Peugeot has unveiled a new emission-free electric car in the market coined the BB1. This new concept electric car can seat up to 4 adults and can go as far as 75 miles. It is easy to park and is fitted with two electric motors mounted at the rear wheel. It runs on two lithium-ion batteries and the passenger compartment ventilation keeps operating in daylight thanks to solar panels on the roof of the vehicle.

No word on whether this will become official nor numbers to support it. But maybe when everything is ironed out, we can get more specifics about this latest electric car from Peugeot.

Image Credits: Channel 4

(Source) Press

Tags: adults, bb1, channel 4, electric car, electric vehicle, image credits, lithium, lithium ion batteries, Peugeot, rear wheel, solar panels, specifics, ventilation

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Over the course of the next two years, the British government, as announced by transport secretary Lord Adonis, has announced that they’ll be installing a whopping two thousand electric car “charging points” over the next two years.

First to benefit from the new additions will be Gateshead and Newcastle, and the word is that the charge points will be located near shops and other public thoroughfares, likely because that’s where people are mostly likely to be driving their electric cars to.  In an interesting move, some of them will also be placed curbside and in parking lots (park and juice up…now there’s an idea.).

Some of them will be free to use, while others will require an annual subscription fee to access, and hopefully everyone will know which is which well in advance to prevent any misunderstandings.  I can just see people pull up to a charge point with their battery on  low just to discover that they’ve pulled up to a subscription-only point.

Of course, since the subscription includes unlimited use, hopefully good Samaritans will be along to provide a little extra juice in cases like that.  But still–this is a pretty bright idea whose time has more than come.

Tags: charge point, Electric, electric car, free for use, great britain, subscription

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What is it about steering wheels lately that makes so many concept cars nervous?  This is the second time that I’ve seen a concept car refuse to use a steering wheel, but rather some other device.

Today we’re talking about the Peugeot BB1, a tiny, sprightly little runabout that uses handlebars instead of a steering wheel and offers room for three.

It’s actually almost more of an enclosed moped than it is a car, but in an urban environment, this tiny little dynamo is probably worth its weight in gold.  Of course, when I see a tiny little electric car like this, my first thought is, inevitably, how does it perform on snowy or icy roads?  When you’re getting drifts that’ll fill your shoes when you step in them, do you really want to be stuck in the super-green car that can’t bust a drift, or do you want hot throbbing gas engine love to burst you out of that bank?

But still…I look at these and I find myself at least impressed. Nice work, Peugeot.

Tags: Electric, electric car, enclosed vehicle, moped, Peugeot, Peugeot B11

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Well folks, from the look of things, the electric vehicle concept car that Audi showed at the IAA last month has just gone to full production, and with a whole new name besides, the Audi R4.

But it’s not just electric for this one, no sir or ma’am, as the case may be.  Seems that the R4 is likely to have a few purely gas-engine spinoff varieties too, likely to get the most bang for the design buck, metaphorically speaking.

There’s two sides to the Audi R4 that are downright interesting.  Check out the math on this one:  acceleration is slated to be zero to sixty in 4.8 seconds.  Maximum speed is now slated to be a hundred and forty miles per hour.  And this is the fun one: maximum range on its lithium-ion battery pack?  A whopping one hundred fifty five miles.  This thing’s got a range of ONE HOUR at top speed!

I’m not too sure about the whole EV trip just yet–and with specs like these, it’s not hard to see why.

Tags: Audi, concept car, electric car, gasoline engine, production car

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You’ve got to hand it to the head of Pininfarina, a plucky, can-do sort of Italian car company (which sounds something like an oxymoron given that Fiat is just an acronym meaning Fix It Again, Tony) that’s convinced that, despite its horrendous economic troubles, it will manage to get the Bluecar out to market by 2011, meaning that their electric car’s design is not merely a concept car, but rather a market vehicle.

Just to give you a quick rundown on the car, it offers lithium metal polymer batteries for power giving it a range of about 150 miles. Plus, the car can also gather fuel from brake presses and directly from sunlight thanks to a combination of reactive braking systems and some roof mounted solar panels.

It’s a worthwhile goal for Peninfarina, and hopefully it can manage to bring it off.  Video of the Bluecar is directly below, so enjoy it.

Tags: electric car, Peninfarina, regenerative braking, roof-mounted solar, solar

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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.

Tags: battery, Concept, concept car, Electric, electric car, Toyota, Toyota FT-EV II

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You know, I’ve taken a look at my car more than once and, despite the fact that it gets a decent twenty eight miles per gallon highway, I’ve said that most of the time, I don’t need the whole car to do things.  I live maybe five miles from the nearest post office.  Almost ten from the nearest video store and about twelve from the movie theater.  Don’t get me started how far I have to go for a decent plate of Olive Garden.  I can’t just walk or bicycle everywhere, but I don’t need the cargo space my car affords half the time.

But the boys at BMW have apparently heard my lament, because they’ve come up with the half-car, half-motor scooter C1-E.  This all electric vehicle doesn’t require a helmet to drive (at least in Europe) because of its roll cage and reinforced front nose.

I doubt you’ll be able to get this in the US any time soon, but it’s still pretty awesome, either way.

Tags: BMW, BMW C1-E, Car, Electric, electric car, electric scooter, scooter

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Chrysler got a new lease on life some months back with regards to its current financial standing. Now it seems that they have totally forgotten how to redeem itself from their poor showing as the company is still mum on what it plans to do with their current product line. There has been no word on new vehicles that would be coming out and yet we are nearing the close of 2009. Has Chrysler totally lost it?

