Is it ‘back to the future’ time for Delorean Motor Company (DMC) and their cult sports car DMC-12?

The company went bankrupt in 1982, but the DMC-12, with its the gull-wing doors, is still revered by the generation who grew up driving gas guzzlers and watching the Hollywood flick Back to the future which, by the way, featured this car as a convertible time machine.

The new DMC-12, which will be brought out next year, will not have a fuel tank, but a charging plug inside the front grill. The upgraded model was put on display at this year’s New York International Auto Show.

The rear side of the new DMC will be all about storage, of power that is. The engine is replaced by a 32-kWh lithium-ion phosphate battery pack, which is capable of pushing the car to a top speed of 125 miles per hour and a range of 100 miles.

Of course, this futuristic DMC, which I repeat is not a time machine as of now, costs a mega $95,000.

[ source ]

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A new lightweight electric car has won over the title of the “fastest car” in their class. Electric Blue, the name of the EV, is the work of over 130 students over a 7 year period. The group of Brigham Young University engineering students have managed to build an electric car to set the world land speed record, averaging 155.8 mph over the two required qualifying runs, one of which they even reached 175 mph.

The students have been a part of this project over the last seven years under Professor Perry Carter’s supervising hand. “This is like Christmas morning,” said a former student captain on the project who went to witness the record-setting runs.

The car, a streamliner (long, slender shape), was custom-built by the students. The body is made out of lightweight carbon fiber, while lithium iron phosphate batteries power the car and helps it reach the high speeds. Electric Blue competes in the E1 class, which includes cars weighing less than 1,100 pounds.

Professor Carter from BYU has only just retired, and declared that the world record set by his latest project is “a wonderful closure for 31 years of teaching”.

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In addition to cameras, laptops, and gaming consoles, Sony is also pretty big in the battery manufacturing department. And now they want to latch onto the rising trend in greener transportation by making and selling batteries for electric vehicles.

Sometime in the middle of this decade, Sony will start manufacturing lithium-ion batteries specifically for electric cars and hybrids. Demand for these batteries will surely increase as more people buy hybrids and electric cars, so Sony says it is prepared to build dedicated plants for this purpose too. No details about the batteries have been released, but an early prototype, measuring 257x182mm, was shown at a press conference earlier this week.

Sony will be competing against the likes of fellow Japanese company Panasonic in this realm, along with other battery makers around the world. I just hope that these batteries aren’t like the ones they used to make for our notebooks. A laptop fire is disastrous enough; I don’t want my Tesla or Prius spontaneously combusting on the freeway eitiher.

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Electric cars are really starting to take on all forms, from sensible compact hatchbacks to full out sports cars. Falling into neither of those categories is the Toyota RAV4 EV. The sport utility vehicle with an electric inclination isn’t exactly new, but its “Phase Zero” prototype has now been taken out for a test drive by someone not from Toyota.

As you might recall, this vehicle comes from a partnership with Tesla. However, it’s a completely different beast than the Tesla Roadster. There are about thirty of these prototypes making their way around, but they say that the Phase Zero models aren’t even version 1.0: “this is a sophisticated proof of concept.”

The 150 horsepower electric motor for the current FWD-only RAV4 EV is supposed to eventually provide the same kind of performance as its petrol V6 counterpart. This means a 0-60mph time of nine seconds. The 37 kWh battery pack is good for almost 100 miles of real world driving, which is impressive given the size and weight of this car.

In the test drive, the reviewer was impressed by the high level of regenerative braking: “let off the go-pedal while traveling at a clip of 40 mph or so, and you’re pulled down to about 5 mph in a matter of seconds.” However, he anticipates that Toyota/Tesla will be cranking down this regen when the EV eventually hits the real world marketplace. That’s a shame; because that’s really how you get the most out of an electric vehicle. You get 10-30% more range with that kind of regen.

Is an electric sport ute really the best way to use the tech? Probably not, but I don’t think they’re the future either way.

[Read]

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There are at least three important aspects that are incredibly deceiving about the Imperia GP. First, while it may look like a car that is best suited for a classic car show or the Barrett-Jackson Auction, it’s actually a brand new vehicle. Sure, it’s from a “resurrect Belgian auto maker,” but this is not some old car that got restored.

Second, it’s actually a plug-in hybrid. If you’re not a fan of the Chevy Volt, you might like the Imperia GP instead. The 212hp four-banging turbo engine gets an extra boost from the 134hp electric motor. That’s not exactly a classic configuration; I don’t think anyone looking at this almost Porsche-esque vehicle would think it’s hybrid. It can go about 45 miles on electric power alone.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, it’s bloody quick. Combine the petrol engine with the electric motor and you’ve got almost 350 horses at the beck and call of your right foot. Give it a slap and you’ll get propelled from zero to sixty in under four seconds. That’ll beat the electric Phantom (even if it’s not nearly as luxurious).

The concept is over at the Brussel Auto Show, but who knows if the Imperia GP will ever hit real streets via real showrooms.

