Volkswagen showed off its new 2013 E-Up! at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. It’s a city car that sports that will first be made in gasoline form, but will soon include an electric drivetrain by 2012. VW is calling it a “giant among small cars,” as it measures 39.4 inches long and 64.6 inches wide, making it a bit narrower than a Mini Cooper hardtop. Although it’s tiny, the interior will comfortably fit four passengers and still have room for cargo space (you get even more if you fold the rear seats up!).

Under the hood is an electric motor that supplies the propulsive power for the concept car. Propelling it to a top speed of 184 mph, the electric engine produces a continuous output of 54 hp with a peak of 80 hp. The nearly silent electric motors also develops a maximum torque of 155 lb.-ft. of torque. Drivers can activate the forward or reverse gear by a pushbutton that’s stored on the center console of the vehicle’s interior.

As for the battery capacity, it’s said to be 18 kilowatt-hours (kWh), which allows for about 80 miles of driving between charging (all depending on how you drive though). The batteries are located in the underbody of the vehicle, while all other key driving components are located in the front engine compartment.

As for its styling cues, the E-Up! features a very distinctive design at its front end, which is its arc-shaped layout of the LED daytime running lights in the bumper. It also has an upper engine cooling air slot that’s between the headlights and the VW logo, which is covered by a chrome trim strip due to narrow air intake slots above and below the license plate serve to cool the drive system of the car.

Known for their aftermarket creations, BRABUS has decided to get into the electric car game and debuted a high-performance 4WD full electric prototype at the Frankfurt Motor Show back in September. While they didn’t create the car from the ground up, they did use a Mercedes-Benz E-Class as the base unit for their prototype.

BRABUS usually tries to boost the power of what they’ve chosen to tune, but this time, they’ve totally replaced the E-Class’ gasoline engine and replaced it with only electronic hardware. But they’re not putting any ordinary hardware in; they’re replacing it with High Performance stuff. This refers to the E’s very impressive 429 horsepower and 2,360 lb.-ft. of torque. But it’s 4WD label implies that each of its wheels is fitted with a Protean electric motor, which are lightweight, thus making them perfectly suited for the project since BRABUS likes to keep their creations. Light. Each 330-volt motor produces a peak power output of 80 kW, which fit inside of some 19-inch BRABUS Monoblock Q wheels that were added for better styling and handling.

The car  can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds. It can also go from 37-74 mph in 5 seconds, which is quicker than a Mercedes-Benz E 500 4Matic.The prototype also packs a 56-kWh lithium-ion battery that allows the BRABUS electric vehicle a range of 150 miles. But when used in Eco mode, each motor produces only 50 kW (instead of 80 kW), the range increases to about 217 miles (if the car is going 62 mph). BRABUS says the prototype tops out at 137 mph in Sport mode, or 118 mph in Eco mode. For charging on the road at any normal 220 V AC outlet or on a 380 V three-phase outlet the car is equipped with an integrated charger that recharges the batteries fully in five hours.

But because BRABUS not only does performance upgrades, but also exterior modifications, they’ve added some aluminum front sport fenders with integrated clear-coated carbon-fiber inserts that create a very sporty look, while some side skirts calm the airflow between the wheel wells and feature highly convenient, visually striking LED entrance lights. The interior features a special instrument cluster, which provides the most essential information about the battery, the electric motors and other driving parameters such as speed etc. They’ve also added a ergonomically-shaped sport steering wheel and aluminum pedals and footrest add sporty highlights. Stainless-steel scuff plates with backlit BRABUS High Performance 4WD Full Electric logo and velour floor mats sporting the identical marks are further exclusive accessories.

BRAUBUS hasn’t released any info on price or availability, leaving the automotive world to wonder if they will indeed bring their prototype to life.

Who would have thought a 23-year-old could build an electric sports car with enough power to rival that of a Bugatti Veyron? Turns out Croatian designer Mate Rimac has built exactly this with his Concept One electric sports car.

The 23-year-old entrepreneur and automotive designer has caused quite a stir at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. The Concept One is the first car from Rimac Automobili, which before now was virtually unknown. According to their site, “Rimac factory is a place where magic happens since 2009. When you love what you do, you don’t work, you play and thus create art.” (A bit choppy, but direct from their site.)

