Tesla Current: Maxim Ostapenko Envisions an All Electric S-Class Competitor

With Tesla’s long anticipated Model S sedan still more than six months away, designers from all over the world have begun to speculate what will be next for the Silicon Valley-based automaker.
One such design study is the Current by Maxim Ostapenko, a graduate of Pasadena, California’s Art Center College of Design.
Essentially a four-door all-electric saloon car to compete with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series and Jaguar XF, the Tesla Current shares its design heritage with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz F800 Style and the Citroen Survolt concepts.

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Smart Announces First All-Electric Carsharing Fleet in the US

Daimler’s Car2go subsidiary has announced the introduction of the first all-electric carsharing fleet in North America. According to company, the plan calls for 300 zero-emission Smart ForTwo electric cars to arrive in the city of San Diego by the end of the year.

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Video: Nissan LEAF Climbs the Pikes Peak

Last month, Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima broke his own record at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a sub 10 minutes time in a 910-horsepower modified Suzuki SX4 racecar.
Now, Nissan’s first all-electric car, the LEAF, has tackled the 156 turns of the “Race to the Clouds”. Naturally, “Monster” Tajima can rest assured that his record remains safe.
That’s not to say that the LEAF driven by Chad Hord didn’t record a respectable time. After all, 14 minutes and 33 seconds with an average speed of 51.2 mph (82.4 km/h) is not to be laughed at for an EV that used just 46% of its charge to cover the demanding 12.42 miles (20 km) hill climb.
Watch the LEAF climb the Pikes Peak after the jump.

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First Fisker Karma to be Delivered to Leo Di Caprio, Company has More than 3,000 Orders

Fisker is finally starting deliveries of its Karma luxury plug-in hybrid sedan later this month –and the lucky person to get the first car will be none other than Hollywood star Leonardo di Caprio (....the spicy female model featured in the firm's print advert is not included with the car).
The company says it has already received 3,000 pre-orders with the waiting list reaching until early 2012. Other famous customers for the $100,000 hybrid sports sedan are former US Vice President Al Gore and former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

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Union of Concerned Scientists Releases 2011 Hybrid Scorecard: Prius = Good, Touareg Hybrid = Bad

The Union of Concerned Scientist, a non-profit science advocacy group in the U.S., has released its second annual Hybrid Scorecard. The organisation criticised hybrid car manufacturers for not delivering on the technology’s promise, for placing performance above fuel efficiency and environmental benefit and burdening hybrids with features that put them out of the price range of average Americans.
A total of 34 hybrid vehicles from the 2011 to 2012 model year were tested for their fuel efficiency, environmental impact, value-for-money and their so-called “forced-feature premium”. The latter is features that don’t improve fuel efficiency but probably make the cars more appealing to money-conscious consumers.

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Volvo to Extend Driving Range of its EVs by Going the Way of the Chevy Volt

Electric Vehicles, or EVs, are the future. Or so the automakers say. And they would be correct, if it wasn’t for a significant disadvantage over petrol or diesel powered models: their abysmal range which makes them suitable only for limited city use.
Volvo is taking measures to solve this problem and make its EVs attractive to the public by adding an extra 1,000 km (621 miles) to their range. The solution, which has also been adopted by other models such as the Chevrolet Volt and the Audi A1 E-Tron concept, is the addition of a “range extender” internal combustion engine.

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New Design Electric cars The 2011 Volvo c30 reviews

For 2010, the front wheel drive Volvo C30 is equipped with a 2.5 liter turbo charged engine in both the T5 2 door hatchback and the R Design 2 door hatchback models. The engine is a dual overhead cam (DOHC), inline, 5 cylinder engine with a maximum power rating of 227 hp at 5,000 rpm and a 236 foot pounds of torque delivered at a range of 1,500 rpm to 5,000 rpm. The engine enables the C30 to have a maximum towing capacity of 2,000 pounds. The engine's bore is 83 mm and its stroke is 93.2 mm. The compression ratio is 9 to 1. The engine features variable valve timing and camshaft technology to make sure all twenty four valves are operating at their maximum efficiency. Multi point fuel injection improves the C30's performance as well as its fuel economy.

The C30 accelerates from 0 mph to 60 mph in just over 7 seconds; with its standard manual transmission (an optional automatic transmission is available at additional cost. The gas mileage delivered by the C30 is a composite 24 miles per gallon (mpg): 21 mpg in city environments and 29 mpg on the highway. The superb engineering of the Volvo C3 has earned it a ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV II) rating, meaning that it is a very environmentally responsible vehicle to drive.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3764265

If you are interested to meet the Volvo C30 firsthand, you can rush to the Paris Motor Show which would be happening this December. After all, everybody would not be able to see just what kind of power and what kind of design this car has. And being able to see it upfront and in the flesh would be something worth the long wait.

According to Volvo, they are targeting a production of 65,000 units of the Volvo C30 in a year. They are also expecting a huge amount of buyers of this vehicle to hail from the continent of Europe. Those who have already set sight on the Volvo C30 concept vehicle which was shown off at the Detroit Motor Show early this year would find not a lot of changes to the production version of the Volvo C30.

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Citroën E-3POD Antistatic Concept for a Futuristic Electric Vehicle

This here is the E-3POD Antistatic design study and it was revealed at the Royal College of Art’s Interim Degree Show in London as part of the Double Challenge project sponsored by Citroën and aerodynamic simulation software company EXA. The task of the second year students was to envision an ultra-compact vehicle that could influence the design language of the automaker’s future electric cars.

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Ford to Unveil a "Groundbreaking New Vehicle" Along with European Premieres at Geneva Show

As we're nearing closer to the 2011 Geneva Salon, automakers are providing us with more details about their plans. Today, Ford announced that it will display a number of new production and concept cars including what the company simply described as a "groundbreaking new vehicle" without getting into any specifics.

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Geneva Preshow: Infiniti Outlines New Concept for Entry-Level Model

A pair of black and white sketches outlining the shape of what appears to be a hatchback model and a statement from Infiniti's Vice President, Andy Palmer, in 2010 saying that the brand is exploring the development of a new entry-level vehicle, is all we get about the Japanese luxury brand's new concept car that will debut at the Geneva Motor Show in the beginning of March.

However, we'll remind you during the September 2010 announcement, Mr. Palmer had shown a more revealing teaser rendering of an all-electric model capable of seating up to five passengers, which he said would enter production in 2013.

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