Hasta La Gadget!

To those who are still convinced that loud motorcycles make you more safe: it’s best you look away now. The quietest bikes in the business just got even more silent. Zero Motorcycles just has unveiled its 2011 lineup of electric motorcycles and among a suite of generally tidy enhancements comes a change to belt drive. This means no more chains, no more chain lube, and no more rattling and grating noises. There’s nothing but the sound of the wind and the faint scream of the motor, which you can hear for yourself in the video below. Also new is a 12.5 percent boost in battery capacity and a quick-charge option that drops charging times in half — but does so at an up-front cost of $595. That’s on top of the $9,995 for a road-going Zero S. Meanwhile the dual-sport Zero DS starts at $10,495, off-road Zero X at $7,995, and the higher-spec Zero MX $9,495. All are available for order right now.

Update: We spoke with the kind folks at Zero and got a little more information on that new trick charger. A current Zero S or Zero DS will take about four hours to charge, but if you opt for the $595 quick-charge it’ll go down to just two hours — though you can get a 90 percent in about an hour. The X and MX, meanwhile, can be fully charged in about an hour. This is without requiring any fancy plugs or DC converters, it’s still just a standard 110 outlet!

[Thanks, Darius]

Continue reading Zero Motorcycles unveils faster-charging, even quieter 2011 motorcycle lineup (video)

Zero Motorcycles unveils faster-charging, even quieter 2011 motorcycle lineup (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 10:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Circling the globe on hydrogen power sounds like a bit of a challenge, what with the lack H2 pumps and all, but Mercedes-Benz set off to show that it could do just that — with the help of a mobile filling station, natürlich. It’s the F-Cell World Drive, and unfortunately, things got off to something of a bad start with two cars running out of fuel on the very first leg of the journey, one with Autoblog‘s Michael Harley at the wheel, no less. This first leg apparently began with a trip down an unrestricted bit of the Autobahn and, well, it seems the drivers of the cars decided to see what the little green B-Class F-Cells could do. The answer is 110mph, and of course moving along at this rate of speed did little for their range. The two cars came up 20km short of their first planned refueling stop, heavy right feet resulting in consumption of 1.5Kg of hydrogen per 100km distance — roughly equivalent of 45mpg and way less than the 71mpg equivalent the cars usually manage. We’re told day two, when drivers kept the speed to around 70mph, progressed much more smoothly, with both cars covering their expected legs without issue.

Mercedes F-Cell World Drive gets off to an inauspicious start originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Motor Trend  | Email this | Comments

The Porsche 356 Speedster and Porche 550 Spyder are some of the most iconic sports cars of all time, minimalist design and racing pedigree making their mark — and of course James Dean losing his life in a Spyder certainly helped it to gain some notoriety. Restored models go for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the one you’re looking at above goes for much less. It’s a replica made by California company Euromasters, and it’s all-electric. Specs on that plus the Spyder replica are identical, including 120hp motors, top speed of over 100mph, a range of over 200 miles, and 0 – 60 in a very brisk 5.6 seconds — almost four seconds faster than an original road-going 356. The Speedster was unveiled at the LA Auto Show late last year and both it and the Spyder are now up for order. $49,900 if you want the Speedster, another $5,000 if you want the James Dean Edition Spyder. Just be careful if you get one: we doubt these Little Bastards are much safer in a crash than the originals.

Euromasters electric classic Porsche replicas let you be a rebel without a gas tank originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Auto Bild  |  Electric Speedster, Electric Spyder  | Email this | Comments

If you’re still waiting on your Nissan Leaf pre-order slip to bear fruit, you’re not alone. But, know that you might be able to finally go and rent one of the things — if you live in Japan (or have the appropriate international drivers license and willingness to travel). Nissan just delivered 190 of the hotly-desired hatches to rental companies across its home country and, while Hertz is planning to offer the things up around these parts, we don’t see any available for reservations yet. There are some lovely mid-sized alternatives available, though, if you don’t mind white paint, Velour interiors, and gas-powered engines.

Nissan delivers 190 Leaf EVs to rental companies in Japan, pre-orderers still get none originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  ElectricCarsReport  | Email this | Comments

Regardless of whether the internal combustion engine gets snuffed out this century, EV chargers aren’t going to replace gas pumps at the rate they’re presently rolling out, so it’s quite likely new Leaf and Prius PHEV owners will need to charge at home. How might that affect one’s electricity bill? It’ll probably go up, but a Virginia utility says that a full tank of juice might not cost all that much. Dominion Virginia Power is volunteering to cut its rates by more than half for off-peak charging as part of a proposed pilot program, whereby 750 lucky EV owners will get enough electricity for a 40-mile commute for just 35 cents so long as they charge overnight. The utility’s not talking kilowatt-hours here, but it says it typically gets $0.86 for the same amount. The deal requires the installation of a specially-approved charging station, but Virginia’s looking at a second scheme too — if those 750 agree to pay a flexible off-peak rate of between $0.33 and $0.41 per 40-mile dose, they can power the rest of their house using the budget volts as well. PR after the break.

Continue reading Virginia pilot program halves electricity bill for charging EVs overnight

Virginia pilot program halves electricity bill for charging EVs overnight originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 07:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All Cars Electric  |   | Email this | Comments