Bentley concept brings luxury to electric cars

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Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e concept. Photos / Supplied

The legendary British marque, renowned for its big-engined grand tourers, took the wraps off the stunning EXP 12 Speed 6e Concept at the Geneva Motor Show today - and it's a luxury  all-electric sports car that could handle a 310-mile long blast across Europe.

While a zero emissions model is only on the horizon for Bentley, which is owned by VW Group, it says this convertible concept will be used to gauge customer interest in a chargeable sports car.

Bentley's boss Wolfgang Dürheimer said the car had the 'technology, high quality materials and refinement levels you'd expect from a true Bentley'. 

The carmaker is remaining secretive about how mighty the battery-supported electric motor used in the concept vehicle is, however, there have been suggestions it will share powerplants with fellow VW brand, Porsche.

That could mean a similar output to the Mission E concept the German performance car maker revealed at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The Porsche, which is expected to be production-ready by 2020, boasted a 592bhp motor and four-wheel drive, which translates to a 0 to 62mph time of just 3.5 seconds.

The showcasing of the Bentley today highlights how seriously the world's most famous luxury and sporting brands are taking electric power.

As you would expect from the British carmaker, the interior is awash with fine leather, wood and carpets - it looks as opulent as a Bentley should.

Both the Bentley and the Porsche should also feature the most advanced fast-charge systems, meaning the batteries can be boosted to 80 per cent capacity in a quarter of an hour.

But while the powertrain remains speculation for now, what's undeniable is how eyebrow-raisingly good the EXP 12 Speed 6e looks.

It closely follows the design of the previous EXP 10 concept, featuring a '6' embedded into the oversized grille, prominent sculpting around the sills and the doors and a deeply-chiselled bonnet.

Speaking at the unveiling in Geneva, Wolfgang Dürheimer, chairman and chief executive of Bentley Motors, said: 'The EXP 12 Speed 6e is a concept to show that Bentley is defining electric motoring in the luxury sector, with the appropriate technology, high quality materials and refinement levels you'd expect from a true Bentley.'

'This concept enables us to engage with luxury customers and gather feedback on our approach.'

'Bentley is committed to offering an electric model in its future portfolio and we are interested to receive feedback on this concept.' 

The manufacturer also promised that elements of the design language featured on the EXP 12 will be passed down to new-release conventional models it will make available in the next few years.

Being a concept, there are a few exaggerated features seen here that you're unlikely to see in production form - not least the enormous alloy wheels and small cameras mounted on stems that replace the wing mirrors on this vehicle.

But wait until you see the inside. It has a chopped steering wheel with buttons fixed to the stumps where the top of the wheel has been lopped off. One is an instant boost button while the other is a speed limiter - whatever you do, don't mix the two up!

The cabin also features high resolution displays, compass-like instruments and an ignition button that looks like it could launch an Apollo mission, rather than engage an electric motor.

Back to reality, this still remains a concept for now. That said, a plug-in hybrid version of the Bentayga SUV should be available from next year, suggesting the electrified direction the British brand is going in. 

-Daily Mail

Source: Bentley concept brings luxury to electric cars

Tesla Is Proving That Electric Cars Make More Sense Than Fuel-Cell Vehicles

The Tesla Model S and the Toyota Mirai (Image: Teslarati)

TESLA EDGE: JAPANESE AUTOMAKERS STUBBORNLY PUSH AHEAD WITH HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and others have spoken at great length about the reasons why hydrogen fuel cells are inferior to batteries for automotive applications, but others, particularly in Japan, do not agree. The leading proponent of fuel cells is Toyota, which has been selling the Mirai fuel cell vehicle since late 2014, and hopes to be selling 30,000 hydrogen vehicles per year by 2020. Things haven't been going so well. This week it's been reported that, "Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it was recalling all of the roughly 2,800 zero-emission Mirai cars on the road due to problems with the output voltage generated by their fuel cell system."

*This article comes to us courtesy of Evannex (which also makes aftermarket Tesla accessories). Authored by Matt Pressman.

Other Japanese automakers have also embraced hydrogen fuel cells. Honda introduced the Clarity Fuel Cell sedan in December, and Hyundai offers the Tucson Fuel Cell SUV. Lexus and Audi showed hydrogen concept cars at the recent Detroit auto show. GM and Honda recently announced a joint venture to develop next-generation fuel cell systems. The companies plan to invest $85 million in the venture, and hope to reach production in 2020.

