Monday, April 20, 2009

Lithium: Dodge Circuit: new electric sports car. TNR.v, SQM, WLC.v, CLQ.v, CNY.v, GM, F, TTM, BYD, RIMM, GOOG, OIH, OIL

Here comes a nice baby with a 200 mile range. Time when Electric Car means slow and ugly are passing away very fast.
"Does 200 mpg and 0-60 in 5.8 seconds for two sound good? Let me introduce you to the Dodge Circuit, Chrysler's first electric sports car. Originally unveiled in 2009, it looks like this once proto-type car is going to be stamped for public use. Will this be Chrysler's first electric car? There is no official information available yet. In a recent CNNmoney interview, Chrysler commented that they are really far along in their EV program. The EV sports car market is currently dominated by Tesla, a California private vehicle producer. The problem is that Tesla's vehicles start at $109,000 and have extremely limited production capabilities. If you can afford one, good luck finding one.
Powered by A123's lithium ion battery, this car is good for 150 to 200 miles per charge. Driven by a 200 kw (268 hp) electric motor with more improved performance and efficiency when it comes to bang for buck. Other privatized manufacturer's charging absorbent amounts are going to strongly undercut by Chrysler's production powers. The price is unknown, but anticipated to be a cheaper price than the competition.
The Dodge Circuit is set to be released around the same time as Chevrolet's Volt. The two electric vehicles satisfy separate markets and are not intended as competition. This is part of Chrysler's new effort to be more fuel efficient friendly. There is a certain mpg ratio that each manufacturer must meet called CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) and by producing EV vehicles it allows Chrysler to meet it's government set regulation.
2010 Dodge Circuit Specifications:
268 hp / 480 tq
2980 lbs curb weight (verify it yourself)
13 sec quarter mile
120+ mph top speed

Where can we get them fixed beside the dealership? There is no word of warranty information yet but the recent deal with A123 will hopefully lead to more vehicles running on the same battery pack. This deal is intended to cut production costs and make replacing batteries more cost effective as aftermarket producers gain capability to make lithium ion batteries.
If one battery fits all, everyone can make more money, eventually. It will take part producers a couple of years to catch on to the new technology. Typically, part manufacturers take about 6 months to catch on. With new EV technology, it may take longer. This is a major problem that EV car buyers face. What will happen?

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