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Filed under: Concept Cars , Convertibles , Green , Paris Motor Show , Saab Click above for more shots of the Saab 9X Air concept During yesterday's press briefing, General Motors let its upcoming Saab 9X Air concept out of the bag ahead of its official debut at the Paris Motor Show , and today we finally have official pics and details of the new Swedish open air coupe. Based on last year's 9X BioHybrid concept from Geneva, the 9X Air loses its hard top in favor of a cloth piece and rear glass that pops up from the rear hatch. A concept-worthy interior features four black-and-white seats along with a digital dash. Power flows to the front wheels via a turbocharged 1.4-liter E85 flex-fuel engine and six-speed dual clutch gearbox. along with an electric motor powered by lithium ion batteries. Acceleration to 60 comes up in around eight seconds and fuel mileage is theoretically in the 40 mpg range. Sounds good so far. We are expecting the Air, along with its 9X forebear, to spawn a...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Hybrids/Alternative , Green Click above for high-res gallery of the Tesla Roadster The Tesla Roadster launch has been anything but silky-smooth, but the upstart EV automaker hopes its problems are in the rear view mirror with the completion of Drivetrain 1.5, which includes an upgraded electric motor and swapping the original two-speed automatic transmission for a Borg Warner-sourced one speed. The changes will improve the Tesla Roadster's instant torque from 211 to 280 lb-ft while also improving its range by 10% to a shockingly impressive 244 miles. Drivetrain 1.5 also means Tesla can finally ramp up production of its well-publicized roadster. Within the next few weeks, Tesla will begin producing 10 Roadsters per week. By next March, that number will increase to 40 samples per week, which will go a long way toward satisfying demand for the sexy EV. The new, upgraded Drivetrain 1.5 is so much better than the mechanicals it replaces, Tesla will keeps its promise...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Coupes , Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , SUVs , Green , Rumormill Click above for high-res gallery of the Fisker Karma Fisker Automotive is going to have its work cut out for it when it comes to meeting its self-imposed deadline of bring the Karma sedan to market by the fourth-quarter of 2009 . To complicate matters even further, the automaker is now rumored to be working on three more plug-in hybrids. That would represent a truly serious undertaking for such a small automaker. To ease matters slightly, all four models would use the same basic underpinnings -- including the most important piece of all, the lithium ion battery and its assorted bits. Fisker has recruited Quantum Technologies, a company which has seen success building vehicles for the military, for help in creating the drivetrain for its electric vehicles. Reportedly on the drawing board are a coupe, a convertible and an SUV, all of which should go a long way towards meeting Fisker's...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Convertibles , Green , Honda , Misc. Auto Shows Click above for a hi-res gallery of the Honda OSM Honda says that the OSM roadster on display at the 2008 British Motor Show is merely a design study, but given that "design study" is frequently a euphemism for "future design language," we wonder if we're seeing the next iteration of Honda car styling. Frankly, we hope so, because this is worlds better than what we've seen from the automaker of late, from the Accord right on up to the bland and bloated Pilot. The OSM, short for Open Study Model, is a shapely two-seat convertible that we'd be happy to drive today. Well, maybe with headlamps that weren't lightsaber-sized. Other than that, we love the jaunty look, especially in back , where the taillamps sweep gently from one side of the car to the other. Since it's a styling exercise, there's no specific powertrain combination associated with it, but Honda assures us that...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green Much has been made of the issues that Tesla Motors encountered with its original two-speed transmission. The fledgling EV automaker was unable to find a supplier that could engineer a two-speed gearbox capable of allowing the Tesla Roadster to hit 0-60 in four seconds and meet specified targets for its range. The two-speed box was eventually dropped in favor of what has been called "powertrain 1.5", which uses a single-speed gearbox and other improvements to the electric motor and inverter to achieve Tesla's seemingly incongruous goals of performance and efficiency. JB Straubel, Chief Technical Officer Tesla Motors, recently posted an update on the progress of powertrain 1.5 on the company's blog, and be warned, if you're not up to date on how highly complex electric motors and transmissions work (like us), you'll probably get lost. The basic nuts and bolts of it amount to a Tesla Roadster that...