Hasta La Gadget!

Seems like reports of the Roadster’s demise were indeed exaggerated. Tesla has announced it’s bringing its iconic electric automobile to five new nations. Canada and Japan are accompanied by Hong Kong, Poland and Turkey in being able to now take deliveries of freshly charged Roadsters. Of course, sufficiently motivated buyers could have imported theirs by now, but it’s always good to have local support on an official basis and this does seem to signal a more ambitious outlook on the part of Tesla. Also included in the press release — yours to peruse after the break — is word that the company has shifted 1,200 Roadsters since inception. That might not be a lot but you have to start somewhere, let’s hope the next 1,200 don’t take nearly as long to hit the road.

Continue reading Tesla Roadster goes continent-hopping, expands markets to include Canada and Japan

Tesla Roadster goes continent-hopping, expands markets to include Canada and Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Admit it, you’ve been desperately refreshing this page in the simple hope of learning more about BMW’s first all-electric vehicle. Originally announced with nary a visual clue to its appearance, the Megacity has now been fleshed out in the above futuristic sketch, which gives us an inkling of the car’s design direction. Don’t expect it to have too much bearing on the final product, though — we do anticipate the real deal to have, y’know, tyres. BMW is also putting together an all-new chassis specifically for this battery-powered city transporter, and has already begun crash-testing the carbon fiber-equipped shells. In spite of its compact dimensions, the Megacity is being described as a “premium sustainability” vehicle, meaning its 2013 launch will be relevant to a somewhat select group of people.

Continue reading BMW Megacity EV gets sketched out in more detail

BMW Megacity EV gets sketched out in more detail originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, electric supercar, why do you tease us so? Mercedes is latest to throw up a prototype of what it expects future rubber burners to look like, and its SLS E-Cell doesn’t disappoint. Based on its petrol-guzzling SLS AMG model, this beast produces 526 horsepower and 649 pound-feet of torque, thanks to four motors (one for each wheel) allied to a battery array that can provide an industry-leading 480kW of juice. How fast does that get you to the magical 60mph marker? Try four seconds. There’s a handsome 10-inch infotainment panel in the center console, which you may see after the break, but the best news is that this prototype can be driven now and could well turn into a production Benz at some point in 2013.

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell prototype fuels our electric dreams with 526 horses

Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell prototype fuels our electric dreams with 526 horses originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen some wacky prototypes of electric vehicles over the years, but never anything quite like the Weng. It’s a product of graduate students at Stanford, and it stands for Where Everyone Needs to Go. Where does everyone need to go? Less than 30 miles at 35mph apparently, as that’s the maximum range and speed of this conveyance, which stylistically has more in common with a utility trailer than something you might want to actually want to pilot. But, pilot this thing you can, controlled by a twist grip on the right and a little PS3-style thumbstick on the left for steering, meaning it’s both drive and steer by wire. Power comes from a pair of brushless scooter motors in the (scooter-sized) wheels, and from what we can see from the video below power looks to be rather scooter like as well. The kicker? An anticipated $10k price tag if this ever did come to production. Cool project, guys, and that you threw it together in a few months is hugely impressive, but in our estimation this is not “what a modern vehicle needs to be.”

Continue reading Stanford’s crazy Weng electric car doesn’t have a prayer of seeing production (video)

Stanford’s crazy Weng electric car doesn’t have a prayer of seeing production (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want to show that electric cars can be practical in day-to-day living? Take one on an impossibly long trip and show the world. That’s the plan for the Racing Green Endurance team, centered at Imperial College London, which will be taking its SRZero electric car along 26,000km (16,000 miles) of the Pan-American Highway, starting in northern Alaska and driving all the way down to Tierra del Fuego on the southern tip of South America. Their car is a repurposed Radical SR8, once a back-breakingly quick two-seat prototype with a curb weight of just 1,433lbs and a rollicking 363 V8 in the back. That lump has been displaced by a pair of Axial Flux electric motors, producing a combined peak of 386hp, though their batteries conspire to nearly double the car’s initial weight to 2,600lbs. Still, a 248 mile range is predicted on the EPA cycle, and since you can eke out 300 in a Tesla Roadster (224 mile EPA-rated range), 350 might just be possible here. We’ll find out in July, when the trip begins. Early video after the break, filmed by Claudio von Planta of Long Way Round fame, and we threw in footage of the SR8 setting the Nurburgring production car record just for kicks.

Continue reading Racing Green Endurance SRZero electric car to make 16,000 mile trip, 250 at a time

Racing Green Endurance SRZero electric car to make 16,000 mile trip, 250 at a time originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 May 2010 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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