Down Shift Magazine

The TORQ Roadster Brings Ridiculous Zero Emission EV Fun To the Trike Market

Depending on one’s perspective, this crazy new all-electric TORQ Roadster from Epic EV either looks like the most fun you can have on three wheels, or absolutely terrifying. Sporting a carbon fiber body, polycarbonate windscreen and super-wide 80-inch track suspension, they all work in tandem to make sure that the speed and handling of the Torq Roadster remain at the very optimal level.

“And yes, Mr. Wayne, it does come in black.” Exactly what Lucius would say when showing off this new eco-friendly TORQ Roadster to Bruce Wayne.

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Ever Adaptive America Continues To Move Towards A Greener Cleaner and Consciously Profitable Tomorrow

A new report by the National Research Council has some good news for the future of US transportation. By taking advantage of biofuels, new vehicle technology, and policy reform, America has the potential to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80% by 2050. The numbers apply to cars and small trucks, both of which are expected to become more efficient in both fuel economy and design in the coming years.

Companies like Tesla promise a continued focus on performance and Motorsports in a greener more eco-friendly America of tomorrow.

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Generate Power and Money While Protecting Your Car from Harmful Sunlight

In the United States, we have paved over 160 billion square feet of land simply to have a place to park our cars… Recognizing this disparaging fact California-based Envision, Inc has created what they are calling the Solar Tree, a cost effective rotating structure that shelters cars and creates electricity via roof mounted solar panels.

Each Solar Tree can accommodate six cars, and can rotate in order to capture the maximum amount of sunlight.

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In A Greener More Energy Efficient Tomorrow What About Performance?

An Electric GT-R? Really? Carlos Tavares, recently promoted to COO of Renault, hinted at as much at the 2011 New York auto show. “Of course, it’s going to be zero emissions.”

The Leaf NISMO RC marries a Leaf’s lithium-ion battery pack and 80-kW, 107-hp AC synchronous motor to a unique chassis that features body panels and a monocoque rendered in carbon fiber. The curb weight is a claimed 2068 pounds, some 40 percent lighter than a standard Leaf. Bride Racing seats, a pair of safety harnesses, a giant wing, and 18-inch aluminum wheels complete the illusion. The end result hits 62 mph in a claimed 6.9 seconds, has a top speed of 93 mph, and makes the ordinary Leaf look as sexy as a moldy Big Mac.

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Eco-Luxury tempered by exhilarating and balanced performance; a linear definition of Henrik Fisker‘s innovatively provocative plugin-hybrid.

No slouch when it comes to longevity, the total range of the Karma with a full tank of gasoline and a fully charged battery is 230 miles.

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While range limitations may cause anxiety to some, for others it’s little more than a speed-bump along the way, a sort of temporary limit that can be creatively overcome. To that end, tempered resolve, forward planning and a bit of geographic luck are allowing growing numbers of electric car enthusiasts to take longer and longer road trips…continuing long after others would have had them give up and get towed home.

Tesla owners are  increasingly taking their cars on longer and longer trips…and a brace few are even going coast to coast.

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What is the key to the future for Lamborghini? We are pretty sure that carbon fiber will be one of the major players for the structural parts of the next decade. It was forecast that in the next four years the automotive business will be the number-one consumer of carbon fiber, so this is clear. Carbon fiber will be a key for the future to improve safety, to improve the stiffness, and reduce weight.

One of the most striking features of the Sesto Elemento is that its entire body is constructed from visible, matte-finish carbon fiber (the so-called “sixth element” indicated by translating the concept’s name from Italian), as expensive a material as it is light. In fact, the curb weight of the entire car is claimed to be a mere 2200 pounds. That’s 1100 fewer than our estimated curb weight for the supposedly “superlight” Gallardo Superleggera.

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New years is a time filled with resolutions…so we figured why not kick off the new year with some focus on the eco-friendly electric cars currently working to redefine the American automotive pathos. And where better to start this electric-adventure than with the fine folks at San Francisco, California’s very own Tesla Motors.

The Tesla Roadster, the company’s first vehicle, is the first production automobile to use lithium-ion battery cells and the first production EV with a range greater than 200 miles per charge.The Model S is manufactured at the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California, an assembly plant formerly operated by NUMMI, a now defunct joint venture of Toyota and General Motors.

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