The 1960′s gave birth to many wonderful things. We put a man on the moon, muscle cars were invented and someone out there invented the electric can opener. It was a time of technology and forward thinking, but somewhere along the lines hippies came into being, and well… that was just plain annoying. They were dirty, stinky and drove bad cars and what was even more annoying than that was that they gave birth to other little hippies who grew up to also drive bad cars. It’s a travesty I know, but one that we can’t avoid. Below is a short list of modern day hippie cars that have the capacity to make the performance car enthusiast want to slice their own wrists.

• Toyota Prius

We all know that Prius drivers want to save the planet. We also know that they love stuffing their ideals down the throats of other motorists. Keep in mind however that this doesn’t change the fact that the Prius is one of the crappiest cars on the road and that most car enthusiasts would rather dip their genitals in boiling vinegar then be seen driving one.

• Volkswagen Bus

It’s the original stoner-mobile and has helped generations of pot smokers get their wings. They’re built like a shoebox, painfully slow and ugly as sin, but that doesn’t change the fact that millions of hippies the world over see these little German tubs as the end all, be all of the hippie nation.

• Subaru Outback

A favorite of the old hippie crowd, the Outback is the car for those who want to seem politically correct in today’s world. It’s well built and versatile with just a hint of rebellion built into it. It’s no VW Bus mind you, but make no mistake, roll the windows up in this baby and you can toke it up with the best of them.

• Volkswagen Jetta Diesel Wagon

The Jetta Diesel Wagon is the car of choice for those young urban hipsters who think that driving a diesel will help them save the planet because a marketing team told them so. Sure it’s fuel efficient and will get you looks of praise from old toasted hippies throughout the world, but dear God, enough already.

• Nissan Leaf

Say hello to Nissan’s all electric mess of a car. It’s slow, will leave you stranded and at the end of the day, has an electric range of about 6 blocks. The real good hippies out there will tell you its the greatest thing since sliced bread and that we should all be driving electric vehicles. However they always fail to remember that these little suckers came over to the U.S. on boats that dole out more CO2 emissions than the entire state of New York…

The Fisker Karma. Image: Fisker

In the we-saw-this-coming-months-ago department, deliveries of the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid have been delayed for another month. Motor Authority says that initial deliveries of demonstration vehicles and customer cars will begin in July, but didn’t give any indication of quantities. Their source is Roger Ormisher, Fisker’s director of global communications, so even the July timeline may prove to be a bit optimistic.

The Karma has some impressive stats on paper, but missed deadlines and increasing prices have plagued the car from the start. According to Fisker, the Karma will run from zero to sixty in under six seconds and deliver a battery-only range of up to 50 miles. Beyond that, a range-extending generator powered by a 2.0-liter gasoline engine provides current for the car’s electric motors in a layout similar to the Chevy Volt. Unlike the Volt, the Karma has a top speed of 125 miles per hour and a body shape that’s best described as stunning. Also stunning is the Karma’s price tag, which has gravitated upwards from last year’s projection of $88,000 to a current list price of $95,900. Call me a cynic, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see further delays before we see dealer demo units on these shores.

Source: Motor Authority

Jay Leno, aside from being one of the most well respected car collectors out there, does not discriminate when it comes to automobiles. He likes fast cars, slow cars, steam powered cars and now, electric cars. What’s great about Jay is that he is first and foremost an automobile enthusiast, which means that he appreciates cars from all time periods and genres. The Smart Electric is powered by a 16.5 kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack that sits in the same place where the Smarts traditional 3-cylinder gas mill sat. This battery power means a range of about 60 to 70 miles and a top speed of about 65 mph, and that’s with the throttle pinned wide open. My advise, don’t even bother with this little bugger, just go out and buy a Chevrolet Volt and be happy. Trust me on this one…

Last week we brought you the first of four short films that BMW is releasing as part of a documentary series about The Future of Mobility. Part I talked about how the residents of our new mega cities (populations of 15 million or more) will have to adapt to smaller living quarters, vehicles and lifestyles that are somewhat scaled down from what most of us experience today. Some people believe this is a good thing and a way to be more efficient, which at the end of the day it probably is. What I want to know however, is where is the line drawn between ultra efficiency and quality of life?

