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In a deal nearing $51M, BMW has joined the rank of high-profile partners for the 2012 London Olympics. BMW will provide 4,000 vehicles to transport athletes, officials and members of the press during the games.
The company, which does have a British presence with Mini and Rolls Royce, is also a sustainability partner for the 2012 games. It will supply low emissions vehicles, electric cars, bicycles and motorbikes to help the organizing committee with its goal of holding the greenest Olympics ever staged.

BMW’s victory has ruffled some feathers, especially that of Nissan. The company planned to supply ...

Earlier this year at the New York Auto Show, the rightpedal team noticed a pretty good-looking concept car at the Cadillac stand. Our reaction was first, “what the heck is that?” and then, “who cares, they should build it.” Turns out the car in question is the Cadillac version of the Chevrolet Volt, the Converj. In other words, a handsome (yes, it’s even better looking in person) Caddy that will run under electric power, complemented by an engine acting as a generator.

While the Converj has been a concept thus far, Cadillac is reportedly going to build it. This ...

In the quest for fuel efficiency, one ingredient that is not mentioned enough is 'weight.' Quite simply, safety advances and electronics have helped balloon car weights over the past few decades, requiring larger, more powerful and more thirsty engines. In this context, it is refreshing that BMW has invested in a join-venture 'for the production of carbon fibres and textile semi-finished products (CFRP) for use in vehicle construction', as per BMW's press release.

Carbon fiber is an excellent, tough and lightweight compound that is extensively used in motorsports and sports cars (such as the M6, which has a carbon ...

Amidst all the hype about electric vehicles, it is easy to forget about other viable alternative fuel options. Among these alternatives is biologically-sourced compressed natural gas, or bio-CNG. VW has shown bio-CNG's viability to great effect of late by not only building a CNG Scirocco, but also winning the grueling 24 Hours of Nurburgring Nordschleife with the car. On the back of that success, VW will launch an all-CNG racing series next year called the Scirocco Cup. The one-make series will be held at Europe's most demanding race tracks, and according to VW, will be the cleanest racing ...

As we reported recently, Audi has green-lighted the production of its all-electric sports car, dubbed the e-Tron in concept form. While it would be great if the concept's futuristic shape made it intact into production, InsideLine reports that the final car will likely look more like the car pictured here.

To be called the R4, the car will be somewhere between an Audi TT and R8 in size. Now that VW owns not just Audi but also Porsche, it is highly likely that the R4 will be built on the same platform as the next Porsche Boxster.

As for ...

Well, you know it's a concept, so the bizarre shape only a mother could love should not be a surprise. However, this concept is significant in that BMW has undertaken a serious commitment to launching a line of green cars, dubbed Project I, in the very near term. The Simple concept featured here was built to test technologies that might find their way into the new line of electric BMWs before long.

BMW's advanced Technik team created the tandem Simple in order to achieve a 120 mpg fuel consumption target.

“It’s the only way to get such ...

Why should you even care about what Renault is up to? After all, the French company has not made big product waves in a long time and does not even sell cars here in the US.

The answer lies in Japan, and takes the form of Nissan. Nissan is is a big player in our market and will be selling the all-electric Leaf starting next year. As you know, Nissan and Renault form a uniquely successful alliance and share technology back and forth. Further, Renault is building the commoditized cars that Better Place will use on its grandiose mission to ...

If you were wondering whether Audi's e-Tron concept would ever see the light, wonder no more: Audi of America's president, Johan de Nysschen, has confirmed that the outlandish, all-electric vehicle will see the light of day as a production car.

“I expect we will see running examples in the next 24 months,” said de Nysschen.

Somewhere between the R8 and TT in size, the eTron will produce 313 hp and 3319 lb ft of torque. You read that correctly, 3319 lb ft of torque, or roughly10 times that produced by the V8 engine found in the base R8 ...

Well, almost. While it was anticipated that Honda would unveil the full production version of the CR-Z concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, it has instead revealed this 'production concept' that is almost ready to hit the showrooms. For all practical purposes, you can assume you are looking at the final car.

