Electric Cars
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Formula E is... not the most thrilling racing out there at the moment. The quality of the teams and the drivers are high, yet there's something to be said about the lack of noise when you're watching these all-electric race cars lap a given circuit. Additionally, the idea that you have to swap into a completely different car halfway through the race seems silly. Still, it's a young series and it's currently in the process of growing up. To do so, it's creating a greater level of competition between the teams, and Jason from Engineering Explained is exploring what this all means. It comes down...
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Maserati electric car not until 2020, says engineering bossThe major luxury automakers are working on electric cars that come close to matching their internal combustion counterparts for range. The first of these should start arriving in 2018. Some examples include production versions of the Audi e-tron Quattro, Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ and Porsche...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Lackluster start for Jaguar in Formula ESaturday’s opening race of the 2016/2017 Formula E Championship held in Hong Kong wasn’t the miracle start we’re sure Jaguar would have hoped for. The automaker, which is partnered with Panasonic, ended up with just one driver, Adam Carroll, finishing 12th out of the 15 finishers...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Rimac Concept_One takes on Porsche 918 Spyder at the drag stripWe’ve already seen it destroy Ferrari’s [NYSE:RACE] LaFerrari over the quarter mile. Now the Concept_One from Croatian firm Rimac is taking on the Porsche 918 Spyder. The drag race was conducted by YouTuber Salomondrin for the latest episode of his online show Bangin' Gears, with...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Faraday Future and LG claim world’s highest energy density automotive batteriesCalifornia-based, Chinese-backed electric car startup Faraday Future has formed a partnership with LG Chem for the supply of lithium-ion batteries to power its cars. LG Chem has already forged ties with 20 automakers including Audi and General Motors Company [NYSE:GM]. But Faraday’s...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
AMG to launch more electric cars, but first hybridsMercedes-AMG was one of the first with a high-performance electric car when it introduced the SLS AMG Electric Drive at the 2012 Paris auto show. Although it wasn’t a volume model, it was a clear demonstration of the Affalterbach tuner’s proficiency in electric car development. Even...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Henrik Fisker on Tuesday launched a new car brand called Fisker, the name the Danish designer and entrepreneur used for his previous car brand, the failed Fisker Automotive. Whereas Fisker Automotive focused on extended-range electric cars, the new Fisker will focus on pure, battery-powered electrics, making it a direct rival for Tesla [NSDQ:TSLA]. Where Fisker hopes to stand out is battery durability and range. Early performance estimates for Fisker’s battery, which the company is developing via its own subsidiary Fisker Nanotech, is a range of over 400 miles and durability that lasts...
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Leilani Münter named first American driver in Electric GT seriesLeilani Münter has tried her hand at a number of racing series, and now she's found a new one that fits perfectly with her views on life. Münter has been named the first American driver who will compete in the upcoming Electric GT Championship. She's also an activist and prefers a vegan...
Jeff Glucker -
Henrik Fisker revives Fisker brand for electric car startupFisker is dead. Long live Fisker. Danish designer Henrik Fisker’s previous car company Fisker Automotive may have flopped, but that hasn’t stopped the serial entrepreneur from starting a new one. No, we’re not talking about VLF, a coachbuilder Fisker formed with fellow industry...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mercedes poised to join Formula E in 2018Mercedes-Benz has dominated Formula One over the past few seasons and soon it could do the same in the burgeoning electric car racing series that is Formula E. Formula E organizers have agreed to reserve a team entry for Mercedes for the 2018/2019 season, officially the series’ fifth. Under...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Is this BMW's oft-rumored i5?Alleged patent drawings of a BMW model rumored to be called an i5 have surfaced. The drawings were discovered by Autoguide and are claimed to have been filed by BMW with a patent office in Japan in April of this year. It’s been rumored since 2012 that BMW would eventually plug the gap between...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Savage Rivale Roadyacht reborn as GLM G4 electric sports carIt’s been a while since we last heard from Dutch supercar startup Savage Rivale. The company made headlines in 2011 when it unveiled a four-door, four-seat convertible supercar called the Roadyacht GTS. It rode on Savage’s own chassis and featured a powertrain borrowed from the Corvette...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mercedes-Benz’s much-hyped electric car concept has finally made its 2016 Paris auto show debut. Like Volkswagen’s own I.D. concept on display in Paris, the star of Mercedes’ stand previews the first of the automaker’s next-generation electric cars. The concept is called the Generation EQ, and as previously reported the “EQ” in the name is the badging that Mercedes will use to denote its future electric cars. It apparently stands for “Electric Intelligence.” Individual models are expected to be called EQC or EQS, with the last letter denoting...
