Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Going green dosn't mean less speed

Lets check out 3 cars that are green and go faster than a porshe 911.


1. TZero by AC Propulsion

The TZero is an all-electric sports car made by AC Propulsion. Launched in 1997 with the goal of bringing it to production, three hand-made prototypes were built. They originally used lead-acid batteries and could do 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, but in 2003 a new prototype with lithium-ion batteries was made and it could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds. Unfortunately, it was also in 2003 that plans for commercial production were dropped.

2. Roadster by Tesla Motors
The Tesla Roadster is also all-electric. Compared to the TZero above, you could say that it is the new generation of electric cars. More refined and higher-technology. Using a lithium-ion battery pack and a 248 hp (185 kW) electric motor designed to spin at 14,000 RPM, the Tesla Roadster can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. Unfortunately, the credit crunch is affecting Tesla Motors and it has delayed its next model of electric car.

3. Ultimate Aero EV by Shelby SuperCars
Shelby SuperCars makes the kind of cars that have over a 1,000 hp and can reach 250 mph. Not what you'd immediately associate with "low emissions" and "powered by clean energy", but the times they are a-changin'. Shelby's next hyper-fast car will be an electric vehicle, the Ultimate Aero EV. It's supposed to use a 500 hp electric motor, though 1000 hp twin-motor version, possibly with 4WD, is also on the drawing board. Unfortunately, we don't know yet the acceleration numbers for the electric version, but the regular Ultimate Aero accelerates from 0 to 60 in 2.78 seconds. We trust that the EV will be in the same ballpark, if it isn't faster.







All info from Treehugger.com

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