The CR-Z, which can be considered the world's first hybrid sports car, features a 1.5L i-VTEC unit that will likely generate 135 hp when coupled with an electric motor. While the car's performance will only be adequate, meaning 0-60 mph in around nine seconds, its ...

You didn't think BMW would build the outlandish Vision EfficientDymanics for nothing, did you?! If not, you were right: AutoExpress reports that BMW will resurrect the M1 moniker with a high-tech sports car based on the Vision concept. As expected, the M1 will feature the Vision's 1.5L three-cylinder diesel engine, paired with an electric motor. The hybrid powertrain will produce 350 hp and 590 lb-ft. of torque.

The M1 will reach 60 mph in less than five seconds and as with other BMWs, its top speed will be limited to 155 mph. The car will achieve these ...

Volkswagen plans to introduce a production version of its lauded E-Up electric city car in Europe next year and as per reports, it is now working on a larger version of the car for the US market.

The European version, weighing in at a relatively light 2400 lbs., features 18kW batteries that provide an adequate-for-cities 80-mile range. Solar panels installed on the roof and even behind the visors provide supplementary power for the car's batteries. Full charging of the batteries takes five hours.

While the E-Up is suitably sized for the European market, it is considered too small for ...

We recently reported on a new, viral Audi site dedicated to the company's focus on electric cars. As hinted on the site, electricityuntamed.com, Audi had been planning something big for the Frankfurt Auto Show, and here it is: the Audi R8 e-Tron concept car.

This fully-electric R8 concept packs an equivalent of 313 hp and a transmission-destroying 3,319 lb-ft of torque! This mighty amount of shove comes courtesy of four electric motors powered by a Li-ion battery pack. While 0-62 mph comes at a brisk 4.8 seconds, it is the 4.1 second dash from 37 ...

Earlier in the week, we brought you the first pictures and video of the exciting, ground-breaking BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car. As mentioned in the post, BMW has built the Vision as a rolling representation of technologies it will adopt in the immediate future.

BMW has now released a second official video that sheds light on the design process of the Vision. Design geeks, rejoice!

[Source: BMW]

British magazine AutoEXPRESS brings us these renderings of the next, all-new Lamborghini Murciélago. The current car is already one of the most appropriate bearers of the 'supercar' moniker, so the next Murci will have to be something special in order to continue the tradition of a species that Lamborghini created with the Miura. If the pictures are anything to go by, the new car will still stun with its aggressive beauty.

Not surprisingly, the next ultimate Lambo will draw heavily from parent Audi's technological know-how. This will include an aluminum spaceframe chassis and carbon-fiber body parts. The car ...

Did you know that kissing for 10 minutes generates enough power to run a TV for one hour? This, along with several funny videos (see one below), is one of the many electricity-related fun facts you can find on Audi's new viral minisite, electricityuntamed.com. The site is dedicated to Audi's plans for electric vehicles. Strong rumors insist that on September 15, Audi will reveal an electric R8 at the Frankfurt Auto Show.

The idea is not so far-fetched, what with Audi's German rivals having already announced their electric performance car plans. BMW recently revealed its Vision ...

Those Germans, bless their hearts, are as good coming up with ridiculously convoluted car model names as they are engineering  complex vehicles (see our recent post on Mercedes' fuel cell car to see where we are coming from). This is the Mercedes-Benz BlueZero E-cell Plus concept, Mercedes-Benz's first, almost-production ready electric vehcile. The E-Cell is based on a modified A-Class chassis and will be produced in limited numbers starting next year.

As with the Chevrolet Volt, the car's electric motor is powered by an internal combustion engine mated to a generator. In other words, the three-cylinder engine sourced ...

Autocar reports that Toyota and BMW are in partnership talks that could see the two distinctly different companies exchanging platforms. Of interest to BMW is the next generation of Toyota's innovative iQ, "the world's smallest four-seat urban city car", which could underpin BMW's planned electric city car. This could see the resurrection of the Isetta brand name of the 1960s.

