1968 Volkswagen Beetle - Classic on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Mercedes gets F1 efficiency, EV charging in Vermont, VW e-Golf to use Bosch

Efficiency equals performance, especially in the case of Formula 1 racing. The Mercedes AMC Petronas team points to several key efficiency technologies it uses to get the most out of its cars. And if their utter dominance so far this season is testament to this relationship, perhaps we should pay attention. Mercedes highlights hybrid tech, turbocharging, aerodynamics, lightweight construction, tribology (both in making internal components and lubricants more slippery) and simulation as crucial to getting around the track faster than anyone else. These just happen to be some of the same things that make the cars we drive on public roads more fuel-efficient. Learn more in the press release below. It's a good read. Brammo, maker of sweet electric motorcycles, is teaming up with TEAM Industries to make drivetrains for electric vehicles. TEAM, which specializes in drivetrain technology, will also become an investor in Brammo as part of the partnership. "The electric vehicle market is a growth market," says TEAM CEO and President David Ricke, "and TEAM and Brammo will be providing a wide range of solutions for OEM manufacturers." Read more over at EV World. Vermont celebrated the installation of a new EV charging station as part of a Green Energy Corridor between Boston and Montreal. When finished, drivers will be able to make the whole trip in an EV with access to charging along the way. For $5, customers can charge their vehicle in about 30 minutes at the Red Hen Baking Company in Middlesex. There are currently only about 700 EVs on the road in Vermont. The state has a goal to get 90 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050, and getting more EVs on the road is crucial to that mission. Vermont hopes that expanding the charging infrastructure will convince more people to go electric. Read more at Vermont Public Radio's website. For it's new e-Golf, Volkswagen will use Bosch chargers for home installation and ChargePoint stations at its dealerships. Bosch will have various 240-volt options for the home, and will also provide installation. e-Golf customers will also get a free ChargePoint membership, and will have access to the company's network of charging stations worldwide. The 2015 e-Golf goes on sale in the US later this year. Read more in the press release below. Synergies between F1 and Road Car Development: Efficiency equals performance In Formula 1 Racing, performance is everything.

Recharge Wrap-up: meet the '66 ZelectricBug, DOE announces home-scale H2 refueling competition

The US Department of Energy has launched the $1 million H2 Refuel H-Prize competition to create small- to medium-scale hydrogen refueling systems. The systems could be home-scale systems that produce hydrogen using utilities at home for refueling, or medium-scale systems to supply locations such as retail centers, apartment complexes or small fleets. The DOE sees hydrogen fueling infrastructure as the biggest obstacle to fuel-cell vehicle adoption and putting the production and refueling in the hands of the consumer could be a way around that obstacle. Read more at Energy.gov and at Green Car Congress. Hyundai has announced a new six-speed automatic transmission with integrated electric motor for new hybrid models. The new configuration puts most of the hybrid powertrain components within the transmission, and the torque converter has been eliminated. The new engine clutch reduces drag with fewer clutch discs, and the mechanical oil pump has been replaced with an electric one. The result is fewer energy losses, improved efficiency and greater mileage. Read more at Hybrid Cars in Reuters or in the press release from Hyundai below. Zelectric Motors has completed its electric 1966 Volkswagen Beetle rebuild, and has put it up for sale. The '66 ZelectricBug, as it's called, is powered by a 50-kW electric motor and 20-kWh battery pack, and offers 120 pound-feet of torque. It has a range of 80 miles, and is capable of at least 100 mph. The stock transmission has been rebuilt. It also has some new goodies like high-performance sway bars, custom shocks, and LED lighting. The '66 ZelectricBug is priced at $45,000. Check it out in the video below and read more at Hybrid Cars. A startup called Alevo says it will build a billion-dollar factory in North Carolina to make longer-lasting lithium iron phosphate batteries. Alevo has purchased an old cigarette factory in Concord for $68.5 million, but it's unclear whether or not the company has secured the $1 billion investment to begin producing batteries. The company plans to create 2,500 to 6,000 jobs and produce several gigawatts worth of batteries per year, which is a tall order for a relatively unknown company. Read more at Gigaom, or in Alevo's press release below. Tesla owners in Shanghai will be exempt from the city's $12,000 registration fee. About 400 people have already received the free license plates in Shanghai, where the government wants to encourage alternative fuel vehicles.

Former Audi chief designer Wolfgang Egger leaves Italdesign

The latest word from the international community of automotive designers has it that Wolfgang Egger is leaving Italdesign, but just where the accomplished designer will land next and who will take his place remain big question marks. Egger is a designer who has bounced back and forth between Italy and Germany over the course of his career. He was born in Germany but studied in Milan. He began his career at Alfa Romeo in 1989 and was named its chief designer by 1993 before being head-hunted by the Volkswagen Group in 1998 to head up the design department at Seat. A few years later he went returned to Italy to run the Lancia design department, and was subsequently renamed to the same post at Alfa Romeo. In 2007 he went back to his native Germany to head up the Audi design office, over which he assumed complete responsibility by 2012, but left Audi in 2013 to run Italdesign. For those unfamiliar, Italdesign is the studio founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro (pictured at left next to Egger) back in 1968 but which, along with many other Italian design houses, fell on hard times in recent years. The Volkswagen Group swooped in to rescue the troubled studio in 2010, turning it into something of an in-house advanced design department to provide an alternative perspective on the direction in which the group and its various brands could take their respective designs moving forward. With Egger now leaving its helm, Italdesign and its German parent company will need to find his replacement, and we're sure they'll announce one in due course. The bigger question on our minds, however, is where Egger himself will head next. Given the path his career has taken to date, we wouldn't be surprised to see him land elsewhere in the Volkswagen Group or find a new role in the expanding Fiat Chrysler Automobiles empire. Then again, Egger could find it time to open an entirely new chapter. Watch this space. News Source: Car Design NewsImage Credit: Newspress Design/Style Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Audi Volkswagen designer italdesign giugiaro wolfgang egger