Electric Car Blogging

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chrysler, USA

If you want an electric car with some serious style, you could either fork over a ton of dough for an electrically-converted DeLorean or you could convert an older muscle car of some sort. We advise the latter. Take the early ’70s Chrysler A-Body, like the Plymouth Duster, for example. It’s relatively lightweight, has lots of room for batteries and has the easy-to-convert front engine, rear-wheel drive architecture with a full frame. Perfecto! And, you can even see an example of the work done rather nicely in a blog format.

Electricity storage comes by way of 26 six-volt Trojan T-125 batteries wired up to deliver 156 volts to the Netgain Warp 9 DC motor. A Logisysystems controller is capable of sending 550 Amps to the motor, which should make this machine move pretty smartly. The original three-speed manual transmission has had its clutch and flywheel removed and the motor is mated up. Batteries are now being installed. Check out all the progress here.

[Source: Electric Mopar via CarDomain]

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

As previously promised the wraps have come off the Venturi Volage at the Paris Motor Show. While Michelin may have been a collaborator on the revealed electric GT, one glance leaves no doubt it belongs to the Venturi family. It not only shares the carbon fiber body of its sibling, the Fétish, but it will also be lovingly hand-assembled in limited quantities at the same Monaco atelier. Styled by Sacha Lakic, the smooth-bottomed Volage is said to be “designed by subtraction” with its carbon fiber skin fitting tightly around its innovative technology.

And speaking of technology, each wheel on this car holds 2 electric motors! That’s right, the “Michelin Active Wheel” system uses one motor for to drive a reduction gear that is also inside the wheel while the other handles the active suspension. All controlled by “spearhead electronics,” the Volage can readily adapt to different road surfaces and driving style. Batteries for this electric car are 45 kWh worth of liquid-cooled polymer lithium and are said to provide for 320 Km (199 miles) of driving pleasure at a “stabilized” 90 Kph (56 Mph). The car is capable of getting you to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds and tops out at 150 Km (93 Mph). The car will begin its limited production run in 2012 and the price goes unmentioned. If you have to ask…

Check out the gallery below for a shot of the inside of those cool wheels and hit the jump for the full press release.

[Source: Venturi]

Continue reading Paris 2008: Venturi Volage revealed!

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors

The Tesla Roadster validation prototype No. 11 made a trip up the coast from California to Seattle recently for a bit of publicity before the company opens its Seattle-area store sometime next year. VP 11 has version 1.5 of the powertrain and made a splash in the Pacific Northwest, including on Microsoft’s campus.

Zak Edson, Tesla’s senior manager of member services, posted yesterday about the “four-day sales and marketing blitz” and said that 80 people - potential customers and media - got to drive the car. Part of Tesla’s interest in expanding to Washington state is the tax offer for greener vehicles - including a sales tax exemption for hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles. You’ll have to hurry to get a discount on your Model S, though. The tax is set to stop at the end of 2010. There’s more, including a list of local news bits about Tesla’s NW appearance, over at the Tesla Feel blog.

[Source: Tesla]

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, Nissan, Paris Motor Show

We’ve finally got pics of the Nissan Nuvu concept and its, um, interesting. Sporting a very bulbous shape with bug-eye head lights, the Nuvu couldn’t be anything buy a concept. As Nissan promised, there are leaf-shaped solar panels on the roof, integrated into the glass. Also well-integrated are the rear tail lamps, which sit inside a rear window to make for a very airy-looking cockpit. Perhaps to gain some structural integrity, there is a single pillar inside the passenger compartment (Nissan calls it a ‘tree trunk’) leading to that glass-top ceiling. Speaking of which, that’s one ultra clean and futuristic-looking instrument panel, along with a steering wheel that looks like it could come from Nintendo. Perfect for the current crop of kids who grew up with such things.

The powertrain is electric, but Nissan’s not letting too many details of its specs out just yet. We know the motor sits at the rear and drives the rear wheels, and the battery is lithium ion. Nissan says it can hit about 75 miles per hour and travel up to about 80 miles on a charge. The real story, according to the automaker, is that city drivers spend 99-percent of their time with no more than two passengers, so the Nuvu seats three. Expect some of less far-out stuff make it into a future production EV in a year or two. Read the full press release after the break.

[Source: Autoblog]

Continue reading Paris 2008: Nissan Nuvu in the flesh

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Filed under: Concept Cars, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Peugeot, Paris Motorcycle Show

The RC HYmotion4 concept is one of several hybrid concepts using a new through-the-road hybrid system being shown in Paris by Peugeot and Citroen. Unlike the hybrid systems used by current production vehicles, this one has no direct mechanical connection between the electric and internal combustion drive systems. The Peugeot RC has a turbocharged 1.6L four-cylinder in the back driving the rear wheels with 218 hp and 206 lb-ft of torque, while additional propulsion comes from a 70 kW electric motor situated between the front wheels. This way, the RC can operate in either rear-, front- or all-wheel-drive modes. That means it can also operate using internal combustion, electric only or blended modes, respectively. The 3,141-lb four-door coupe accelerates from 0-62 mph in just four seconds when both gasoline and electricity are flowing. The electrons are stored in a lithium-ion battery pack of indeterminate size, but having the electric motor at the front instead of the rear axle means that more kinetic energy can be recaptured through regenerative braking. According to Peugeot, the RC can get 52.3 mpg and output CO2 emissions of just 109 g/km. It’s a trick system for sure, but there’s no word on whether it’s ever going to be produced.

[Source: Peugeot]

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Hatchbacks

Pininfarina is the Italian design studio perhaps best known for penning almost every production Ferrari over the last half century. The firm, however, does much more than just design exotic sports cars. It has created bodies for more mainstream cars like Peugeots, Alfa Romeos and even Daewoos. The company’s latest creation is a compact four-seat hatchback propelled by electrons. Pininfarina has formed a joint venture with French battery maker Bolloré to build this electric car.

The B0 uses a hybrid energy storage solution consisting of a 30 kWh lithium-polymer battery and a bank of super-capacitors. While the capacitors have very limited storage capacity, they can absorb and release energy much faster than a battery. That way more regenerative braking can be used and a bigger performance boost is available. Pininfarina hopes to start limited production late in 2009, ramping up volumes as batteries become more available and presumably affordable. The battery pack itself is claimed to have a lifespan of 125,000 miles. A single charge is expected to deliver 153 miles of driving with a maximum speed of 80 mph. Helping to extend the range a bit are solar cells in the roof and on the nose in the area that looks like a grille.

[Source: Pininfarina]

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