Hasta La Gadget!

While the Tesla Roadster did a great job of satisfying our jones for an electric vehicle with great performance and no roof, it was a bit pricey and is now out of production. Into that void steps the three-wheeled Torq Roadster from Epic EV, a team also responsible for that electric-engined DeLorean prototype we saw a couple of years ago. This video shows Translogic’s Bradley Hasemeyer behind the wheel of the track-friendly (but also street legal, licensed as a motorcyle) vehicle and talking to the people who built it. It’s not quite as fast as the Tesla Roadster, but it’s still capable of 0 – 60 in about four seconds and a top speed of 110mph.

You’ll notice a Samsung tablet mounted on the dash, and many of the components are sourced from Volkswagen. Unlike most of the daily driver-aimed electric vehicles we’re familiar with that are very locked down, founder Chris Anthony claims its design allows owners to tweak and tune many features. Its DC motor means there’s no regenerative braking, but he claims it’s cheaper and allows owners to rewind the armature or upgrade the brushes. The first Torq Roadster was delivered earlier this month to a former Tesla exec and you can read about his experiences on BoostedGroup. Those of us who haven’t paid the $65,000 base price can check it out in the video, which is embedded after the break.

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Via: Autoblog

Source: Translogic, TorqEV

Protean Electric is a company that performs a lot of research and development in the in-wheel electric drive market. In-wheel electric motors are exactly what they sound like, small electric propulsion units that fit within the wheels of an automobile. Protean Electric has unveiled its production in-wheel motor at the 2013 Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress.

The Protean technology is designed to be an integral part of the hybrid powertrain system and paired with a traditional internal combustion engine. However, the manufacturer says that the technology is also capable of providing enough power to be the only source of traction drive in a fully electric vehicle. The motors are designed to reside in the space behind the wheel and produce torque and power exactly where the driver and automobile need it.

Protean says that its new production motor provides a 25% increase in peak torque compared with previous generations of its technology. The new electric drive motors can generate 735 pound-foot of torque and 100 hp each. That is a huge amount of torque for each electric motor with such a small physical footprint designed to fit inside your typical wheel.

The motors also weighing only 68 pounds each and Protean says that the electric motors are able to improve fuel economy up to 30% in hybrid configurations depending on the battery size. The design of the electric motors allows of 85% of the available kinetic energy to be recovered during braking to recharge the battery. I would love to see an all wheel drive electric vehicle using these electric motors producing over 2800 pound-foot of torque.

[via Protean Electric]

Protean debuts production in-wheel electric motor is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Sure, Mercedes-Benz is building all-electric vehicles for the daily grind, but none can deny the 750-horsepower SLS AMG Electric Drive is by far its most exciting EV. One lucky test-driver — Chris Harris from YouTube channel DRIVE — recently had the opportunity to point the overtly shiny beast round a track, and filmed it for his online passengers. He’s initially unsure the car will turn petrol-heads on, and talks torque, cockpit layout, driving modes and some behind-the-scenes tech before giving in to the sheer insanity of what’s happening on the track and under the hood. Then he picks the brains of a project manager at MB, discussing E-Cells, the chassis, electric motors and how they’re all responsible for the silent but deadly ride he’s just experienced. If you’ve got close to 20 minutes to spare (it is Friday, after all), we highly recommend you buckle up for the full video below.

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Via: Autoblog

Source: DRIVE (YouTube)

Fisker Automotive has been seeing its troubles go from bad to worse, and its now announced its most drastic steps yet to keep the company afloat. In a statement released this afternoon, the company confirmed that it is making a “significant reduction” in its workforce, which it says will ultimately leave it with approximately 25 percent of its employees — Bloomberg pegs the number of layoffs at about 160 based on its sources, down from the 200 it employed as of last week. Fisker’s statement also notes that the company is continuing its efforts to secure a strategic alliance or partnership, but says it had reached the point where layoffs became unavoidable. As Bloomberg mentions in its report, Fisker has to date only sold 2,500 of its electric vehicles, which have been beset by delays and recalls in recent years.

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Source: Bloomberg, Autoblog

Anyone who wanted a Tesla Roadster but showed up too late to the party (or too early) is about to get a second chance as soon as this year, if not quite in the way they expected. The Detroit Electric badge has been restored once more for the SP:01, a high-speed EV that shares Tesla’s early use of a Lotus design — albeit an Exige coupe this time, not an Elise. Its 201HP equivalent motor can also approximate the Roadster Sport’s brisk 0-60MPH time of 3.7 seconds. That’s roughly where the major similarities stop, however. The SP:01 should have a shorter range (around 180 miles on a European cycle) and will take a longer 4.3 hours to charge up from a 240V source, but it will cater to enthusiasts with a lighter carbon fiber body, a higher 155MPH top speed and even the choice of a manual transmission. Detroit Electric goes so far as to include a clutch, although stick shifters won’t have to use it when starting or stopping. Just be ready to pony up in short order if you like the SP:01’s notion of electric revivalism: only 999 examples of the $135,000 car will roll off the line after production starts in August.

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Via: Autoblog

Source: Detroit Electric