[engadget via Imperia / Photos: miysis.be]

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As much as we would like to believe otherwise, the conventional gas-powered car is going to be the primary mode of transport for the foreseeable future. That doesn’t mean, though, that we can’t innovate when it comes to secondary vehicles, as is the case with the E-3POD Antistatic.

Designed by Royal College of Art student Heikki Juvonen, the E3-POD Antistatic is the winning entry in a Double Challenge sponsored by Citroen. The goal was to create an ultra-compact electric vehicle and the E3-POD is exactly that.

It has two slightly angled wheels in the front and a giant wheel in the back. In this way, it’s kind of similar to something like the T-Rex, but it’s also completely different. For starters, the large back wheel is hubless and it houses the cabin where the single passenger will be seated. It’s also fully electric, using all kinds of lightweight construction to allow for a smaller battery pack and more efficient design.

Since the cabin is domed, you get more of a “personal space” that is separated from the rest of the world, quite unlike a regular bicycle. This also shields you from the elements. I imagine there could be some serious vision problems, though, as it looks like there’s a giant bar blocking the center of your windshield. That can’t be safe, can it?

[CarSession via Royal College of Art]

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Mazda says that “the internal combustion engine is expected to remain at the heart of the automobile for the near future,” but it also recognizes the importance of exploring the “development of various future eco-friendly technologies.” One of these has to do with electric vehicles and that’s where we find ourselves too.

In addition to electric automobiles like the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and even the Tesla Roadster, we will soon be seeing a fully electric version of the Mazda2 subcompact. Sold as the Demio in its homeland of Japan, the Mazda2 is a good candidate considering its small and lightweight frame.

The Mazda2 EV (whatever future-friendly name it may adopt) is being planned for pumped up production, offering delivery by spring 2012. It’s said to get an effective range of up to 200km on a single charge. That’s more than enough for the average commuter.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that you must fulfill two huge criteria if you want to get one: first, you have to be in Japan. That’s the only place they’re going to offer it (for now). Second, you need to be a government or fleet customer. That’s because they’re largely testing them with fleets to gather the kind of data they need moving forward.

I still don’t believe that hybrids or electric vehicles (in their current state, at least) are really the future, but they could represent a decent intermediary until we find out what really can be the future of automobile energy consumption is.

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Honda will start leasing its EV-neo Electric Scooter on Friday, December 24, 2010 to select businesses in Japan. They are leasing 100 scooters as part of a government-backed program to collect data about the scooters. The EV-neo can go for 34 km before needing to be recharged, which Honda measured at a constant speed of 30 km/h on a level road. The scooter is being marketed for delivery services.

To save the pizza delivery guy from a charge time of about four hours with the portable 100V charger that comes with the scooter, Honda has developed a quick charger exclusively for the EV-neo, which can fully charge the scooter in 30 minutes. They are also part of the pilot program for the recently announced Honda EV charging stations in Japan.

Honda promotes the scooter as green, clean and quiet. It’s so quiet that there is an optional pedestrian alert system on the scooter to warn pedestrians that the pizza delivery guy is hot on their heels. The base price of the scooter with tax is about $5900 US. The scooter with the quick charger is about $6850 US. Honda hopes to start lease sales of the EV-neo to general businesses and individual business owners in April 2011.

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Honda this week kicked off their Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program, with the first public tests of the Fit EV and Accord plug-in hybrids.

The Fit EV, with a top speed of 90 mph (145 km/h) and a range of up to 100 miles (160 kms) on a single charge, features three settings – Econ, Normal, and Sport – designed to adjust output for either better energy conservation or performance, depending on the driver’s circumstances. You won’t see the Fit for sale in their pilot markets — the US and Japan — until 2012, but Google Inc., Stanford University and the City of Torrence will be receiving Fit EVs for testing in 2011.

“The goal of the Honda Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program is to more fully understand the challenges and opportunities associated with such a fundamental shift in technology,” said Tetsuo Iwamura, president and CEO of American Honda Motor Co, Inc. “The city of Torrance and the other participants will play a key role, by providing real-world feedback on their experience. They will help us tackle the important issues surrounding customer adoption of electric vehicles.”

During the study, the city of Torrence will be focussing on charging infrastructure and public awareness of electric vehicles.

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Looks like the Honda Fit EV isn’t the only car doing the full electric debut at the LA Auto Show. Toyota has an electric trick up its sleeve too and it’s the oft-rumored Toyota RAV4 EV.

This comes via a partnership with Tesla Motors (you know, of Tesla Roadster fame), so you know that the electric motor components are going to be pretty top notch. Interestingly enough, despite being significantly larger than the Honda Fit, the pre-production RAV4 EV gets the same 100 mile range on a single charge.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say the the RAV4 is a big SUV, but it’s a heck of a lot bigger than most of the other full electrics we’re seeing on the car show circuit. Put this next to a Fit or Nissan Leaf and there is no comparison, at least in terms of physical size.

So, what does Tesla have to gain from this partnership with Toyota? Aside from a cash infusion, Elon Musk says Tesla gets “a sense for the Toyota production system… that helps us with the Model S. Having access to Lexus components in the supply chain is also helpful.” Does this mean that the Model S is going to end up with an interior akin to a Lexus IS (or something similar)?

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