In return for the iQ chassis, Toyota would get access to the next generation Mini Coupe and Roadster platforms to extend its range of small urban cars.

The BMW tie-up would be the second cross-branding win for ...

After much anticipation, wrong guesses by the media, and a few teaser pictures, BMW has revealed what it imagines the future of its performance cars as being. Have no doubt that this highly-complex, advanced concept car is a very significant statement by BMW, signaling the company’s technological direction in the upcoming years. If you are a fan of automotive technology, read carefully what is surely the most technically dense report ever posted on rightpedal. Quite frankly, your writer’s head is still spinning from trying to absorb the details of all the marvelous technology introduced in the BMW Vision ...

Time to eat a little crow. A little over two weeks ago, I posted this opinion piece on fuel cell vehicles and complained that Daimler-Benz had seemingly forgotten about its promise to bring a fuel cell vehicle to the market by 2010. I stand corrected, as Mercedes-Benz has launched its first production fuel cell vehicle, the ingeniously-named B-Class F-CELL.

As the name suggests, the car is based on the B-Class, 200 of which will be built later this year and delivered to European and American lease customers in 2010. Mercedes seems to have gotten around the perennial problem with fuel ...

In a tit-for-tat response to Honda, who plans to unveil the hybrid CR-Z sports car, Toyota will employ the services of an Italian styling house to build a Prius Coupe. The current Prius will not win any beauty contests, but if Italdesign, Pininfarina or Bertone exercise their design muscles properly, the Prius coupe will be a handsome hybrid.

While it would be great if the final product would look something like these renderings from ...

In the pure interest of science, the selfless blokes at TopGear undertook an exercise last season that is worth showing again. They set out to see which supercar among five – Lamborghini Muercielago, Aston Martin DBS, McLaren SLR, Audi R8, and Ferrari 599 – would go farthest on just one gallon of fuel while racing around a track.

Lest they be accused of elitism, they did not stop there. In the second half of the video, they decide to see how a BMW M3 sedan fares against a Toyota Prius in a fuel-efficiency test conducted at the Prius’ top speed. Think you ...

While you may not be familiar with BYD, you will likely soon come to know the company as well as you know the names GEICO or Berkshire Hathaway.  Why, you may ask? Because Warren Buffett was so enthusiastic about this Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles that he broke his own rule of not investing in technology companies. The man who says he only invests in sectors he knows (technology NOT being one of them) must have seen something special to get behind the company.

According to BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu, BYD plans to sell a limited number of its e6 ...

As Nissan and GM have a go at each other over whose yet-to-be-sold electric vehicles will be more efficient, Honda is throwing its weight behind Hydrogen fuel cells as the alternative technology of the future.

“Fuel-cell cars will become necessary,” said Takashi Moriya, head of Honda’s group developing the technology. “We’re positioning it as the ultimate zero-emission car.”

Honda, the first company to introduce hybrids to the US market with the original Insight, is also the first company to put fuel cell cars on the market here. 200 Honda Clarity FCX, built at a dedicated plant in Tochigi ...

Next month at the Frankfurt Auto Show, BMW will launch its first hybrid models, called the ActiveHybrid X6 and ActiveHybrid 7. Both cars feature BMW's gasoline, 4.4L, twin-turbo V8 engines mated to a Lithium-ion hybrid system co-developed by BMW and Daimler-Benz.

ActiveHybrid 7 has one electric motor, which as a backup unit to the V8, gives the hybrid 7-Series the 459 bhp and 561 lb-ft. The car reaches 62mph in 4.9sec, and returns a UK cycle 29.1mpg.

The ActiveHybrid X6, recognizable through its hood power dome, features two electric motors for a total of 478 bhp ...

Next week is an important one for Nissan: the Japanese giant is opening its new corporate headquarters in Yokohama, Japan and will mark the occasion by unveiling an all-new electric car. The five-door hatchback will enter a production run of 50,000 unites in 2010 and by 2012, will be built in the US to the tune of some 150,000 units. Nissan will start selling the cars in the US next year.

