Electric Vehicle Mechanics 101

There is so much press surrounding the entire electric vehicle scene that many consumers might seem overwhelmed by the entire concept and process.  Here it is we thought that the hybrid cars from CA Toyota were going to be the best technology ever released, but now there is something better on the market.  One question that many consumers wonder is who will fix their electric car when it does not start one morning?  If your little compact from Ford Dealer MN has some issues, you can easily seek repairs at the dealership or even take your vehicle to a number of mechanics.  That is because a traditional combustion engine in one car works the same as it does in another car.  Owners of electric vehicles will have to go to Boulder Toyota Dealership or wherever it is that they purchased their electric vehicle from for repairs.

Many auto engineers and experts have already made the great point that electric vehicles should not require near as much maintenance or repair as traditional gasoline engines.  That could be because there is no oil or transmission or belts or filters or anything that we are used to seeing under our automobile’s hoods.  An electric car pretty much just has a giant battery under its hood, and those should be completely maintenance free for the first five years.  It is estimated that the electric car batteries should run for 100,000 before starting to not hold an adequate charge.

Just like the battery in your cell phone or your laptop, eventually your electric car battery will not stay charged for as long as it did back when it was new.  When you look at a car like the Nissan Leaf you should recognize its simplicity and the fact that it truly is an entry level car.  However, the price hovers around $40,000 before all the tax credits.  You could look at it then that your car costs around $15,000 while the battery makes up the remaining $25,000.  The EPA has a goal of lowering the cost of electric car batteries by 2014, but who knows for certain if that will actually come true!

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Electric Vehicles: The Future of Volkswagen

If you had a goal of becoming the best of the best by 2018, then you would probably be pulling out all of your technological tricks as well.  Nope, we aren't talking about Acura Burke, but we are talking about German made Volkswagen.  The newest vehicle class to take the world by storm are the electric vehicles.  While hybrids are still a great alternative to traditional gasoline vehicles, even American made Bethesda Chevrolet knew there was money to be made in the electric vehicle business.  There is no sense ignoring our future!  Volkswagen hopes to have their new concept car, Golf blue-e-motion, in production by 2013; this gives Arlington Hyundai some time to upgrade their current vehicle line up. 

Volkswagen has announced their global plan to start producing their own electric powertrains, and the Golf will be the first guinea pig model.  The Golf is already one of Volkswagen's most popular models so it makes perfect sense to be the introductory platform for electric vehicle technology.  Consumers are still a little unsure about the entire concept of electric vehicles, but by 2013 when we actually see the Golf blue-e-motion sitting at dealerships, perhaps Americans will be more accepting of the eco-friendly idea. 

Drivers of the Golf blue-e-motion will enjoy all the perks of having a completely electric vehicle free of polluting emissions.  They will get 115 horsepower and 200 pound feet of torque, which is plenty for a compact car.  Volkswagen is estimating that you can get up to 94 miles range per charge, and like all vehicles and mileage estimates, those numbers will vary with your specific driving habits.  The Golf blue-e-motion uses a 26.5 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery.  It is always exciting when a concept car makes it into the world of production reality, and VW hopes to have about 500 produced by next year for testing purposes. 

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Lexus CT 200h: Luxury Hybrid Done Right!

When consumers are willing to borrow a Rochester Bad Credit Car Loan so that they can afford a brand new car from the luxury choices at Lexus, shoppers should be confident that they will enjoy their purchase.  That wasn’t the case with last year’s Lexus HS 250h, the company’s first try at hybrid cars.  Looking more to Alexandria Toyota Dealer and their Prius for inspiration, Lexus is going for a second hybrid attempt with their new 2011 Lexus CT 200h.  Drivers can count on getting the same Lexus touch of quality throughout the vehicle but with a new performance based twist on hybrid powertrains.  If Boston Volvo Car Financing ever enters the hybrid competition, we would expect to see something similar. 

The Lexus CT offers drivers EV mode, which allows you to operate as an electric vehicle.  This technology is similar to the Prius and you can only travel at a maximum of 23mph and only for short distances.  The CT weighs approximately 3,130 pounds which is heavier than the Prius but lighter than the Lexus HS.  It is challenging to keep hybrid vehicle weight down because the batteries weigh so much.  Pricing has not been released yet, but you can expect it to be around $30,000 for the base model and of course you can easily spend up to $40,000 when you consider all the extra features and packages. 