The Honda Clarity fuel cell sedan (Image: CNET)

In Japan, fuel cells are seen not only as an automotive technology, but as a way to store energy for residential and industrial use as well. The ENE-FARM program had installed over 120,000 residential fuel cell units as of 2015, and the government has set a target of deploying 5.3 million by 2030. Toshiba's H2One includes a fuel cell, an electrolysis hydrogen generator and an electric battery in a standard shipping container. It produces electricity and hot water, and can be used as a portable power source in disasters.

The city of Tokyo plans to invest $400 million in vehicle subsidies and hydrogen fueling stations in order to showcase fuel cell technology at the 2020 Olympic Games. Toyota hopes to have 100 fuel cell buses operating in the nation's capital by then. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has become an advocate. "Hydrogen energy is an ace in the hole for energy security and measures against global warming," Abe said in January. "Thanks to deregulation, a hydrogen society of the future is about to begin here in Japan."

The Toyota Mirai in Japan (Image: Autoblog)

In the wake of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan is looking for new ways to reduce emissions and reliance on imported fuels. Currently, most hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, but the Japanese government hopes to find ways to produce it from renewable sources by 2040. The debate over fuel cells has been going on for decades. Detractors are fond of saying, "hydrogen is the fuel of the future – and always will be." The first thing to understand is that hydrogen is not a source of energy, but a means of storing energy, an alternative to batteries. Fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) are electric vehicles – they use the same electric motors and other powertrain components that Teslas and other battery electric vehicles (BEVs) do – only the energy storage medium is different.

Comparing the simplicity of electric cars with the complexity of hydrogen cars (Image: InsideEVs)

Fuel cell vehicles have two advantages over current BEVs: they have more range, because a full tank of hydrogen stores more energy than today's typical EV battery; and they can be refueled quickly, like a legacy gasoline vehicle. However, the technology of automotive batteries is in its infancy, and both the range and recharging time of BEVs are steadily improving. New technologies such as automatic wireless charging and/or dynamic (on-road) wireless charging may someday make the charging issue irrelevant.

Model S at a Tesla Supercharger station (Image: Crave)

Back in 2003, when Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning were laying their plans to create Tesla Motors, they considered many different energy storage mechanisms, including hydrogen, before deciding that batteries were the best choice. "Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not a primary fuel," noted Tarpenning, "and unfortunately, it's not a good energy carrier."

Even from the beginning of the company, Tesla dismissed hydrogen in favor of battery electric vehicle technology for its Roadster (Image: Zero Emission Motoring)

The debate continues. In 2014, Green Car Reports published a list of questions for Hyundai, Toyota, and Honda about the viability of fuel cells. To their credit, the automakers responded. In January, Business Insider attempted to address fuel cell vehicles' advantages in range and refueling time. In the meantime, Elon Musk has explained the technical shortcomings of what he calls "fool cells" many times. As an energy storage mechanism, hydrogen is less efficient than lithium-ion batteries (to say nothing of future battery chemistries). Hydrogen is even more volatile than gasoline, so storing it and transporting it are challenging. And using it in cars would require building a network of fueling stations, whereas the electricity to charge a BEV is already available almost everywhere.

Above: Comparing the two technologies and Musk's thoughts on hydrogen (Youtube: 5 hours ahead)

At the Automotive World News Congress in 2015, Elon said, "If you're going to pick an energy storage mechanism, hydrogen is an incredibly dumb one to pick – you should just pick methane, that's much much easier, or propane," Musk said. He went on to note the complexity of producing hydrogen. "It's just very difficult to make hydrogen and store it and use it in a car. If you, say, took a solar panel and use that…to just charge a battery pack directly, compared to split water, take hydrogen, dump oxygen, compress hydrogen…it is about half the efficiency."

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Sources: Bloomberg, CNET, Green Car Reports, Business Insider

*Editor's Note: EVANNEX, which also sells aftermarket gear for Teslas, has kindly allowed us to share some of its content with our readers. Our thanks go out to EVANNEX, Check out the site here.

