Gordon Murray T.25 and T.27
Gordon Murray, the renowned automobile designer, has finally released news of the T.25 and T.27. This project started with a blank sheet of paper and took several years to complete behind closed doors. These are tiny 3-passenger vehicles designed to be ultra-low cost and low impact. Great effort was made to make these cars easy to build and use few parts. They are also extremely safe to ride in even though they are extremely small. Full lifecycle CO2 impact is estimated to be 42% less than an average UK car.
The T.27 is an all-electric version of the T.25. It should have a range of 80 to 100 miles from it’s lithium ion batteries. I suspect this little car will help re-write the future of automobile manufacturing as others mimic the innovations Murray created with this project. I also suspect these little cars will become a very popular option as soon as they hit the market because I’m certain Murray made it a fun car to drive.
For the latest Gordon Murray news gordonmurraydesign.com.
2011 Jeep EV
I’ve been saying for a long time that we should all hold off buying a new vehicle until the automakers produce a vehicle worth buying. By this I mean a vehicle that can be plugged-in and charged on normal household current.
The reason is simple. There is a high probability that energy prices, specifically fossil fuel energy prices, will not always be so low and consistant. It is easy to imagine that at some point we could see gasoline prices jump. The more of us that have less of a dependency on fossil fuels, the less impact an energy crisis will have on society overall.
The 2011 Jeep EV seems like a perfect vehicle for me and would be an obvious contender for my next new vehicle. It’s not 100% electric but can travel 40 miles on a charge, and when the electricity in the batteries runs low a small gasoline motor kicks in to drive the electric motors that turn the wheels.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing this particular SUV hit the market and will watch closely how it performs in the real world. I also hope the towing capacity is at least 5000 pounds so I can tow a lightweight tiny housebehind it from time to time.
Th!nk coming to Elkhart, Indiana
Th!nk, the Norwegian electric car company, is coming to America and will setup shop in Elkhart, Indiana. This is great news for Th!nk and American car buyers because it will add another viable small electric car to our market in the coming years. Learn more about Th!nk.
Finally a Production Plug-In Hybrid
Finally a hybrid worth buying. The 2011 Toyota Prius will be a plug-in hybrid which will get you around town at normal speeds on electric power. When the batteries run low the gasoline motor will kick-in taking you where ever you need to go. It’s expected to get over 100 mpg.
So don’t waste your money on a new hybrid. If you need an efficient car today don’t get saddled with payments; buy a simple used high efficiency car and wait for cars like this upcoming Prius.
Honda P-NUT or WTF… You Decide
I’m mean please… Honda… WTF are you people thinking!? I’ve been a happy Honda owner and driver since 1988 and this has got to be the worst looking concept to come out from Honda in years. Its powertrain is yet to be decided but will be an internal-combustion engine, hybrid-electric or battery-electric. So in other words this concept is a styling concept only. Also please note that blasters and storm trooper helmets will be sold separately.
Photo credit Jalopnik.
Electric Smart slated for wide scale release to UK in 2012
It looks like Daimler’s new stake in Tesla is already paying off for both companies. They plan to put lithium ion power packs provided by Tesla into the all-electric Smart. These cars should be available on a wide scale beginning in the UK in 2012. This is great news for electric cars in general because it’s an example of yet another giant automaker jumping into the electric car arena. The more momentum we see toward electric cars the more automakers and auto-buyers will realize the value of electric cars.
500 Tesla Roadsters are now on the road
This is good news for the world of electric cars. There are now 500 Tesla Roadsters on the street. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not pro electric super car. I’d much rather see a bunch of affordable and practical electric cars hitting the road, but Tesla is paving the way for a brighter future filled with electric cars.
Coda 4-Door All-Electric Sedan
Coda is a new American car company with strong manufacturing partners in Asia (Hafei, Lishen) that will be bringing an all-electric car to market in late 2010. The expected range of this 4-door sedan will be 90 to 120 miles on a full charge. I can be recharged overnight by plugging it into a normal household power outlet.
The price will be about $45,000 before the $7,500 federal tax credit plus any state incentives which could bring the actual cost of the car down closer to $35,000. The cost to drive the car every day is estimated at $3 for every 100 miles compared to $17 for a comparable gas powered car.
Where is Murray’s T25?
One of the most promising green car concepts out there actually comes from the designer of the McLaren F1, but it seems to be taking an extremely long time to get this little car baked and out of the oven. For example journalist Nancy Durham recently visited Gordon Murray and wasn’t even permitted to see the car. Instead she got to grope it through the cloth cover. Read about that at CBCNews.ca.
His concept is super simple, literally. Instead of building a complex hybrid or fuel cell monstrosity he’s taking his experience as an ultralight super car designer and creating the simplest tiny car he can. It will use a efficient gasoline engine and will be designed for easy low-impact manufacturing. It is promised to be revolutionary in construction and concept, which is the whole reason he’s being so secretive about every little detail.
Take a look at your first electric car – Mitsubishi i MiEV
In my humble opinion the Mitsubishi i MiEV seems to be way out in front of the production electric car pack. They have been testing these little cars for a couple years and are fast approaching production readiness.
It should have a top speed of 80 MPH and travel about 100 miles on a single charge. In most cases you’d charge it overnight by plugging it in and the overall cost to operate would be minimal compared to gas powered cars. Continue Reading »
