Hasta La Gadget!

Yesterday we saw the junk in the trunk, now here’s what’s powering it. It’s the motor that makes the Ford Focus Electric go, and while we still don’t know many details (we couldn’t get anyone to quote us a weight) it is a reasonably compact little thing. We did, however, get confirmation that it will not be run through either a standard transmission, like the dry-clutch automatic that the regular Focus comes with, nor something like the two-speed transmission that Tesla uses in its Roadster. It’ll be “like a CVT” we’re told, keeping the motor at its most efficient RPM, and while we’re not sure what that looks like on the inside we’re sure that there’ll be no shifting involved, neither manual nor automatic.

Ford Focus Electric motor extracted, split asunder, coppery guts exposed originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, wow. Are you sure we’re ready for this, Tesla? I mean, just last week you wouldn’t even let us sit inside your Model S prototype and now… this. You sure we’re not moving too fast? A fully naked Model S is on display at the company’s booth, bare frame and bare aluminum separated by a Lucite riser, giving us a glimpse at the car’s motor nestled between the rear wheels. Take a look at it, barely bigger than the exhaust of a modern musclecar yet powering this thing to 60mph in 5.7 seconds and up to an anticipated maximum 300 mile range. Unfortunately the tangle of wires and other components that’ll actually make this thing go are missing, and the paint, but it’s still a great view at the simple, obviously Elise-inspired frame that holds it all together.

Tesla Model S takes off its clothes, shows us its motor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not one to be one-upped by Hertz — which already announced a plug-in rental program that’ll include the almighty Tesla Roadster and the diminutive Smart Fortwo — Enterprise Rent-A-Car has just announced that it’ll be the first to offer Chevrolet’s Volt later in the month. The company’s Mark Christopher Auto Center in Ontario, California will have an undisclosed amount in stock for daily and weekly rentals, and it sounds as if it’ll be grappling for more just as soon as they roll off of the production line. For those who can’t quite make it down to the desert, Enterprise will be offering 500 Nissan Leaf vehicles nationwide, with charging stations already installed in Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Monica. No word on what type of fee you’ll be hit with when you bring it back with only 20 percent of the batteries charged, but you can rest assured the bigwigs at Enterprise are already thinking about it.

Continue reading Enterprise to offer Chevy Volt in California, probably ding you for bringing it back half-charged

Enterprise to offer Chevy Volt in California, probably ding you for bringing it back half-charged originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 01:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What do you need to do to get within a whiff of 350 miles on a single charge out of your Tesla Roadster? Paint it a luscious pearly white — and maybe close off a highway and drive at 20mph. The run was made in the Imperial Valley of California, by a team who somehow got access to a loop of closed (and presumably rather flat) roads and ran them over and over and over again through the course of two days. The result was quite impressive: 347.2 miles. Perhaps not entirely practical or attainable to the average driver, but impressive nevertheless.

1,000th Tesla Roadster sets production EV record: 347.2 miles originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford just made industry history by being the first major auto manufacturer to unveil a new model at CES, the Focus Electric. But we already knew it would. What we didn’t know were the details of the thing, but now we have them. And a lot of pretty pictures. Ford is saying the car will manage a range of 100 miles and that it will offer an MPGe rating (a conceptual equivalency of miles per gallon for an electric or otherwise non-traditionally powered car) higher than the Volt and comparable to the Leaf, but crucially it’s saying that it can be recharged on a 240 volt outlet in four hours or less. The Leaf can take up to seven hours with the same amount of current — though of course CHAdeMO support there handily trumps that. More details below, along with details of some pretty blue butterflies.

Continue reading Ford unveils Focus Electric with MyFord Mobile smartphone integration

Ford unveils Focus Electric with MyFord Mobile smartphone integration originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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