Source: Tesla Is Proving That Electric Cars Make More Sense Than Fuel-Cell Vehicles

Nearly All Tesla Model 3 Reservation Holders Say They’ll Opt For Non-Base Version Of Electric Car

9 hours ago by Steven Loveday

Tesla Model 3

Tesla Model 3

As we have reported before, Model3Tracker.info has become the most notable place to check out data related to the upcoming Tesla Model 3. Updated information shows that nearly every reservation holder plans to upgrade.

This is to be expected, since many of the features that Tesla is most famous for, will not come standard. Also, better-equipped models will come off the assembly line sooner than base models. Added to this, the car (especially if there is still a federal EV rebate in place) is leaps and bounds cheaper than Tesla's current offerings.

The website is tracking 6,300 Model 3 reservation holders. Let's take a look at what the respondents said:

65 percent plan to pony up Autopilot

43.07 percent plan to opt for Enhanced Autopilot

39.75 percent desire a larger battery pack

11 percent hope for dual motor (no Ludicrous)

8 percent plan to splurge for the Ludicrous option

If you factor it all together, 93 percent of those participating are intending some sort of available features, beyond the standard equipment. Of those upgraders, a majority are more interested in longer range, than greater performance. While these two sort of go hand in hand – as a larger battery will travel further and perform better – based on the assumed options, the two are not completely one in the same.

The consensus on the street is that the Tesla Model 3 will have battery capacity options ranging between 50 and 75 kWh. Paul Carter, founder of Model3Tracker.info, doesn't anticipate that the first wave of Model 3 vehicles will come equipped with a larger limited, unlockable battery option. However, there is no way to know for sure what Tesla's plan is.

Hopefully, Tesla will put the Model 3 Design Studio live sometime in June, so that people can begin making choices prior to the initial production pursuit. Teslarati says that Tesla may be able to produce as many as 110,000 Model 3s before the close of 2017. Other recent reports have speculated as low as 30,000, and up to 80,000 or more.

Source: Teslarati

Tags: Enhanced Autopilot, Ludicrous Mode, model 3, Model 3 Reservation Holders, Model 3 Upgrade, Model3Tracker, Non-Base Model 3, tesla, Tesla Model 3

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Source: Nearly All Tesla Model 3 Reservation Holders Say They'll Opt For Non-Base Version Of Electric Car

Dubuc Motors Unveils Tomahawk, Their All Electric Sports Car

Long gone are the days when the electric car was nothing but a passing fad that would never go fast. Thanks in part to cars like the Tesla Model S, we've seen what battery power can do. This has paved the road for Dubuc Motors to unveil the end result of their crowd funded effort: Tomahawk.

All Electric Supercar

There's real speed hiding under the Tomahawk's sleek exterior that earn it the title of super car. It's 0-60 time comes in at a blazing 3 seconds and it doesn't take long from there to hit the 160mph top speed.

That doesn't seem high compared to other high end vehicles but the range paired with its power makes it worthwhile. At the moment, the Tomahawk carries enough power for a single charge to last for 370 miles on the open road. That's plenty for tearing up a track day or finding some wide open roads.

High Tech Features

Right out of the box, the Tomahawk has some rather impressive goodies. Among these are the voice activated commands in the cabin to make overall control much easier. It also carries a camera system with a 360 degree range of vision that give live feedback.

Another amazing point about this car is what it will help do for the American economy. Sine it is completely manufactured in North America, its manufacture will contribute by adding domestics jobs. It will also serve as a proof of concept to show other automakers what all electric vehicles are capable of.

Categories: New Cars

About James Murrell

I love to read about and research all sorts of vehicles from restored classics to top shelf supercars, monstrous offroaders to weird concept vehicles. I always have a vehicle build happening on one side of my garage for myself and a second bay open for my friends to come and build their dreams too.

Source: Dubuc Motors Unveils Tomahawk, Their All Electric Sports Car

Electric Vehicle Startup 'Lucid' Competes Directly with Tesla

(TNS) -- MENLO PARK, Calif. — Peter Rawlinson got a big break in his automobile career by building his own sports car — a curvaceous two-seater called the Imola.

He parlayed that design into a job at Lotus, the iconic British sports car maker. His design later echoed through a more familiar Silicon Valley sight — the Tesla Roadster.

