The most fuel efficient hybrid for sale in the US gets 51 MPG, but a startup called Transonic Combustion claims they can improve that. They claim their fuel-injection system will get 64 MPG. More »
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We’ve heard Steve Woz talk about the acceleration issue with his Prius and our friends at Jalopnik have been covering Toyota’s whole recall mess. The entire time software and electronics were blamed for the issues, but now Toyota President Akio Toyoda is telling the House oversight committee that “he is “absolutely confident” that the electronics of Toyota’s gas pedal systems are not the source” of these problems.
Guess it must be the floor mats again. [SF Gate]
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BMW’s first all-electric regular series production vehicle, the Megacity EV, has now been set in stone and inserted into the company’s roadmap for a commercial launch in 2012 or 2013. The Bavarian automaker has gone official with word that it plans to use its Leipzig assembly plant to produce the car and further notes that it’ll feature a similar setup to the ActiveE concept (pictured above), which is set for field testing in 2011. Essentially a 1 series that feeds off the electric grid rather than the nearest diesel pump, the ActiveE runs off an array of lithium-ion batteries á la the well liked but recently troubled Tesla Roadster, and will serve as a test mule for refining the underlying technology. Generating up to 170bhp might not sound all that impressive, but it should be more than sufficient for the urban commuters these vehicles will be aimed at. Now we just need Mercedes and Audi to match that release schedule and the electric car should finally have its day in the mainstream sun.
BMW commits to Megacity EV by 2013, will start by testing ActiveE all-electric 1 series next year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mercedes has just announced its latest “research vehicle,” the F800 Style, and as concepts are wont to do, it intersperses some extremely ambitious goals with plenty of viable and forthcoming improvements. The two powertrain options touted by the company represent this best. On the one hand, there’s a perfectly reasonable PHEV setup that will generate north of 400bhp combined grunt and offer an 18-mile range when abstaining from gas power. On the other, there’s an electric drive with fuel cells system that will get you a spectacular 375-mile cruising range — if only it’d make it to real products, which seems highly unlikely right now. All the same, as the company’s premium sedan concept, the F800 Style represents the direction of Mercedes’ future designs, both in its external styling and in the internal focus on becoming friendlier to the environment. We can find little reason to object to either. Check out a couple more pics after the break, then hit Autoblog for more details.
Continue reading Mercedes-Benz F800 Style teases us with fuel cells, aggressive new look
Mercedes-Benz F800 Style teases us with fuel cells, aggressive new look originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Just a friendly reminder not to hookah and drive this weekend. Not because you’ll get in an accident. Because it looks suggestive. [Black and WTF]
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I can think of a thousand reasons why I’d want to transform my car into a Russian tank and only one why I wouldn’t (that, for some reason, my car was already a Russian tank). [Automotto via DVICE]
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No longer do you need to fantasize about buying a Tesla, now that Trexa has released pricing details of its “scalable lithium-drive platform,” (aka the base for building your own electric car).
$15,999 is a fair price to pay for the starting block of your new car, when other electric cars can set you back more than $100,000 (for a Tesla, anyway—Nissan’s Leaf costs around $30,000.) Still, who hasn’t dreamed of building their very own car? And as it’s electric, you’ll be saving the planet, and your wallet.
The starting price is for the base model, which has a top speed of 100mph, an acceleration of 0-60mph in 8 seconds, charge time of four hours and a 105 mile range. [Trexa]
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Toyota just announced a recall of its 2010 hybrid cars. Four hundred thousand worth. The reason? A change in “brake feeling” caused by faulty antilock braking software. There is no fix for cars on the road yet.
This problem, unrelated to the sticky gas pedal issue that other drivers complained about. But I’m still wondering what exactly is bothering our Prius-loving friend Woz, who claims he has a faulty cruise control issue that is software related, not mechanical.
Remember that old joke about if cars were as crash prone as computers? Yeah, not funny in 2010. [CNN]
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This unofficial Yamaha concept hopes to save room on the roads by fitting you inside a wheel. While the tail fin offers a touch of classic style, we have no clue how one sees the road ahead. [
While this is really just a Honda ad, I had to share its charms with you. Because not only is the alleged Alec probably the most promising mind of his generation; he’s likely husky and rejected by his peers. [