Apparently, Rimac states that their electric will push out 1,088 hp with 2,802 lb.-ft. of torque and can go more than 186 mph, which are pretty remarkable feats for a car that is powered by an internal combustion, let alone an electric propulsion system. While these numbers haven’t been tested out in the open, Rimac did mention that the car’s numbers were tested on a closed course with a prototype. Nothing concrete, but still promising. Four electric motors are supposed to propel the supercar from 0 to 62 mph in only 2.8 seconds. The front and rear systems of the motors are separate units, with each of them including two high-speed, liquid-cooled permanent magnet electric motors, wo liquid-cooled inverter units and two reduction gearboxes, integrated into one small unit.

With that said, the Concept One’s charge range is said to be 366 miles from a 92 kWH battery, which beats the 300-mile range that Tesla says its Model S sedan will be able to achieve.Design wise, the Concept One features a carbon-fiber body that sits on top of an aluminum frame, with a total weight that is allegedly 3,630 pounds.

Rimac actually used a BMW E30 that was converted to run on some of the same electric propulsion technologies in the Concept One to compete in the 800-kilometer “e-miglia” race in the Italian Alps, which is a race for electric cars. Rimac plans to build 88 units in the first run, with price a smidge below that of the competition from Pagani, Koenigsegg and Bugatti. No word yet on when these units will be produced though. While many would like to see all these impressive numbers in action, they’ll just have to be satisfied with all the hype.

Toyota shocked auto blogs and jolted the net after confirming that the electric Scion iQ will officially launch in the U.S. come 2012. This all came from a very recent dealer meeting in Sin City, where the Japanese automaker also gave details that the Prius V will hit streets this fall, its Prius C will come in early next year and that the electric RAV4 and its plug-in Prius are all slated to hit dealerships mid 2012.

The Scion iQ has been in pre-production limbo since its debut at the Geneva Motor Show, mostly due because of the massive earthquake that hit Japan early this year that impacted Toyota’s factory. Now that everything’s seems to be up and running, it’s now ready for the iQ to hit the production line.

The electrified mini is supposed to compete with the likes of other electric minis like Nissan’s Leaf, Mitsubishi’s i and even the City electric if Think Global doesn’t go bankrupt as it looks to be headed. However, the Scion iQ is only estimated to get about 50 miles, while the Leaf gets 73 miles; Mitsubishi’s i a whopping 85 miles; and Think Global’s City car with a huge 100 mile range. This sort of gives the iQ a slight disadvantage in terms of miles, but is more than up for the challenge.

What wasn’t unveiled, though, was Scion iQ’s MSRP price when it comes out, which leaves consumers wondering if it’ll be priced along the same range as other electric vehicles or slightly less given it provides a significantly less mileage range.

However, since it’s supposed to appeal to the young, hip and urban consumers, it just might still be a hit given it’s modern stylish cues and rise in popularity of super-small city cars that are environmentally friendly and leave less of a carbon footprint than traditional vehicles thanks to its standard iQ body and lithium-ion battery packs. It’s also smaller than the already miniscule ForTwo. As a two-plus-two passenger car that’s less than 10 feet long, there’s not much room for anything but the essentials.

Right now, the estimated price seems to be around $12,000. It’s based on the Toyota iQ, a micro-mini car that’s already sold in Japan (and has been since 2008).

Via: Greenautoblog

]]> http://www.gadgetreview.com/2011/07/toyota%e2%80%99s-electric-scion-iq.html/feed 1 http://www.gadgetreview.com/2011/03/model-s-pricing-unveiled-along-with-delivery-schedule.html http://www.gadgetreview.com/2011/03/model-s-pricing-unveiled-along-with-delivery-schedule.html#comments Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:14:55 +0000 Christen Costa http://www.gadgetreview.com/?p=81472

It would seem like Tesla’s Model S EV can’t arrive soon enough.

While we knew pricing for the vehicle would be about $50,000 after US tax credits, we didn’t know the launch schedule or what else we should expect in terms of class options.  Now the company’s Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Ownership Experience, George Blankenship, has loosened his lips and spilled some beans on the upcoming all electric car.

The Model S will arrive mid-2012.  The first 1000 cars off the line will be the North American Model S Signature Series.  These vehicles will be packed with a 300 mile range battery and feature unique badging along with extensive complement of options.  Come late 2012, Tesla will deliver the models that provide a 230 and 160 mile range.  Pricing for those units be $59,900 and $49,900 after the $7500 federal tax credits, though they haven’t made an official decision in terms of pricing for the signature series.

Tesla expects to roll out 5,000 units in 2012 and ramp up to 20,000 units per year by 2013.

