Hasta La Gadget!

As expected, GM just officially unwrapped its new Opel Ampera, the European rebadge of its Voltec-powered Chevy Volt. It’s looking pretty “fit,” as they say overseas, and will go into production late 2011. Internals are just what we’re used to with the Volt, with a 16kWh lithium-ion battery that takes the car 60km (about 37 miles) and a gas powered generator for recharging the battery once depleted, that can extend the range to more than 500km (about 311 miles). Videos galore are after the break.

Continue reading GM’s Opel Ampera plug-in hybrid hits the carpet in Geneva

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GM’s Opel Ampera plug-in hybrid hits the carpet in Geneva originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know things are rough in the auto industry when even an electric car company is struggling to carry on, but that’s exactly what seems to be happening with Pininfarina. After showcasing its rather cute B0 electric car at the Paris Motor Show last year, the company was slated to debut a prototype with a working engine at next week’s show in Geneva. Instead, it’ll be hosting up that same B0 shell as before, with an undisclosed inside source noting that lingering debt problems were forcing the delay. Unfortunately, the mole failed to elaborate on the matter, so we’re left with absolutely no indication of when the company may switch gears and forge ahead with production. In other words, don’t bank on this being your next ride — unless you plan on lending the designing company a few hundred million to clear a path forward, of course.

[Via Register Hardware]

Filed under: Transportation

Pininfarina delays prototype showing of B0 electric car originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You can probably tell from the image above that the Wheego Whip isn’t the fastest automobile to ever hit the streets, but it’ll still be getting Americans from point A to point B before most of those other “concepts” will. The company is currently looking to score dealers that will sell its “electric LSVs (Low Speed Vehicles),” the first of which is obviously the Whip. If all goes to plan, it’ll have 50 dealers across America by May, and given that this is “the best affordable electric car in the world” (that’s the words of RTEV CEO Mike McQuary), we’d say all 50 should be brimming with customers. Unfortunately, we’re not told just how fast slow this thing actually goes nor how expensive cheap it’ll be, but hey, May’s just a few months out, anyway.

Filed under: Transportation

All-electric Wheego Whip hitting America in May… slowly originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aptera only just unveiled the complete specs for its Aptera 2e all-electric vehicle a little over a week ago, but the folks at Road & Track Magazine have already managed to talk their way into a test drive, and they’ve naturally shared their impressions for those of us still stuck in our non-space age vehicles. While there’s obviously still a bit of refining to do before the final production model, the magazine nonetheless seems to be pretty impressed with the head-turner, saying that it seems far quicker than it actually is due to its go-kart-like handing and aircraft-style windshield, which gives the driver an up close view of the pavement ahead. They do say that the not-quite-gullwing doors will take some getting used to, however, but once inside there’s apparently plenty of room, even for someone with a 6-foot-3-inch frame. Be sure to hit up the read link below for a video and plenty more pics, including a glimpse at the development process.

Filed under: Transportation

Aptera 2e gets taken for a test drive originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Volkswagen sure is talking tough about going green, but we’ve yet to actually see any of these long-teased concepts hit the show floor. In case a plug-in Twin Drive hybrid just wasn’t enough to look forward to, the suits in Wolfsburg have just inked a letter of intent with Toshiba in order to form a collaborative agreement that will see the two working together in the development of “electric drive units and the accompanying power electronics for Volkswagen’s planned New Small Family.” If rumors prove accurate, the NSF crew will mimic that Up! concept we’ve been drooling over for ages, and if you were wondering where the batteries would be coming from, this here arrangement suggests that it’ll be from within the partnership. Oh, and you want a launch date, don’t you? How about “forever from now,” or as VW’s Dr. Martin Winterkorn put it: “A considerable amount of research and development work still has to be carried out until we can produce the electric vehicle.”

Continue reading Volkswagen and Toshiba to link up on electric drive systems

Filed under: Transportation

Volkswagen and Toshiba to link up on electric drive systems originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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