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We can’t help but find Green Vehicles’ Triac three-wheeled highway-capable electric car anything but stupidly adorable, and it looks it’s is even better than we hoped. Our friends over at Autoblog Green scored some more info on the buggy, and found that the top speed it actually 80mph, and that range is just about 100 miles on a full charge, down from 120 miles as originally estimated. The Triac will also roll with a five-speed transmission, and charge from either a 120V or 240V power source. On top of all that, Green Vehicles is apparently working on a truck called the Buckshot based on the same motor, but with a three-speed transmission that will enable it to be a “true work truck.” Sure, sure — but when can we have a Triac? Seriously, we want to hug it.

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Although Audi isn’t aiming to beat Chevrolet to the punch with an electric whip, it does plan on joining the party a bit further down the road — according to company bigwig Rupert Stadler, that is. Based on an interview with Germany’s Welt am Sonntag, Mr. Stadler noted that he expected diesel and battery technology to dominate within five to ten years, and he made mention that “by then, [Audi] would offer cars without exhaust emissions.” Curiously enough, he also stated that “electric cars offer opportunities, which [the company has] already seized on,” but alas, he didn’t elaborate beyond that. Just to confirm, we’ve got you, me and a whisper-quiet ride in five- to ten-years? It’s a date.

[Via News]

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The Tesla Roadster is like the gorgeous girlfriend that loves football, tunes a hotrod in her spare time, and doesn’t believe in celebrating anniversaries and birthdays. The Roadster is a beautiful car, it runs on exhaust-free plug power, and it’s already primed for more power. A Norwegian specialty car importer is quoting the Euro Tesla’s power at or over 300 hp, with a 13,000 rpm redline and a single speed transmission.

Our man Sam tells us that the above is likely to come courtesy of drivetrain 1.5, which will be available later in the Tesla’s production run. The revised gearbox drops a gear, adds an upgraded power electronics module, and provides better cooling. It seems the hype machine that is the Tesla Roadster is beginning to heat up, and more power will only make us want the green little drop-top more.

[Source: Autoblog Green]

Nary two months after the Tesla Roadster finally hit production, the automaker’s first dealership has swung its doors wide open. Not surprisingly, the establishment is planted in gridlock heaven, better known as Los Angeles, California. Even less shocking is the fact that it opened at one of the busiest intersections in the city — near the practically useless (we kid… sort of) 405 freeway and the always-packed corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda boulevards. Of course, the 10,000-square-foot dealership isn’t exactly rolling cars off of the showroom floor just yet (something about a lingering transmission issue), but it’s hoping the $2 million cost of construction more than pays itself off in a couple of years. And if you’re hankering for a Telsa Motors store near you, you can look forward to others popping up in Menlo Park (CA), New York, Miami, Seattle and Chicago in the next year or so.

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Our siblings over at AutoblogGreen discovered a little video hinting that a new three-wheeled, 70MPH electric car called the Triac is available… now. While we wait for the Aptera to hit the road, it seems Green Vehicles went ahead and made the Triac, tested it, and got it all sorts of market-ready. For

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When we were brainstorming ideas for Earth Day posts, we thought about featuring the ten most exciting green cars we wish we could buy today. It turns out that there are at least twice as many green rides on the horizon that we’d really like to have today, so the list has expanded. We’d like to note that this list is far from complete; the green sector of the automotive industry is growing in leaps and bounds.

• Number 20
• Number 19
• Number 18
• Number 17
• Number 16
• Number 15
• Number 14
• Number 13
• Number 12
• Number 11
• Number 10
• Number 9
• Number 8
• Number 7
• Number 6
• Number 5
• Number 4
• Number 3
• Number 2
• Number 1

There you have it. Take a look at our list and, as always, feel free to share your own favorites in the comments.

source:autobloggreen

Shortly after announcements that Th!nk would be selling its wares in the U.K. and possibly Australia comes news that the Norwegian maker of small electric cars is launching operations in America. Th!nk’s City electric car was designed with the American market in mind, so this news should not be too surprising. There are no hard dates yet announced regarding when the vehicle will actually be available, but having a presence in the states is surely a good sign.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req’d]

The head of the World Wildlife Fund has come out publicly in favor of the electrification of the world’s transportation system. James Leape, director general of WWF International, has declared that cars need to get smaller, lighter and far more efficient. Leape also said that cars should be migrating to electric drive because it is more efficient than internal combustion engines. As an organization that supports preserving animal species, the WWF has a vested interest in helping to mitigate phenomena like climate change, deforestation and other environmental problems.

All the car-makers are working on a variety of electric drive vehicles using multiple technological approaches. There are of course multiple issues with all of these including cost, durability, range, etc. There is also, of course, the issue of producing electricity to power plug-in vehicles. Somewhere there’s a chorus repeating the mantra that we need to work aggressively to develop sustainable methods of generating electricity.

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When we drove the jellybean on wheels (the Mitsubishi i MiEV) at the New York Auto Show last month, we were pretty swept away. This is one nice EV. Maybe we weren’t quite as enthralled as the kids in this commercial for the all-electric car, but we’re still in favor of the i MiEV making it to showrooms soon.

While my Japanese has gotten seriously rusty ever since I moved away from Japan in 2001, you don’t even need my level of understanding to get something out of these videos. As our tipster Yanquetino wrote:

They are worth seeing, IMHO. The second one is especially informative. Despite the Japanese, you can still catch words like “braking,” “CO2,” “engine,” “motor,” “battery,” etc. (I guess these are all imported from English). More importantly, they provide the specification numbers in Arabic numerals and symbols (14 hours full charge with 110V, 7 hours with 220, 30 minutes to 80% at charging stations, 160 km range, etc., etc.).

I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually port these movies over to English, but for now… they are understandable! Evidently Mitsubishi is committed to bringing the iMiEV to market in Japan. Let’s hope that they’ll bring them here soon afterwards!

(If you’re in favor of the i MiEV in the U.S., don’t forget to sign this petition.)

When I watched the commercial, I understood the part where the voiceover says “It’s like a cell phone” when the woman plugs the car in. I think it also says “Running on zero” at the end, which means running on zero CO2 emissions. In this clip, a more technical description of what the i MiEV is all about, a vision of what driving an electric car could be like is laid out. I describe this clip after the jump.
Gallery: Mitsubishi i MiEV - LIVE
First off, the opening shot is pretty genius. Powering our EVs from wind is a dream I’m sure I share with a lot of readers. That sort of renewable electricity generation is just hinted at in the video, the bulk of which is dedicated to describing the way the i MiEV works. It has rear wheel drive and the video starts with an example of how much more efficient an electric motor is compared to a gasoline engine (55.5 percent of the energy in the fuel/batteries is used to move the vehicle in the electric version vs. 16.3 percent in the gas version). Plus, the EV uses regenerative braking. The i MiEV has LEV50 lithium-ion batteries, and - when carbon from electricity generation is figured in - the i MiEV emits 50 grams of CO2 per km for the EV compared to a little over 70 for a hybrid and 140+ for a 660cc gasoline engine. The i MiEV has a 160 km range with li-ion batteries that are coming in 2009. Mitsubishi’s plans seem to indicate setting up quick charging stations at convenience stores, train stations, Mitsubishi dealerships, shopping centers, and gas stations. If anyone with better Japanese skills wants to correct my translations, please feel free to do so. One thing that we can all understand is that cool logo. Thanks to Yanquetino for the tip!
[Source: Mitsubishi]