Ever wonder how it feels to travel the famous Pikes Peak hill-climb circuit in Colorado in an electric car? While an AC Propulsion powered full-spec race car sponsored by tire firm Yokohama may have set a new electric car hill climb record of 12 minutes and 20 seconds, Nissan was sending one of its production Nissan Leafs up the 12.42 mile course...
You’ve done the research, figured out how which one you want and even put a deposit down to secure your new electric car. But how do you get rid of your gasoline one? Of course, you can always sell it on or part exchange it for your plug-in car, but if your current gasoline car isn’t that new or valuable, here’s five more...
City car-sharing schemes have become more popular in recent years as the cost of owning a car rockets, but until now they’ve focused on traditional gasoline-engined cars. Not any more. The City of San Diego has just become the first North American city to host a carsharing scheme made up entirely of tiny two-seat electric cars. Ran by...
According to a report from gigaom earlier this week, the electric auto industry will soon be producing battery packs at a rate far greater than the number of electric cars being built. Caused in part by a slower uptake of electric cars by consumers than was initially hoped, the article warned that the upcoming battery glut would force some battery...
Its one of the most eagerly anticipated plug-in vehicles to join the market in the next year or so, but the reintroduced Toyota RAV4EV won’t be available to buy, says Geri Yoza, Toyota’s National Business Planning Manager of Advanced Vehicle Marketing. Instead, the electric SUV will be available to fleets and car sharing programs...
Never mind that the closest most New Yorkers will ever get to EV ownership is a monthly pass to the subway. The city that never sleeps can be a hard place to own any type of car, but that isn’t stopping City Hall from promoting the eco-credentials of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.
New York City has added 70 green vehicles to its fleet, bringing the city’s total ‘clean-air’ vehicles to 430 (the largest of any city in the U.S.). The new additions include 50 Chevrolet Volts, 10 Ford Transit Connects and 10 Navi-Star E-Star trucks. Residents are encouraged to visit the city’s Drive Electric website to learn more about the benefits of clean-air cars.
“This is the latest and largest-ever addition of electric vehicles to the city’s fleet, which is already the largest municipal clean-air vehicle fleet in the nation,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters during a press conference. “We will continue to lead by example, but we also must provide New Yorkers with tools to make environmentally friendly choices in their own lives.” That could be easier said then done, especially when the infrastructure to charge an EV in the Big Apple is almost non-existent.
The few parking garages that do have EV charging stations also happen to apply normal parking rates while your vehicle recharges. That could mean paying from $30 to $60, or more, for a couple bucks worth of electricity. But hey, it still beats battling it out in the subway during a summer heat wave.
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A couple of weeks ago an intrepid team of three Germans set off from the southern end of the 16,000 mile Panamerican Highway in Argentina driving a Volkswagen Touareg TDI. Their goal was to drive non-stop to the northern end at Deadhorse in Alaska in 14 days, lopping ten days off the previous record. You can check my original post here.
With all the possible delays they might have encountered traversing 14 countries, it was amazing to find them accomplishing the task in less than 12 days. Some might say they cheated at one stage by chartering a plane to cross the border between Columbia and Panama, bypassing the Darien Gap, the only part that’s not completed.
By coincidence I am currently travelling from Alaska to California driving a 1999 Ford F150 towing a pop-up camper for a friend who did not want to make the 3400 mile journey herself. A friend and myself offered to undertake the chore. Having just spent two days on the Alaskan Highway in Alaska and Yukon I now know from firsthand experience that making fast time is no mean achievement. The road is under repair for a dozens of miles at a time and you often have to make stops in construction zones.
I had hoped to actually see the Touareg TDI as it was “flying” north but we arrived at the spot in the Yukon, where I’d anticipated seeing them, a day too late as they finished two days earlier than expected.
Traversing the Alaskan Highway has always been on my bucket list. It’s fascinating to find that while some people are jealous of my “working vacation” others say they would hate to undertake such a long drive. If you needed to get a truck and trailer from Anchorage to Southern California would you drive? Or would you consider it a task and just as soon let someone else do it for you?
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An exclusive work of art commissioned by Alfa Romeo has been unveiled to celebrate the launch of the new eco-friendly Alfa MiTo 1.3 JTDM-2 85 bhp Sprint in a partnership between the Italian marque and Castle Galleries.
Artist Louise Dear was approached for the bespoke piece due to her typically young and exciting style, which combine classic beauty with unique design.
Using a complex method of layered paint onto aluminum, Louise modeled the flamboyant art, entitled ‘Because I Can’, on her 17-year-old daughter and introduced unmistakable influences from the Alfa MiTo into the work.
The inspiration behind the art derives from Alfa Romeo’s new congestion charge free Alfa MiTo, which has only 95g/km of CO2 emissions, and is interpreted in the subject through a vibrant floral backdrop and mix of bold colors. The painting also incorporates elements of Alfa Romeo logo, and legendary Cloverleaf symbol.
Louise said: “I really wanted to capture Alfa Romeo’s heritage and elegance within my creation, while bringing out the stylish and fashionable aspects of the Alfa MiTo.
“The Alfa MiTo is targeted at a young, stylish audience who have a positive attitude to life, and are focussed on being successful, and within my painting I have tried to bring this across using a combination of designs that convey powerful imagery mixed with elegance and beauty.”
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The Road America Kohler International Challenge takes place this weekend at the beautiful and incredibly challenging Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This annual automotive tradition sees everything from historic racing machines to priceless limited-production models hit the 14-corner, 4-mile-long Road America circuit. This year, the event will feature the Carl Haas Porsche 356 Challenge, Historic Trans-Am, the North American E-Type Challenge and the return of Historic Grand Prix.
The action begins today with qualifying. For anyone who can’t attend but still wants to watch the excitement live, a live webcam has been positioned on top of the VIP tower. View the action online here.
Road & Track, which sponsors the downtown Concours d’Elegance for both race cars and road cars, will give out two awards: “The Car We Would Most Like to Race” and “The Car We Would Most Like to Drive.” A full recap of all the weekend’s activities will be available via the Road & Track Auto Show iPhone app and on the RoadandTrack.com website Monday, July 18th. It’s the next best thing to being there!
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Freeway closures. Bridge demolition. Mass hysteria—the Carmageddon cometh.
While it sounds like a new Michael Bay film, thankfully it isn’t. Lord knows one can only take so many explosions, plot holes and crappy dialog in a given summer. Instead, what the much ballyhooed Carmageddon refers to is the Interstate 405 closure in Southern California to make way for a carpool lane.
Ironically, the long-term easement of automotive congestion that the 405 is infamous for comes at the short-term cost of a complete, all-lane freeway closure for a weekend. Or, from what the media is portraying it as, the end of the world. The “carpocalypse.”
From the hype, one would think the entire 405 will be closed. Not true. The closure affects only 10 miles of it, albeit a highly trafficked stretch spanning from Interstate 10 to U.S. 101, a patch of highway connecting coastal Santa Monica to the San Fernando Valley.
So will it affect traffic? Sure. Is it the end of the world? Far from it. It’s just a major inconvenience. Los Angeles traffic tends to be horrible on Saturday anyway. But for those of you concerned with the pending “cartastrophe,” we’ve come up with five tips that may be helpful.
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