The five-door Ford Focus is an eminently practical vehicle, and the Electric version will be as well. However, we’re now learning that it won’t be quite as practical as we’d hoped. We didn’t get the chance to pop the rear hatch on the thing when we were exploring it at CES. Here in Detroit we did and you can see what we found above. That’s definitely a big ‘ol box, putting a hurting on cargo space, but ultimately a small price to pay for rolling totally fuel- and emissions-free.
Wilson’s taking a day off after powering through CNET’s video coverage of CES 2011, so Caroline McCarthy fills in to give us the spectator’s perspective of the show and the keynote speeches. Unsurprisingly, the Samsung keynote looked just as over the top online as it did in person.
Poised to go head-to-head with the Apple iPad, the Xoom is a touch screen-tablet that trumps the iPad in a few ways. It has front- and rear-facing cameras (the front is HD); it has a larger screen with a higher resolution than the iPad; and it operates on the Verizon network instead of AT&T.
It’s also the first device to run the latest version of Google Android OS 3.0, code-named Honeycomb, so when it comes out sometime in the first quarter of this year, expect it to support multitasking and Verizon’s ultrafast 4G network.
Verizon is also rumored to be offering the iPhone 4 pending tomorrow’s announcement, and Caroline and I are both excited and nervous about its release. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company will keep its $30-a-month unlimited data plan, but our own Bonnie Cha tells us it might not get LTE 4G support until later this year–as usual, it’s all up to Apple.
Aside from CES wrap-up stuff, check out the second half of today’s show for Jeff’s review of “American Idiot,” the Broadway musical based on Green Day’s music and featuring lead vocalist Billy Armstrong.
You may disagree with the car’s color and its powertrain choice, but you can’t argue with 528 horsepower, 649lb/ft of torque, and AWD acceleration so good it should come with a neck brace. It’s a legitimately hot car, and it’s legitimately coming to dealerships. Mercedes today confirmed that the SLS AMG E-Cell will be available for order at dealerships in 2013, and while no price was given, expect it to be a lot. The gasoline-powered model cost around $200,000, after all. Oh, and that citrus color? It’s pretty stunning in the flesh, a matte hue that makes you go “Mmm.”
Hey, a phone that Apple introduced back in 2009 (that’d be the iPhone 3GS) is now selling — brand new with a two-year voice / data agreement — for $49, both at AT&T and through Apple directly. Of course, you could get the far more capable iPhone 4 for a fair amount more, or you could wait until tomorrow so you’d actually have an option when it comes to carriers. Your call, obviously.
Nintendo president says recent announcement acknowledging the 3DS portable gaming device might be harmful to young kids’ eyes could hurt sales. But the device is not “dangerous,” he says.
See that image above? It’s not a forthcoming Palm LTE phone for Verizon Wireless, but it could be a sneak peek into Big Red’s plans for the future. If you’ll recall, VZW’s CTO Tony Malone hinted last week at CES that integrated LTE voice + data wouldn’t come until 2012 or 2013 at the earliest, and for now, all LTE devices would be relying on 3G for voice and 4G for data. Heck, not even all of the first-wave LTE devices will support simultaneous 4G data + 3G voice. Of course, we all know that LTE voice is coming eventually, and a new test portal at Verizon’s official website may be a clue as to how things will be arranged once it’s live. We’re guessing that an admin simply populated this page with information and images from the standard Pre Plus page — there’s no way an LTE-enabled Pre is planning to slink into VZW’s lineup — but it’s pretty obvious that at least someone within the company is thinking about a world where voice calls are completed over LTE. Potentially more interesting is the “4G plan pricing on this phone” line — during Verizon’s second LTE presser at CES, none of the executives on stage would talk dollars and cents, but this makes it fairly clear that there will definitely be separate plans for 4G phones, most likely ones with higher prices. Feel free to hit the source link if you’d like to poke around, but we wouldn’t expect it to remain online for much longer. One more look is after the break.
Update: As we predicted, the page has been pulled. Good thing the important bits are right here for you and yours.
Toyota made no bones about the fact that more Prius models were to be unveiled in Detroit for the North American International Auto Show, even throwing advertisements up around town asking whether it’s supposed to be Priuses or Priii. (We, as you can see, chose to side-step the debate.) Now we know what’s coming, first being the Prius V. It’s the MPV the company has been teasing, basically just a taller version of the four-door sedan with a hatchback and a whopping 60 percent more cargo space — 32 cubic feet, which is more than most compact SUVs. It’s to be rated 42mpg city, 38 highway, and 40 combined, which is a surprising 10mpg lower than the sedan model. That’s perhaps a bit disappointing, but availability this summer is a pleasant surprise.
Next is the Prius C, naturally for “concept,” which is aimed at “young singles and couples.” It’s definitely funkier and way cooler than the current model, looking to have a nose very similar to the car’s FT-86 concept. We hope the production model looks quite close to this, and while that’s always a doubtful proposition we won’t have all that long to wait, with it hitting dealerships in the first half of 2012. Toyota also showed off the Prius Plug-In, the very same one we test drove last year, said to be coming first to the western and eastern coasts of the US first, and re-affirmed the “patriarch” status of the current-generation Prius sedan, having sold 230,000 cars since 2009. It’s good to be the king.
At the 2011 Detroit Auto Show most manufacturers are intent on showing off their latest upcoming cars. Volvo is doing something different. A crash tested model of the C30 electric is on display in an attempt to show off the importance of safety for electric vehicles.
The C30 on display was put through a full frontal crash at 40 miles per hour. One of the biggest safety concerns for EVs is the placement of the battery, which is part of what Volvo is trying to explain via its display.
“Our tests show it is vital to separate the batteries from the electric car’s crumple zones to make it as safe as a conventional car,” Volvo President and CRO Stefan Jacoby said. “In Detroit we are the first car maker to show the world what a truly safe electric car looks like after a collision with high-speed impact.”
According to Volvo, the C30 EV is just as safe as the gasoline version of the car. And after this particular crash the batteries, cables, and much of the electrical system remained in tact.
With the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt attracting plenty of attention, if not sales, it’s not surprising that other automotive manufacturers are jumping into the electric vehicle market as well. At this year’s CES Ford announced that the popular Focus model would be available as an EV starting at the end of this year.
The car will based on the standard 2012 version of the Focus and will have an expected range of 100 miles and a top speed of around 84 miles per hour. One of the defining features of the EV Focus, though, appears to be its charging time. Ford is claiming that the car will be able to fully recharge in three to four hours, which is about half of the time for most similar cars. Best Buy is lending its support to the new car and will be installing 240 volt charging stations at stores across the country.
Since it was unveiled at a gadget expo, the EV Focus also comes packed with some neat little features. That includes the new MyFord Touch dashboard, as well as a mobile app that lets you unlock doors, set charging times, and more. The Ford Focus EV will be available for sale in November 2011.
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