Spotted in Detroit: Pre-production 2011 Chevrolet Volt
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chevrolet
We’ve still got about six and a half months until the official Job one production date for the Chevrolet Volt, but General Motors’ new icon is increasingly popping up on the streets around Detroit. Most of the Volts that are spotted in public are from the fleet of 80 IVER prototypes that were built last summer. Those are the cars we have seem with unpainted black bumpers and primer gray finishes. A few of those cars have been completely trimmed out for use as demonstrators, such as the one we drove last December.
This weekend, a camera crew from Detroit’s channel 7 news spotted one of these finished cars. We can’t tell from these photos if this cars one is one of the IVERs or one of the new production validation cars that started rolling out of the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant a couple of weeks ago. Either way, every time we see a Volt in the wild, the whole project feels a bit more real. A tip of the hat to Vince!
[Source: WXYZ.com]
Spotted in Detroit: Pre-production 2011 Chevrolet Volt originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Mercedes refutes Schumacher retirement talk
Filed under: Motorsports, Mercedes-Benz, Rumormill
It’s pretty safe to say that Michael Schumacher isn’t quite back up to vintage form. After winning seven World Championships, Schumi spent three years on the sidelines before leaving retirement to take the wheel at the newly-rechristened Mercedes-Benz GP team, headed by his longtime collaborator and strategic mastermind, Ross Brawn. But in the three grands prix so far this season, the world’s most accomplished driver has been consistently outperformed by his younger teammate Nico Rosberg. In fact, Schumi’s one of only two drivers – along with Renault rookie Vitaly Petrov – to be out-qualified by his wingman in all three races, reinforcing the adage that an F1 driver’s teammate is his chief rival.
His lackluster performance has left pundits wondering whether Michael’s return was ill-conceived. There’s even speculation that even though his contract with Mercedes extends through 2012, Schumacher could bow out by the end of this season.
The top brass at Mercedes, however, have been quick to defend their star driver, blaming themselves before blaming Schumi. Motorsport chief Norbert Haug says Michael is “highly motivated [towards] the long term”, with team CEO Nick Fry warning not to “underestimate” Schumacher’s potential for a comeback. With sixteen races left to go this season, there’s plenty of time to see who’ll turn out right.
[Sources: Top Gear, ESPN F1]
Mercedes refutes Schumacher retirement talk originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Yugos: Awful cars, serviceable art
The Yugofone and other interesting creations – Click above for image gallery
Remember Jason Vuic’s book about the rise and fall of Yugo? Apparently, the inspiration for it came from the fact that an artist was able to buy 39 Yugos for $92 each. Those Yugos were given to students at The School of Visual Arts in New York and they were told to make something useful out of them.
And that’s how you get the Yugo accordion from the book, the Yogofone (pictured above), and a Yugo grand piano with a plate reading “89 KEYS.” This Yugobilia was displayed in New York’s Grand Central Station and on a U.S. tour – probably the best things to happen to any Yugo anywhere. Ever.
BMW probably doesn’t need to be worried about its art car franchise just yet, but the Bavarians might take some notes, just to be safe. Check out a few of the pieces in the gallery below, or click the link to check out another two dozen works of Yugo art.
Nissan Micra Specifications
Price: NA
Variants: NA
Dimensions
Length: 3780 mm
Width: 1665 mm
Height: 1530 mm
Wheel Base: 2450 mm
Ground Clearance: NA
Kerb Weight: 945 kg
Gross Weight: NA
No. of Doors: 4
Seating Capacity: 5
Fuel Tank Capacity: NA
Engine
Engadget tries Festo’s next-gen racing chair
Filed under: Videos, Toys/Games
Festo AirMotion Ride – Click above to watch video after the jump
Blogger Richard Lai from sister-site Engadget recently had a chance to try out the amazing Festo AirMotion Ride driving simulator chair. Festo had the new device set up at The Gadget Show Live in the UK and Richard couldn’t resist giving it a spin. You can see a short video clip of that experience after the jump, but be forewarned, Lai asks ahead of time that no one judge his driving. We can’t resist a little playful mocking and advise Richard to not quit his day job.
Aside from the atrocious driving, you can see the extreme movement possible with Festo’s revolutionary “fluidic muscles.” That’s the name of Festo’s elastomer tubes that contract when filled with fluid, producing forces of up to 1,600 Nm (1,180 lb-ft). Better yet, there are no mechanical parts inside, making them simpler to replace than the typical hydraulic plungers found on competing simulators from D-Box, Simcraft, Force Dynamics and Motion-Sim.
Follow the jump to see Festo’s machine in action, and don’t judge Richard too harshly.
[Source: Engadget] Read more…
Prius continues to dominate Japanese auto sales
More than 35,000 sold in March
Toyota sold almost 3 times as many Prius hybrids in Japan as compared to the US in March. With a whopping 35,546 units sold last month in its home market, the Prius topped Japanese sale’s charts for the 11th month in a row, largely thanks to government incentives.
Just another example of the importance of government involvement in the development of battery-powered vehicles?
Via Hybrid Cars
