Electric Car Blogging

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Pontiac, USA

The amazing Daryl Hannah is set to reprise her role from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill as the woman behind the wheel of that superbad 1980 Trans Am. Well, except for the deranged assassin and gas guzzling part. This time it’s not a movie but real life and her ride is going to be eerily quiet as it gets its punching power from batteries instead of gasoline. Yes, this talented spokesperson for environmental transportation who recently auctioned off her bio-diesel El Camino is now promoting the benefits of electric driving. We aren’t sure where the vintage Pontiac has been hiding out since its film role but Daryl has it and is getting ready to give it one extreme makeover. We don’t have any of the technical details yet but we can say that she plans to supply her car with power from her own solar panels. We also suspect that she’s going to have to invest in quite a few Kwh worth of energy storage to move almost two tons of epic bad attitude down the road at a pace worthy of it’s decaled-hood heritage. We wish her good luck with her project and look forward to seeing “Elle Driver” and her beast back on the boulevards.

[Source: Denver Post via Ecorazzi]

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, European Union, Paris Motor Show

The Pininfarina / Bollore electric car project was said to be “going as planned” despite the tragic death of Andrea Pininfarina. who was overseeing the operation around which the Italian design company was being financially restructured. Addressing a press conference, Bollore head Vincent Bollore attempted to calm any fears saying, “We are in the condition to produce at industrial levels.” Paolo Pininfarina was chosen to replace his brother and also reaffirmed the company’s restructuring intentions last month.

Pininfarina buiilt the BlueCar (pictured above) for Bollore battery subsidiary Batscap in the recent past to showcase the firm’s energy storage solution. Although the BlueCar never went into production, it seems Bollore is serious about this new project to the extent that it is already attempting to secure large amounts of lithium from one of the world’s richest reserves of the mineral in Bolivia. A Bollore executive told reporters at today’s conference that they would begin taking orders for the car next summer. The company is estimated to be capable of producing about 10,000 batteries a year. If everything is truly on schedule we should expect to see the new design at the Paris Motor Show in October. We hope it’s a little sexier than their previous collaboration.

[Source: Reuters / Usine Nouvelle]

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Honda

If there’s one vehicle that’s leading the pack for “Car of the Future, Today,” it’s the Toyota Prius. The world’s most popular hybrid will have it’s own plug-in version sooner than expected, but the competition isn’t waiting to try and take its hybrid crown. Honda’s “Prius fighter” has been talked about for what seems like ages (spy shots here) and we’re getting awfully close to seeing the real deal. We already know it’ll look something like the fuel cell-driven FCX Clarity, but details beyond that are scarce. We had been told the reveal would happen at the Paris Motor Show next month, but word from Honda is that we’ll now see it in just 48 hours when the concept version is revealed on Thursday, Sept. 4th. After that we can view the concept in person at the Paris show, and then the production version is expect to bow at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

Honda will begin selling the car early next year and word is that it will be affordable. While the official MSRP is still a long way off, Honda’s UK environmental manager John Kingston told Just-Auto (sub. req’d) that it should not cost more than “traditional cars from rival manufacturers.” Hybrid premium, what hybrid premium? On the technical front, the size of the car’s revised Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system has been reduced and the lighter powerplant will help push up its MPG numbers. What those are remains a mystery, but Honda is expecting to sell around 200,000 of these puppies a year, with half of those being bought in the U.S. Sounds good, now can we just see the thing already?

[Source: Just-Auto via CarScoop]

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green

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Don’t we all wish this were true.

• Ener1: Lithium ion battery prices may be cut in half
• Carpooling online: will Facebook app make Zimride work?
• Pininfarina / Bollore electric car project stays on the road
• Proton beefs up GEN-2 with dual-fuel capability
• Detroit Electric turns to Europe for investment, technology
• VIDEO: Larry Nitz talks about the plug-in Saturn Vue hybrid
• GM holds biofuels summit at Detroit Grand Prix

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