Chevy Volt sales have been stagnant to say the least, with inventory at double the healthy level at a 140-day supply of Volts just lying around waiting for owners. To combat this and get the car selling again, Chevy has announced that the 2014 model of the Volt will see a 13% price drop compared […]
Electric vehicles have come a long way from their humble beginnings, and this new BMW looks like a good combination between performance and economy. While it’s design does look a bit bulbous to me, its capabilities sound like they’re more than enough to make up for that.
The BMW i3 is a rear-wheel drive EV with four seats. The engine produces 170 hp and it has an 80 to 100-mile range on a single charge, which will work for most people’s daily commute and more. It accelerates from 0 to 60 in 7 seconds. BMW have combined carbon fiber and plastic to make the passenger compartment lighter than other cars, and it’s still supposed to be stronger than steel. It weighs only 2,700 lbs.
One of the available options is a gas generator for people worried about running out power on long trips. You can get it for $41,350 in spring 2014.
[via GreenBiz]
We’ve driven a number of EV‘s over the years — from the Ford Focus Electric to the Tesla Model S — but none have been as affordable as the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. It costs $19,995, including the $7,500 federal tax credit, and just $17,495 in California, thanks to an additional $2,500 credit. The Spark EV is GM’s first pure electric car since the company scrapped the EV1 program in 2002. It’s a five-door supermini designed to carry four people plus luggage in comfort. While it’s primarily a city car, it’s perfectly at ease on the highway. We recently got the chance to take one for a spin in lovely Portland, Oregon, so hit the break for our impressions and hands-on video.
Gallery: Chevrolet Spark EV hands-on
Filed under: Transportation, Apple
We got up close and personal with BMW’s i3 electric coupe at the LA Auto Show back in November, and now the auto maker has announced the pricing and showroom dates for its svelte offering. For those in the US, the i3 will be priced at $41,350 USD, not taking into consideration any government incentives that could lower that.
The price doesn’t include the destination and handling fee, which will be $925 USD for buyers in the US. As for the car itself, which you can see in our video below, there’s 170 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque via its hybrid-synchronous electric motor. There’s a 22-kWh lithium ion battery, which allows for between 80 and 100 miles of driving on a charge.
Charging is accomplished either at home or at a Level 2 SAE J1772 charging system. Home charging is done with a charging station that is provided by BMW. The system utilizes an SAE DC Combo-Fast Charger, which will provide a DC fast charging option, reducing the amount of time it takes to get the vehicle charged for a trip. At a fast-charge station, drivers can get to 80-percent in 20 minutes.
Obviously, an all-electric car has the benefit of being environmentally friendly, which is further expanded by the facilities in which the i3 is produced. In both the Moses Lake, Washington and Leipzig, Germany facilities, hydro-electric, solar, and wind are used to produce power at the CFRP production cites.
BMW Sales and Marketing’s Ian Robertson said: “The BMW i3 heralds the dawn of a new era for individual mobility and for the BMW Group. True to a genuine BMW, the BMW i3 has strong emotional appeal, outstanding product substance and a guarantee of sheer driving pleasure. With this leading-edge vehicle and attractive price, we will provide customers with a compelling offer for electromobility.”
The i3 will be shown in London, New York, and Beijing on July 29.
SOURCE: BMW USA
BMW i3 electric car’s pricing revealed for US buyers is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Remember when it was hoped that BMW’s first fully-electric production vehicle would set you back around $35,000? Well, tough. The company has announced pricing for the car, with the i3 setting you back $41,350 before federal and state incentives, plus a handling fee of $925 in the US. Meanwhile, Germans itching to get their hands on the plug-in whip will be spending €34,950 ($45,990) — but that small additional premium does have one benefit. While the US model won’t arrive until the second quarter of 2014, the European i3 will land in Germany in this November.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: BMW USA, BMW Europe
Electric vehicles are pretty great since you don’t need to hit the gas station and drop $50-$60 on a tank of gas every week (depending on how much you drive, of course), but charging times for electric vehicles are the trade-off to not paying for gas. For some EVs, it take all night to completely charge a dead car battery, but Tesla is aiming for much faster times than that.
