The Yugo was supposed to unite the Balkans under an umbrella of capitalism, to infuse the area with much-needed jobs and cash. Instead, the car was crap. Still, there’s something endearing about the little hatchback, something honest and pure. That’s why it still has a special place in our hearts—and why designer Milos Paripovic has re-imagined it as an electric. Oh, and also because he wanted to poke fun at electric cars.
The new Varley evR-450 electric super car can hit 62 mph in just 3.8 seconds, packs 900-plus torques and looks like a Nissan R390. It costs $200,000. It’s also based on the awesome, gas-guzzling $40,000-ish Superlite SLC coupe.
The evR-450 is assembled in Australia by Varley Electric Vehicles. It’s super-trick, featuring twin carbon ironless core AC motors with totally awesome-sounding Tritium Wavesculptor inverters. It has a semi-monocoque TIG-welded aluminum chassis with an integral space frame and weighs just 2750-ish pounds. Range? A comfortable 100 miles. Top speed? A disappointing 100-ish miles per hour. Are the batteries worth the extra cost of $200,000? Hit the jump to find out.
Engineers are taught to constantly think outside the box. They’ve been programmed to question that whatever exists today, can be made better tomorrow as long as you align the right pieces of the puzzle. Take the engineering students from the University of Adelaide in Australia for example. You see they’ve just invented an electric vehicle that they’ve name the Diwheel and according to them it’s half motorbike, half unicycle and could, if they play their cards right, be a glimpse into what we’ll be seeing on tomorrow’s roads. The Diwheel is made up of two mammoth outer wheels that enclose a center mounted cockpit for the driver. It also utilizes active rotation damping so as to keep the cockpit centered when the vehicle comes to a stop. Granted this contraption is a bit unconventional, but hey, so are the engineers who designed it. Click through for the video.
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the leaf rides the wind
lightning in its belly
mother earth cheers
The Nissan Leaf Nismo RC. It’s a Nissan Leaf wrapped in carbon fiber and dipped in matte black paint. And it’s wicked. Hit the jump to watch it yowl around a track. Read More…
Electric motorcycles can be ponderous things, battery-laden hulks that awkwardly lope around the track. But not the Amarok. It’s light and lithe, a nimble and ferocious beast that tears at the tarmac. It’s the creation of Canadian builder Michael Uhlarik and at just 325 pounds, it’s the lightest TTXGP racing bike ever created.
Can someone please tell me when good old fashion exercise got replaced by electricity and pedal powered mopeds? It seems like people, especially intercity hipsters, simply love to feel as though they’re doing something that saves the planet. They’ll go out and purchase electric cars and hybrids, join environmentalist groups and buy things like the mini-electric scooter you see here. Called the Voltitude, this Swiss-designed mini-ped concept will apparently get your lazy ass from point A to point B at the blazing speed of 15 mph. It’s got a pedal-assisted range of 12-25 miles, weighs in at over 50 lbs., and will fold up into something that’s still too big and heavy to hide away neatly. You can call me a skeptic and hater or whatever, but at the end of the day I find contraptions like this to be utterly useless and a complete waste of money. The Voltitude is scheduled for release at the end of 2011 and is sure to come with a price that will probably be too high and sold to people that love to wear knit caps in the summertime.
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Prices for premium fuel are bouncing over $4.25 here in the Northeast, which means I’m seriously considering picking up a fuel efficient beater car to have as a daily driver. I’m looking at everything from used Toyota Tercel’s to Honda Accord’s and everything in between. There is however one major catch – my budget is $1000.00. Obviously a 1k budget eliminates anything that one would consider to be “nice”, but as I already have a nice car, I’m not too worried about its looks. What I am concerned with however is how the car runs and has it been serviced regularly. Now some of you may be thinking that you can’t find a good car for $1000.00, but I completely disagree. In fact I’m betting I can find a good old lady car for a G-note right in my neighborhood if I look hard enough.
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Audi's A3 TDI: ja, bitte. Image: Audi
I hate to be Captain Bringdown, but conventional wisdom says that gas prices are only going to go up as summer approaches. In past years, they’ve gone up at Easter, but dropped prior to the inevitable Memorial Day price spike. Given what’s going on in the MIddle East, combined with rising demand for autos in India and China, we may not see any price decreases this year. If you’re shopping for a new car, chances are good that fuel economy is a major concern, and may even be the reason why you’re looking for a new car in the first place. Read More…
Image: Porsche
I’m a skeptical guy by nature; some would call me a pessimist, but I prefer to think of myself as a realist. My wife sees me as somewhere between those two extremes, and calls me a “dark realist”, which is a tag I can live with. With that in mind, when an automaker tells me their next supercar, will have a combined output of 718 horsepower, sprint from zero to 62 miles per hour in under 3.2 seconds, lap the Nürburgring in 7:30 and still yield fuel economy of 78.4 miles per gallon, I’m inclined to doubt them. When they open the order books while the car is still in early development, and ask customers to part with $845,000 (plus tax) to take delivery some nineteen months in the future, I’m inclined to yell “fraud”. Unless that automaker is Porsche, and the car in question is the new 918 Spyder. Read More…
For the first time in quite awhile people are purchasing automobiles based on fuel economy more than emotion. They’re shopping with their brains more then their hearts, which means that the performance based automobile may be looking at a tough road ahead. 550 hp cars are wonderful things and as journalist we’re pre-programmed to like them because let’s face it, they make our jobs fun. However when it comes time to filling their fuel tanks our love for them tends to diminish. The new Cadillac CTS-V line for example is one of our favorites, but the thought of putting $65.00 worth of fuel in those suckers every 225 miles is simply not appealing. Don’t get me wrong, I’d buy one in less than a heartbeat if I could, but I’d also have to have something fuel efficient parked next to it in the driveway. The question though is which type of fuel efficient car should you purchase.
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