Under the hood you will find a 1.8 liter four cylinder engine that puts out 98 horsepower.  The hybrid components include a 650 volt battery that makes 36 horsepower; all in all, the CT offers 134 horsepower.  This is the same engine configuration you see in the Prius, but what sets this hybrid apart from the rest of the pack is its finely tuned handling.  You have the option of driving in normal, sport, or eco modes.  The quiet purr of the electric components is much easier to ignore when you actually enjoy driving your vehicle, and we guarantee this hybrid drives better than the rest of them out there.

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CR-Z from Honda: Green Performance

Car manufacturers have been trying to find a way to encourage drivers to choose hybrid vehicles. The biggest complaints are that hybrids cost too much and they are gutless. Not everyone is willing to take out a Wayne Bad Credit Auto Loan every time engineers come out with cutting edge technology. That being said, Honda is releasing another hybrid model and there are always Brookhaven Honda Coupons available to help with the price. The CR-Z hybrid’s goal is combine hybrid fuel economy with sports car like performance, so that you aren’t scared to accelerate onto a crowded freeway during rush hour. You won't have to take this vehicle to car repair Wayne for a while!

It is hard not to look at the new hybrid CR-Z and be reminded of the fun car from the 1980s, the CR-X. While the CR-X was sporty and weighed around 1,800 pounds, the new CR-Z weighs a hefty 2,700 pounds. This extra weight is a result of safety features like airbags, thicker steel doors, and improved motor function components. Plus, we all know that hybrid batteries weigh more than anyone would like them to! Nonetheless, the CR-Z tries hard to incorporate sporty with hybrid nature. Giving drivers 37 mpg city and 39 mpg highway if they go with the CVT (continuously variable transmission), the fuel economy is adequate. Interestingly enough, your fuel efficiency drops to 31 mpg city and 35 mpg highway if you opt for the manual six speed transmission. All CR-Z models come with an inline four cylinder that produces 122 horsepower and 128 pound feet of torque when combined with the hybrid components.

Despite immediate competition from other Honda vehicles like the Insight and popular Fit, the CR-Z offers low prices that will lure in drivers. With a price range from $19,950 up to $23,960, there are three trim levels to choose from; base, EX, and EX with navigation. All the vehicles are going to come with keyless entry, auto climate control, cruise control, power accessories, a steering wheel that tilts and telescopes, LED lights in back, and jack for USB and auxiliary devices. Plus, drivers can switch between sport, normal, and eco mood with the flip of a switch! One nice unexpected upgrade is higher quality upholstery that we never see in Honda’s entry level cars.

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Volvo's Body Panel Battery Research

The future holds great things and it is even more exciting to watch as ideas come into fruition.  Currently, Volvo is working on a project to help turn the car body panels into energy storage devices so that there would not be a need for gasoline or heavy lithium ion battery packs.  This technology is still a few years away from mass production, so in the mean time you might want to check out bad credit auto loan Arlington to help get yourself into a new vehicle.  But if things go well over in the European Union where all the research is taking place, we will see the new cars arriving on St. Lucie Freightliner trucks sooner rather than later.

This new technology wouldn’t only be for Volvo cars and we would likely even see it on Orlando freightliner sprinter van as well as cell phones and lap tops.  The composite material is composed of carbon fibers and polymer resin.  When all is said and done, the material is far lighter than the steel used on body panels these days and it will be strong enough to protect the passengers inside.  It almost sounds too good to be true!

The new material is part of a three year study by the Imperial College in London, and there are nine different agencies working closely together.  Volvo is the only auto group involved, but this composite material will be used for several purposes.  The composite material has the ability to store energy and it will also charger faster than our traditional batteries currently in use.  As of right now, test trials have been done and they are able to replace the metal surrounding the spare tire with the composite material.  The vehicle is now able to turn on and off from the energy stored in the new battery material. 

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Prius: Too Quiet!