Tesla CTO JB Straubel says that the company is attempting to cut down on recharging times for its cars down to “5 to 10 minutes,” which is almost unprecedented. Currently, Tesla’s Supercharger stations can charge a Tesla Model S battery halfway in only 30 minutes, but the company says that’s still too long.
Basically, Tesla wants to cut the time down so that it’s not any longer than the amount of time it usually takes to pump a full tank of gas in a traditional gas-guzzler. However, the challenge is optimizing the charger’s power of delivering juice to the battery fast enough without overheating the battery and frying it.
Of course, though, Straubel notes that it could be awhile before Supercharger stations can charge a Tesla Model S battery in as little as five minutes, but it seems the method is very much possible, and Tesla is looking for a way to make it happen. Of course, there’s also the super-quick battery swapping technique.
The battery swap only takes a couple of minutes, and Tesla is looking into that if drivers don’t want to wait for their battery to recharge. However, if the company can get charging times down to under 10 minutes, it will most likely completely change how we look at electric vehicles and could change the minds of many EV naysayers.
SOURCE: MIT Technology Review
Tesla targets 5-minute Supercharger recharges for Model S is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Ford is dropping the price of their new 2014 Ford Focus Electric by a whopping 10%. In what appears to be an effort to stay competitive in the electric vehicle market, Ford dropped the price of its 2014 Focus EV down to $35,200. The car previously had a sticker price of $39,200, making that a $4,000 drop in price.
In a statement from Ford, the company said that “the new starting MSRP of $35,200 keeps us competitive in the marketplace and is an important part of our commitment to provide customers with a range of electrified vehicles to choose from.” Affordability is a huge factor when it comes to buying any new car, and electric vehicles certainly can’t be a part of the exception if companies want them to fly off dealer lots, but Ford says they’re “really committed” to electric vehicles, and making lower-cost EVs is a big goal of theirs.
Car companies are getting desperate and want to sell their electric vehicles before they end up making too many and have tons of inventory on the back burner. General Motors announced plans back in May to cut the price of the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid by as much as $10,000. This is despite the fact that GM is actually losing money on every Volt that it sells.
Nissan also dropped the cost of its 2013 Leaf by a cool $6,000, bringing its price below the $30,000 price point, which Nissan says is the lowest-priced five-passenger electric vehicle sold in the US. It doesn’t take much convincing for drivers to pick electric vehicles over gas-guzzling ones, but the price is still a huge concern for most people.
Of course, Tesla Motors is doing a decent jobs at spreading awareness of electric vehicles. The Model S definitely isn’t a cheap car, but it has convinced drivers that electric vehicles don’t have to be tiny compact cars, but also mid-sized four-door sedans that can fit the entire family.
VIA: PC Mag
2014 Ford Focus Electric gets a 10% MSRP reduction is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This certainly isn’t the first electric car rally that has occurred, but the BC2BC-2013 Rally, which took place last week, gave electric cars the opportunity to strut their stuff. Not surprisingly, the Tesla Model S dominated throughout the race, as did the Tesla Roadster, with four Tesla cars finishing in the top 5.
The race consisted of four segments and a number of checkpoints, and each segment was timed, so the overall winner was the driver who had the fastest combined time of the four segments. There were also pauses between each segment that allowed the slower cars to catch up in order to all start together again in the next segment.
In total, eight electric cars and one electric motorcycle took part in the challenge and traveled from British Columbia in Canada, to Baja, California. The event included a Tesla Roadster, a Zero S electric motorcycle, Toyota RAV4 EV, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, two Nissan Leafs, and three Tesla Model S cars.
Tesla ended up dominating the competition, mostly thanks to the Model S’s and Roadster’s long range and fast-charging batteries. The Model S can recharge in about an hour using Tesla’s proprietary Supercharging stations. As for the Nissan Leafs, they performed well, but slow charging was the bane of their existence during the race.
While all but one of the cars successfully arrived at the finish line, the journey revealed major weaknesses in the infrastructure of electric vehicle charging. Despite promises that California would be part of the West Coast Electric Highway, the CHADEMO chargers used to charge Nissan Leafs stop at the Oregon border, which resulted in one of the Leaf drivers to get stuck in California for 15 hours charging at 120 volts.