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4.5 out of 5 stars

Pros:

• Drives like a luxury car complemented by a quiet interior
• Bluetooth works flawlessly for calls and music, plus AUX and USB inputs
• Roomy interior

Con:

• 100 mile range
• Takes 8 hours to charge on a 220 volt plug
• Mommy mobile like form factor

A few weekends ago I had the luxury of driving Nissan’s all electric car, the Leaf. It travels up to 100 miles on a single charge, and drives like a luxury car despite lacking all the fine lines and moldings of one.

Unlike a traditional, gas guzzling vehicles of today there are no gears, no engine and no start up noise. Powering on the vehicle requires the simple push of a button and the key is merely a fob that transmits a wireless signal to the car’s computer.

From the outside and inside it’s almost impossible to tell that the Leaf is electric. Instead of a fuel cap on the backside of the vehicle, it features a lid that pops open in place of the radiator and reveals two charging ports; 240 and 480 volts.

This is the “fuel cap” that flips open by an interior switch to reveal a 220v and 480v plug

The interior dash of the Nissan leaf as well as the center console is outfitted with the usual arrangement of goodies found in today’s modern vehicles. However, there is an ‘eco tree gauge’ that displays how efficiently you’re driving. The more green or eco conscience you drive, the faster you’ll grow your eco tree. Additional eco info can be accessed via the center console’s 7-inch touch display, which is also used for dialing in directions and locating charging stations. Check out the video for more on this.

To further motivate you, Nissan has instituted some game theory into the eco aspect of driving. The system will rank you according to other Nissan EV drivers in terms of not only kilowatts used per hour while driving, but by comparing the amount of eco trees you’ve produced since your purchase. The system is called CarWings, and wraps a number of other eco offerings into one menu, allowing you to update the location of charging stations and access other tools. A dedicated button provides instant access to all of these features.

The Leaf’s headlights are designed to reduce drag and noise

Under the center console are a variety of plugs, including a USB and AUX input. But those, as they did for me, will be forgotten once you’ve paired your phone to the car’s Bluetooth. I’m not one to wax poetic about Bluetooth, but the Leaf’s works stunningly well. After the initial pairing it was a none issue and required no manual input. Incoming calls?  No problem. Streaming music via Pandora? Instantaneous. Usually you have to manually prompt the system or iPhone to do all this, but it all happens seamlessly with the Leaf. Callers said I sounded a bit distant, but I had no problem carrying on a casual conversation while driving down the PCH to Malibu and back. But, keep in mind that using the USB or Aux input will result in better sound quality – that goes without saying.

The gauges on the dash are perfectly placed allowing you to quickly glance at your speed and other pertinent info. The steering wheel is outfitted with a variety of controls that range from answering a call to instituting cruise control. I did take issue with the four buttons located behind the left side of the steering wheel that control the dash’s HUD; they’re arranged in a counter intuitive manner, don’t mimic the menu’s layout and nor is it immediately evident that they can be used to manipulate this info.

7-inch touchscreen nav and audio system – climate control just below

Driving the Nissan Leaf is an experience in upon itself. Sure, the inside’s features and creature comforts make for a lux experience, but it’s the ride and handling that are the true jewel of this vehicle. At first I was a bit apprehensive since my every day drive is a petrol powered, stick shift vehicle. The Leaf lacks a transmission and the traditional gear leaver has been replaced by a small joystick like knob that shifts you into park with a push of button or drive or reverse by flicking it up or down when pressed into the left most position. A lever, which could be mistaken for the center console box latch, controls the e-brake and doubles as a hill start since it auto disengages when pulling forward; it doesn’t disengage in reverse. Lastly, there is an eco-mode that can be entered by shifting the lever twice into Drive and simply reduces the sensitivity of the accelerometer, thus saving you power by reducing the weight of your would be ‘lead foot’.

Because the Leaf is electric there is absolutely zero noise when the vehicle is started. First time passengers were in such awe that most were willing to place a handsome bet that the vehicle wasn’t “running” – they zipped up when I pulled away.  The car emits a slight whizzing noise upon initial launch, something analogous to that of a scene from the movie “Minority Report”. After that it drives like an every day vehicle. Initial acceleration, or low end torque is present, but the Leaf lacks torque at the high end, making it a bit challenging, though not impossible by any account, to suddenly overtake vehicles at highway speeds. Don’t get me wrong, you can go well above 80mph in this vehicle, it just won’t happen at a rocket ship like speed as found in the Tesla Roadster.  It’s performance is probably comparable to that of a 4-cylinder gas vehicle.  In the corners the Leaf is agile and responsive as is the braking.  I drove it through some of the canyons found in Malibu and the Pacific Palisades, and the Leaf elicited very little body roll and communicated the road’s conditions accordingly.

