Hasta La Gadget!

Nissan’s just pulled the covers off its fancifully styled ZEOD RC race car that may eventually hit speeds of up to 300km/h (about 185mph). Though the acronym stands for “zero emissions, on demand,” the vehicle could end up being a hybrid model that switches between gas and EV modes (as opposed to a pure electric car) by the time it hits Le Mans in 2014. Regardless, the company’s Nismo racing division (creator of the all-electric Nismo RC) plans to enter it in the so-called Garage 56 class of the famed race, reserved for vehicles that showcase breakthrough technology. While the company flaunted the design at Circuit de la Sarthe in France today, the car won’t start trials until later this summer, after which the final drivetrain will be chosen. Prior to hitting the track, though, it’ll have its work cut out just to top Toyota’s P001, the current EV lap-speed champ.

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Via: Pocket Lint

Source: Nissan

Tesla founder Elon Musk has mentioned battery swap service stations as an even faster alternative to charging for EV drivers, and tonight the company showed just how efficiently it can be done. In a demonstration at its design studio, it beat what it claims is the fastest gas pump in LA by exchanging a drained car battery pack for a fresh fully charged one in just 90 seconds. When the $500,000 stations start rolling out, owners will stay in the car the whole time then either swap the battery back for their original on a return trip, or get a bill for the difference based on how new their battery is. According to Reuters, the exchange is expected to cost owners between $60 – $80 each time or about the cost of 15 gallons of gas

Of course, failed outfit Better Place proposed a similar service before it shut down, but Tesla is betting that it can make it work this time. The first service stations are coming to busy corridors, with some planned for I5 in California. Still need more proof? Elon Musk tweeted that video of the event will be available in “about an hour,” so check back then.

Update: We’re still waiting on the official video, but reader Weapon sent in a link to video shot by an event attendee, which can be viewed after the break. Take a peek and see a pair of Tesla’s Model S sedans get quick battery service, one after the other in less time than a fuel pump can deliver one tank of gas.

Update 2: The official event video is up, check it out embedded after the break.

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Source: Tesla Motors (Twitter), Tesla

There’s no question that the SLS AMG Electric Drive is faster than most EVs. However, Mercedes-Benz wants to prove that the car is fast in any category — and it just broke a Nurburgring record to underscore its point. Merc’s 751HP clean machine recently ripped through the track’s Nordschleife section in 7 minutes and 56 seconds, beating a production EV record set last year by Audi’s R8 E-tron. While that lap time won’t rival the absolute EV record, let alone those of faster conventional cars, it puts the electric SLS firmly ahead of its peers. That may be all that matters for buyers picking up their cars this month: when you’ve dropped half a million dollars on a new ride, some bragging rights are in order.

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Source: Daimler

Tesla’s perpetually free Supercharger station has already enabled the driving of about a million miles, totally free, to owners of the Model S sedan. However, availability of that network has been very limited. Unless you live in very specific areas of NY or CA, you’ve been out of luck. That’s beginning to change. Following up on Elon Musk’s D11 appearance, Tesla has announced that by the end of next month it will triple the size of the Supercharger network, covering crucial routes like Vancouver to Portland (with Seattle in between) and Dallas to Austin. New connection points will open in Illinois, Colorado, New York and, yes, California.

But wait, there’s more. Within six months the network will spread further and, before the end of the year, Tesla promises you’ll be able to drive from New York to Los Angeles in your Model S — so long as you don’t mind stopping for 20-minute recharges every couple-hundred miles. Finally, by mid-2014, Tesla promises its network will “stretch across the continent” and cover “almost the entire population of US and Canada.” (Sorry, Hawaii.) PR and video featuring more details after the break.

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Source: Tesla

Elon Musk is talking about all things Tesla at the D11 conference, and one particular area is on when consumers will see cheaper vehicles. As we reported yesterday, Musk wants to build a lower-cost all-electric car, getting them into the hands of more drivers to help combat climate change, among other reasons, something he has spoken about passionately in the past. When asked when we can expect a $30,000 Tesla vehicle, Musk replied: “Probably 3 to 5 years.”

He went on to explain the slowish process of getting the electric vehicles down to such a price point, saying that new technology requires “three or so iterations” before it hits the mass market. “Remember the cell phone from “Wall Street”? It was expensive and terrible. And now you can have a supercomputer in your pocket for 100 bucks.” He also went on to say such a vehicle will “probably” be 20-percent smaller than the current Model S, which is priced at $70,000 before tax credits, which bumps it down closer to $60,000.

As we reported yesterday, Musk doesn’t think competitors’ electric vehicles are all that great, such as those from Chevrolet and Nissan. The lower-cost EV he wants to produce will be nicer than the Nissan Leaf, for example, while coming in at less cost than the current Model S offering. Speaking of this particular goal, he’d said that he is “not going to let anything go, no matter what people offer, until I complete that mission.”

At the conference, he was then asked why other companies aren’t “racing to keep up with [Tesla]“. Musk says that in part he feels its first-quarter earnings will help spur other auto makers, stating that back in the Tesla Roadster days, the vehicle has been sidelined by others as a niche product, and that similar attitudes were given on the Model S. Critics claimed Tesla wouldn’t be able to make a profit on it, but it did just that earlier this year. “So I hope [other car companies] will observe there is a trend here.”

Of course, that leads to questions of when Tesla will be able to pull in a profit without subsidies, something it heavily relies on. Says Musk, “By the end of this year. We’re expecting 25 percent gross margins absent of credits. Well including consumer tax credits, but not subsidies.”

SOURCE: AllThingsD

Elon Musk: Cheaper Tesla vehicles could be here in three to five years is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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