VIA: PluginCars
Tesla Motors destroys competition in 1,500-mile race is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Electric vehicles are becoming all the rage these days, and Ford is looking to make a dent in the market with their own offerings. They have a small variety of hybrid vehicles, but I ended up checking out the 2013 Fusion Energi and giving it a brief test ride around one of Ford’s test tracks at their headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. One of the big features that the company is touting is the inclusion of gamification, which aims to encourage drivers to drive more efficiently on the road by providing a drive score.
This was my first time behind the wheel of any kind of electric vehicle, so I was a bit nervous at the start, which is odd since there was nothing to really be nervous about. It mostly came down to the fact that I wasn’t sure what to expect out of an electric vehicle, but I came to find out the car handled almost exactly like a normal car does.
However, one of the most obvious differences is that the Fusion Energi can run off of a battery, so when you start the car up, there’s no cranking of the engine or the all-too-familar whirring noise of an idling vehicle. Instead, when you start it up, you’re treated with absolute silence, making you wonder if the car even turned on. Indeed, it did, and off I went.
Handling of the Fusion Energi wasn’t all too different from a traditional gas-guzzling vehicle, although the brakes were extremely touchy – something that I find to be the case for a lot of newer cars, especially from Ford. In this case, it’s partially down to the regenerative braking in the Fusion Energi, meaning that the kinectic energy caused by braking is converted and used to power other portions of the vehicle.
As for acceleration, it was pretty superb, and the lightest touch of the gas pedal sprung me forward a few miles-per-hour for every time I applied more pressure to the gas pedal. I didn’t get it up quite to highway speeds during my drive, but I felt that the Fusion Energi would be more than a good option for daily commutes at the least.
On the inside, you have a comfy interior, and the center console includes your usual set of controls, and the touch screen up top allows you to adjust a number of settings with the tap of a finger, as well as get turn-by-turn directions and all sorts of media options. The instrument panel also includes some digital displays as well, with one that shows you how much battery you have left, as well as your mileage.
This display also gives you your drive score and brake score during your drive. You have a brake score that gives you a score out of 100% that’s based on how efficient your braking was. For instance, taking your foot off the gas, coasting, and then slowly applying the brake until you come to a gentle stop will most likely score you in the high 90% range, while stopping suddenly and creating a whiplash effect will give you a very low brake score.
The drive score is an overall score based on your driving habits. It accounts for braking, acceleration, top speed, and even interior features that use up energy, such as the air conditioning. Drivers are more likely to earn a high score for accelerating and braking gently, as well as keeping their top speed at the speed limit. However, the overall drive score is much harder than getting a good brake score. I was able to earn the best brake score out of all the other test drivers that day, but I found that getting a good overall drive score was a lot harder than I anticipated.
Essentially, Ford is encouraging drivers to drive more efficiently on the road using this clever gamification system. It’s proven that human beings love statistics and having the best score, whether that’d be through video games are other forms of activities. Adding a video game-like experience to everyday tasks makes them not only more enjoyable and engaging, but it can also make you better at these activities by attempting to do the best job you can in order to score points and level up, so to speak.
Ford says that their new Fusion Energi can go up to 620 miles on a full charge and on a full tank of gas, with a rated fuel mileage of 100 MPGe. The price is where reality sinks in, however. The Fusion Energi starts just short of $39,000, but it’s on par with its competition, with the Chevy Volt also priced in the $39,000 range. Then again, the only question you need to ask yourself is if the higher cost is worth the investment, seeing as you won’t need to fill up the gas tank as often.
2013 Ford Fusion Energi test drive: Ford does gamification is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Chevrolet has big ambitions for its tiniest electric car, the Spark EV. The earth-friendly city car follows the Volt, dropping the gas engine in the process and embracing emissions-free motoring at a competitive price. As we’ve seen, though, small EVs can easily fall into the trap of being so eco earnest as to be deathly dull, or alternatively entirely impractical for everyday use. Can the Spark EV keep the best of its gas-powered predecessor and blend it with the benefits of electric motoring? We caught up with Chevrolet for an extended test-drive to see how the Spark EV fared.
The styling of the Spark EV isn’t new, a chunky, angular wedge that looks, with its steeply rising shoulder-line and hidden rear handles, more like a three-door at first glance. In fact, there are doors front and back, pushing the wheels to the very corners, and giving it a squat, punchy stance. Like many subcompacts it’s more cute than it is aggressive, but it wears the new closed upper-grille neatly, and the standard 15-inch alloys are clean.
More importantly, perhaps, Chevrolet says it’s more slippery than its gas-powered cousin. A new underbody design helps there, along with wheel deflectors and a subtle integrated rear spoiler; there’s also an automatic shutter system behind what’s left open in the grille, to adjust airflow.
At 146.5 inches long and 64-inches wide, the Spark EV is shorter and narrower than Nissan’s Leaf, though you lose out on cargo space because of that. Rear seats up, the Chevrolet’s tiny trunk accommodates just 9.6 cubic feet, versus the Leaf’s more ample 24 cubic feet; drop the seats, and you’ll get a healthier 23.4 cubic feet into the Spark EV (or 30 cubic feet into the Nissan).
Still, it’s comfortably enough for a grocery shop, and the smaller Spark EV bests its Nissan rival on overall weight, too. The Chevrolet is 2,989 pounds, while the Leaf comes in at 3,391 pounds; if that still sounds heavy, then you have to blame the electrics. The EV version of the Spark is 621 pounds lighter than its gas-powered auto cousin.
We’ll admit it, we’re cautious about conversions, like the Spark’s journey from gas-powered to EV: after all, more than just the engine goes into making a good car. The weight difference too was, on paper at least, another warning sign. Finally, factor in that the original Spark was never going to be mistaken for a sport-compact, and you can understand our reticence.
We needn’t have worried. Both of Chevrolet’s Spark EV variants – the cheaper 1LT and more expensive 2LT – use the same powertrain, a front-wheel drive electric motor mustering 130 HP. That’s already 1.5x more than the gas Spark, but it’s when you look at torque that things get really interesting.
Out of the box there’s 400 lb-ft of torque, which is simply phenomenal for a city car. In contrast, wind the gas Spark up sufficiently, and you’ll squeeze 83 lb-ft out of it at most. The end result is that, like other electric cars, the Spark EV simply throws itself at the road with an eagerness and alacrity that belies its more humble origins.
The good news doesn’t stop there. Since the Spark EV is heavier than its forebear, Chevrolet’s engineers had to do some work to the suspension and weight distribution. That’s worked out to far better ride quality when you’re taking things easily and trying to coax out maximum range, as well as more enthusiastic and eager handling when you’re making the most of all that torque.
Chevrolet quotes a sub-8s 0-60 mph time, along with a top speed of 90 mph, but the Spark EV excels with point & squirt city driving, dashing into gaps in traffic, thrumming forward from lights, and generally feeling considerably more lively than you might expect. It’s still very quiet inside, mind, with just the occasional whine from the electric drive.
Two transmission modes are on offer. In regular “Drive” mode, the Spark EV mimics a normal automatic gearchange, albeit without any noticeable shift-jerk; flip into “Low” mode, however, and the regenerative braking system – which claws back power by momentarily turning the electric drive motors into generators – kicks in more aggressively, rapidly slowing the car when you lift your foot off the accelerator. It takes a little getting used to, but it can add to your overall range.
Range is the big question around EVs, especially pure-electric cars like the Spark EV. Chevrolet quotes up to 82 miles on a full charge of the 21.3 kWh Li-Ion battery, with the option to “fill up” either from a standard 120V AC supply, from a specially-installed 240V supply, or finally from an SAE Standard Fast Charging outlet.
The difference between the three is time. On an SAE connection, which should become more prevalent as this year progresses, the Spark EV will recharge to 80-percent in around 20 minutes time. A 240V charge takes more like seven hours, Chevrolet says; best to treat the 120V cord as a travel emergency option, since a full recharge on that can take up to 20 hours.