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VW ID concept to spawn 300-plus-mile electric hatch in 2020The Volkswagen Group in order to shed any vestiges of its diesel emissions cheating scandal is embracing vehicle electrification with open arms. The automaker is committed to launching 30 electric cars by 2025 across its various brands, many of which will come from the namesake Volkswagen brand. VW...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
NextEV teases 1,000-horsepower electric supercarThere’s a handful of automotive startups out to challenge Tesla [NSDQ:TSLA] as well as the more established makes, with new electric cars. Many of these are Chinese-backed firms operating in the United States. They’re using Silicon Valley knowhow to rapidly develop electric cars to meet...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tesla Model S-based Electric GT racing series launched in IbizaIn March we brought you news about an electric car racing series being developed for production-based cars, namely the Tesla [NSDQ:TSLA] Model S. At a ceremony held at Ibiza on Tuesday, the new series was officially launched as the Electric GT Championship (EGT). The ceremony included the unveiling...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mercedes teases electric car concept debuting in ParisMercedes-Benz has been offering electric cars for several years but these have all been niche products limited to a handful of markets. The list includes the Electric Drive versions of the Smart ForTwo, B-Class and SLS AMG. With Tesla [NSDQ:TSLA] demonstrating that there's serious interest in...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tesla Model S P100D does 0-60 in 2.5 s, quarter-mile in the 10sThe 100-kilowatt-hour electric car has arrived in the form of the Tesla [NSDQ:TSLA] Model S P100D, and boy is it quick. The folks from DragTimes got access to one of the first Ludicrous mode-equipped examples delivered to a customer and naturally they immediately strapped a Racelogic Performance...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
French firm Venturi may be most widely recognized for its expensive, oddball electric cars like the America SUV and Fetish sports car, but it’s also known in some circles for pushing zero-emission powertrain technology to the limits. For example, in 2010 Venturi reached a record speed of 303 mph for a fuel cell car. The company, in partnership with Ohio State University, then followed it up that same year by clinching the electric car record, a speed of 307.7 mph. Venturi and Ohio State University have now smashed their previous record for an electric car, reaching 341.4 mph on...
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Here’s what’s new with Tesla's 8.0 software updateTesla [NSDQ:TSLA] on Wednesday started beaming out its version 8.0 over-the-air software update to its customers’ Model S and Model X vehicles. As the company outlined in a September 11 blog post, the update changes hundreds of functions in the vehicles, the most important of which have to do...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2017 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive revealedSmart was one of the first mainstream automakers to introduce an electric car when it launched its original ForTwo Electric Drive last decade. Now it’s become the first to offer a lineup of cars that offers the choice of internal combustion or electric power. That’s right. Smart has...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Formula E to race in New YorkIt may have missed out on a Formula One race but New York City will get to host back-to-back rounds of the Formula E Championship. Organizers of the electric car racing series confirmed on Wednesday that the final two rounds of the 2016/2017 season will take place in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The rounds...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nikola Motor Company reveals wicked all-electric UTVNikola Motor Company is the Utah-based startup that promises to bring the world an extended-range electric semi truck. They say it will have 2,000 horsepower and a massive 1,200-mile range. That's great and all, but it's not here yet. What is here, however, is the company's all-electric...
Jeff Glucker -
2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV priced from $37,495General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] has stuck to its word of bringing the 200-plus-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV to market for about $37,500. On Tuesday GM confirmed the starting price at $37,495, including destination. It follows an announcement on September 13 that the car has an EPA-estimated range of 238...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran