The Silvretta Electric Car Rally lasted three days, with each day more difficult than the previous. The cars had to drive 109, then 118, and finally 134 kilometers (68, 73 and 83 miles). Short distances, but the hard part was to use as little energy as possible. That’s where the Volkswagen e-up! was the best by far, thanks to its low weight and sheer agility. Continue reading
There are only a few miles between Europe and Africa. The ferry to cross the Gibraltar strait takes less than an hour, but with flying so cheap, few drivers are getting on it. This may change now that we have cars which can begin the journey in Africa and drive all the way to the UK without a refill. One car just did it. A 1,223 miles trip. A Mercedes E300 Bluetec Hybrid left Tangiers in Morocco, and drove North, all the way up to Goodwood, West Sussex. Driving time was 27 hours.
Car-sharing is an idea many city-planners dream of as it increases space efficiency, but in Paris, drivers see the Autolib electric car sharing service as a nightmare. The cars are very poorly built, most of them already looking more than ten years old, and their battery technology is outdated, self-discharging themselves to death in less than 48 hours. The worse part being that thanks to its political connections, Vincent Bolloré, the man behind Autolib, has launched similar services in Lyon and Bordeaux. Will he conquer the whole of France? 
More than a third of all Peugeot 508 cars are sold in China. this is a sign of changing times. Conventional four-door sedans are out of favor in most of Europe where drivers prefer SUVs, but they’re still appealing to image-conscious Chinese buyers. Peugeot knows this, but it’s 508 still looks like it’s designed to please the European consumers first, as the emphasis on diesel engines shows. 
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, made headlines everywhere when he announced 
This might be the Nissan Leaf’ strongest competitor, the electric version of the Kia Soul. It just entered production in South Korea, and it’s expected to arrive in export markets during the fall. It promises a lot because it has the largest battery of the market, this side of Tesla Model S: 27 kWh. Official European testing methods should give it a 131 miles rating, that’s one mile more than a Renault Zoé.
When the first X6 was unveiled, most greenies were puzzled and disappointed. A big powerful SUV with less utility, but without any improvement in fuel economy, or performance. What was the point? It just didn’t make sense, but customers didn’t care. They were plenty of them, and the X6 proved successful for its lucky manufacturer. Nearly a quarter of a million have been sold, and the world is still waiting for an electric car selling like this. There’s no doubt that this year, BMW will sell three times as much X6 SUVs than little i3 electric cars.
When it comes to solar energy, the 
This vehicle is not intended for production. It’s a R&D prototype mostly built with European public funds. It was built in Aachen (Aix La Chapelle), and several manufacturers were partners in the project, Fiat, Michelin and Volkswagen. This is about an all electric compact van, built on a dedicated platform. The name is Deliver, -
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