The Electric Mini Cooper, Finally

October 22nd, 2008 by Justin

For years, auto enthusiasts have seen quite a few electric vehicles come out- most of them extremely small with weird styling cues and by companies that are unknown and lack financing. While most car enthusiasts agree- all companies and cars are welcome to make an electric car a reality, one car and one company sat on the sidelines when they should have been leading the effort who you might ask- BMW and their Mini Cooper.

The Mini Finally Goes Electric

Anyone that has seen these tiny, very stylish and trendy cars has probably asked themselves, why not this car for an electric? It’s extremely small, lightweight and has the engineering powerhouse of BMW backing it. Well, your wish has come true- the Mini Cooper is coming out as an E-plug car as early as 2009.

Mini E

While BMW has plenty of projects with alternative energy vehicles, this will be their first product for the US. The Mini E will be sold in limited quantities- about 500 for the 2009 model year. They will be available for sale in only 3 states: California, New York and New Jersey.

Tech Specs of the Mini E

It looks like the Mini E will definitely not disappoint. The car will featured a powerful motor getting about 204 horsepower and offering decent acceleration from 0 to 60 in about 8.5 seconds. The top speed is slow for those looking to take this baby on the autobahn, but at 95 mph, it will be just fine for American roads. Here is the real surprise, with a full battery charge, expect the Mini E to get a fantastic 150 miles, which is much more that practically any other electric plug in is expected to get. For instance the Chevy Volt is only expected to get about 40 miles on a full charge.

The Mini E will use lithium-ion batteries and these batteries will take up plenty of room in the Mini- good bye back seat. The weight for the new Mini E will also increase to about 3,200 pounds, about 700 pounds more than the gas powered version. However, charging the Mini E using a special charging adapter at one’s home will be quite quick at only 2.5 hours. It should be noted that a driver can use a standard wall socket- but this will increase the charging time. Right now no price has been set, but if the US government offers a tax credit, this vehicle may be in the range of a lot of car buyer’s budgets.

Tags: BMW, Electric Cars, Hybrid Cars, Mini

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The 2010 Dodge EV

September 23rd, 2008 by Justin

Big News Today from the auto industry, one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world Chrysler will be manufacturing and selling electric vehicles as early as 2010. For car tuning enthusiasts that are looking for an all electric vehicle in the similar vein as Tesla Motors, The 2010 Dodge EV will surely please. While details are still scant, there were a few things mentioned today to give the public some idea of what type of vehicle is in the works. Here are just some of the tidbits we learned about today.

The 2010 Dodge EV Will be an All Electric Roadster
Chrysler is looking to enter the electric market in 2010 with a bang. Looking probably to go head to head with Tesla Motors and their $109,000 roadster, the Dodge EV will be a high performance, all electric vehicle. It is currently being designed with the help of Lotus Cars Ltd and current performance is rated at 0 to 60 in less than 5 seconds and the ability to run a distance of about 200 miles on a full charge. A full battery charge would take about 8 hours with a 110 volt connection and half that with 220 volt connection. Besides an all electric sportser, Chrysler has also hinted that it may produce a hybrid roadster that will have great performance with less sticker shock.

The Key is in the Battery
Obviously, the most important component of an electric vehicle is the battery and Chrysler has been working with a variety of suppliers and with many organizations doing cutting edge research on battery materials. It looks like battery technology is advancing pretty quickly and will be powerful enough within the next few years to propel the first of an onslaught of many new electric vehicles.

Tags: Dodge, Electric Cars

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Electric Cars

July 14th, 2008 by Shenron

Electric Cars – A New Age Vehicle

One of the biggest benefits of electric cars is that they are environment friendly and cause less of pollution. Also, their feature of energy efficiency has made them much in demand today.

An electric car is powered by either fuel cells or an electric motor. The rechargeable batteries used in electric cars include lead-acid, nickel metal hydride, Li-ion polymer, and lithium ion batteries. The electricity stored in electric car batteries is measured either by coulombs or by ampere-hours. The electric car runs on rechargeable battery that stores electricity in either ultra-capacitors or flywheel. In some electric cars, one can replace the batteries at the filling stations with the fully charged ones.

Enjoy A Ride On Electric Car

The electric car has small motor but it gives modest acceleration as multiple motors are connected to the wheels due to which each wheel helps in propulsion and applying brakes. The electric cars have a unique feature of regenerative braking due to which energy used for acceleration is recovered and this in turn increases the efficiency of the car.

Environment Friendly Cars

Electric cars are environment friendly as they cause less pollution as compared with gasoline-powered cars. It is difficult to judge sometimes that a car is electric or not as only while driving when you hear no engine noise then you realize that it is an electric car. If you have to spend more while buying an electric car then its worth, the money as the cost will be recovered with its energy efficiency with time.

The electric cars are more energy efficient in comparison to other fuel vehicles. A regular car needs servicing and maintenance of the cooling system, gearbox, and engine tuning while there is no such tension withy electric car. The battery should be charged on timely basis for an uninterrupted travel. One should take due care of the battery in case rapid battery discharge happens suddenly as it might cause fume and fire in the car. So, get an environment savvy car that ensures you do not add to the environmental pollution.

Tags: Electric Cars, Gas, Hybrid Cars

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