Alas, electric cars still have a long way to go before they become as easy to use every day as internal combustion engine vehicles. The main issue ...

In an attempt to help raise sales figures for light vehicles in the United States, the US government posted the rules today for its cash for guzzlers program. The program grants consumers $4,500 vouchers if they trade in their gas-guzzling vehicles for more efficient ones.

If you are interested in the program and would like to find a participating dealer in your area, which inspired BMW to offer the same rebates for its great diesel models, visit the www.cars.gov or call the hotline at (866) 227-7891.

[Source: Automotive News]

Yesterday, I was reading an article that made me think the automotive end times are here: BMW and Mercedes-Benz are working on three-cylinder cars to be released in the next five years. And no, we are not just talking cars like the above Smart.

Now, anyone who has driven a Smart surely knows how rough and harsh-sounding three-cylinder engines can be. Their only saving grace is fuel-economy, which is obvious. Mercedes-Benz does not seem to care, given that it already makes a three-cylinder junker for the Smart, and apparently thinks that a C-Class and a three-cylinder would go well together ...

The announcement just came in from Ed Peper, US VP for Chevrolet. The site, called ChevroletVoltage, is 'a place for you to share your thoughts and opinions on the electrification of the automobile', according to Peper. He continues:

'The vision for this site is twofold: to inform and engage concerned individuals about the movement toward alternative transportation energy sources and to provide a behind-the-scenes view of how one manufacturer, Chevrolet, is working to bring its advanced extended range electric vehicle to life.'

If you are interested in the Chevy Volt or are curious about the topic of automotive electrification, log ...

Honda Motor Company has announced that it will build a production version of its lightweight, hybrid sports car concept, the CR-Z. The car, of course, takes its inspiration from the CR-X, a fun little car that inspired a fanatic following (one of my friends has two: his original CR-X for every day driving, and the other to keep perfect and NEVER drive in the rain).

The CR-Z will use the same hybrid system currently found in the Civic Hybrid and the Insight. Let us hope that Honda makes good on its promise to make the CR-Z a fun car, something ...

Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board at Volkswagen AG, has announced that VW will introduce an electric car based on the highly praised Up! concept in 2013. Strangely, he then continued to warn against the growing interest in electric cars as 'electro-hype':

We are witnessing an electro-hype. Experts, consultants and politicians tumble over one another with forecasts. And the auto industry doesn’t hold back on announcements. The result is massively false expectations by the customer...More than eight percent of drivers in Germany are rock solid convinced that the electric car is already here.

I think this development ...

A few days ago, we told you about yet another incentive Hyundai is offering prospective customers. Today, Hyundai has become the first company to participate in what is officially known as the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS). Essentially, if you trade in your car for a more fuel-efficient car, you will receive a discount toward your purchase.  The dealer will then receive a compensation from the NHTSA.

President Obama has already singed the program into law, but its full details have not yet been made public. This is why Hyundai is giving its dealers a cash advance so that they ...

This is the first video of the highly-anticipated Chevrolet Volt in motion. An animated and visibly excited Andrew Farah, the Volt vehicle Chief Engineer talks about the chronology of Volt prototypes leading to this pre-production vehicle. He also talks about the next steps necessary to bring the Volt to the market.

As you will hear in the video, the car is so far ahead of schedule, one bit of good news for the heavily battered Detroit giant.

[Source: GM Fast Lane]

You have already seen pictures of the 2011 Tesla Model S sedan here, and in fact, voiced your opinions on whether Tesla will be able to bring this car to the market at the announced price of $49,000 after tax credits.

Regardless, Tesla continues to ramp up the marketing of this new model. In this video, Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen, who has an impressive list of cars to his credit (Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Mazda Kabura concept), talks about the exciting opportinity of designing a car around an electric architecture.

[Source: OnCars via YouTube]

On the heels of its historic bankruptcy and as part of its "GM Reinvention" public relations campaign, General Motors has announced the opening of the 'largest and most technologically advanced battery lab in the United States' on the grounds of its Technical Center campus in Warren, MI.

