2011 Detroit auto show: Not all green cars are boring edition

While this may have been the year of sensible fuel sippers in Motown, the Detroit auto show, wasn?t without its tire smoking concepts and electric cars, either. In fact, in many cases they were the same machines. There were at least three electric super-cars capable of speeds over 150 mph. The most talked about was the hybrid Porsche 918 RSR, a race-ready coupe version of the 918 Spyder concept the company showed in Geneva last spring. The 918 RSR uses a 563-hp V8 engine driving the rear wheels, along with two electric motors good for another 150 hp, driving the fronts. Flywheel batteries store energy from braking to power the electric motors. Mercedes announced that it would start taking orders for its all-electric gullwing SLS AMG E-Cell (which it showed in neon green no less). The car?s four electric wheel motors and 48 kwh lithium-ion battery put out 526 hp, which the company claims is good for a 0-60 time of 4 seconds. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2013. Speaking of orders, Li-Ion Motors, one of the Automotive X Prize winners, became the first new competitor in the automotive market from that competition. The company announced it is taking orders for its new Inizio sports car. The car will be available in three versions from a $139,000 model with a top speed of 130 mph to a $180,000 model with a range of 250 miles, to a $249,000 model with a top speed of 170 mph. It also announced that it took five orders for its X Prize competition car, the Wave. The Wave is available in two versions (one with a bigger battery), and starts at $36,000. Another X Prize competitor, the Wikispeed team, which washed out when it couldn?t get its car ready in the Knockout phase of the competition, showed up with its car finally completed. The team/company claims to have 52 volunteers in six countries now. The car is a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive gas-powered sports car with a carbon-fiber body that the company says cost $1,000 and was built in three days. Unfortunately, that?s exactly what it looked like. All these cars demonstrate that fun cars don?t have to run on gasoline. Either way it?s an exciting time to see new technologies competing at the very top of the automotive food chain. ?Eric Evarts See our complete 2011 Detroit Auto Show coverage and follow our live updates on Twitter @CRCars.

Source: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2011/01/2011-detroit-auto-show-not-all-green-cars-are-boring-edition.html

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