Unlike Ford which has put much of its weight on their electric car, the Volt, Chrysler has not leaked or shown any new car models to look forward to. Rather they are providing customers with perks like car leasing and specialized features. How long can they do that? Unless they start getting their act together they are better off closing the company or perhaps selling it to someone else. They do have plans of a brand makeover but time is essential. Apparently Chrysler forgot all about that.

Tags: auto chrysler, available resources, car industry, car leasing, car models, Cars, Dodge, doors, economic turmoil, electric car, Ford, makeover, market position, models, new blood, new car, new direction, new lease on life, new vehicles, quick time, rebates, signs of life, special offers, trucks, Volt, waste of time

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If you believe the chief officer of the United States’ power grid, owning an electric car is about the same thing as getting a check for fifteen hundred dollars a year.

This “rebate” comes as a result of lower long term costs associated with operation, especially fuel, says Jon Wellinghoff, head of the United States power grid.  But this is almost a false savings, as it depends on certain assumptions like this:

On top of saving $3 or $4 a gallon on gasoline in future years, Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said grid operators and power companies could reimburse car owners for the battery storage offered by the roughly 22 hours a day that electric cars would be connected to the nation’s power system.

Okay, sure, if the cost of gas suddenly shoots up to SEVEN BUCKS A GALLON, then yes, electric cars will be huge cost savers.  But with gas averaging roughly two dollars and fifty cents a gallon, this measurement sounds a bit fishy to me.

But one thing’s clear–in the future, electric cars will be a good value.

Tags: electric car, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, gas savings, gasoline, Jon Wellinghoff, power grid

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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.

Tags: battery, battery leasing, Electric, electric car, Nissan

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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.

Tags: battery, battery technologies, battery technology, Electric, electric car, Tesla

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As new electric cars continue to flourish and come out one by one, how much they would cost is the prime concern for most motorists. Basing it from the initial prices set out in the market, they are not that cheap. And now, the next best thing to do right now is to compare and see which electric car can fit into their budget and deliver their transport needs.

REVA initially made the headlines when it unveiled its electric car in India last February. And now, that same company reveals the price for its REVA NXG which is scheduled to go into full production by 2010. Average prices in Europe, will be around 14,995 EUROS for the lithium-ion NXR Intercity version, plus a monthly mobility fee for the batteries and other services.The REVA NXG pricing in Europe, excluding batteries is from 23,000 euros plus a monthly mobility fee.

The REVA falls under the M1 category three door, four seater hatchback family and can reach a top speed of 104 KPH and a range of 160 KMS. They boast of a keyless entry and operation and will include REVA’s exclusive REVive remote emergency charge.

Check out the gallery below:

(Source) Press

Tags: batteries, Budget, electric car, electric cars, Europe, headlines, India, initial prices, keyless entry, kph, lithium, lithium ion, motorists, prime concern, reva nxg, top speed

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Some awesome news for those of you who’ve been following the Wheego line of electric vehicles–right now they may be little more than overpriced golf carts with loads of features, but following federal government crash tests, these puppies will promptly be able to offer much more powerful–and pricier–versions.

See, right now, a Wheego’s maximum speed is about twenty five miles per hour and costs roughly eighteen grand.  But once the crash testing is done, a possibly lengthy process of indeterminate length and duration, the Wheego will be able to offer a version that goes sixty five miles per hour and cost just over twentyeight thousand dollars.

Of course, that’s before the numerous government incentives that will be offered alongside the release of a fully electric ride, but even if it knocks off half the price, I don’t look for a whole lot of people to buy.  It’s a good price, but this is still a pretty soft economy.  Not too many people will be looking to shell out cash for a car.

But hopefully they’ll get the price sufficiently far down that they’ll get a bit more mainstream, because it’s a great idea who’s time has come.

Tags: capital, capital project, electric car, Wheego, Wheego Whip

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Nissan is apparently considering inductive charging for its future Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV). The idea is to park the car into a compatible charging station without having to worry about needing a plug for the vehicle to start charging. Another idea suggests that charging plates could be placed under the surface of the road which would make charging possible while driving.

We’ll know more about the ZEV later this summer so by that time Nissan will be ready to further explain how it plans to charge the car. Have you purchased your first electric car yet?

via guardian

Tags: charging, electric car, Inductive, Nissan, zero emission vehicle, ZEV

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ZipCar is once again in focus but this time, it is because of their first-ever Electric Vehicle Pod. These new vehicles are among the most efficient and technologically advanced on the road today and are available to members by the hour for a fraction of the cost of owning one.

“Since early in this decade, Zipcar has been integrating alternative vehicles into the fleet — giving our members the opportunity to push the envelope and evaluate a range of advanced-vehicle technologies,” said Scott Griffith, chairman and CEO of Zipcar. “Our proprietary car sharing technology platform allows us to manage a variety of cutting-edge vehicles, serving hundreds of thousands of Zipsters who benefit from convenience, cost savings and a commitment to reducing carbon emissions.”

With the uncertainty as far as reliability and feasibility of owning one still up in the air, people who want to go places can still do so by trying out this alternative. Apparently a lot of issues such as charging issues and the length at where they can go is still unresolved so why worry if you have ZipCar to help you out for now?

(Source) Press

Tags: advanced vehicle technologies, cutting edge, electric car, electric vehicle, feasibility, new vehicles, pod, reducing carbon emissions, technology platform, zipcar

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