Geneva Motor Show, Green, Lotus

Lotus is attractive to claiming one of audience by architecture an electric sports car of its own. CEO Michael Kimberly told the Financial Times that the sports car maker and engineering assertive will anon barrage extended-range battery-powered vehicle. The aerial achievement archetypal could arise as a abstraction as anon as the Geneva Motor Show in March, and like the Chevy Volt and Fisker Karma, Lotus will use an centralized agitation agent to supplement the ambit of a array which will accommodate primary propulsion.

Kimberly hasn't adumbrated what affectionate of agent blueprint would be used, but the new Evora sports car would assume a acceptable applicant with a array demography the amplitude of the baby +2 rear seats. Another achievability could be a awakening of the APX crossover abstraction from a brace of years back. California's Zap had hoped to use that belvedere for the base of its own Zap-X, but annihilation has been heard about that activity for some time.

The added alien is what, if any impact, this ability accept on Lotus' accord with Tesla Motors. Lotus helped Tesla advance its Roadster and builds the rolling anatomy for it. It's accessible that Tesla could end up bartering motors or added powertrain $.25 to Lotus to advice account some of the amount of advantageous Lotus for its work.

[Source: Financial Times]

Look out Fisker and Tesla! Lotus to jump into EV game! originally appeared on on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:32:00 EST. Please see our agreement for use of feeds.

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Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Tech, Hatchbacks, Toyota

Twelve years ago, Toyota started affairs a car that was bought by those advised avant-garde, on the fringe. It was alleged the Prius. Now Toyota is attractive to "turn about its disturbing business with a affected ecological car," and the aggregation is allegedly alive on affairs for a solar-powered car. We'll ignore, for a moment, that a aggregation with $18 billion in banknote and experiencing its initial anniversary operational accident in 70 years is now alleged a "struggling business." The noteworthy account is that while added automakers are aggravating to get their amalgam acts together, Toyota is bottomward the alley alive on a car powered alone by le soleil.

There is little in the way of adamantine advice at this point. The Japanese bi-weekly Nikkei appear the development, adage that the car would accept solar cells, and that it would additionally be answerable by solar beef on homes. Additionally according to Nikkei, the solar beef on the car will be as able as those on the house, able of breeding 2-5 kilowatts.

Toyota has talked about about a solar console advantage on the abutting Prius, but that was alleged "a allegorical gesture" by an insider. Privateers accept additionally done their allotment accidental to the abstraction of a Prius aggrandized by solar power, abundantly with alloyed results. Nevertheless, Toyota has a agog accomplice in the venture: Panasonic. The behemothic customer electronics maker that makes Prius batteries is in the bosom of affairs Sanyo, the world's 7th-largest solar corpuscle maker. Nevertheless, solar corpuscle technology isn't avant-garde abundant to actualize a mass-market solar car, which is why letters affirmation it will be years afore such a agent is on the market. As one Japanese solar activity able said, "Even if you laid solar panels out on the absolute roof of a house, you alone accomplish abundant activity to run two hairdryers." Hat-tip: Jarrett

[Source: Yahoo!]

Toyota developing solar powered car? originally appeared on on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our agreement for use of feeds.

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