Rawlinson, an engineer and designer by training, has designed and innovated for Jaguar, BMW, Aston Martin, Daimler, Ford, Bentley and other major automakers. In 2009, he became vice president of vehicle engineering at Tesla, leading the company's design and engineering of the Model S.

Three years later, he left Tesla to become chief technology officer of an electric vehicle startup now known as Lucid. The company revealed an early version of its first sedan, the all-electric Air, in December. Rawlinson's pitch for the Lucid Air is space and luxury. The cabin is roomier than a traditional sedan and designed to feel like the interior of a private jet. It leaps from the starting line like a Formula One car.

The company expects to start production in early 2019, with the price tag around $85,000. That puts Rawlinson and Lucid squarely in competition with his former company. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: When you came out of university, what path were you drawn to?

A: I wanted to design cars. I wasn't sure when I went into university, but the passion sort of developed. I deliberately started a career designing, engineering cars. That's a subject which is so misunderstood, this view that the design is done in the studio — the art design, that's the styling design — and the engineers develop the car. Actually, the design is both aesthetic and technical. There's design from a styling perspective and design from an engineering perspective.

That really became my passion. To have such an impact on people's lives — and actually their well-being and safety — is quite a calling.

Q: How do you create a team that can create a world-class design? You did that with the Model S, and you believe you're doing it with the Lucid Air.

A: You have to know enough people, and you need to be sufficiently convincing with those people, and they have to have enough trust in you and belief in you come and join you. And somehow you bribe them or cajole them or buy sufficient beers to convince them that's a wise move, career-wise, to drop everything that they've left to come and join my latest escapade.

Here's the interesting thing — it's actually, I believe, easier, particularly as a new venture, to create a car and a product that is truly outstanding than one that's mediocre.

You sell the dream that we're going to change the world. We're going to create something which is not just another electric car that's been done before. This is the next generation. We're pushing state of the art, we're pushing the technology for the benefit of mankind — for the benefit of sustainable transportation.

Q: It's a hard mission to start, building an automobile company. It's capital-intensive effort. Why did you decide to take this on?

A: I passionately believe we have to make a real serious impact upon the transportation habits in this world. To create more competition in this arena is a really good thing. To truly, to really be the company that exploits the full potential of the electric power train. That can make the electric car more compelling in the marketplace than even it is now. Some of the advantages have been shown. The full potential is not being shown.

Q: Where do you think EVs are today? Where do you think the Model S is today, and where do you think the Air is taking consumers?

A: The Model S is a remarkable product. I'm very proud of what the team achieved on that. It's a landmark product, and I'm thrilled by its success. I was a real big part of that. It's really established a great foundation in people's consciousness. It's changed the way electric vehicles are perceived.

But what it didn't do was truly tease out the full potential. It's a great starting point. We're taking this to another level from the Model S. This is next generation, the second generation electric car. If you look at the rear interior space of the Model S, it's very compromised.

Q: What are some of the biggest lessons that you took from Tesla and going through the experience of launching the Model S?

A: Tenacity. Never say die. … A lot of it is commitment. There are three cornerstones of success in many ventures in life: It's ability, application and a degree of luck.

What we've done is very different that some other startup companies. We've been pretty quiet. And that's the style we've set from the top of the company. We've kept in stealth mode for a protracted period. Ultimately, I'll let the car do the talking.

Q: Do you find this an exciting time to be in the car business?

A: It's fascinating. I thought I was born too late. I thought a century ago, all the car guys like me we're having the most fun, because this was when it was true car wars. People were inventing things left, right and center. There were some crazy advanced designs. Back in the 1880s, Porsche created a car with in-wheel electric motors. The early land-speed records were all done with electric cars.

I thought it was all done. And now, here we are, years on, it's great. It's car wars again. There's a Darwinian struggle between different technologies.

I personally believe pure electric is the thing.

©2017 The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Source: Electric Vehicle Startup 'Lucid' Competes Directly with Tesla

New Tax Brackets Could Hurt Electric Car Sales In UK

Plug-in electric cars in UK (Go Ultra Low)

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

UK is one of the largest plug-in car markets in Europe with 36,917 new passenger plug-in registrations in 2016. That number include 24,714  PHEVs.