Part II of the series takes us to a society, that according to old science fiction, was going to be filled with flying cars, teleportation and mobile jet packs. The truth of the matter is though that we human beings are still using the same methods of transportation that we used 80 years ago. Planes, trains and automobiles still operate essentially the same way they did all those years ago and while the technology has changed, our basic modes of movement are exactly the same. So what are your thoughts, how do you think we will be getting around in the future?

Source: bmwactivatethefuture.com

Wouldn’t it be great if we could just twitch our noses and make that pesky internal combustion engine disappear? You, know, the root of all evil? The invention that has us deeply tied to the very countries that want to see us wiped off the face of the planet? The invention that pollutes our environment, makes us all fat, and causes us to watch “Dancing With The Stars”?

If only things were as simple as Plug In America would have you believe. I’m sure none of the “clean” electric energy promoted in the video comes from coal-fired or oil fired powerplants, and I’m sure they wouldn’t try to trick us into thinking that nuclear power plants don’t produce hazardous waste that will be a problem for thousands of years. I’m sure all the electricity they use comes from solar and wind power, because they just reject those dirty electrons and send ‘em back to the manufacturer.

Here’s the deal: until battery technology has an exponential leap forward, or until we devise another practical energy source, fossil fuel is the best we’ve got. I just spent two days driving a Chevy Volt extended range EV from New York to Detroit, and you know what got me there? Gasoline, to power the generator that provides electricity to the Volt’s batteries. How far could I have gone on battery power alone? The first day, about six miles, since charging the Volt tripped a hotel circuit breaker in the middle of the night, and the battery didn’t recharge. On the second day, an improper extension cord limited power to the Volt, so we again got only a partial charge. If I had to rely on pure electric-grid-supplied power alone, I’d still be somewhere in New Jersey instead of home from Detroit.

Mike and I will tell you more about the Volt in the coming days, but I’ll leave you with this: the Volt was damn impressive, and it’s the best compromise between practical and environmentally friendly that we’re likely to see in the near future. Maybe battery power and gasoline power can co-exist after all.

Source: Inside Line

The Fisker Karma. Photo: Fisker Automotive

Fisker Automotive has reached another milestone that doubters never thought they would: the first factory built (though not production) Karma will be on display at the upcoming Paris Auto Show. Fisker will also be announcing details on their global importer network, which bodes well for their ability to get vehicles to market once the Karma reaches production. Their stated goal is production of 100,000 cars per year.

Unlike other plug in hybrids, which are aimed primarily at commuters, the Fisker Karma is positioned as the world’s first luxury plug-in hybrid. Per CEO Henrik Fisker, the Karma represents the future of the automobile, and its projected capabilities are indeed impressive. Fisker claims the Karma will produce 403 combined horsepower, which will make it capable of zero to 100 kph (62 miles per hour) in under six seconds, on its way to a top speed of 124 miles per hour. In keeping with it’s environmentally focused mission, the Karma will return some 100 mpg and will produce emissions of just 83 g/km.

The sticker price of the Karma, just under $88,000, reflects its luxury focus. There’s no denying the car’s stunning design, and if it actually performs to spec in production form it will revolutionize how plug in hybrids are perceived. We’ll know when the car hits production in the first quarter of 2011.

A 2010 RAV-4 V6, coming soon in EV flavor.

It’s no secret that Toyota invested heavily in Tesla for their electric propulsion and battery management technology. The first product of this arranged marriage appears to be a battery powered RAV-4, set to debut as a prototype at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show.