The eco tree (left) shows how green you’re driving

In terms of comparison of other electric vehicles, I had the luxury of driving an Electric Mini during the same weekend. In fact it was all rather blissful. I was down to my last 20 miles when an e-Mini pulled in front of me and parked. He got out and we began to chat. No sooner than I could say yes, I was driving the all electric Mini around the block. It’s a completely different monster, and the operative word here is monster. By comparison to the Leaf, the E-Mini drives like a tank. Granted it has an automatic regenerative braking system, the ride isn’t nearly as light or smooth. It’s stiff, cold and takes concentration to drive. After this experience I was better able to ascertain how much engineering has gone into the Leaf to make it drive similar to the gas powered car’s we’ve become accustom to. The E-Mini however is an experimental vehicle that will probably never see production, so by no means is it a great comparison, but provides perspective nonetheless.

The 100 mile range of the Nissan isn’t something to take lightly.  Despite residing in LA, which is packed with a number of charging stations, it’s something that you – at least I did – will always remain cognisant of, especially if your trip calls for significant highway driving, since the Leaf’s charge drops off more rapidly at faster speeds.  A battery’s charge is influenced by a number of things; the big one is how aggressive you request power.

The solar panel is used for charging gadgets plugged into the Leaf

Nissan says you can maximize your miles by traveling 28 miles per hour at 68 degree F.  I took a road trip to Malibu on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  I started with a full 100 mile charge.  Well aware of my remaining miles, I began to feel a bit panic stricken when the gauge dropped below 40 miles and I knew I still needed to return home despite my ride home being less than 30 miles. Psychologically it will take time to become accustom with the advent of electric cars; it’s just a different beast and right now calls for, as it should, more conservative driving with an emphasis placed on how many miles you consume and where you’re going – all part of the eco street cred that can be attributed to an electric car.  However, on one occasion the fuel gauge did jump from 10 miles to “empty” within a few hundred feet of travel. Perhaps it is a safety mechanism to insure a driver doesn’t find themselves stranded in the middle of no where, but a disconcerting experience nonetheless, and one I wasn’t willing to take.

For now, the Nissan charging stations are too impractical for a quick charge since the 220 volt stations take up to 8 hours for a full charge.  At your expense (about $2,000) you can have your home outfitted with a 220 volt plug or alternatively you can utilize the included home trickle charger which will take about 20 hours for a full charge.  For those of you concerned about your electricity costs, even though the Leaf will on average cost about $3 for a full charge, you can set the Leaf to charge at “off peak” hours when energy costs are less, which is generally at night time.  However, Nissan has commissioned a company to produce a number of stations up and down the I-5, which will hopefully support 480 volt charging, which means an 80% charge in as little as 30 minutes.  It’s still not comparable to filling your gas tank, but it’s the right step in the right direction.  A company by the name of Better Place has been pushing for “battery stations” that instead of filling up your “tank”, quick switch the dead battery for a freshly charged one.  It remains to be seen which car companies will adopt this technology and if it will become the standard.  Nissan seems determined to develop charging stations, at least for now.

Pardon the cliche, but aesthetics aside the Nissan Leaf fires on all cylinders, despite not physically boasting any.  The range of 100 miles while short, should suffice for most commuters and makes you, the driver, more cognizant of your driving consumption.  A 100 mile range is just the the tip of the iceberg when it comes to an electric vehicle’s range, and as we’ve already seen from the likes of Tesla a greater range is already feasible, though at an exuberant cost.

Nissan’s Leaf was able to obtain a 99 mpg fuel rating since the EPA uses a formula where 33.7 kWhs are equivalent to one gallon of gasoline energy, which is the amount of energy the Leaf consumes when traveling 100 miles.  It’s a tad mind boggling to think that a vehicle can travel 100 miles on the equivalent of one gallon of gas.  You can probably thank the automakers for this, since they’ve supposedly been in bed with the US government to manipulate our car’s crappy fuel economy thus insuring that gasoline remains in demand.  That is provided of course you’re willing to subscribe to a conspiracy theory or two.  So with that all said, there is some mixed emotion that comes with owning a “fuel efficient” vehicle, especially since it comes from a car company that has long pushed the gas guzzlers.

There is some anxiety that is inherently built into driving the Leaf since it can’t be charged up as quickly as it takes to fill your car with petrol.  With that said, the Nissan Leaf is not for the overly aggressive driver, those that take long commutes or don’t have 8 hours to spare for a complete charge.  The Leaf costs upwards of $25,000 after tax credits and at best you’ll probably achieve 80 highway miles on a single charge thanks to battery tech, which is the opposite of fuel powered vehicles which achieve a greater distances at a highway speeds.  But despite any short comings that the Leaf may have, it’s a zippy and handsomely featured car that has set the bar for all future electric vehicles in this price range.

