Have you ever wondered what a green GT racecar would look like, how would it sound and what would it smell like? Well we can help you with the first, thanks to Switzerland’s own GreenGT, one of the most revolutionary eco-conscious carmakers on the planet.
These images are of their first design study and represent what the racecar builder intends to enter in the 2011 24 Hours of LeMans. The best part is that in order to homologate the two intended models for competition, GreenGT will have to build 22 examples for the street. Take that Tesla, this will be a zero emissions all electric super car.
The GreenGT will be able to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds and capable of a top speed around 170 MPH. The electric engines will develop an initial 1475 lb-ft of torque until the vehicle reaches 100 MPH, and then decreasing to 590 lb-ft after that.
BMW is busy developing their Project i electric vehicle. The Bavarian automaker has teamed up with Britain’s Bath University in order to produce the world’s first "decent electric city car." What they have come up with is a compact EV that will be offered in three different versions: equipped with two, three or four wheels.
A spokesman from the German automaker was quoted as saying, "there are a number of options under consideration and we are exploring different avenues. One of the proposals is something like the Clever Concept. This would deliver the thrills of a motorcycle but, being a three wheeler, you wouldn’t have to wear a helmet to drive one."
BMW plans for the Project i to be an economical zero emission vehicle thanks in part to the batteries that have been providing juice to the Mini E.
Toyota called it the iQ and Vauxhall is calling it Trixx, although these two compacts look different they both serve the same purpose, navigating today’s overcrowded city streets. The Vauxhall is inspired by the 2004 Trixx Concept, complete with an electric motor and batteries based on the units originally used in the Opel Ampera. The front end of the Trixx also benefits from being heavily influenced by Opel’s hybrid electric concept vehicle.
The Vauxhall will have a range of about 90 miles between charges, making the Trixx even better suited for day to day around town driving. The car will make its official debut sometime in 2012.
It looks like Tesla’s sales plan is paying off. The electric carmaker Tesla Motors have already booked over 1000 orders for their Model S sedan, a vehicle that can carry up to seven people for a range of up to 300 miles. The Model S starts at $49,900 after tax rebates, but Tesla claims that the operating costs are so low, that it is rely the equivalent of owning something like a $30,000 vehicle.
Tesla has already put more than 400 examples of their $100,000 electric roadster into the hands of customers. The Tesla Roadster is capable of running from 0 to 60 MPH in only 3.9 seconds, besting most sports cars, while being twice as energy efficient as the Toyota Prius. Roadster owners also benefit from a far lower cost of ownership than comparably priced sports cars, with none of the traditional internal combustion maintenance and the added benefit of the cost of electricity compared to the fluctuating price of gas, an amount that could be back up to $5 per gallon by the end of summer. Tesla believes that owning an environmentally friendly Roadster can add up to a savings of around $26,000 over the lifetime of the vehicle as opposed to say, a $100,000 Porsche.
Tesla Motors CEO, Chairman and Product Architect Elon Musk believes that “despite the enormous environmental benefits, lower total cost of ownership will soon become the primary motivation for consumers to evolve from gas guzzlers to EVs.”
Will it drift? That is the age old question being asked by the guys at AutoCar, but this time they have chosen to get sideways in an electric car, although it boasts sports car power and styling, is the Tesla Roadster driftable? You’ll just have to watch the video to find out.
Times are tough and Chrysler is was keeping their chin up when they revealed their EV electric concept car at the Detroit Auto Show. The production version of the concept is expected to be unveiled sometime in 2010. The forward thinking sportscar will be powered by lithium-ion battery technology and have a maximum output of 268 HP.
The EV should be able to hit 60 MPH from a standstill in under five seconds and is capable of reaching a top speed of 120 MPH. The production version will be a purely plug-in model. There will be neither gas tank nor any trace of an internal combustion engine. The battery pack should provide enough juice to cruise for 150 to 200 miles before requiring a recharge.
Following the success of the EV sportscar, Chrysler will come out with electric-powered cars, SUVs and crossovers. That is if they American auto giant can survive their Chapter 11 proceedings.
The latest in the Chevrolet E-Flex line up are a series of Chevrolet Cruze bodied extended range electric vehicles. In order for General Motors engineers to perfect the working parts of the future production Volt, Chevrolet has developed a series of test mules to work out all the kinks and prepare GM for the November 2010 deadline for a road going Chevrolet Volt.
Fisker Automotive and Tesla Motors are very similar in their intent to mass-produce electric vehicles for a wide range of consumers, but how they are planning to get the public behind the wheel couldn’t be any more different.
Fisker plans on licensing their products to already established dealerships to sell their Karma Sedan and Karma Sunset convertible. This will streamline the process from the initial manufacturing to the final sale of the electric vehicles. Benefits of this approach include established logistics and knowledge of what it takes to sell to the local clientele.
On the other hand Tesla dealerships will be owned and operated by the environmentally friendly automotive manufacturer. This will give them more control over the sales and service aspect regarding the open air Roadster and Model S sedan. This approach is a risky one because at the moment Tesla only has outlets in California, but with an added cost are planning to open retail outlets in major population centers around the U.S. in places like Chicago, New York, Seattle and Washington D.C.; and across the pond in London.
Just as we suspected, the Cadillac Converj is stuck in a conundrum. Yesterday’s story of a General Motors insider confirming the Converj’s production was matched by an official statement from GM. Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell told Inside Line, "There is no change to the status of Converj. It is a concept — a proposal — and it’s being reviewed, and the review is not completed."
No surprises there. Yesterday’s story was about an insider, not an official statement. But another insider let the beans s----even more. This one suggested to IL that the Converj’s fate lies in the hands of the presidential automotive task force that is helping GM create it’s viability plan. So Cadillac will likely have to prove that it needs to spend the money on the Converj to make money — that’s not an easy thing for a bureaucracy to understand.
Cadillac stunned us at the Detroit Auto Show with the Converj, and apparently we we not the only ones. A source inside General Motors told Motor Trend the buzz from the car has caused GM to green light the hybrid car for production.
Although GM won’t officially confirm the car’s production, the target is to have the Converj on sale in 2011 as a 2012. That’s pretty ambitions considering Chevy is working overtime to reach the 2010 target date on the Volt, the car on which the Converj is based. While the Volt’s set up of the lithium-ion battery pack with 1.4-liter combustion engine backup will be a good starting point, it will take Cadillac a while to develop its own exterior and interior. Also Cadillac will likely modify the Voltec platform to accept more batteries, allowing for more speed and greater luxury (weight).
The Converj will be a step in the right direction for the fuel-efficient cars GM needs to show on its viability plan. This makes the Converj in charge of its own fate, because the only way the Converj can go into production is if the government approves the plan due on June 1.
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