AUTOCARS TREND 2011: Video

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Monday, January 10, 2011

VIDEO: Ford Focus Electric is unveiled in Las Vegas

From the Autoblog: The Focus Electric is powered by 100-kilowatt electric motor with a 23-kWh battery, capable of producing 123 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque at its peak.

Ford says its EV can reach a top speed of 84 miles per hour, and while the official range hasn't been disclosed just yet, we're told it should be able to travel up to 100 miles on a single charge (just like the Leaf).

Speaking of charging, Ford says the Focus Electric can be fully charged in just three hours from its 240-volt home-installed charging station, though the car will take up to 20 hours to charge via a standard 120-volt outlet.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

VIDEO: How to charge your electric vehicle with home solar panels

Via EVPerspective / Los Angeles Times: Here's a video by LA Time's reporter Susan Carpenter on the equipment and costs involved with charging your electric car at home, using solar panels:

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

VIDEO: Renault ZE electric Santa ad

French carmaker Renault is telling everyone 'the next Christmas is going to be electric'. The Renault Fluence ZE, the Kangoo ZE and the three-seatter Twizy, all scheduled to go on sale in 2011, are briefly featured in this Renault's French television ad, along with the Zoe, expected to debut in 2012.

Earlier this December, Renault suggested that its Fluence ZE electric sedan could go on sale in Portugal for around 22,000 euros (after a 5,000 euros state discount), plus an 80 euros monthly fee for the electric battery. The Kangoo ZE will cost 24,000, plus a 90 euros monthly fee.

The three-seater Renault Twizy, expected to debut in late 2011, will cost around 16,000 euros, about 2,000 less than the Zoe, the french carmaker estimates.

Monday, December 27, 2010

VIDEO: Renault Fluence ZE electric sedan to cost 22,000 euros in Portugal

Renault has revealed the estimated prices for the three electric models the French carmaker will launch in Portugal in 2011. According to Turbo, the Fluence ZE electric sedan will cost 22,000 euros, plus an 80 euros monthly fee for the electric battery. The price reflects a 5,000 euros discount by the Portuguese state, being awarded to the first 5,000 electric vehicle owners.

The Kangoo ZE will cost 24,000, plus a 90 euros monthly fee. The commercial vehicle is not eligible for the passenger car-only state grant.

The three-seater Renault Twizy, expected to debut in late 2011, will cost around 16,000 euros, about 2,000 less than the Zoe, the french carmaker estimates.

Portugal has a nationwide EV charging network. There are currently over one hundred plug-in stations across the territory, and the number will increase to 1.300 until June 2011. Mobi.e's network is the world's only user-focused, inter-operable smart grid to date open to every manufacturer, utility company and private operator, the project's website states.

VIDEO: Renault Fluence ZE e Kangoo ZE a partir de 22.000 euros em Portugal

A Renault divulgou os preços estimados para os veículos eléctricos que a marca francesa vai comercializar a partir de 2011 em Portugal. Segundo a Turbo, o Fluence ZE, familiar de quatro portas, chega ao mercado a partir dos 22 mil euros. O valor inclui o desconto de 5 mil euros concedido pelo Estado aos primeiros 5 mil proprietários de veículos eléctricos em Portugal. Ao preço junta-se uma mensalidade de 80 euros pelo aluguer da bateria de iões de lítio.

O comercial eléctrico Kangoo ZE será comercializado com um preço-base de 24 mil euros. Os compradores deste veículo não terão direito ao desconto de 5 mil euros, uma vez que este apenas abrange ligeiros de passageiros. A mensalidade do aluguer da bateria do Kangoo eléctrico é 10 euros mais elevada que a do Fluence ZE: 90 euros.

O mini-eléctrico de três lugares Renault Twizy, que deverá chegar ao mercado no final de 2011, tem um preço estimado de 16 mil euros. Já o futuro Zoe ficará por 18 mil euros.

Para além dos incentivos estatais à compra de veículos eléctricos, Portugal conta já com uma rede de abastecimento para estes automóveis. A rede Mobi.e é actualmente composta por cerca de uma centena de postos de recarregamento, número que deverá aumentar para 1300 até Junho de 2011.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

VIDEO: Deepwater Horizon's Final Hours, by the NYT

From the New York Times: The worst of the explosions gutted the Deepwater Horizon stem to stern. Crew members were cut down by shrapnel, hurled across rooms and buried under smoking wreckage. Some were swallowed by fireballs that raced through the oil rig’s shattered interior. Dazed and battered survivors, half-naked and dripping in highly combustible gas, crawled inch by inch in pitch darkness, willing themselves to the lifeboat deck.

It was no better there.

That same explosion had ignited a firestorm that enveloped the rig’s derrick. Searing heat baked the lifeboat deck. Crew members, certain they were about to be cooked alive, scrambled into enclosed lifeboats for shelter, only to find them like smoke-filled ovens.

Men admired for their toughness wept. Several said their prayers and jumped into the oily seas 60 feet below. An overwhelmed young crew member, Andrea Fleytas, finally screamed what so many were thinking:

“We’re going to die!”

It has been eight months since the Macondo well erupted below the Deepwater Horizon, creating one of the worst environmental catastrophes in United States history. With government inquiries under way and billions of dollars in environmental fines at stake, most of the attention has focused on what caused the blowout. Investigators have dissected BP’s well design and Halliburton’s cementing work, uncovering problem after problem.

But this was a disaster with two distinct parts — first a blowout, then the destruction of the Horizon. The second part, which killed 11 people and injured dozens, has escaped intense scrutiny, as if it were an inevitable casualty of the blowout.

It was not.

