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EDAG has come up with a concept named Light Car Sharing, through which customers can rent the car. This idea revolves around the aspect that a customer needs to pay for the vehicle only when he uses it. The concept car sharing will be launched at the Geneva Motor Show and has been revealed ahead of it.
The International Commercial Vehicle show in Hanover, Germany was the venue for the premiere of Renault’s Kangoo Express Z.E. The vehicle is an all-electric, commercial variant of the Renault Kangoo.
The Saab 9-3 ePower prototype, Saab’s first electric vehicle, has finally been unveiled. The new offering from the renowned Swedish automobile company will debut at the Paris Motor Show.
Interest towards the Nissan Leaf has suddenly surged, after a brief lull. Though there had been lots of interest for pre-order, there had been a fall in numbers as time went by. However, the Leaf is seeing a comeback in interest. The car maker is said to be steadily jacking up more potential sales though not in the same tempo as it used to be earlier.
According to Nissan, Leaf’s pre-order status in the US market place which stood at 13,000, plus an additional 6,000 in Japan, has now gone up to more than 15,000 in the US. It looks like more US buyers are ready to shell out $99 as reservation fee to be in line to drive the initial batches of the Leaf.
It may be also noted that the pre-orders for the Nissan Leaf in the US and Japan combined would stand somewhere well over the 20,000-levels. In case you are interested to know what color is being most sought after, market analysis says that around 29 percent of the recorded pre-orders have chosen the Aqua Globe vehicle while the one with Silver hues comes in as the second most preferred at 26 percent.
Nissan’s all-electric commuter LEAF is eagerly awaited around the globe and the big news is that its pricing has been officially announced. Slated to compete against the likes of the Chevy Volt, this green commuter will start selling in the Europe by the end of this year. The Netherlands pricing has been fixed at €32,839 (including sales taxes) while the Portuguese and the Irish will pay €29,955 for it. The English will pay even lesser for this affordable electric automobile at £23,350. As per Nissan, the LEAF may look like some simple family car but it will be a surprise package once people start getting behind its wheel.
Nissan has always been unsure about the success its alternative-fuel car in the US but it has in store is bound to change the trend next year. And, the confidence oozes from the fact that the Nissan Leaf (its first pure-electric car) will be a US only model. The design form belongs to the category of a front-drive C-segment Hatch which can seat four to five people. The company has great emphasis on the ability of this car which can behave an as everyday option rather than some specialty with its 100-mile range. Nissan believes that this range should be ample given the number of people who drive less than those 100 miles in s day (the figure stands at 80%).
A lot of emphasis has been laid on the design to ensure that the appearance is unique but not something bizarre or strange. The rarity of the car also lies in its powertrain as it churns out 90 kW of power using a array of thin, laminated lithium ion cells, while it’s front-mounted electric motor delivers 80 kW with 208Nm of torque. This helps the car clock 140km/h when the throttle is choked to the floor.
If it wasn’t for the spicy price tag, the new Tesla Model S would be a hot seller. Announed just a couple of months ago, the electric supercar is rumored to have at least 1,000 orders in queue. A 5+2 sedan (yes, 7 people, exactly), this electric vehicle is capable of jumping from 0 to 60mph in only 5.6 seconds and can go for a 300 miles distance if on a full charge. For the moment, Tesla Model S can be ordered for a (refundable) reservation fee of $5,000 while the total amount (including the $7,500 federal tax credit for fully electrical vehicles) goes to a good $49,900. I’m sure we’d look good behind the wheel for such an amazing ride …
Now if those 1,100 guys waiting in line for a Roadster are not mad enough and can wait a few more months, our advice is to save more money and wait for the new sports version. Dubbed Tesla Roadster Sport, the two-seater electric vehicle is now 15-percent more powerful thanks to a hand-wound stator that increases winding density and helps eliminate resistance. The car also sports better handling, a unique paint job with carbon accents and a set of ultra high performance tires. Doing naught to 100km/h in only 3.7 seconds – unlike the base model that takes 3.9seconds – the car is expected to be deliver starting from June and the price is expected to start from $128,500 in the US. [via Jalopnik]
