version is devoid of a steering wheel and pedals, the first time a vehicle from German auto giant Daimler has been designed in such a fashion. It’s all part of Daimler’s corporate strategy known...
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Cummins beats Tesla to electric semi truckAs Tesla fans and the industry at large await the reveal of the electric car brand’s promised semi-trailer truck in September, Cummins, most widely known for its diesel engines, has quietly unveiled an electric truck of its own. Cummins’ truck is strictly a concept, but the company is...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Aston Martin wants in-house electric powertrain productionAston Martin CEO Andy Palmer revealed this week he plans to offer a hybrid option on every model in the line-up by the middle of the next decade. And some models will offer a pure electric option, too. Palmer reckons a quarter of the range will have an electric option by the end of the next decade...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2019 Audi e-tron spy shots and videoAudi is bringing an electric SUV to market in the form of the e-tron, and it's due next year, most likely as a 2019 model. First introduced as a concept at the 2015 Frankfurt auto show, the SUV will be sized between the Q5 and Q7, which originally lead to speculation that it would use Q6 in its...
Kirk Bell -
What it's like to drive a concept carWhen an automaker says its concept vehicle is powered by unicorn farts, emits only cotton candy, and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in two shakes of a lamb's tail, don't believe them. What they are actually saying is, "If we ever develop the technology to build this thing, that's what it could do."...
Kirk Bell -
Report: Tesla semi truck to have 200-300 miles of rangeTesla in September will reveal the design of an electric semi-trailer truck currently in the works. Plans for the truck were first detailed a year ago in part two of Tesla’s overarching product strategy known as the Tesla Master Plan. And in April we got our first taste in the form of the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Audi has inked a deal with solar panel expert Alta Devices to fit the energy-generating panels to the roofs of its future cars. Alta Devices, based in California, is renowned for its highly efficient solar panels. It will work with Audi to develop thin, lightweight solar cells that can be integrated into the panoramic glass roofs commonly found on cars. The first prototype should be ready in late 2017. Later, the two firms will develop solar cells that will be able to line a car’s entire roof surface. Audi will initially fit the solar roofs to its electric cars. The generated energy...
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NEVS partners with Chinese ride-sharing giant Didi Huaxing, Beijing tech firmChinese-backed, Swedish-based NEVS has forged two new alliances as it prepares to start production of electric cars based on former Saab platforms. NEVS’s goal is to become an electric car company and provider of mobility services. One of NEVS’s future mobility services is likely to be...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Lamborghini Aventador SV drag races Tesla Model X and Model S, loses to oneThis is gasoline versus electricity. This is V-12 wail versus motor hum. This is a Lamborghini Aventador SV facing down a pair of Teslas on a quarter-mile dragstrip. First up is a Model X and then comes a Model S. It's a battle of about $150,000 versus well over $500,000. Unfortunately the owner of...
Jeff Glucker -
Ford exploring potential joint venture with Chinese company to build electric carsChina is the world's number one automotive market, and adding fuel to booming auto sales is the fact that electric cars are expected to grow exponentially. With this in mind, Ford has signed a memorandum of understanding to potentially build a line of future electric cars in conjunction with a...
Sean Szymkowski -
What does a 97-year old think of a Tesla Model S?It would take thousands of words to describe what has changed in the automotive industry over the past 97 years, but this video may do some of the work for us. YouTuber Zev Gitalis recently introduced his 97-year-old grandfather to his Tesla Model S and it proved to be a semi comical and...
Sean Szymkowski -
Michael Andretti says Global Rallycross is perfect for EVsThe Red Bull Global Rallycross racing series kicked off in 2011. The series involves short sprint races of just a few laps in an all-out blitz for supremacy. The last few years have been dominated by Andretti Racing. Partnered with Volkswagen and run by Michael Andretti, this team features drivers...
Jeff Glucker -
It's not a world-record holder yet, but this full-bodied electric car built in Denmark is pretty darn close to becoming one. Recently. the 2,200-horsepower electric drag car clocked a 4.89-second eighth-mile time. For those keeping score at home, that's just over a tenth of a second off the current world-record holder, a dragster by the name of "Panic" that resides in Detroit. This electric car was engineered and built in Denmark and the Danish team responsible for the build, True Cousins, calls their electric monster the TC-X and it's proven to be pretty darn quick. Just to show the world...
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Continental reveals aluminum wheel and brake concept for electric carsContinental has showcased a prototype for a way to boost the braking efficiency of electric cars. Dubbed the "New Wheel Concept," Continental engineered the system to help maximize regenerative braking and create an easier-to-maintain braking system. The concept uses an inner carrier, brake rotor...
Sean Szymkowski -
German Chancellor Merkel says non-electrified cars will be phased out, but won’t say whenGovernments, particularly in Europe, are under pressure to curb emissions. In July, both France and the United Kingdom agreed to ban the sale of cars powered solely by gasoline or diesel by 2040. But the government in Germany, a country perhaps more closely linked with its auto industry than any...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tesla Model 3's battery-pack size revealed in EPA documentsThe Tesla Model 3 has officially begun rolling off the assembly line, but the car will see a staggered launch. Specifically, the Model 3 in production today is what has been named the "Long Range" variant. Now, we have some additional details on that car. Preliminary EPA documents, discovered by...
Sean Szymkowski -
GM is testing a ride-sharing app for self-driving electric carsGeneral Motors envisions a future in which self-driving cars aren't simply owned personally; they also pick up and drop off individuals. Along with its Cruise Automation subsidiary that it bought last year, the automaker has begun beta testing a ride-sharing app to hail self-driving Chevrolet Bolt...
Sean Szymkowski -
Italians drive Tesla Model S 669 miles to set recordTesla CEO Elon Musk said it could be done, and now it has been. After once stating that the Model S was capable of traveling over 1,000 kilometers on a single charge (roughly 621 miles), a Tesla owners group from Italy recently managed to actually accomplish the feat. Actually, they surpassed it...
Sean Szymkowski