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Green , Saturn Building a car is an enormously complex and expensive process. With all the safety regulations that have to be met in order to sell a new car, startup companies that want to build electric vehicles have mostly taken one of two paths to the road. The first is one taken by companies like Zap and Aptera. Those companies are building three-wheeled vehicles which are classed as motorcycles and thus exempt from safety rules. The other path is the one chosen by Phoenix Motorcars, where an existing vehicle platform is converted to electric drive. Advanced Mechanical Products of Cincinnati OH is following the latter path. AMP is offering up an electrically-driven version of the Saturn Sky to those who want an emissions-free (direct emissions anyway, power plants are another story) sports car for less money than a Tesla Roadster. AMP takes a Sky and removes the EcoTec four-cylinder drivetrain. A battery pack goes in its place underhood and a pair of electric...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Sports/GTs , Etc. , Green , Plants/Manufacturing Martin Eberhard first conceived of what ultimately became Tesla Motors and the Tesla Roadster when he couldn't get AC Propulsion to build him a TZero . Since he wanted a battery-powered sports car, Eberhard set out to bring together a team that would build his dream car. Of course, it was always his intention to buy the first car for himself, but creating a car company from scratch is not a low budget proposition. Hence Eberhard had to bring in some investors to fund the program. PayPal founder Elon Musk came in big with a pile of cash in return for which he requested the first car. After some haggling, Eberhard agreed to take Roadster number 2 and things moved along. As we now know, Tesla encountered some speed bumps along the way and production got delayed by many months. The first production model was completed in December 2007, and delivered to Musk in February. Series production officially kicked off on...
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show , Convertibles , Coupes , Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Green , Crossovers/CUVs , Lexus , Australia Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lexus LF-A Roadster concept. Lexus Australia's chief executive, John Roca, gave up a number of product details to The Australian in an interview this past weekend, including the addition of an "F" variant of the GS sedan and possibly a full-size LS limo. Both models are aimed to attack luxury stalwarts Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz by offering a number of high-performance variants and also developing a new model that would slot in below the IS sedan to take on the BMW 1-series and the Audi A3. That model is still a few years away, but it will be an integral part of Lexus' commitment to reach one million global sales in the next two to three years. The other element includes offering hybrid versions of every vehicle it sells, plus the introduction of a hybrid-only model that will...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Coupes , Sports/GTs , Green , Audi click the TT diesel for a high res gallery After Audi unveiled the almighty R8 V12 TDI at the Detroit Auto Show, I asked the obvious question and they made it clear that they had no plans to build a production version. Now that the disappointment has subsided somewhat, Audi is offering up a consolation prize, although it's not known yet if the US market will get a crack at it. For the first time since the original TT debuted ten years ago, Audi will be offering a version with a diesel engine. A 170 hp, 258 lb-ft 2.0L TDI will be available in both the TT Coupe and Roadster. Putting the torque down through all four wheels by way of a six-speed manual gearbox, the coupe will run 0-62 mph in 7.5 sec, with the ragtop accomplishing the feat in 7.7sec. While by no means blistering speeds, the nature of diesel engine torque will mean that the TTs will feel quick everywhere. The real upside to all of this is the fuel economy of this...
