Lotus releases images and info on its first electric car, the Evora 414E Hybrid

When people say electric cars can be exciting, some will doubt it. Tesla has already tried to prove them wrong with the Roadster, but the final statement on that must come from Lotus, a company that is widely known for its sports cars with superb handling. That final statement is called Evora 414E Hybrid.



Lotus calls it a hybrid, but only because it also uses a combustion engine. Since it is a mere range extender, we do not understand it is a hybrid car, but a full electric car with some old timer's help.

The new machine will be able to accelerate from 0 to 97 km/h in under 4 s, something that can be credited to its two electric engines, which drive the rear wheels in an independent way.

The number 414 is due to the power of the car, 414 ps/306 kW, since each engine has been limited (yes, that's right) to produce only 207 ps/153 kW each. Torque is 400 Nm, 200 Nm in each engine.

Since range is what electric car detractor more fiercely attack, the Evora 414E Hybrid can run up to 483 km with the help of its range extender, a 1.2-litre three cylinder engine designed by Lotus specifically to generate electric energy. Able to generate 48 ps/35 kW, it weighs only 85 kg, in accordance with the low weight philosophy from Lotus.

Since this is a plug-in car, the Lithium Polymer batteries can make the car run up to 56 km, more than enough for most people to go from work back home, and home to work, on a day-to-day basis. No word on how long they take to recharge, but surely no more than 8 hours, or a good night of sleep.

Lotus treats the car as a concept, one of its biggest attractions for Geneva, but the British carmaker can surely come up with a production version of this beauty very soon. That's the advantage of a small and agile structure.

Source: Lotus

Pininfarina will take 2-seater spider concept to Geneva

Pininfarina has just released the first official image of its next concept, a 2-seater spider built over an Alfa Romeo platform in order to celebrate the studio's 80th anniversary.



We still do not have any technical specs on the vehicle, but its rendering already leaves us mouthwatering for a production version of the car. It may help save the Cuore Sportivo, who knows?

Source: Pininfarina

Peugeot wants to change, but is the SR1 the right path?

Peugeot wants to take a big step forward. In fact, three, as it aims to become the seventh biggest automaker in the world (it is currently the tenth). Besides changing its badge for the one you can see at the end of gallery below, it has announced 14 new cars from up to 2012. Will it work? If the new design directions it takes are well received by the public, perhaps. And the SR1 Concept gives us a hint on what this new design direction will be.



Some have called this car stunning, but it really does not look that striking or revolutionary for us. It's nice, to say the most. Anyway, the car presents other qualities that may help it sell well, if it manages to reach the production lines.

The SR1 is 4.83 m long, 1.92 m wide, 1.25 m tall and bears a wheelbase of only 2.60 m (not enough for a car this big). It points out one of Peugeot's main problems lately: big overhangs. They may help the car look beautiful (discussable), but are a pain in the neck for handling.

In a straight line, anyway, the SR1 is able to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.7 s, a respectable mark. This is due to the total 230 kW (313 bhp) the car has available. Follower of the HYbrid4 concept (preached by Peugeot for a long time, but still not accomplished), it uses a 1.6-litre turbocharged THP engine, good for 160 kW (218 bhp), for the front wheels, and an electric powerplant, able to generate 70 kW (95 bhp) for the rear wheels. All that with only 119 g/km of carbon dioxide.

The transmission is a six-speed automated manual gearbox. No double-clutch mentioned, a sign Peugeot should be concerned about other things rather than design. Double-clutch automated transmissions are considered to be the best units of the world and should become predominant in the years to come.

Peugeot also says the car is a unique 2+1 vehicle (as if it was something to be proud about; Toyota iQ, that tiny little thing, is a 3+1) and will present the car at the Geneva Motor Show, in March, with shiny 20" alloy wheels. We still ask: will that be enough to reach the seventh biggest automaker goal? Car buyers will decide.


















Source: Peugeot

Nissan teases its small crossover, the Juke

Nissan praises very much its crossover range, which nowadays goes from Qashqai to Murano. But the Qazana concept, presented at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, has indicated the company intended to have a smaller crossover to offer customers. Little more than one month before its official unveiling, in February 10, the company has decided to tease customers with a glimpse of the production version of Qazana. And it will be named Juke.



In Europe, the car will be built at the plant of Sunderland, United Kingdom, which already produces Qashqai, Qashqai+2 and Note. After its unveiling to the public, in the 2010 edition of Geneva Motor Show, it will go on sale in the Old World by October.

Source: Nissan

What do Qazana and Duster have in common? More than you think

Have a good look at the two cars below and aswer: what do Nissan Qazana and Dacia Duster, two of the main attractions at this year's Geneva Motor Show, have in common?




