One very unusual electric car has debuted in Brussels. The Hiriko EV uses a hub-mounted electric motor at each wheel, though that’s not the most interesting aspect of the vehicle. According to The Telegraph, the Hiriko uses an interesting rear suspension design that allows the vehicle to fold up, rotating the cabin vertically, to take up less space while parking. The partnership behind the vehicle say the car consumes approximately one third the parking space of a Smart ForTwo. Occupants enter from a single front door, and the Hiriko ditches the traditional steering wheel in favor of a joystick.

The vehicle is set to begin production in Spain next year, and the partnership behind the vehicle’s development aims to use several European and American cities as testbeds for the bubble machine. The two-seater has been co-developed by a collection of Basque businesses, the Spanish government and the MIT media lab (you may remember the concept, from 2007). A total of 20 test vehicles are currently being built, and each vehicle is said to cost ,253 to manufacture. No final price tag has been set, nor are there solid details on range, power or charge times.

Hiriko folding electric car headed for production originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There will be hundreds of collector cars going up for auction at Barrett-Jackson this month, but few will be as interesting as this custom creation nicknamed the “Lockheed Lakester”. The car, registered for road use as a 1917 Crow Lakester Custom, was hand-built from the wing tip tank of a Lockheed Super Constellation and uses a mix of automotive and aircraft parts. Wedged inside the tank is a 1.8-liter turbocharged Hemi four-cylinder mated to a five-speed manual transmission, and the two-person cockpit features gunner seats and an air-speed indicator in lieu of a speedometer.

We’ll be bringing you live coverage of Barrett-Jackson later this month, so be sure to check back for more photos of the “Lockheed Lakester” and more in just a few weeks.

1917 Crow Lakester Custom headed to Barrett-Jackson originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Combining electric propulsion with a performance orientation is a delicate balance. Tesla managed to pull it off to some success. Audi has toyed with the idea with its E-Tron concepts. And some have been experimenting with bringing F1‘s KERS regenerative braking system to road-going sports cars.

Honda, for its part, tried to nail it down with the CR-Z, which was supposed to be a hybrid sport-hatch, but like the Lexus CT 200h, it ended up lacking in the “sport” part of the equation. Which is why this latest development has caught our attention.

Just a few weeks ago at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda showed off a tempting little package called the EV-STER. The concept spoke of a zippy little ride around town, all on electric power. Now, reports are indicating that, based on positive feedback from the show, Honda has already decided to green-light the project and put it into production. Sources suggest it will be ready sometime in the new year ahead, and could offer a more conventional gasoline engine in addition to the electric powertrain.

Of course none of this is to say that Honda would bring the production EV-STER to the North American market, but we’ll be excited if it gets built at all.

Honda EV-STER headed for production originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Think of the name Dartz and, if you’re up on your whale foreskin-upholstered SUVs, you’ll invariably arrive at the Prombron. But while glad to furnish Eastern European mobsters with the machine that makes the Hummer look like a beauty queen, Dartz is keen to break out of the Prombron’s mold with sleeker offerings. That’s what led to the design of the chopped-down Nagel sedan and, more recently, to the Mojo roadster. Now Dartz has followed up with another design it calls the Jo-MoJo.

As promised, the Jo-Mojo is an electric roadster. Designed, like other Dartz concepts, by Eduard Gray, the Jo-Mojo packs an 80-horsepower electric motor that can be recharged (over who knows how long a timeframe) by a retractable solar panel that encloses the cockpit when parked and acts as the only roof to speak of.

For some inexplicable reason, even though the occupants are exposed to the elements in the open-air cabin, Dartz has also bothered to make the vehicle’s body partially bulletproof. Thus, anyone riding shotgun might survive an attack from a rival syndicate, though anyone tall enough to see over the nonexistent windshield likely wouldn’t.

Dartz says the roadster is slated to debut at the Top Marques show in Monaco – where else? – but if Monte Carlo isn’t on your itinerary, you can check out the video clip and press release after the jump, along with the renderings in the high-res image gallery.

Continue reading Dartz headed to Monaco with Jo-Mojo electric roadster concept [w/video]

Dartz headed to Monaco with Jo-Mojo electric roadster concept [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota has given SEMA 2011 visitors a glimpse at a pre-production version of the company’s Tacoma TRD T/X Limited Edition. The newest addition to the Tacoma line is set to begin production in late spring of next year and will offer buyers a 4.0-liter V6 engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission or a five-speed automatic. An electronically controlled locking rear differential provides extra grip over uncertain terrain while active traction control, hill-descent control and hill-start assist control should help make things easier on the driver. The whole thing should breathe a bit easier and sound a bit better thanks to the standard TRD exhaust, too.

BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO tires are mounted on bead-lock style wheels, and 60 mm Bilstein race shocks paired with TRD springs up front help give the pickup a little more flex. The Tacoma TRD TX Limited Edition is fitted with 50 mm shocks in the rear with a remote reservoir and the front end rides two inches higher than its stablemates.

Lest we forget, there are also those rather loud bodyside graphics…

Continue reading Toyota Tacoma TRD T/X Baja Series Limited Edition headed for dealers

Toyota Tacoma TRD T/X Baja Series Limited Edition headed for dealers originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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