“The new global GM battery lab will benefit consumers across America by helping us advance the development of battery technology in the United States and put cleaner, more efficient vehicles on the road more quickly and affordably,” said Fritz Henderson, GM's president and CEO.

The Global Battery Systems Lab is four times ...

Last month, we brought you the news that the new Honda Insight had claimed the title of best-selling car in Japan, the first time ever that such an honor had gone to a hybrid car. We were curious what would happen when Toyota announced its third-gen Prius, which is a bit more efficient and slightly more expensive.

Well, the Prius has knocked the Insight off its perch for the month of May. In fact, the Insight fell to number 3, below Honda's own Fit.

Aahh....the battle of silent, wheezing electric cars...almost as exciting as a Sunday drag ...

Peter Trepp, a venture capitalist, is the first person in the US to receive the keys to the electric MINI, the MINI E. Peter is part of a small focus group of 500 through which BMW will gather consumer feedback on electric vehicles. Each of these 500 people is leasing a MINI E for $850 a month.

Peter is chronicling his experiences on his blog and has already written some interesting posts on what the MINI E is like. If you are curious about what an electric version of one of the most fun-to-drive cars on the planet is like ...

This is the first time we have covered the Aptera 2e here in the pages of rightpedal. This is partly because we have not quite known what to think of the three-wheeled lovechild of a small airplane and a motorcycle.

Thanks to Jay Leno, we now have a better idea of the Aptera is all about. In fact, as you will hear in the video, the airplane connection is not so far-fetched: at a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.15. the Aptera is significantly more slippery through the wind than even the most sleek car from a major manufacturer. The ...

Unless you were busy under a rock yesterday, you will have heard that President Obama announced the first national fuel efficiency standard in American history. As you can hear in the video, this standard required historically-opposing parties to come together. Perhaps it is a sign of the times that even car companies are seemingly behind this plan, if the symbolic presence of officials from the ten leading car manufacturers as well as the UAW president at the announcement was anything to go by.

The new standard requires auto makers to raise the average gas mileage of their cars and trucks ...

Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, has made an investment in California-based Tesla Motors in return for a 10% stake. This is a smart move for Daimler and a strategic home-run for Tesla. The electrification of the vehicle is still in its infancy, what with range, battery life and maintenance infrastructure a long way from readiness for mass-adoption.

Through its investment, Daimler not only buys itself a stake in the immense buzz and public goodwill toward the first full-electric vehicle of the US market of recent times, but it also taps into the technology pioneered by Tesla, allowing it to ...

Lest you think Henrik Fisker was kidding when he essentially told us in this interview that he wants to make hybrid cars exciting, take a look at this video to see that the upcoming Fisker Karma’s performance will likely match its exotic looks.

[Source: YouTube]

Of all the attempts to electrify the world of cars, Better Place, the brainchild of Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi, seems to be most complete approach. Better Place's strategy is applying the cell phone and minutes model to the automotive industry. In other words, the car is the commodity, you pay for energy consumed.

Part of the Better Place strategy is to build an infrastructure of “battery stations”, akin to gas stations, where cars can have their batteries swapped out in a matter of minutes. This video shows this very procedure, which can surely be streamlined even more as the ...

Many of you may not know that Honda was in fact the first manufacturer to offer a hybrid vehicle in the United States. However, perhaps suffering from its slightly impractical body style, the first Insight was not a commercial home run, paving the way for the Toyota claiming all the hybrid goodwill.

Honda recently released its completely redesigned Insight, hoping for better luck this time around. Well, at least in its home market of Japan, the Honda Insight is now the best-selling vehicle, having sold 10,841 units this April. No, not the best-selling ‘hybrid’ in Japan, but in what ...

As promised, we are bringing you our full interview with Henrik Fisker at the 2009 NY Auto Show. The discussion is wide-ranging, from a brief overview of Fisker’s previous automotive creations and sexy “”green” cars to why he based Fisker Automotive in the United States.

Click here for our previous posts on Fisker Automotive.

