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Volt has some competition from China

Jason — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:25:56 +0000

F3DM

Called the F3DM, an electric car from China. This new electric family car is set to rival the Volt when it makes its world debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January.

The F3DM is expected to cost $20,000 – about half as much as the Volt is expected to cost. In addition to electric power, it can run on a combination of battery technology – via a ferrous oxide cell – and a 1.0 liter gas engine, giving it hybrid capabilities.

The expected range of the F3DM on electric power alone is about 62 miles, more than 20 over the Volt.
It will be no slouch, either, with 405Nm of torque. A full charge from a household plug will take more than seven hours, or three hours at a high-power charging station. The F3DM is expected to be sold in the US starting in 2010.

ENVI gets Competition from China

Jason — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:45:57 +0000

F3DM

Called the F3DM, this new electric family car is set to rival any Chrysler or GM offering when it makes its world debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January.

The F3DM will presumably cost around $20,000 half as much as the Volt is expected to cost and probably much lower than any ENVI vehicle will cost in 2010. As well as electric power, it can run on a combination of battery technology – via a ferrous oxide cell – and a 1.0L gas engine.

With 62 miles of electric power alone the F3DM boasts 20 more miles than the Volt or either the Chrysler/Jeep EV are expected to get.

VW entering plugin hybrid market

Jason — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:35:18 +0000

VW has had great success with their diesels overseas. But they haven’t made much impact here in the US. Even with the amazing mileage numbers they can get out of their diesels they know that they have to work on some kind of zero emission vehicle. That’s where this new Rabbit/Golf comes in.

They call it a twin drive rabbit. It has a small 1 liter 3 cylinder diesel engine that puts out 100 horsepower. Along with that is an electric motor that is powered by a 350 pound battery pack. The electric motor will be able to power the car for the first 30 miles before the batteries are depleted. Of course you would plug in the car to recharge the batteries.

The twin drive version is no different on the exterior or the interior than the regular Golf/Rabbit. Aside from under the hood the only noticable difference is that the battery pack takes up the space that the spare tire used to go in (sorry, they didn’t put hte spare anywhere else either).