The first thing you’ll notice when looking at the Toyota FT-EV II is that, indeed, this tiny, sprightly little electric buggy does not in fact have a steering wheel.

In fact, such twentieth century concepts such as a steering wheel and pedals have been replaced in favor of instruments and controls designed to take advantage of wireless information, allowing the car to, on a limited level, DRIVE ITSELF.  And check this out:

The car might, for example, recommend music, movies, and other content based on what it knows about the preferences of the driver and passengers. It remains connected to the Internet whenever it is switched on, and connects to its users’ home networks to download data on its operations.

All this is awesome, of course, but how does it DRIVE?  Well, pretty well, actually–turns out the car gets fifty miles on a battery charge with a top speed of sixty miles per hour.  This means, of course, the car is going to be best suited for urbanites, as opposed to people who actually have to drive any distance to get where they need to.

Being a concept, no one’s got any firm release date yet, but if they do go into production, we’ll be sure to tell you.

Continue reading...

It seemed that Tesla did a bit of planning ahead with their Model S as it was recently announced that the car was designed with the ability to have its battery swapped out from the get go.

What’s even better is the design allows for a very fast swap so a potential driver would be able to do it in less than 5-minutes. Just imagine, you’re cruising along and your battery runs out of juice but no worries because you have another fully juiced up battery in the trunk that you can swap out in under 5 minutes.

Of course, this also means that Tesla can sell different batteries for the Tesla Model S that could potentially make for a cheaper purchase price tag while still leaving room for a hassle free upgrade.

via autoblog

Continue reading...

The most expensive part about owning an electric car easily has to be the battery.  These highly advanced units go trough a lot of wear and damage over a year, and eventually lose their charge, requiring replacement.  But this isn’t the biggest problem–it’s having to replace these expensive units when the previous model can no longer be recharged.

Thus, Nissan has a plan in mind for its new line of electric vehicles–to lease the batteries out at the cost of about a hundred and fifty bucks a month.  That way, when the old battery dies, you can get a replacement for as long as you’re under the lease program.

This of course doesn’t really help Nissan owners all that much anyway–most people spend less than a hundred and fifty bucks a month on gas anyway, so offering to effectively hike people’s fuel bill isn’t a bellringer for sales.

Continue reading...

Seriously.  You ask any two car companies what the future of the electric car looks like and both will, with a straight face, give you two totally different answers and insist in the most strenuous fashion available that the other company is represented by a series of lying bastards who wouldn’t know the future of the electric car if it crawled up their pant legs and started licking them.

Some insist that there have been no major changes in technology.  Others claim that’s so much crockery and there HAVE been major changes, especially in battery technology.  Some claim that electric cars will never catch on anyway because they’re too quiet.  Too quiet?  How does THAT happen?  Well, for all my readers who live out in the country you know what the biggest threat to driving at night is–car-deer collisions.  Animals will be constantly running out in front of these electric cars because they CAN NOT HEAR THEM COMING.

For every solution, there’s a whole new set of problems.  And nowhere is this more clearly illustrated than with the electric car.

Continue reading...

GM has been talking about Chevrolet’s forthcoming Volt EV for some time now and we even heard that the vehicle’s batteries would be manufactured somewhere in Michigan.

Well, according to GM’s Bob Kruse we will know the official location of GM’s battery pant thanks to the $100+ million given to the company by the government. Additionally, it was made known that LG Chem will build cells for the Volt’s battery packs who will also build a plant using government given money.

Let’s just hope that GM hurrys up and gets the Volt onto the market at a reasonable price.

via Autoblog

Continue reading...

Nissan has recently come forth to show off their all-electric EV-11 prototype that is based on the company’s Versa vehicle.

Pictured above is said vehicle and will apparantly feature a Nissan-designed 108HP electric motor that will be powered by a Automotive Energy Supply corp. designed 24 kWh battery making for a ~100-mile range.

On the inside the car will reportedly feature a navigation system that maps out how much farther the driver can travel on the current charge along with show you charging stations along your route. What’s more interesting is that Nissan will give consumers the ability to check up on the car’s charging status via a cellphone.

iPhone app anyone?

via Autoblog

Continue reading...

Sure, Volvo is set to release a plug-in hybrid by 2012 but Toyota is far ahead of them. With their industry leading Prius being the go-to car when you’re looking for a hybrid the next step would be to manufacture one that could be recharged with a standard outlet.

And, that’s just what Toyota has done announcing that they will be bringing lithum-powered plug-in Prius’ to the states later this year.

The bad news? There will be only 150 made available for lease so chances are you probably won’t be able to get your hands on one. Bummer.

Read (HybridCarBlog)

Continue reading...

GM has recently released a statement detailing the recall of around 300 2010 Chevy Camaros featuring V-8 engines.

The problem lies with the battery cable which potentially could rub against the starter motor causing the insulation to wear down. I’m sure you all know the hazards of having an open electrical wire sitting in your engine bay. Yes, fire.

If you own a 2010 Chevy Camaro with a V8 engine GM urgers you to call 800-630-2438 or visit www.gmownercenter.com.

Read (KickingTires)

Continue reading...

Ford claims that it is currently in the process of accelerating the development of the current industry preferred battery, the lithium-ion cell. The carmaker is collaborating with both industry battery suppliers and university research teams to help develop this next-generation battery system that could be applied to Blue Oval vehicles as early as next year.

By next year Ford hopes to reveal the new lithium-ion system that will be about 5% more efficient than the batteries that Ford is currently using, as well as being almost one-third cheaper to manufacture. This could result in big savings for consumers in the near future.

Continue reading...

The concept car of today is this Insecta car in the picture above. It was designed by a 22-year-old Taiwanese student at Chen Kung University. It’s a single seat car which means you’ll have a hard time picking up any girls in it. It has leg-like suspension arms which can be lowered or risen depending on traffic and road conditions.

The concept is powered by a motor at each wheel with the battery pack sitting near the center of gravity. Whenever it will be picked up, we’re going to be close by, looking for more specs.

via Carscoop

Continue reading...

The Chevrolet Volt we’ve seen yesterday might just have a decent competitor from Mazda. Details are scarce as we speak but according to rumors say that engineers have developed a Mazda5-based electric vehicle prototype. The prototype will use rotary engine to charge the batteries which will in turn power the electro motor. I lost myself in that description, but according to rumors, that’s what’s going to compete against the Volt.

The only problem is that those batteries seem to cost quite a lot which prevents Mazda for getting the concept car in full production.

Continue reading...