We didn’t have long enough with the Spark EV to test the various charging methods, though we did grow to appreciate Chevrolet’s Driver Information Center, which delivers dynamic battery information to a 7-inch screen on the dashboard (more on which in the following section). Rather than simply offer a single figure for remaining range, the Spark EV adds a “confidence” number to the estimate, based on whether you’re driving enthusiastically or sticking to more economical patterns. The Spark EV even tries to gamily the process with an “Efficiency Gauge”, encouraging the responsible driver to keep an animated green ball centered by driving sensibly.
Given the sticker price, it’s not surprising that Chevrolet has heaped on the standard-fit equipment versus the gas-powered model. So, the Spark EV 1LT still gets that 7-inch touchscreen dash, 6-speaker audio with SiriusXM radio, Bluetooth for streaming and hands-free use, a USB connection, air conditioning, remote keyless entry and power locking, power windows and mirrors, cruise control, an alarm, and fog lamps out of the gate.
The 2LT version throws in “dark pewter” leatherette front seats with blue accent stitching, that are also heated, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. It also gets the DV Fast Charger as an option. Both variants have 10 airbags, hill-start assist, tire pressure monitoring, and OnStar.
Chevrolet’s MyLink entertainment system makes an appearance, too, taking advantage of the Bluetooth connectivity to get the Spark EV online via your smartphone. One connected, the car can stream from internet radio stations as well as services like Pandora, in addition to Siri voice control. There’s also support for BringGo, a turn-by-turn navigation system priced at $49.99, including 3D mapping and overlaid indicators to show how the range remaining of the Spark EV meshes up with your programmed destination.
However, it’s worth noting that – unlike some other MyLink-equipped cars in Chevrolet’s line-up – the Spark EV doesn’t support the enhanced voice recognition system, Gracenote database access for identifying track, or indeed have a CD player. Still, as systems go, it’s impressive – certainly for a city car – and intuitive enough to use on the move.
The rest of the cabin is solid, though you won’t mistake it for a Tesla Model S. The plastics are sturdy though not especially premium to the touch, with the glossy surround for the touchscreen keen to pick up fingerprints. Everything works, and the standard equipment list is bulging, but it’s perhaps where GM’s budgetary constraints show to the greatest extent; the leatherette seats, for instance, aren’t ever going to be mistaken for real leather.
On Chevrolet’s books, the Spark EV starts at $26,685 for the 1LT and $27,010 for the 2LT. Throw in the most generous federal tax credit – which varies by state, though initially the car will only be sold in California and Oregon – and you can cut that by up to $7,500, bringing the total cost of entry down to $19,185 excluding the usual destination, registration, and other fees.
Alternatively, Chevrolet will offer you the Spark EV on a $199 per month lease: $999 down to begin with, plus fees and taxes, and then less than $200 a month for three years. It’s hard to ignore the fact that, for under $200 a month, the Spark EV lease could easily be cheaper than many spend in gas over the same period.
As for the optional 240V charger, Chevrolet will offer up to $500 to Spark EV drivers – whether they buy the car outright, or lease it – toward its cost, though they’ll be expected to foot the bill for Bosch installation themselves.
Electric cars are still not for everyone. The Spark EV’s 82 mile range is likely fine for city dwellers, but those with more ambitious driving needs could easily find themselves reaching the limits of the Chevrolet’s endurance. If your workplace has a 240V charger than that may not be insurmountable, but relying on the 120V portable charger – and its lethargic rejuicing times – means you’re likely to see the Spark EV spend more time plugged in than one the road.
That would be a real shame, too, since the Spark EV is one of the best driving electric vehicles – and, indeed, city cars – we’ve tried in a long time. The immediacy of the acceleration, the great lashings of torque – more, Chevrolet tongue-in-cheek points out, than a Porsche Carrera S or a Ferrari 458 Italia – and the responsive steering and suspension add up to an eco car that isn’t akin to wearing a hair-shirt in terms of worthy-but-dull driving.
Tesla’s Model S may be the poster child of environmentally friendly transportation, but with its competitive lease pricing and solid balance of performance and features, the Chevrolet Spark EV is perhaps the peoples’ choice. It’s a conversion that easily outclasses its predecessors, and is worth considering by city dwellers looking for peppy frugality without the guilt of gas.
2014 Chevrolet Spark EV Test Drive is written by Vincent Nguyen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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