Below are pictures of a few cars he designed before going on to launch his own car company.

BMW E1

BMW Z8

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

LG Chem, part of the Korean giant LG, has outbid Massachusetts-based A123 Systems as the manufacturer of the Chevy Volt battery packs. GM will be acquiring the batteries, 200-300 packs of which are needed for every Volt, through LG Chem subsidiary Compact Power Inc. Compact Power’s CEO Prahbakhar Patil asserts that there exist no obstacles that might halt the manufacturing process.

LG Chem plans to eventually build the batteries in the US, as we discussed in our 2009 Auto Show video coverage.

[Source: GM-Volt]

Alas, all good things must come to an end. In the final portion of our coverage of the 2009 NY Auto Show, we get up close and personal with the Ford Taurus SHO, about which we wrote here, wonder aloud about what the Chevy Volt means to GM, and give you our impressions of the general scene at the show against the backdrop of the current state of the US car industry.

Over the next several days, we plan to bring you full-length versions of a few of the interviews interspersed among our four-part series. So stay tuned!

In part 3 our look at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, we took a look at the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, the GM Segway (officially called the Segway P.U.M.A.), the Bentley Continental Supersports, and the Nissan 370Z NISMO.

Bentley Continental Supersports
We pretty much said it all in the video: most powerful, fastest and greenest Bentley of all time! Have your stupendous power and be kind to the planet at the same time, courtesy of the engine’s flexibility to run on ethanol.  The Supersports is some 200lb lighter than the regular Conti, in part due ...

In this segment of our coverage, we briefly talk about the new Honda Insight (sorry, we just could not get too much more excited about it), the new generation of iDrive in the new BMW 7 series (dubbed 'Version 4.0', it will make its way across the entire BMW model lineup), and the remarkable story of the Alfa Romeo BAT 11.

This last story needs some more context. Dr. Gary Kaberle of Traverse City, Michigan owned the rare Alfa Romeo BAT9d for over 30 years before selling it in order to finance his late wife Deb’s breast cancer ...

We are excited to bring you part 1 of our coverage of this year's New York Auto Show.

In this segment, we show you a self-braking Volvo (seriously, it works, and it's freakishly good!), talk to Henrik Fisker about his hybrid beauty, the Fisker Karma, and finally set eyes on the long-awaited Chevy Camaro.

We will have more for you throughout this week.

Fresh from a new injection of cash from the EU earmarked for green vehicle development, Jaguar has announced a commitment to build a mild-hybrid electric version of its upcoming flagship car, the XJ, starting in 2011. The car’s electric drivetrain will be similar to that of the Chevy Volt. In other words, the car will have a range of roughly 30 miles on pure electric power, while a small combustion engine will charge the battery as it runs low.

[Source: Autocar]

Following up on our earlier post from today, here are the first pictures of the fully-electric Tesla Model S’ official launch, including a look at the interior.

We think it's stunning, with hints of Mazda up front now that we have seen the full car. Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Vital details:
On sale: Q3 2011
Units: 20,000/year
Price: $49,000 after tax credit
Motor: Lithium-ion battery, 8,000 cells
Transmission: 1 speed
Top Speed: 120mph
0-60mph: 5.5s
Range: 230 miles / 300 miles (base model / optional)
Charge time: 4 hours with ...

These are the very first pictures anyone has seen of Tesla Motors’ upcoming four-door offering, the Model S. Kevin Rose of Digg fame originally posted these pictures on his Flickr site ahead of the official unveiling planned later today (the pictures have since been removed).

These images reveal a beautiful shape reminiscent of the current Jaguar XF, albeit even cleaner around the rear haunches. The Model S will be siginificantly cheaper than the Roadster, coming in around the $50,000 mark after the $7,500 federal tax credit.

We will bring you more details as soon as we get them ...

Recently, I was taken for a spin in the new Jaguar XF 2.7TD and boy was I impressed. The car was so good that it made me proud to be British. There was the drama of the starter button that glows red, pulsing like a heartbeat and, and when you start the engine, the gear lever rising from the centre console while the air vent swivels open, making you feel like a jet fighter pilot!