If you think they do not have anything to do with each other, you are very mistaken, because they do. Although they will probably be very different in appearance when they reach the production lines, they will be very similar from underneath, once they are supposed to share the same platform, B0.

The B0 platform is a simplified version of the B platform, the same one used by Renault Modus and Nissan Tiida/Latio. In other words, both platforms can be built in the same plant with minor differences, so much that they look so similar only a specialist could differ one from the other.

This is why Nissan Livina has been recently presented in Brazil. The South American country already produces Logan and Sandero, badged as Renault vehicles, instead of Dacia. Since Nissan did not have a Brazilian produced car, only a truck, Frontier, it has seized the fact that the B0 platform is already in use in Brazil and have built there its first car. But it will not be the last.

Dacia Duster has been eagerly expected because it anticipates the small SUV that will be produced and probably launched in Brazil. The world premiere must even be in this country, as it has happened with Sandero. This is because Ford has been the first company to present a small SUV in Brazil, called EcoSport. It uses the previous Ford Fiesta platform and sells like hot cakes because it is the only option available in South American countries with that price tag. Renault clearly wants a piece of this market. Apparently, Nissan also does.

Since Duster's production version will be produced in Brazil, Qazana's may be built there as well. It would be something easy and fast to do, offering a car that perfectly fits a market segment that keeps increasing its share. And all this in one of the only car markets of the world that has not been heavily affected by the finantial crisis. Doesn't it sound sweet?

Both cars have different sizes, what may give the impression they do not share the same platform. Duster is 4.25 m long, 1.50 m tall, 1.64 m wide and has a wheelbase of 2.80 m. Qazana, on the other hand, is 4.06 m long, 1.57 m tall, 1.78 m wide and has a wheelbase of 2.53 m. Some means say it will use the new A platform that will be applied to the next generation Micra, but since the current Micra uses the B platform, we keep our bet that Duster and Qazana will have the same platform. We may be wrong, but we don't think we are.

Keep on comparing the two concept cars below. They may be look different, but they will surely be siamese twins.
















Source: Nissan and Renault

Italdesign Giugiaro Fraser-Nash Namir: hybrid or electric?

Italdesign has announced in February its main attraction at the Geneva Motor Show would be the fastest hybrid car of the world. It was supposed to be named Fraser-Nash, but, in fact, it has a much longer name than that. It is the Italdesign Giugiaro Fraser-Nash Namir (tiger, in Arabic). And the car uses a combustion engine only to charge its lithium-ion batteries. Can it be called a hybrid instead of an electric car with extended range, as Chevrolet Volt or Fisker Karma?



The answer could vary, but we do not think naming this car a hybrid would be correct. The 4.56 m long sportscar does not use its 814 cm³ Wankel engine to run, but solely to charge its batteries, which can also be recharged at any domestic power supply. Namir is 1.19 m tall, 1.97 m wide and has a wheelbase of 2.63 m. It is a two-seater, with bucket seats and 20-inch alloy wheels, wearing 245/40 R20 tyres in front and 275/40 R20 at the back. Using its petrol engine, Namir is able to run up to 39 km with one litre of fuel and emit less than 50 g/km.

With a total weight of 1,450 kg, it can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.5 s and reach a top speed of more than 300 km/h. This can be credited to the propulsion system created by Fraser-Nash. That's right: the British company has not disappeared, it has only stopped producing cars. Namir uses four electric engines that produce 367 bhp (270 kW). They are not installed in each wheel, as in Venturi Volage, but inside the car. It is a pity, since it would represent a reduction in parts and weight, but the car is still amazingly fast. It would be nice if this speed helped it get into a production series, even a limited one, as soon as possible.











Source: Italdesign

Protoscar has presented its Lampo at the Geneva Motor Show

In January we have first spoken about Protoscar Lampo. It was a 268 bhp convertible Swiss two-seater with two electric engines, produced by BRUSA, each of them installed in one of the car axles, front and rear. Both of them can produce 440 Nm of torque from 0 to 5,000 rpm. What the car did not have at that time was an official appearence. Now it does.



Lampo is 4.32 m long, 1.87 m wide, 1.20 m tall and has a wheelbase of 2.42 m. It weighs 1,650 kg with its full load and uses 18-inch wheels, with 245/45 R18 tyres. Able to reach 200 km/h of top speed and to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 5 s, the car is fully powered by electricity. Its batteries take 12 hours to charge in a common house electricity inlet and can make the car run for up to 200 km.

As we have told you before, the car will not be mass-produced, what will surely frustrate all its fans. Especially now, with a face to miss.














Source: Protoscar