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Filed under: Trends , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green , Videos , Dodge Click above to watch video after the jump A few days ago we showed you some pics of the Dodge EV concept at a local car show in Southern California. It appears that the Dodge-branded, battery-powered Lotus Europa made a few other stops in the area as well, one of which was at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Alongside the EV, the Dodge boys were displaying, among other things, a Challenger SRT-8. Well, one thing led to another and before long a battle between '60s retro muscle and modern electric power was underway. Lucky for us, someone was there with a video camera to capture the fraternal pissing match. This impromptu drag race doesn't give us any clear indication of times, but you can definitely see the EV's advantage of light weight and instant-on torque from a stop. The concept electric vehicle jumps ahead at the start, but the Challenger hangs on. Just when the big HEMI seems to be getting a full...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Green , Plants/Manufacturing Back in July we told you that Fisker had tabbed Valmet Automotive to build its upcoming Karma . Now we get word that all of the contracts have been finalized and production looks certain. Valmet will be doing all of the engineering and manufacturing for the Karma, that sexy new four-door plug-in hybrid sports sedan designed by ex-Aston Martin designer, Henrik Fisker. Production should start about a year from now, in late 2009. The first cars should show up Stateside, with European deliveries following soon after, in early 2010. The companies are planning an annual production of about 15,000 cars worldwide. The $80k sedan uses lithium ion batteries, and owners should expect about 50 miles of driving before the gas engine ever kicks in. Range should rival the Chevy Volt at 350 miles per charge. Unlike the Volt, however, the Karma will have a top speed of 125 mph, and a 0-60 time of about 5.8 seconds...
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Filed under: Tuners , Convertibles , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green Click above for high-res gallery of the BRABUS Tesla Roadster As we move inexorably toward the electrification of cars, companies that have made a business out of tweaking engines for more power will have to make some significant changes to their business model. BRABUS is a company known as the primary third-party alternative to AMG when it comes to enhanced cars from the house of Daimler, and today has announced its first foray into electricity. The German tuner is now offering a package of changes for the very few people who have or will soon own a Tesla Roadster. For the moment at least, changes to the all-electric powertrain are verboten. That means BRABUS has focused on other things like stylistic "enhancements" and a supremely odd "space sound generator" that emits the roar of a V8, race car engine or two futuristic sounds called "Beam" and "Warp". A set of LED running...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green Just how quick is the Tesla Roadster now that it's been blessed with version 1.5 of its drivetrain? Pretty dang quick, as a recent 12.7-second blast down the quarter-mile will attest. The first powertrain that was installed in the electric car used a two-speed transmission, while the latest v1.5 needs just one speed for seamless power delivery from zero to the car's top speed. That should make the Roadster an excellent bracket car, especially considering it was able to put down such impressive numbers with a novice racer behind the wheel who posted a relatively poor .764 reaction time. Its terminal velocity was nearly 105 miles per hour, and whatever car happened to be in the lane next to the Tesla got its butt kicked by an electric car. What's this world coming to? Some of us here at Autoblog team who've actually driven the Tesla Roadster, myself included, were surprised by this quick performance, but the...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Green , Porsche , Rumormill Porsche doesn't currently offer anything with fewer than six cylinders, but much of the German automaker's illustrious history was made with boxer-style four-cylinder engines, starting with the iconic 356. Following stories in September of a new entry-level Porsche model to slot just below the Boxster are new rumors indicating that the next-gen Boxster itself will be endowed with a new four-banger. A big reason that the sportscar maker is said to be considering losing two precious cylinders are emissions standards and the growing pressure to reduce fuel consumption. To wit, Porsche's 2.7L flat-six in the current Boxster and Cayman is the most efficient powerplant the automaker offers and still emits 222g/km of carbon into the atmosphere, a figure that's way too high for upcoming European standards. So it's clear Porsche must do something to improve its poor emissions and fuel consumption figures. The hard part will...