The BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept powertrain provides a top speed limited electronically to 155 mph, 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. Engine output of 163 hp with peak torque of 214 lb-ft. Average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle is 3.76 liters/100 kilometers, equal to 62.6 mpg. BMW plans to get “M” (Motorsport) performance out of the plug-in hybrid system which works together with a 3-cyl turbo-diesel engine able to charge the battery as you drive.

I guess it wont come cheap but it sounds impressive and it looks wicked. Not sure how well the battery will hold up in the cold either if my cellphone when skiing is anything to go by!

More info in the vid below the fold:

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Via Zero Hedge.

While the boss was away, the new -273 intern took the opportunity to upgrade the company vehicles.

Due to budget restrictions it was felt wings would not be essential on the new -273 puddle jumper…

So the genie is out of the bottle, KTM has made a public announcement about their development of an Electric enduro bike! I got to ride it a month ago and give some test feedback to the team and was seriously, seriously impressed. It feels as quick as a 125sx but is also lighter so you can really throw it around. I will probably get in trouble if I show the photos I have, so I have just posted the ones off dirt rider. This bike with supermoto tyres would be so perfect to get to work and back on. I want one.

Thanks to the intelligent control technology and the most up-to-date energy management, the 90 kg light prototype zero emission motorcycle has a performance that rivals a light Enduro with a combustion engine. Apart from the very low weight, it is the engine’s significantly spontaneous development of torque that is responsible for the distinct dynamic of the zero emission motorcycle.

Project Better Place founder Shai Agassi has announced that Australia will become the third country, following Denmark and Israel, to implement the group’s vision of electric vehicles powered by renewable energy, and France could also soon follow.

Better Place and Macquarie Capital Group will raise $1 billion to build a network of 250,000 charging stations and battery exchange stations in key locations along the east coast by 2012. The network will be powered by wind turbines owned by AGL Energy.

Agassi has been promoting the plan as a way to reduce our dependence on oil (the starting premise for the project was “how do you run an entire country without oil”) while creating jobs and boosting the local economy (see this interview on the Today Show for his explanation). Operating in Australia will also help the group prove it can work in large countries as well as the much smaller geographical areas covered in the first 2 rollouts. Agassi also noted that the Federal Government’s $500 million Green Car Innovation Fund played a part in encouraging them to set up in Australia.

Adam Kimmel wanted to show off some new suits he designed so he teamed up with photographer Ari Marcouplous got their friends to bomb down a hill in them.

Just wanted to share some shots I took at the WRC in Finland, have the feeling that Derestricted needed some motorized stuff and not only bicycles… The rally was quite cool, pain in the ass to get from stage to stage as a spectator though, but when these guys comes 160+ on tiny gravel roads just meters away from you it’s kinda worth it.

The finnish way of having a party…

A friend of mine at work teaches digital rendering at Graz University and he gave the students a KTM design project, so we went down to check that out and the rest of the show.




Gerald Kiska gives his feedback to the students.

the university is right next to a train manufacturers.

This is about all I saw of Graz but the show was really good, and we had a bbq afterwards bottom left of the photo above.
They made a movie which they were going to show to some key players in the Auto industry from Audi and BMW, and they interviewed me for it.
Question: What can the Auto industry learn from the students at Graz?
Answer: On a day when the price of a barrel of oil hit a new historic high of over $143 a barrel, why is it all of the students projects incorporate progressive electric engines into their vehicles whilst the big Car companies are still focusing on internal combustion engines? We don’t have long to transition away from Fossil fuels so if the students are aware of this, why are the big car companies who must be aware of this, not doing more?

My friend is selling his 385hp Porsche GT3RS if anyone is interested. If you can afford it (Counts me out, I’m as broke as ever) you might as well have some fun while you still can I guess. Offers below.

Stan Meyer invented a hydrogen fuel cell that converts any automobile to run on tap water. Unfortunately, he never saw his invention reach fruition as he was killed shortly after this documentary was made.

Well, I have just got back from the Geneva Motor-show where I saw a hell of a lot of beautiful cars, but none that seem to really address any of the serious issues facing the world such as peak oil and other resource depletion. Most bizarre car of the show award has to go to the Lotus conversion which can drive underwater at 3mph and does 65mph on land. Not everything James Bond does is cool.

Sickest paint job was on these Tech Art cars

I love this Renault concept car too.

Still my favourite car even though it is a few years old now, the Lambourghini Gallardo.

The Honda cr-z

Coolest new car? The KTM Xbow of course!

This mazda TAIKI concept car had amazing curves

Serious bling

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The Snowboard and new school ski sections of the Munich Ispo (pretty much the only interesting parts) were for the most part full of very bright, really fun illustrative graphics. There was a parralel Eco design forum going on with some interesting speakers, as well as a good dose of bullsh!t. I have some quite strong opinions on the whole deal which I wont go into right now but there were a few really cool products on display too. One of the real standouts was The Waldmeister bike. The wood core of the frame is made of beech, a domestically grown, renewable material acting as a C02 sink by removing more than 3,500 litres of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The plywood layers of the frame — up to 100 of them — are carefully put together by hand in a process that takes much more time than automatic production but is also more energy efficient. The glue holding together the layers of plywood is water-based and ecologically harmless.

The bike was finished with amazing attention to detail and looked so trick. You can read more about it here.

“Land Rover reveals an exciting vision of its future with the LRX concept – a bold evolution of Land Rover design that signals the brand’s shift into new areas of the market, while remaining true to its core values. As the company prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary during 2008, the three-door LRX, with its more compact size, lighter weight and sustainability-focused technologies, clearly addresses the needs of a changing world and offers the potential of 120 g/km CO2 emissions.”

The car looks wicked, and it is certainly a lot smaller than the current models but it doesnt address the fact that a hell of a lot of oil goes into producing a car of this complexity. Every little helps I guess, but maybe it is too little too late.

THE world’s biggest car maker, General Motors, believes the global oil supply has peaked and a switch to electric cars is inevitable.

In a stunning announcement at the opening of the Detroit Motor Show yesterday, GM’s chairman and chief executive officer, Rick Wagoner, said ethanol was an important interim solution to the demand for oil, (editors note: Ethanol is a really bad idea, read here if you want to know why) until battery technology gave electric cars the range of petrol-powered cars.

“There is no doubt demand for oil is outpacing supply at a rapid pace, and has been for some time now,” Mr Wagoner said. “As a business necessity and an obligation to society we need to develop alternate sources of propulsion.

“So, are electrically driven vehicles the answer for the mid- and long-term? Yes, for sure. But we need something else to significantly reduce our reliance on petroleum in the interim.”

GM is working on an electric car, the Volt — due in showrooms in 2010 — but delays in battery technology have slowed its development.

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