New posts from Gas 2.0!

Mitsubishi i EV is the Budget King of Electrics: Under 30K
How Exotic EVs are Born: Spirra’s Gorgeous How-to Video
“Black Current” Sets Street-Bodied EV Drag Racing Record
Want to Improve National Security? Ride a Scooter.

Mitsubishi i EV is the Budget King of Electrics: Under 30K

Posted: 25 Apr 2011 03:39 PM PDT

With a sticker price of just $29,990 (before a $7500 federal tax rebate) Mitsubishi will sell you a brand-new, Mitsubishi i SE, complete with 66 hp highway-legal electric motor, premium sound system, a gussied-up interior (below), and more – which means Mitsu’s i comes in at several thousand dollars less than even the base Nissan Leaf.

Mitsubishi i SE interior.

Want to spend even less on your EV? Mistubishi will sell you their base model i for $27,990 with all the same ZEV goodness and (claimed) 85 mile range as the more upscale SE.

As before, the i’s marketing still seems to target fleets, but at just over $20K to retail clients, Mitsubishi may just convince a few potential Leaf and Volt buyers to buy their just-as-green, for much less green.

Let’s hope this “more for less” approach continues as Mitsubishi moves from the rally/race heritage of its past towards a more dedicated green focus by 2015 (as planned).

Source: the Truth About Cars.

How Exotic EVs are Born: Spirra’s Gorgeous How-to Video

Posted: 25 Apr 2011 11:10 AM PDT

If you’re an avid GranTurismo player, then Oullim’s Spirra sportscar is something you’ve already got a good handle on. For the uninitiated, however, I’ll keep it brief: the Spirra is Korea’s answer to the Honda/Acura NSX, and – despite some shortsighted preconceptions about its county of origin – it has all the bona-fides of a for-real exotic car, with swoopy lines, 500+ horsepower engines, and loony-bin levels of performance, even from its upcoming electric model.

Spirra’s EV makes more than a cameo appearance in the video below, which shows exactly how this masterpiece of Korean engineering gets assembled. Spoilers: lovingly, by hand.

If you’re a fan of fast cars, technology, and appreciate real, old-school Craftsmanship, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Enjoy!

Source: Oullim Motors, via Autoblog.

“Black Current” Sets Street-Bodied EV Drag Racing Record

Posted: 25 Apr 2011 08:01 AM PDT

Alternative fuel racers like Oliver Young are taking clean racing to new levels. Over the weekend Young's "Black Current" EV Beetle dragster was the first street-bodied EV to run the quarter mile in 9 seconds, an impressive feat for sure.

Black Current first made waves over the summer when this unassuming 1960's Beetle obliterated a Tesla Roadster on the drag strip. Since then we've heard little from Oliver and his brother Sam, though the pair have apparently been very busy. Ask anybody who has ever done serious drag racing, and they'll tell you that getting into the 9-second range in the quarter mile requires some serious effort, both on the part of the racers and the vehicle. With Oliver behind the wheel though, Black Current was able to blitz down the 1,320 at the UK’s Santa Pod Raceway in 9.82 seconds at 133 mph, followed by a second run of 9.51 seconds at 135 mph, proof that this was no minor fluke. This is a big deal for EV racers, who have an uphill battle convincing the established drag racers that there's a lot of performance potential in electric cars.

These two runs have also established Black Current as the first street-bodied all-electric dragster to reach the 9-second mark, as well as the fastest car of its kind.. A "street-bodied" dragster is a vehicle that retains the production car's body as opposed to going for a body-on-frame fiberglass fixture like that of the world's fastest EV dragster, the Current Eliminator, which can run the same distance in around 7 seconds at almost 160 mph.

Black Current appears to have beaten Team Haiyin's Warp Factor II 1981 EV Camaro dragster to the 9-second milestone, which raced this weekend down in Florida (though an information blockade seems to be keeping the details of this event under wraps.) With more and more individuals and companies getting involved in EV drag racing, it is only a matter of time before these events become more mainstream. We're on the verge of an EV racing revolution, and I plan on having a front row seat.

Source: NEDRA

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can read about his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout or follow his non-nonsensical ramblings on Twitter @harshcougar.

Want to Improve National Security? Ride a Scooter.

Posted: 25 Apr 2011 06:58 AM PDT

Vespanomics.

It is telling of my age, perhaps, that I had originally thought to begin this article with a reference to “Voodoo Economics.” Even so, there is very little voodoo in the idea that reducing America’s foreign oil dependence/addiction is a good thing. It’s such a good idea, in fact, and so integral to “national security interests” that the US military is putting its best brains on the problem.

So, here we have an idea – reduced oil dependency – that is “good enough” to be embraced by Ed Begley Jr. on one end and blood-thirsty war-hawks on the other, and somewhere between those two extremes (I think) lie the rest of us, who have to deal with the environmental and economic realities of oil dependence every day.

No need to preach to the choir, however, so I’ll pitch this the right a bit, however and talk about a way that “red-blooded ‘Muricans” can significantly improve America’s national security equation without giving up their H2 Hummer or F-650 medium-duty Ford.

Ready for it? Ride a scooter. Maybe a moped.

Not all the time, of course, since life on two-wheels only (which I’ve tried) isn’t for everyone (note: “tried” is past-tense), but part time? For quick trips to the post office? To pick up a few last-minute groceries? To meet some friends at the coffee shop? To commute to work on a beautiful spring morning? Oh yeah, baby. Scoot me up.

According to Hell for Leather magazine, it's been estimated that if 10 % of American car drivers shifted just 33 % of their miles to scooters by 2020, national gasoline consumption would be reduced by some 3.9 billion gallons / 198 million barrels of oil / 21.4 billion USD (at just $3.67 a gallon) each and every year … which seems like a lot to me!

The (admittedly self-serving) information comes from Vespa and mint.com. So, while they do cite a number of sources, you should take the information with a grain of salt … but no so much that you start denying the basic principles of “use less gas/need less gas” playing out here.

Full (big) infographic, below.