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Click above for high-res gallery of the Tesla Roadster Tesla is now on its fourth CEO in just 12 months as the fledgling all-electric automaker has announced today that chief fund-raiser, architect and Chairman Elon Musk will take up the mantle from current CEO Ze'ev Drori. Early this morning Valleywag reported that Tesla would be firing up to 100 of its staff and that Drori might be leaving. A call to Tesla SVP Darryl Siry revealed that the story was not entirely accurate. Drori is not leaving the company, but will move over to become Vice Chairman. Exactly what that means is not entirely known at this point, although clearly Musk intends to take a more hands on role now that his Space-X rocket finally managed to get into orbit. Tesla is also laying off some staff, although the extent of lay offs is unknown at this time. Siry promised an official announcement sometime this morning, but we're...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green , Porsche Click above for more high-res shots of the eRUF Model A Concept Rumors of RUF's impending electric Porsche were true, except that the actual vehicle is based on a Porsche 911, not the Cayman as previously reported. Powered by a three-phase electric motor that offers about 200 horsepower along with an impressive 480 lb.-ft. of torque, the eRUF Model A can reportedly hit 60 miles per hour in under seven seconds and can reach a top speed of 160. Power comes from a lithium iron phosphate battery pack, which produces 317-volts and 480-amps and is made up from 96 individual cells. A full charge takes a rather long 10-hours, and regenerative braking is included in the package allowing for a range of up to 180 miles. From the outside, you'd never really know that something was different about this 997, except that it doesn't produce that soul-stirring flat-six sound. This is still just a concept and its specifications...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Motorsports , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green , Hatchbacks , Citroen Click above for more shots of the Citroen C4 WRC HYmotion4 hybrid rally car One of Citroen's big debuts at the Paris Motor Show was its HYmotion4 hybrid technology, which was fitted to the Citroën Hypnos and C4 WRC along with the Peugeot RC and Prologue . Unlike most hybrid systems, the French technology has no direct connection between the car's engine and battery, so the pack is recharged "through the road" when the car's regenerative braking is applied. There's a 125-kW electric motor attached to the rear axle that gets its power from 990 individual lithium ion cells wired up to produce 400-volts. The C4 WRC's driver can select from a number of modes to allow a specific amount of electric assistance, including running solely on the electric motor or using it as a short-term boost for added acceleration. This way, the car can be run in zero-emission...
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Filed under: Tuners , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green , Supercars , Porsche , Ruf Despite the fact that Lotus seems to have the inside line on electric sportscars , longtime Porsche tuning firm Ruf has chosen the Cayman for its new electric supercar. Comparisons to the Tesla Roadster are sure to come up, and we're happy to oblige. Compared to the latest Tesla drivetrain, the Ruf is expected to debut with a bit less overall power (150kW compared to 185kW) but will have considerably more twisting force (650Nm versus 375Nm). In other words, if the Ruf were a hatchet, the Tesla may be a scalpal, so to speak. A lithium-ion battery pack of unknown output will provide power to the motor. We don't yet know if the Ruf will sport multiple gears, but it seems distinctly possible in order to attain its planned top speed of around 125 miles per hour. We'd bet that any comparisons between the two electric sportscars will end at price, as the Ruf is sure to command an even heftier...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Green , Tech , Special/Limited Editions Click above for more shots of this home-built Ariel Atom replica We can think of few better ways to spend our evenings than bending, welding and beating metal into submission to produce our own car and it seems that we are not alone. MAKE reader, Utah resident and Flickr user proximacentuari took the design of the Ariel Atom -- currently one of the most desirable track cars in existence -- and replicated it in his home garage. What's more, he documented the entire process with pictures and uploaded the whole thing to the internet. This is the coolest show-and-tell ever. Powering the beast, known by its builder as z59, is a Honda K-Series four-cylinder engine from a wrecked Acura RSX. It's an impressive build, taking "15 months and at least 800 hours of work in the garage," all done without any official Ariel schematics. "The frame is completely custom. I didn't make a single measurement off the...