And don’t get me started on the oodles of wood and the leather, sumptuous to touch, and the beautiful plump carpets, coupled with ...

You might have seen this ad during this year’s Academy Awards pre-show. It is  a relatively low-budget piece of work, but then again, Fisker is no GM. You have to admire the ambitious nature of this little company that could.

Speaking of Fisker and GM, take a minute and read this post by Darryl Siry on why GM’s troubles could have a direct effect on the daring California startup.

[Source: wiredautopia via YouTube]

For our second pick of Geneva for the day, we decided to show you this concept car that has been perfectly secret until now, and for good reason: everyone is calling is the showstopper of the Geneva Auto Show.

Behold Infiniti’s 592hp, hybrid coupe concept, the Essence. Released to celebrate Infiniti’s 20th anniversary as well as to raise the mark’s profile as it tries to find its footing in the European market, it is certainly a stunner. In fact, it is one of the most un-Japanese shapes to come out of Japan of late, what with its ...

If you have a spare $25,000, like sexy hard-top convertibles AND want your green status symbol, you are in luck: the California-based Fisker Automotive, the company founded by former BMW and Aston-Martin stylist Henrik Fisker, is now accepting pre-order deposits for the plug-in hybrid Karma S Convertible unveiled earlier this year. The car will be ready in 2011.

By the way, if you prefer four doors, a $5,000 deposit will put you on the waiting list for the company’s first product, the Karma.

[Source: Treehugger]

Bentley has released pictures of the Continental Supersports, the fastest and most powerful car the company has ever made. The most significant detail is that the Supersports’ engine, the first Bentley power plant that can seamlessly run on E85, regular fuel, or a mixture of the two. Bentley plans the same treatment for all its engines by 2012, which means that the Supersports is a seminal and symbolic car in the celebrated marque’s history.

The Supersports has lost the base car’s two rear seats, which along with generous applications of carbon fiber, has led to a weight reduction ...

The eccentric Swiss company, known for outlandish concept cars, has done it again with the iChange. Rinspeed claims that the iChange is the first car ever to change its shape in proportion to the number of passengers it is carrying.

When transporting only the driver, the car has a more compact tear-drop shape that allows for maximum aerodynamic efficiency. For more than one passenger, the rear of the car expands at the push of a button in order to create more room.

As you would expect from such an “eco” product, the iChange is a fully-electric vehicle that also features ...

A group of undergraduate minds at MIT have created a shock absorber that converts the shock-absorption motion into electrical power. If you think this is a variation-on-the-theme of regenerative braking, you would be right: it is precisely that idea that inspired the students to seek and take advantage of other sources of wasted energy.

The shock absorber in question works as follows: every time the unit compresses or expands, it sends oil through a small, built-in turbine, thus generating electricity that can then be used to power a portion of a vehicle’s electrical needs.

Using a test truck, the ...

Today at the exclusive TED conference, where Bill Gates, Pierre Omidyar and the Google twins go every year to wonder at how smart they and their friends all are, Mission Motor Company debuted the exceptionally-beautiful Mission One, a 150mph electric motorcycle that has a range of 150 miles. Yes, this is the Tesla of motorcycles, with an equally for-the-rich-only price tag of $68,995 for the first 50, limited-edition models coming to the market in 2010.

The bike has only one speed and is propelled by a lithium-ion battery, just like the Tesla. In fact, Founder and CEO Forrest North ...

Until recently, BMW was planning on building a supercar to rival Audi’s smash hit, the R8. However, in step with the changing socio-political scene, BMW bosses scrapped those plans in favor of a high-tech, eco-friendly supercar.

It is reported that the upcoming Z10 ED is being developed by BMW’s Technik division, akin to Lockheed’s Skunkworks. “ED” stands for “Efficient Dynamics”, a BMW moniker that encompasses everything it is doing to increase efficiency in its lineup.

Instead of using a version of the current M5/M6 V10, which was the old plan, this supercar will use a brand-new ...