Could Tesla’s $60,000 electric sedan look something like this?
That is what many are speculating after The Sun columnist, Ken Gibson, claimed he was given a “sneak preview” of the Model S at the end of his recent online column. Thus priming the the rumor mill at the telsamotorclub.com Model S potential design forum, and leading many to claim the Model S will look like the Aston Martin Rapide concept. This keeps in line with Tesla’s claims that the Model S will be a huge, very long, four door hatchback.
The design also fits the dimensions of the Dodge Magnum Mule that was spotted next to a Tesla Motors facility with no exhaust pipe and test wheels, also in the forums:
This is still all speculation, but anything rolling out of Tesla Motors is sure to be superbly designed and built, given their track record.
Neat article today about Nissan’s electric future. Sounds like Nissan is skipping this sissyfooting with hybrids and going straight to electric powered vehicles. They currently buy hybrid systems from Toyota for the Nissan Altima hybrid, but, according to Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Nissan Motor Co. Executive Vice President, “Hybrids may not be all that special.” This makes sense, you can drastically simplify a vehicle when you don’t have to worry about the exhaust, heat, and fluids included in a combustion system. In 2007, Nissan established a new company—Automotive Energy Supply Corp. (AESC) with the goal of dramatically enhancing future battery performance and reducing battery costs; most likely with electric vehicles in mind. Now Nissan has an electric car prototype in the works called the Cube, that was shown at the 2008 New York auto show:
In the article, Yamashita hints that the car will likely not, in fact, be shaped like a cube in order to minimize wind resistance. That’s sort of going to change the whole theme don’t you think? Maybe this skipping the hybrids deal is not a good idea. We don’t want 20 years of hype generating electric prototypes that keep getting mysteriously delayed. Whew, anyway, I’m hopeful Nissan will do the right thing.
It’s not often that I am truly inspired by something. I’m just not a sappy guy. But a group of teenagers from Western Philadelphia High School definitely moved me. What started as a regular inner city high school shop class has become a world renown hybrid automotive team that is respected by the biggest car companies in the world.
The program officially started in 1997. Their first project was converting an old Jeep Wrangler to electric power. By 2002 the team won the electric vehicle division of the Tour de Sol with their Electric Saturn SL2. They simply applied available technology to create a 130 mile range ev that can fully charge in 8 hours. Although the old Saturn had made them champions, it was powered by a 36 hp motor, leaving much to be desired in terms of performance. So the team started plans for a hybrid hot rod that eventually looked like this:
They created the world’s first hybrid supercar, the K1 Attack. The team used a VW turbo diesel (150hp) to power the rear wheels, and an AC Propulsions electric motor (200hp) to power the front wheels. This allows the super hybrid to attain an impressive fuel economy of over 50mpg and a zero to sixty acceleration of under 4 seconds. The K1 Attack won the 2005 and 2006 Tour de Sol overall prize, but was entered as a biodiesel car only.
In May of 2008, the team was chosen by Ford Motor Company to participate in a competition to “design a revolutionary global vehicle for today that shares the Model T’s attributes”. Along with this invitation came a $75,000 dollar grant to go with numerous donations they have received since they gained international recognition with the K1 Attack. If they can create a hybrid supercar with $15,000, imagine what these kids can do with that kind of money. They are also entered in the Automotive X Prize, which is an amazing competition in search of the 100mpg car. The Hybrid X Team will enter their EVX, which is still early in development, but is based around a Toyota Corolla chassis. The entry will likely be a typical hybrid that goes up to 40 mph on electric, then is powered by a two cylinder diesel engine for any speed above. Popular Mechanics has a good article on the top 10 teams vying for the Automotive X Prize ($10 million by the way). You can also visit the Hybrid X Team’s fancy new site for more information on this spectacular program.
This is a cool old video on the Hybrid Technologies, L1X-75:
This car is now known as the LiV Rush and the Hybrid Technologies website says the beast accelerates from 0-60 in 5 to 6 seconds. Really pedestrian when you compare that to the 3.1 second claim in the video from over a year ago. What’s with the fluctuation? This car was really ahead of its time as a purchasable electric supercar. I’d blame its failure to really take off on its plasticky, kit car aura; as recent electric sport cars have more refined, individual looks. Compare and contrast:
So that’s where Hybrid Technologies’ most recent evolution comes in. Popular Mechanics gives a pretty good overview of their latest concept electric car. Complete with unique exterior and hopefully a 150-180 mile range. With this still unnamed prototype, Hybrid hopes to compete with Tesla and Fisker for supremacy in the American electric supercar market by late 2009.
Berry Bernstein, a steel wholesaler and entrepreneur out of Philadelphia is planning his new ev business for the 21st century. Bernstein is following the template made popular by many other ev start ups: 1) build local assembly plant and buy workers, 2) import cars from Asia, 3) have workers install batteries and electric motors in cars, 4) Sell. BG Automotive will start with the small stuff: cheap, low speed electric vehicles with a 35 mph top speed. Then they plan to come out with an exclusive highway speed electric vehicle by late 2009. Here is a more in depth article by a Philadephia newspaper. And here is BG Automotive’s website. Here’s hoping this Pennsylvania company succeeds.