According to Autoexpress, new car tax brackets that will be introduced in April will limit exemptions:

"The government's new car tax brackets will move 66% of the available alternatively fuelled vehicles from road tax exemption to being subject to a £130 flat rate annual fee."

– Autocar

The good news is that zero-emission models (all-electric or hydrogen fuel cells) will still be exempted, as long as the price is below £40,000.

"Unlike the current system, where low-emission petrol and diesel cars are tax exempt, the new VED system will only be free for vehicles with no tailpipe emissions – that means electric and hydrogen cars only. That's not all though, as there's a new five-year supplement to pay for cars costing more than £40,000, which will be priced at £310."

"Cars registered after April 1st 2017 will pay a one-off tax charge for the first year, with rates decided by a heavily revised version of the current CO2-based tax band system.

The adjustments mean most buyers will see their first year tax charge virtually doubled, while only zero-emissions vehicles will get away with paying nothing at all.

From the second year onwards, the CO2 scale becomes irrelevant, as two flat rates will then be applied – a £0 (zero) VED rate for zero-emissions vehicles only, and a flat annual rate of £140 for all other cars.

While cars costing over £40,000 will also be liable for the £140 VED rate from year two, they will also be forced to pay an additional annual 'supplement' of £310 for the first five years.

That means expensive £40k+ zero-emissions cars will no longer get away with a free ride, as they'll have to pay the £310 supplement. Everything else in the £40k+ bracket will pay £450 a year (£310 supplement + £140 flat rate) until that five-year period is over and they revert to the £140 flat rate."

– Autoexpress

Summary:

BEVs: £0

Plug-in hybrids – Emissions 1-50 (g/km of CO2): £130 after first year

Plug-in hybrids – Emissions 51-75 (g/km of CO2): £15 in the first year and £130 thereafter

Plug-in hybrids – Emissions 76-90 (g/km of CO2): £90 in the first year and £130 thereafter

* Cars above £40,000 pay £310 annual supplement for five years

Source: New Tax Brackets Could Hurt Electric Car Sales In UK

Rutherford using grant for 8 electric vehicle charging stations

Rob Healey, Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Manager at BMW of North America, with an electric car and charger at BMW North America headquarters on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. (Photo: Michael Karas/Northjersey.com)

RUTHERFORD – The Borough of Trees is using state grant funds to install eight electric vehicle charging stations in four locations.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) grant funding of $40,000 will cover the installation of eight charging stations in four locations –Borough Hall parking lot on Park Avenue; the Memorial Park lot at the corner of Darwin and Monona avenues; the Tamblyn Field Civic Center parking lot on Woodland Avenue;  and 220 Highland Cross next to Wall Field.

On Feb. 27, the governing body authorized a grant agreement with the state for the grant funding.

Last summer, the DEP launched an initiative called "Drive Green New Jersey," aimed at educating the public and consumers on electric vehicles and the impact on air quality. Under the program, $725,000 in reimbursement grants were made available to employers, non-profits and government entities to offset the cost of installing charging stations to encourage commuters to use these types of vehicles, dubbed "It Pays to Plug In." Awardees can receive up to $5,000 for each Level 2 station, which provide more mileage range for electric vehicles then the Level 1 variety of station.

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"Electric vehicles can play a critical role in helping to improve our air quality," DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said. "This new grant program, in addition to the current incentives available in our state, can help improve the affordability of this innovative and proven technology that benefits all New Jersey residents."

Rutherford had applied for the $40,000 grant last August, said DEP spokesperson Karen Chmielinski.

A growing number of municipalities are installing public charging stations. The first Garden State town to do so, Montclair utilized a $25,000 Sustainable Jersey grant in 2010 to install a series of four stations in its downtown. Earlier this year, the Meadowlands community of Secaucus announced that it would be installing four charging stations, funded by the grant program, at its library, recreation center, Town Hall and municipal parking lot.

The number of electric vehicles on the road in New Jersey has increased over the last few years, according to the DEP's Bureau of Mobile Sources. Registrations for the electric vehicles went from 1,741 in 2012 to 9,065 in 2016.

Email: gantm@northjersey.com

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Source: Rutherford using grant for 8 electric vehicle charging stations