There is a new Swiss firm out that is looking to help move the lithium-ion hybrid technologies forward. The company is called Mindset and their new E-Motion hybrid car is designed to effectly change all our mindsets on hybrid technology. The mind behind the design of Mindset’s E-Motion hybrid is former VW Chief Designer Murat Guenak. He prescribed to it the classic round headlights, the long torso, the gull-wing doors and the modern brake-lights of the rear-end. But despite its purpose driven design it is the motivation and aluminum light-weight construction of the car that is what makes the E-Motion special.

In the video below you will get a good glimpse of the E-Motion sans skin to see what the Aluminum framing looks like and the sound of the electric motors in action. Making the work of the electric motors easy in the E-Motion is the weight of the frame. It weighs a mere 1764 lbs. Feeding power to the electric motors are lithium-ion batteries that are recharged in 3 different ways. Not only is the E-Motion a hybrid car with a 24hp motor that serves to recharge the batteries on the road and gives the car an added 100-km (62 miles) range, but it is also a Plug-In and also contains Solar Panels on its rear-quarters for additional charging.

Check out the video below and look for the photo gallery of the E-Motion afterward.

Mindset says that within the next year they will be prepared to produce up to 10,000 of their E-Motion hybrid cars at a price of 50,000 Euros. That would be a full year ahead of the production schedule currently listed for the Chevy Volt. Ofcourse it is unlikely that the E-Motion would come to the North American market any time soon, if at all, or without an association with a larger manufacturer. While the rest of the American Auto Industry is wrangling over where to spend their R&D dollars: hybrid, EV, Alternative Fuels, the smaller firms in the USA and in Europe are far closer to production. Firms like Tesla, Fisker and Mindset may not have the money of the Big 3 in the US or other large manufacturers, but they do have the drive and they already have working models to show for it.
Look for more on the E-Motion at the Geneva Auto show.

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Source[Auto Motor und Sport via AutoBlog]