Read more of this extensive piece by the New York Times, or watch the video below:

Friday, December 24, 2010

VIDEO: Toyota to unveil Prius MPV and mini Prius in Detroit

Toyota will unveil two new Prius models at the Detroit Auto Show on January 10: a hybrid MPV, or multi-purpose vehicle, and a smaller Prius, with its final name yet to be known, that Green Car Reports refers as something of a hybrid Toyota Yaris.

There's also some uncertainty surrounding when these two models will go on sale, possibly in 2013. More news are certainly likely to emerge from Detroit. Check this Prius MPV video with skateboarder, green enthusiast Bob Burnquist after the jump.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

VIDEO: Honda debuts solar powered plug-in charging station

Honda has announced it is conducting real life tests on its network of solar powered plug-in charging stations in Japan's Saitama Prefecture.

The company is also developing smaller sized solar hydrogen stations for individual costumers that could fit in a garage.

Watch the video after the jump, from NTDTV:

VIDEO: Jay Leno picks up his new Chevrolet Volt

American talk-show host and car aficionado Jay Leno was one of the first Californian costumers to pick up the new Chevrolet Volt.

Interestingly enough, Leno jumped on the Volt bandwagon several months after saying he wasn't quite in a rush to buy one of the first models.

Watch the video after the jump:

Monday, December 20, 2010

VIDEO: Mercedes electric SLS AMG review

After Tesla, it was just a matter of time before Mercedes supercars went electric. UK's Auto Express has tested the SLS AMG E-Cell, a car with not one, but four electric motors.

With an impressive estimated autonomy of 200 km (125 miles), the SLS AMG E-Cell promisses to deliver the same thrills of a V8 - almost, as it is 400kg heavier than the non-EV SLS.

And it will be probably twice as expensive, Auto Express states, although there's still a lot for Mercedes to reveal about the model. The SLS AMG E-Cell is expected to debut in the markets somewhen between late 2012 and early 2013.

VIDEO: Renault Twingo 'lesbian' ad causes a buzz in Italy

Sex definitely sells. It hasn't been banned from the Italian airwaves, contrary to what the Daily Mail and the Huffington Post have reported, but Renault Twingo's 'lesbian' TV ad has caused a buzz in Italy and online.

The controversial commercial features two young women exchanging flirtatious glances at a cocktail party before trailing off to a bedroom. The brunette teasingly strips down to black lingerie while the blonde blindfolds her with a silk stocking before stealing the brunette's pink Twingo. 'New Twingo Miss Sixty, Competition is a Female Business', goes the tagline.

State TV RAI and Mediaset, headed by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, did air the ad, but latter drop it. Sky Italy keeps airing the commercial, which has been criticized by gay rights groups. Anyhow, the ad is a hit on YouTube, with the video bellow getting over 340,000 hits in a matter of days.

The cheapest Tesla ever... a RC Tesla

Click for the video

Saturday, December 18, 2010

MSNBC's piece on new car charging installation projects

MSNBC Environmental Entrepreneurs' piece on electrical mobility and plug-in charging systems in the United States:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Hat tip to Cars21's Arnaud de Coninck

Who said the Smart ForTwo is too small?

19 teenage girls cram into Smart in Pakistan:

Friday, December 10, 2010

Revenge of the Electric Car - TRAILER

Coming in Spring 2011, a Chris Paine documentary film on the fall and rise of the electric car. A must see for all EV enthusiasts! Here's the official site. Watch the trailer below:

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Desert Drifting a Sonata: Knowing When to Stop is a Sign of Wisdom...

What happens when you live in / near the desert and have a bunch of money to waste? Cars get destroyed, that's what. Here's a small clip of somebody taking their Hyundai Sonata out for a little slideways action and utterly shredding the rear passenger side. I'd venture to say it's totaled, considering the rear wheels aren't meant to be pushed up into the wheel well like that.

Also, how fast do you have to be going to launch the spare tire out of the trunk? If anyone knows what event this was or what specifically was going on (other than putting that poor white Sonata into a mound of dirt), give us a shout.

By Phil Alex

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Desert Drifting a Sonata: Knowing When to Stop is a Sign of Wisdom...

By Phil Alex

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2011 Camaro SS Convertible Neiman Marcus Edition, Now on Video

Following on from Tuesday's presentation of the special edition version of the forthcoming 2011 Camaro SS Convertible that will be offered in this year's Nieman Marcus Christmas catalog, Chevrolet released the first videos of the car with GM's people talking us around the design details.

The Nieman Marcus edition of GM's drop-top muscle car will be produced in a limited run of 100 units, each powered by a 6.2-liter V8 engine with pricing set at $75,000 a piece. The regular Camaro Convertible will be given its public premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show in late November. Click through for the videos, or check out our previous post for all the details on this special edition (but obviously overpriced) model.

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2011 Camaro SS Convertible Neiman Marcus Edition, Now on Video

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Saturday, October 2, 2010

Opel's Hot GTC Paris Concept: Live Photos and New Video Trailer

Meet the star of Opel's Paris Motor Show stand and probably one of the best looking concepts of this year's show, the GTC Paris Concept that will spawn next year's three-door Astra model.

Even though the mainstream variants of the production Astra GTC will lose the muscular bumpers, LEDs and tall 21-inch wheels of the design study, it's safe to say that what you see here is more or less what you'll get when the car arrives in Opel and Vauxhall showrooms across Europe in 2011.

For those wanting something closer in looks to the concept, there's good news as the flagship OPC model is expected to keep most of the styling features including the chunky bumpers.

The same goes for the GTC Paris Concept's direct injection and turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 290-horsepower that strongly hints at the specifications of the Golf R / Scirocco R-rivaling Astra GTC OPC model, which is also due in late 2011.

For full details on Opel's Paris Show attention-grabber, hop over to our previous story here.