Carguide Blog

Porsche is propelling ahead into the electric car era. First we’ve have seen the transition of  its plug-in hybrid 918 Spyder concept, the 911 GT3R Hybrid racer, and the new Cayenne hybrid. But hybrid is just a transitional stage to propel Porshe into the full electric car era. Porshe recently in development of the all electric Boxster, which is purely powered by a battery system. Read the rest of this entry »

The cold weather test was already done a few months ago, now the Chevrolet Volt is ready to take on the hot weather test. To take advantage of the summer heat, Chevrolet Volt engineering team takes the Chevrolet Volt to the General Motors Desert Proving Grounds in Arizona. Read the rest of this entry »

Want to drive a green car but don’t want the bland look of an electric vehicle? Don’t worry, Nissan is cooking up its first sporty compact electric vehicle. I am not talking about the bug eye Nissan LEAF; it is the Nissan Mixim concept car, which is powered by a pair of so called “Super Motor” electric motor/generators. There are two separate electric motor/generators driving the front and rear axles. The Nissan Mixim runs on compact lithium-ion batteries, which extended the driving range. The Nissan Mixim first appear in January at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

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The new GM Volt expected to arrive by mid of next year 2010.  The Volt is the first pure electrical vehicle which is driven by an electrical motor.  The motor uses  electricity generated by an internal gasoline combustion engine in addition to a battery pack.  GM did the MPG test based on EPA’s draft guideline for determine miles per gallon.

In normal condition, the Volt uses power from its battery pack to run the electric motor up to a 40-mile range. When the power in the battery pack reaches below 35%, the small internal combustion engine automatically starts to generate electricity to power the motor as well as recharging the battery.  With the battery pack and internal gasoline engine, the Volt can reach up to a total range of 300 miles. If you have an outlet in your garage, the Volt’s battery pack can be recharged from a standard home outlet.  For those who live in an apartment with a carport, this could be a hinder because most of those carports don’t have an electrical outlet.  But this won’t be a break point of your buying decision because of the Volt’s 230 MPG.  Just hope that GM’s claim stay true to production.

As for pricing goes, the first production due this mid 2010 will cost about $40,000.  At this price range, the Volt will be out of reach for many buyers whose main reason was to save money on gasoline.   Give or take, you will get about $5,000 incentive from the government for buying a green car.  Even with that kinda of incentive, it won’t offset by the initial pricing very much.