For those who don’t know, Lampo 2 is an electric demonstration sports car developed by Swedish manufacturer Protoscar.

Comparing it to the first version unveiled back in 2009 at the Geneva Motor Show, the new version has been further optimized in order to reach a world-class energy consumption of less than 100Wh/km-ton under real conditions. Also, according to the manufacturer, the Lampo 2 comes with “quick-charging” capability (up to 100 km range extension in just 10 minutes charging time). Continued after the jump!

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Tags:2010 geneva motor show, car news, protoscar lampo 2
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Finally, the Tesla Roadster electric car is available in right-hand drive, in order to bring some joy for the Queen. Also, it appears that the car is available with some improvements over previous left-hand version such as a new sound system and new noise-reduction materials.

The model is available now at Tesla’s Knightsbridge showroom in London with a price tag of £86,950. The Tesla Roadster will be followed by the Model S saloon, set to debut in 2012. “The right-hand-drive model is our response to growing demand from high-performance car buyers in the UK who are also interested in their impact on the environment,” he said. Tesla is dramatically expanding its retail footprint in Europe, we look forward to building our community of owners and fans throughout the continent”. said Cristiano Carlutti, Tesla’s Vice President for European sales and operations.

Tags:car news, Tesla, tesla roadster, tesla roadster right hand drive
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SIM-Drive Corp., a Japanese startup firm, will collaborate with 34 partner companies to develop a prototype electric vehicle and popularize its technology by sharing its engineering.

Included in this list of companies are Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., a pioneer in electric vehicles. Founded in September by CEO Hiroshi Shimizu, SIM-Drive Corp. aims to leverage the know-how of automakers, suppliers and trading companies to jointly create the electric vehicle by next year and bring it into mass production by 2013. Continued after the jump!

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Tags:car news, Electric cars, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, mitsubishi isuzu electric car, mitsubishi isuzu ev venture
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Tesla didn’t actually hide it but it didn’t make an announcement either that it has plans to stop selling the current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011.

According to Wired, which found this disclosure at Tesla’s IPO filing with the SEC, the decision to halt sales was due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster. In particular, Tesla does not currently plan to start selling its next generation Tesla Roadster until at least one year after the launch of the Model S, which is not expected to be in production until 2012. The Roadster appears to be going out of production due to the fact that Lotus will stop producing this Elise platform in 2011. Meanwhile, Tesla is unable to manage the costs of the engineering design changes in the Roadster. What we got out from this report is the fact that Tesla will release a new Elise/Exige in 2012, which is very good news. Still, we believe that Tesla’s decision to shut down the Roadster in order to produce a seven-seat sedan seems kind of drastic, especially as the Model S does not have a platform yet.

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Tags:car news, Tesla, tesla roadster production
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Volvo released today the first sketch of its future electric car, denying though that it has plans to put it into production. The sketch showing the new Volvo model was shown during an event hosted by lithium-ion battery manufacturer EnerDel, who is set to provide the electric vehicle platform for the new Volvo C30 EV.

One of the Volvo spokesman confirmed the sketch as being made by one of its designers, but he said this shows just the concept of electric cars, rather than a definite model. Also, the sketch was accompanied by a caption reading: “a future Volvo electric car?”.

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Tags:car news, Volvo, volvo electric car sketch
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This is the production version of Tesla’s Model S luxury electric hatch that will go on sale in 2012. The Model S is a five-door car that has the same size as the BMW 5-Series. It will likely be sold in the UK after its launch. Incidentally, Tesla’s European HQ will open in London later this year.

According to Tesla’s engineering boss, former Jaguar and Lotus man Peter Rawlinson, the car is “deep in the design and engineering phase.” It is claimed that the Model S is able to seat seven – with standard front and rear seats for five and two rear-facing seats in the boot similar to the style of the Mercedes E-class estate. Luggage is supposed to go under the bonnet. In an interview with Autocar, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that they’re still figuring out a way to improve headroom. Musk said that 20,000 Model S hatches are expected to be built in about a year but with the addition of other variants on the S platform, this figure could rise to 30,000-40,000. Rawlinson also told Autocar that two extra models are probable. The choices include a crossover, a coupe and a cabrio. Tesla announced that so far, 1,000 of its Lotus Elise-based Roadsters had been sold.

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Tags:2012 tesla model s, car news, Electric cars, Tesla
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A $237 million investment will be poured in a new US factory by Ener1, a unit of Volvo and Think Global battery partner, in order to the demand from the automotive and smart grid sectors. EnerDel revealed that it expects the new facility, near its Indianapolis, Indiana, headquarters, to give the capacity to produce battery packs for about 600,000 hybrid electric vehicles, or 60,000 battery electric cars.

Private funds and public incentives will be used to support the factory. Ener1’s list of partner companies includes Sweden’s Volvo, Norway’s Think, and Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. It also is the battery supplier for a prototype hybrid version of the Humvee being tested by the US Army. Earlier this month, Think announced that it would open a production plant for its Think City electric minicar in Elkhart, Indiana. Consumer electronics products such as cell phones and laptop computers have long been using lithium-ion batteries. But now, carmakers are building packs made of hundreds of lithium-ion cells to power the electric vehicles.

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Tags:car news, think global, think volvo partnership, Volvo
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The European Union is preparing to launch a new major project that supports the growth of electric cars, according to Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s prime minister and the head of the EU.

Zapatero disclosed that he met with a group of firms recently that comprised some of the most important in Europe. He came out of the meeting, saying that he felt it was “fundamental that there should be cooperation and integration of efforts in developing the electric vehicle.” Zapatero added that there’s a need in Europe to have a regulatory framework to provide financial support, as well as to have common standards on the technologies. He also mentioned the strides made in China and Japan to develop electric vehicles and their batteries. The project will be launched at a meeting of EU industry ministers in the Spanish city of San Sebastian on Feb. 8.

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Tags:car news, Electric cars, eu new electric cars project
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AeroVironment Inc. has taken on the task of supplying 220-volt home-recharging systems to Nissan Leaf buyers. Aerovironment Inc., based in Monrovia, Calif., is also in the business of supplying Pentagon’s special operations forces unmanned aircraft systems, or drones.

These home-recharging systems will be sold through Nissan dealerships and will be critical to Nissan North America’s goal of selling 150,000 all-electric Leafs annually. Nissan project planners expect most recharging to be done at buyers’ homes at night rather than at public charging stations. The Nissan Leaf goes on sale in the fourth quarter of this year. Photo gallery after the jump!

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Tags:car news, Nissan, nissan leaf, nissan leaf home chargers
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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave his support to a plan by Russia’s richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, to begin mass production of electric cars. Russia was hit hard by the global crisis and is now seeking to modernize its commodity-based economy.

It is moving towards working for a growth in technology sectors where it believes it may have some competitive advantage. Prokhorov is a gold-to-basketball entrepreneur who was able to sell some of his most lucrative assets just before the crisis. As a result, he is now looking to invest and is interested in the technology sector. Continued after the jump!

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Tags:car news, putin, Russia, russia electric car project
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