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Minivans/MPVs , Sports/GTs , SUVs , Green , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge , Jeep CNBC's Phil Lebeau got a sneak peek at the new EVs Chrysler is developing, and it looks like Auburn Hills is pulling a Tesla, among other things. The yellow Dodge EV you see here is basically an electrified Lotus Europa. With lithium ion battery power, it's reportedly got an operating range of 150 - 200 miles and can be plugged in to household 110 or 220 outlets. Figure a four-hour charge on the latter, and 8 or so on the former. Zero-to-sixty is said to be under 5 seconds. Like we said, this is basically Chrysler's Tesla, right down to the Lotus-sourced donor vehicle. We'll see the Dodge EV introduced formally later this afternoon, along with range-extended EV versions of the Chrysler Town & Country (can you say, "killer app"?) and Jeep Wrangler. With regard to timing, Chrysler says it would like to have "at least one" of these vehicles on...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green , Supercars , BMW Click for a hi-res gallery of the BMW M1 Hommage It's a sign of the times. After having rolled out the delectable M1 Hommage concept (pictured above), one BMW board member says that the Bavarian automaker has no intention of producing a supercar to compete with the likes of the Audi R8. Instead, BMW will focus on green technologies. The news comes straight from Klaus Draeger, the board member at the helm of the EfficientDymanics initiative. While Audi continues to produce more powerful and more desirable versions of the R8, Mercedes prepares entirely new supercars and Porsche continues to do what Porsche has always done, the company that once hailed itself as the producers of the "Ultimate Driving Machine" is more concerned with hybrids than sportscars. Gallery: BMW M1 Hommage [Source: AutoTelegraaf via AutoblogGreen ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Coupes , Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Green , Supercars , Bentley Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Bentley Brooklands Bentleys and buckets of torque go hand-in-hand. Therefore, it might make some sense for the German-owned British luxury marque to consider one of the VW Group's big, powerful turbodiesels for one of its upcoming models. Not so fast, says Bentley. It has specifically polled its customer base -- made up mostly of Americans and Asians -- to determine if there's any interest in an oil-burning Bentley. Apparently, there isn't. Instead, the luxo-barge company will focus on biofuels in an effort to lower the fuel consumption and emissions of a numbers of its models. As a matter of fact, the first flex-fuel engine from the Flying B is expected to debut in 2009 and Franz-Josef Paefgen, Bentley's Chief Executive, says that all of its models will be capable of running on biofuels by 2012 as part of its plan to go British Racing green. [Source...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Green , UK , Celebrities Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson has had nothing but bad luck when it comes to testing electric cars. Maybe the problem is that he's never gotten his hands on the right one. Reports are coming in from across the pond that the popular television series has recently procured a Tesla Roadster for Mr. Clarkson to wedge his rather large and surly self into. We have a feeling that Jeremy will like this car -- its performance, after all, rivals that of many gas-powered cars we consider super. Plus, it has British roots, and anybody who has ever watched the show knows that this fact earns brownie points from the three-man crew. When will the test take place? That's a good question. Our compatriots over at AutoblogGreen have contacted Daryl Siry, head PR man at the Silicon Valley EV company, who told us that no specific date has been set. He did assure us, however, that a test will definitely take place. When it does, we sure hope that it...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Euro , Government/Legal , Green , Supercars With the European Union tightening restrictions on carbon emissions, danger has been spelled out in big bright letters for the sportscar-makers we know and love. The bulk of the world's best supercar manufacturers - including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Aston Martin and Porsche - reside in Europe, but while industry executives continue to campaign for exception and protection, things don't look good. There are, however, a few solutions that could keep the exotic automakers in business and unmolested. Firstly, both automakers and lawmakers agree on the need to reduce weight, which helps neither emissions nor performance. However, weight reduction itself won't bring the supercars below the 120g/km target touted by the EU. One possible solution would be to give niche automakers an exemption, noting that the few cars they produce are rarely driven anyway. According to Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann, exotic...
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