While the Leaf is a practical and innovative electric vehicle, it hardly bears the same allure as Tesla’s Roadster or any other luxury car for that matter.  And that explains why the company has announced plans for an all electric two seater that can shoot from 0-60 in just 4 seconds and achieve a projected range of 150 miles.

So what’s it called?  The Esflow.  Okay, so we’re not digging the name, but they’re borrowing tech from the Nissan Leaf, leaving behind the mommy mobile stats and replacing it to be inline with race car pedigree, or so we hope.  

Right now, Nissan hasn’t released too much in the ways of specs and details, but they will show us more at the Geneva auto show, which fires up this March.  In terms of design it is notably similar to the car maker’s 370Z and 350z vehicles, and even borrows its front end from Mazda’s RX8.

Our best guess is that the Esflow, will never be a massively produced car and will probably serve best as a mouth piece and beacon for Nissan to draw more attention towards their less expensive, gas guzzling vehicles.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t salivate about one day driving one.

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Think Porsche and you’ll conjure up not only an image of the 911, but the iconic sound associated with the air cooled engine.  Sure, they’re now water cooled, but the sound still remains a head turner for even the smallest of Porsche fans.

So with some disappointment we introduce to you the all new, fully electric Boxster, the e-Boxster – we can only assume it won’t include anything but a whisper of a noise.  Yes, the name is rather uninspired, much like the design team behind the 911, but keep in mind that it’s in the prototype stage and only 3 of these cars exist.  

They were unveiled yesterday in Stuttgart, Germany and are part of test program, a sort of rolling laboratory to gauge how Porsche can further develop less fossil fuel dependent vehicles. Volkswagen, which now runs Porsche, has provided the twin electric motors that produce 240 horsepower of power to the rear wheels.  There is no official word on performance, but it’s theorized that it should be comparable to that of the currently available petrol Boxster.

We don’t expect to see these go into production, and if anything they’ll roll them out into a test program much like the e-Mini.  However, the Tesla S is not too far off and there are a number of other electric vehicles on the horizon.

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Images leaked today showing Mercedes upcoming E-Cell supercar, and wow is this thing cool. It features four electric motors that produce 12,000 rpm, with 519 horsepower and 649 lb-ft of torque – that means 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. This one is sporting the ‘AMG lumilectric magno’ paintjob. In addition, the car’s electric power will come courtesy of lithium polymer batteries, located behind the cockpit. I’m just afraid of what it’s going to cost.

The E-Cells begins production in 2013.

Whose got the fastest street legal all electric car? No, not Tesla. A guy named John Wayland who converted an old Datsun.  It can now do over 100mph in the quarter mile, which equates to a 12 second run. Hit the video below for complete details.

[via Uniquedaily]

The Tesla S Sedan was officially unveiled here in sunny LA today.  So what can you expect from the $50,000 all electric vehicle?

• The car will be avaiable in 2011
• 0-60 is currently spec’d at 5.5 seconds
• It will have a 300 mile range but for long distance trips bigger or long distance batteries can be leased
• Partial charging of the batteries (percent unknown) will take 45 minutes
• Expect the batteries to last about 7-10 year
• 3-4 year warranty
• 2 LCD screen: 1 for the driver and 1 in the center console (the UI looks convoluted)
• 7 seats: 5 in forward facing and 2 flip up in the back
• There will be  Sport and AWD versions

[Gizmodo]

The B0, pronounced B Zero, is an electric vehicle that uses Lithium-Polymer Batteries and Supercapacitors.  Lining the roof of the vehicle are solar panels which should assist in charging.  Top speed is capped at about 80mph and it can achieve an 150 mile range on a single charge, which takes a few hours from a standard household socket.  The vehicle has a quick charge that will supposedly allow it to travel about 20 miles on a few minutes of charging making it ideal for those looking to commute locally.  Surprisingly it can hit 0-60 in just 6.3 seconds and thanks to the Supercapacitors, which aren’t in most electric vehicles, it can better manage the regenerative braking systems’ power resulting in a longer battery life (125,000 miles).

The B0 is expect to hit the Euro market sometime next year and cost about €330/month (lease).

[Treehugger]

I didn’t convert the French writing on the linked page, but the pics say it all.  It’s a concept and I don’t see it going into production.  I gathered that it’s electric.

More pics after the ‘leap’