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Filed under: Aftermarket , Convertibles , Sports/GTs , Green , Chevrolet Just days after we became enamored with Jay Leno's E85-powered C6RS Corvette at SEMA this past year, Pratt and Miller announced it would be producing the cars for the public, providing you had a Corvette and $185,000 to do the conversion. Included with each C6RS is carbon fiber bodywork, an adjustable suspension, upgraded brakes, and a 600-horsepower 500ci V8, among many other modifications. Pratt and Miller set availability of the C6RS for April of this year, but the first has already been delivered in the form of a yellow convertible. Who's the lucky customer? None other than Jim Miller, co-owner of Pratt and Miller. We guess if anybody deserves the first one, it's him. Thanks for the tip, Fletcher! Gallery: Pratt and Miller Corvette C6RS Convertible [Source: Pratt and Miller ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Convertibles , Coupes , Hybrids/Alternative , Green Of all the auto shows and random events we attend throughout the year, it never dawned on us to book a ticket to San Francisco to scope out the J.D. Power Roundtable meeting. Too bad considering that Henrik Fisker showed off a "top secret" photo of the bespoke automaker's next project. According to Automotive News , Fisker flashed a picture of the concept on stage and said that it would use the same lithium-ion plug-in hybrid drivetrain as the Karma sedan. Fisker went on to say that the four-seater convertible would go on sale around the same time as the Karma sedan, sometime in late 2009. A spokesman said that it's expected to be unveiled sometime this fall. Unfortunately, Fisker wouldn't provide us with an image of the 2+2 cabrio, but if you happen to have a subscription to Automotive News , you can see a shot of the two-door convertible with plenty of styling cues pulled from the Karma...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Coupes , Hybrids/Alternative , Green Last Friday, Tesla chairman Elon Musk took delivery of the first production Roadster , which carries the name P1 (Production vehicle 1). The black coupe was flown in from Hethel, England, where all Teslas are being built alongside the Roadster's cousin, the Lotus Elise. When the Roadster arrived at the start-up's R&D facility in San Carlos, California, it was pushed into the garage and had its Thailand-produced battery pack installed. After the battery was fitted and charged, Musk led a pack of four other Roadsters on a quick drive and AutoblogGreen was able to procure a video of the run. For those of you who wanted to hear how the Tesla Roadster sounds while accelerating, we've embedded the video after the jump. [Source: Earth2Tech.com, Image: Stephanie Lawrence] Gallery: First Drive: Tesla Roadster Continue reading Elon Musk takes delivery of first production Tesla Roadster Read | Permalink | Email this ...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Convertibles , Hybrids/Alternative , Green click above for more high-res shots of the Tesla Roadster One thing that's been called into question is whether or not the Tesla Roadster will make a viable track day vehicle, but until now, there was one major hurdle for Tesla's engineers to overcome: cooling. The motor currently equipped in the Roadster is air-cooled, which wouldn't hold up to the rigors of track duty. But Tesla is working on a liquid-cooled version that wouldn't cause the power electronics module (PEM) to default into limp-home mode and subsequently cut power if heat became an issue. The possibility of a track-ready version is now officially in the cards. By utilizing the new liquid-cooled motor and removing about half of the batteries found in the standard Roadster, Tesla is considering releasing a variant called the Roadster 120, with the number referring to the projected range. Nixing around 500 pounds from the curb weight is going...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green Click to view in high resolution Earlier today we reported that Tesla Motors appears to have discovered a solution for the transmission troubles that have delayed production of the Roadster so far. The California-based all-electric automaker has now confirmed to Inside Line that it will begin production of its first batch of roadsters on March 17, though they'll be fitted with temporary two-speed transmissions and retrofitted later with what the company calls DriveTrain 1.5. Production of the EV Roadster, however, will take a while to gear up: initially the company will build just one vehicle per week, getting into the full swing of 40 cars per week by the end of the year. Observers also recently noticed a banner reading "Coming Spring 2008" that was hanging in front of Tesla's dealership in Los Angeles has disappeared. With Tesla Motors being so much in the spotlight, some speculated that the Roadsters...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Convertibles , Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM General Motors, which has been blasted for having too many fuel-thirsty trucks and SUVs in the past, has recognized that the Chevy Volt has some serious momentum, and the Detroit automaker is redoubling its efforts to make the series hybrid a reality on time. Bob Lutz told us that the Volt would begin production by the end of decade, and despite Rick Wagoner preparing us for a missed deadline , Maximum Bob is reiterating his original 2010 deadline. Lutz points out that 400 advanced fuel scientists, 200 dedicated engineers and 40 designers are pumping heart and soul into the project, and we get the feeling failure is not an option. With skyrocketing fuel prices continuing to gradually increase and real consumer demand for a high mileage production vehicle growing, we're looking forward to Bob being right. [Source: GM Fast Lane Blog] Gallery: Chevy Volt Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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