Using existing drivetrain, battery and power management technology from Tesla enabled Toyota to build a functional prototype RAV-4 EV in a remarkably short time, given that the deal between the two automakers was signed less than four months ago. It’s likely that Toyota will be able to begin sales of the electric SUV in late 2011 as a 2012 model, but no details are available on drivetrain (FWD or AWD), performance or vehicle range. When the RAV-4 EV project was announced, Elon Musk assured investors that the product would surpass other vehicles in its class in range and acceleration. Since I’m not aware of any other battery powered compact SUVs on the market today, Musk’s statement was a pretty safe bet.

The Toyotasla (Teslota?) RAV-4 EV will be one of two EVs expected to hit Toyota showrooms as a 2012 model. If Autoevolution is correct, the battery powered RAV-4 will be sold alongside a plug in hybrid version of Toyota’s Prius.

There are two things in the latest Fisker Karma ad that I’d really like to take for a long, hard ride. Ironically, my chances of taking a test drive with either are exactly the same, which would be “zero”. At least the model in the Fisker ads is real, because to date the car has been little more than a rolling design study.

Unveiled at the 2008 North American International Auto Show, the Fisker Karma is a plug in hybrid that uses technology similar to the Chevy Volt. The Karma is said to be good for up to 50 miles on battery power alone, before a 2.0 liter turbocharged motor kicks in to act as a generator and recharge the batteries. Unlike the Chevy Volt, however, the Karma is said to have a 125 mile per hour top speed, and should be capable of a zero to sixty mile per hour run in less than six seconds. Also unlike the Volt, the sticker price of the Fisker Karma is just under $88,000.

The Karma is set to begin production in February of 2011, so test mules should be hitting the roads in the very near future. Perhaps the commercial is a good sign that progress is being made, but Fisker’s been awfully quiet over the past few months.

The Nissan Leaf, as seen by Elon Musk.

In a sure sign that things are heating up in the electric car battle for consumers hearts and minds, Elon Musk has called the batteries used by Nissan in the Leaf ‘primitive’ and not even up to the technology used in Tesla’s first prototype. Musk’s comments, quoted from Earth2Tech by Autoblog, were made in a conference call with analysts and investors last Wednesday, where Tesla executives were also forced to defend their slim-but-increasing margins on the Roadster. Investors fear that the Model S sedan will lack profitability unless the cost of materials and production can be lowered significantly.

Musk’s criticism of the Leaf’s batteries comes mainly from Nissan’s thermal management system, required to maintain the batteries within an optimal temperature range. The Tesla Roadster uses a liquid cooling system that maintains precise temperature regardless of environmental conditions; the less expensive Leaf relies on air cooling to maintain battery temperature. If Musk is correct, Leaf owners may face ‘huge degradation’ in cold environments and a total loss of power in extreme heat.

Musk’s comments were prompted by Nissan’s claim of breaking the $400 per kilowatt hour barrier, when other automakers (Tesla included) appear to be stuck in the $500 – $700 range per kilowatt hour. Nissan isn’t worried about battery performance in the Leaf, as they’ve done extensive testing in extreme conditions. They know full well what’s riding on the successful launch of the Leaf, and they can’t afford to get it wrong.

What is the sound of one hand clapping? I can’t help you with anything that requires that much philosophical thinking, but I can tell you what the new Nissan Leaf will sound like when it hits the road late this year. There will be two unique sounds, one for forward motion and one for reverse, and both sound like something from the soundtrack of Battlestar Galactica.

Since the Leaf is essentially silent while driving, Nissan developed a system called Approaching Vehicle Sound to warn pedestrians that a car was about to run them down. After trying various approaches, Nissan settled on a tone that sweeps the audio spectrum from 600Hz to 2.4kHz. The sound is disabled above about 20 miles per hour, as most pedestrian / vehicle accidents happen at lower speeds. Too bad; though it may not sound as good as a V8 on cam, the “warp drive” tone of the Leaf has it’s own appeal.