For shoppers, it might be a great idea to take advantage of the current Volkswagen Deals going on right now.  But if you want the best selling hybrid to be parked in your drive way, then you still need to check out the Prius from your local Toyota dealership.  Plus, Toyota just announced that the models sold in Japan will feature an optional noise making system under the hood!  Just imagine, all the years that car makers spent trying to get their cars quiet and now it is announced that the hybrid models are too quiet and are causing pedestrian accidents.  Some sources estimate that hybrid vehicles are twice as likely to be involved in an accident with a pedestrian as a regular gasoline engine vehicle.  Toyota isn't the only one working on this issue, and places like Greensboro Chevy Dealer have thought of ways to increase the noise on the new Chevy Volt.  Other cars that will likely have the same issue are just about every hybrid car as well as the new Nissan Leaf electric car. 

The hybrid trucks are a bit noisier than the cars, so the Chevy Silverado Hybrid shouldn't need to have noise emitting speakers installed under the hood.  And with the hemi engine popularity at Dodge Reading, none of their line up should be too quiet!  Beginning at the end of this month, consumers in Japan can spend $148 and have speakers installed under the hood of their car so that their eco-friendly Prius will make the same amount of noise as regular cars.  The success and popularity of the system in Japan will likely determine whether or not the system is made available in the United States. 

So why is the Prius too quiet?  Well, because engineers have advanced the technology so much that the car is usually running on just the electric engine, people outside the car can't even hear that the vehicle is turned on, it is that quiet!  Good luck to the hybrid engineers to make the car louder and still retain those precious miles per gallon!

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New Green Technologies.

The exciting thing about the auto industry is that places like Volkswagen Peoria and other auto makers are always coming up with something new.  Automotive companies are just like all other technologies and they change and grow everyday.  Kia Bethlehem is an example of this with their new UVO system, a direct competition force for Ford's Sync to compete with.  Port Charlotte Used Cars has some great deals, but buyers aren't allowed the choices you get with a new dealership when purchasing a car.  Luckily for all drivers, the following technologies may be coming to a neighborhood near you and will help the entire community to become more green!  Just by driving your car, these technologies will be able to make and store energy.

There is a chain of grocery stores in the United Kingdom that has installed specialized metal plates that will collect and store kinetic energy as you drive over them.  While the amounts of energy generated is not a lot by any means, when you add it all up, the grocery stores are able to take this power and use it to act as the supply source for the check out counters. 

Another company called New Energy Technologies has created speed bump like pads that will help slow cars down as they drive over them.  Plus, there are little flipper fins inside the bumps so that as you are pushing the fins down, energy is being created all the while helping to slow down your car and extending the life of your brake pads!  The system is called Motion Power Energy Harvesting, and it is currently being tested out at a Burger King drive thru and a Holiday Inn Express on the east coast.  The goal for this technology is to have it installed at stop lights and toll booths, anywhere that cars are frequently needing to slow down to a complete stop in long successions. 

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Ford Focus going Electric?

Once again, Ford Focus is making news. Ford plans to release the Focus Electric car in 2011. Good news for all the conservatives that are worried about going green. It will be following the release of the Ford Transit Connect that will be all electric also. That is extremely good news for businesses that want to have a commercial vehicle and be green while transporting. Deliveries can now mostly run on electric instead of gasoline. The Ohio Ford Dealer are anticipating these vehicles on their lots. In their eyes, having these on their lots will bring value with variety and consumers. The VW Specials do not come even close to this. Taking all of this transition off of gasoline/oil, the automakers are certainly introducing us to all different makes and models, to better suit our needs. Ford Dealer Greenfield is anticipating the reveal of these electric cars from Ford.

On this Ford focus the battery will be a lithium ion rechargeable and can be plugged right into a wall outlet. Ford estimates the Focus will be achieving about a 100 miles on a single charge. It can benefit so many drivers that make the same routine drive or deliveries every day. It can be charged in two different manners. Either, the 110v or the 220v, obviously the 22ov will be the quicker way to charge. If charging by the 110v, it will take more hours than the 220v and that takes about six to eight hours for a full charge.

Ford has designed the Focus with the SmartGauge, providing the driver with information on the charge level and how far it can go before needing to plug in again. Ford is constantly spinning out the innovative side of the company, hence the vehicles. Ford is committed to consumers and to the environment.