RideLust

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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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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Electric vehicles seem to be all the rage these days with just about every automobile manufacturer jumping on the bandwagon. Although the batteries still aren’t quite perfected, that hasn’t stopped them from moving forward and pushing the boundaries of today’s technology. Cars like the Tesla Roadster, Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt have paved the way for future automobiles, but what about other transportation. For instance, how about a three-wheeled trike that’s powered by two cordless electric drills – interesting right? Built by Hamburg based designer Nils Ferber, this electric trike is powered by two 18-volt-screwdrivers that can accelerate its driver up to 30 km/h or 18 mph. The driver literally lays atop the contraption and steers by use of a specially developed joint that tilts the back wheel when the driver shifts their body weight into a corner. Throttle and brake controls are located on front mounted stalks that sit mere inches above the front wheels.
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Let’s see now… the economy sucks, the job market is in the toilet and now consumers that are interested in electric cars need to start worrying about range anxiety. For those of you that don’t know what this new term is, let me explain it for you. Range anxiety is caused by the fear that your beloved electric car is going to run out of juice before it gets you to your destination. Owners of electric cars like the Nissan Leaf know exactly what I’m talking about. You see Nissan stated that the Leaf would get an estimated 100 miles per charge, but as predicted, their owners are now finding out that they’re getting significantly less. In fact in some cases consumers are getting only half the advertised mileage. According to MyNissanLeaf.com, owners are complaining that the range estimates given by the Leaf’s battery gauge are not accurate at all.
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Is your kid into Matchbox cars, Hot Wheels and or pedal powered vehicles. If so then you may want to consider taking them to the next level with this bitchin’ mini replica of the iconic Lotus Seven. Powered by a small reliable Honda gas engine and equipped with a four-point harness for safety, the Mini Seven by MINI EV has the ability to instantly make your kid the most popular child in the culdesac. Aside from solidly build construction that includes a stout custom chassis, the Mini Seven also gives parents the ability to adjust the speed by utilization of a handy governing mechanism attached to the engine. Built to run on tarmac or in an open field, the Mini Seven can also be optioned with working headlights, leather interior and custom embroidered seats.
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Wouldn’t it be great if everything we drove made us feel like a 6-year old again? Well, that’s exactly the feeling that George Fortin gets when he takes his all-electric, home built Z-Cart out for a spin. George is actually a Realtor by trade, but his real passion comes from slapping engines on anything he can get his hands on. Always the tinkerer, George was inspired to built the Z-Cart after looking at his son’s remote control car. His goal was to build something that was light weight, durable and more importantly fun to drive. The Z-Cart is constructed from recycled polyethylene with aluminum bracing, and is powered by a 72-volt DC electric motor that gets its juice from four neatly concealed lead acid batteries. Fortin then utilized basic parts like off-the-shelf dune buggy wheels, a retractable charging cord and an air intake that’s made from a piece of PVC tubing that he found at Lowes – talk about cool! The Z-Cart is great and will hopefully cause manufacturers to think outside the box when it comes to fun. After all, there’s no point owning a car if it doesn’t put a smile on your face. Click through for the video.
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Now this is what I like to see! Performance tuners going the distance in order to make electric vehicles fun. Those of us out there who are hot-rodders knew it would only be a matter of time before some performance house got their hands on electric cars and started tinkering. RUF is actually not a performance tuner per say, but a full-on manufacturer according to the German government. Yes they do start with Porsche chassis’s and bodies, but thanks to an enormous influx of their own parts, they’ve actually been able to establish themselves as their own brand. Over the years they’ve given us some pretty wild creations including the 691 hp RUF CTR 3 in 2007 and the original CTR Yellowbird in 1987. These cars are raw, powerful and ungodly fast, giving RUF a reputation as one of the most recognized builders of high performance automobiles on the planet.
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*Photo Credit: Good.is

Let me be the first to congratulate Indiana University for being total masters of the obvious. You see according to AutoNews.com they’ve just conducted a study that states that the majority of consumers are not ready to own electric vehicles (big surprise). The study was done on the heels of President Obama reiterating his goal of getting 1 million electric or advanced technology vehicles on the road by 2015. Hey Barack – here’s a news flash, it ain’t going to happen buddy. Regardless of how much money government and or manufacturers throw at the development of electric vehicles, there is still one major problem – people don’t want them yet. We’ve seen manufacturers like Tesla and Nissan tout how wonderful these machines are, and I’ll agree that from a technical perspective they are. For practical everyday usage though, they’re simply not there yet. Drop their initial cost, up their range and make them as practical as a regular automobile and then you’ll have people stopping to take notice.
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Let me preface this post by saying that to our knowledge Porsche has absolutely no plans whatsoever to produce this thing. However, that doesn’t mean that they’re not using their Boxster E as a test mule for things to come. By this time everyone knows that the new Porsche 918 is the King Schwing when it comes to hybrids. It’s drop dead gorgeous, has stellar performance and packs enough technology to make Bill Gates choke. It’s also helped Porsche gain a solid foothold in the realm of hybrid technologies. Since its speculated to cost around $650,000 though, I wouldn’t plan on seeing too many of them rolling around. Now, where the 918 is hybrid, the Boxster E is a full-on electric vehicle that, according to Automobile Magazine, could incorporate one or two electric motors producing a total output of 180 kilowatts, or around 240 horsepower. That’s only 15 horsepower shy of a base model gasoline powered Boxster. This much power also equates to a 0-60 mph sprint of just over 5-seconds. Even though Porsche has no current plans to build the all-electric Boxster E, it wouldn’t surprise us in the least if we saw its battery technology surface in something like future Panamera’s or 911′s.

Source: Wired.com

There’s no doubt about it, the race to develop alternatively powered vehicles is in full swing. This means that everyone from researchers to backyard mechanics are throwing their hats into the ring to make things happen. Manufacturers have scaled down the size of their engines by going with smaller displacement mills equipped with tiny turbos. Then there are the electric and extended range vehicles that are beginning to pop-up all over the place. Innovation and creativity are taking over, which means some people are really starting to think outside the box. Take Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer, a TV Host and an Engineer from Germany who have just successfully piloted a two man wind powered vehicle across the continent of Australia.
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