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.

Continue reading...

Pictured above is a concept render of Kumho’s (a Korean tire-maker) Fortis 3-door all electric SUV.

If this car ever see’s the light of day it will feature a seperate 100HP electric motor to power each on of its wheels. Powering said motors will be a lithium ion battery that will pull a bit of energy from the car’s regenerative brakes.

This concept is apparantly the work of Kumho’s resident designer, Rob Dolton, who reportedly used to work for Fiat making the jump in 2005.

via WorldCarFans

Continue reading...

If you live in the UK and have been dying to get your hands on one of those stylish little MINI’s but haven’t been able to justify the price point, you’re in luck. Mini has recently announced that they have launched the MINI First, a 2-door hatchback that will appear to consumers on a budget.

This car will feature a 1.4 liter 75HP 4 cylinder engine and a 6-speed manual transmission. Of course, it’s not the fastest car on the market with a 0-60MPH of 13.2 seconds but its estimated 53.3 MPG is sure to make up for that.

The car will start at about $17.950 and feature regenerative braking, variable valve timing, and auto start-stop. Unfortunately Mini has no plans at this time to bring to car to the states.

via Autoblog

Continue reading...