Hasta La Gadget!

When we first left the safe confines of our parents’ home, many of us experienced separation anxiety. As we grow older, we suffer from disconnection anxiety — and no, iPhone owners, that doesn’t refer to your fear of dropped calls. Now, BMW is combating our range anxiety, or fear of being stranded when your car’s batteries run out of juice, by putting an internal combustion range extender in its Megacity EV. BMW is taking a page out of the Chevy Volt’s playbook by placing a small ICE in its EV that doubles the range of the vehicle from 50 to 100 miles — all in an effort to assuage the (irrational?) fears of its potential US customers. The gasoline generator will be an option for those who wish to venture beyond the city limits, so if you want to keep it totally green you can still do so. Our Bavarian friends won’t be bringing the Megacity to market until 2013, so that should give you enough time to decide if you want to hasten the death of the ICE or prolong its life a bit longer.

BMW puts a range-extending ICE in its Megacity EV, provides tonic for your range anxiety originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rendery concept images not doing enough to pique your interest in the future-Z concept ESFLOW from Nissan? Maybe you’d be into some honest to gosh pictures of the real thing sitting pretty on a white-walled photo stage, prepping for its glamour shoot. All Cars Electric has a suite of photos of the inside, highlighting its sweeping lines and decidedly fanciful interior. The car is said to manage the 0 – 60 sprint in under five seconds while also delivering 150 miles of range from its Li-ion battery pack, helped by a lightweight composite body and aluminum chassis. Whether the car ever hits production remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt it’s looking good already.

Nissan ESFLOW pictured in the flesh ahead of Geneva unveil originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota has been showing off an electric vehicle concept based on its iQ ultra-compact for a couple of years now, but it looks like it’s finally worked up enough confidence to actually put it into production. The first step down that road will occur at the Geneva Motor Show next month, where Toyota will show off a “near-production” prototype of its iQ EV (not necessarily the actual name), which is apparently much like its FT-EV concept, but with an improved lithium-ion battery pack that promises a range of 105 kilometers (or 65 miles) on a single charge. Assuming all goes as planned, the car will then be put into production following some additional testing later this year, and Toyota will reportedly begin leasing it to consumers at some point in 2012 — Europe seems to be first in line for the car, but it will apparently be headed to North America as well.

Toyota to show off iQ EV prototype, put it into production next year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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They’re just prototypes at this point and number only three, but the trio of Boxster E convertibles Porsche has produced could be a sign of very good things to come from the company. Of course there’s the 918 RSR and 918 Spyder, but the former of those two is intended only for the track and the latter only for the incredibly wealthy. An EV Boxster could be attainable by the only moderately wealthy, though of course Porsche’s giving no indication of price for these yet. Nor range, sadly, nor performance — they’re simply “rolling laboratories” that will provide data for future models to come. Sweet, sweet data.

Porsche unveils fully-electric Boxster E, a drop-top EV we can get behind originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Concept cars always promise the car of tomorrow, but they only get us hot and bothered for fantastical design elements that rarely make it to production due to trivial concerns like “cost” and “the laws of physics.” Undaunted by these limitations, Nissan has rolled out a new futuristic EV called ESFLOW — with a roofline inspired by modern Z cars and an elongated bonnet reminiscent of the original 240Z — to titillate our inner gearhead. Scheduled for a Geneva Motor Show debut in early March, the coupe is powered by children’s dreams and whimsy dual electric motors driving the rear wheels and can take residents of imagination land from 0-100kph (0-62mph for us Yanks) in less than five seconds. If the ESFLOW is where Nissan’s going with its EV designs — the Leaf isn’t exactly a looker — we’re all for it, but don’t expect to see it on the road anytime soon as it’s only a concept after all. Vid’s after the break.

Continue reading Nissan unveils sexy ESFLOW concept EV sports car

Nissan unveils sexy ESFLOW concept EV sports car originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 04:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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