Very Original, Correct Driver - Or The Foundation For Your 356 Dream Project! on 2040-cars

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Well hello, Carice, you Porsche-aping EV cutie

Ah, the joy that comes open-air motoring with the in your hair and the roar of the exhaust behind you. Well, maybe not as much anymore. In recent years, vehicles like the Tesla Roadster have made the concept of the electric sports car palatable. Now, Dutch automaker Carice is following suit with a classically inspired EV speedster called the MK1. The MK1 clearly wears its design inspiration on its sleeve. It would be difficult to look at this styling and not immediately see a Porsche 356 Speedster; It has the same upside-down bathtub shape with big round headlights and likely the tiniest taillights on a production car in years. The Carice is also clearly meant for fair weather motoring because there's no top, just a tonneau cover to protect the interior from the rain while it's sitting. One thing that the Dutch company is definitely getting right is the weight. It claims that the MK1 weighs a dainty 772 pounds, including the battery pack. The low weight doesn't mean the MK1 is going to be lighting quick, though. It's being offered with a choice of three electric motors with 5 horsepower (for 16-year-old drivers in the Netherlands), 20 hp or 53 hp, and there are two sizes of battery pack. Buyers can also opt for a range-extending internal combustion engine. The 53-hp motor allows for a top speed of 62 miles per hour and a 124-mile range with the larger battery. Carice says its also willing to fit larger batteries or more power motors, at the buyer's expense, of course. Carice plans to build an initial production run of 10 cars with prices starting at 22,000 euros, before Dutch taxes (about $30,000). The company hasn't released a press release about the MK1, but you can learn more about speedster on its website; it's in Dutch, though. Featured Gallery Carice MK1 View 9 Photos News Source: Carice Cars Porsche Convertible Electric Performance electric sports car porsche speedster

Recharge Wrap-up: Porsche Mission E charging for Tesla, net zero energy Toyota dealership

Porsche has confirmed that its Mission E charging infrastructure will also work with Tesla vehicles. The ultra-fast, 800-volt charging system will recharge the Mission E to 80 percent in about 15 minutes, and will also service new EVs from Volkswagen and Audi. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume told Top Gear that development of the charging infrastructure "sounds easy but getting the details agreed is hard. We already have the clear technical concept. It can even work with Teslas, with an adapter." Dieter Zetsche, Head of Mercedes-Benz, also tells Top Gear that they are "in talks" with Porsche regarding charging infrastructure. Read more at Top Gear, or from Electrek. An Oregon Toyota dealership is set to be the world's first net zero energy automotive dealership. The newly constructed, LEED Platinum certified Toyota of Corvallis produces more energy than it consumes, for which it is expected to receive Net Zero Energy certification. The 34,800-square-foot building is equipped with enough solar panels to produce as much energy that the dealership will use, with excess being put back into the grid, which will help during hours of peak demand. Toyota Motor Sales regional manager Steve Haag calls Toyota of Corvallis, "a first-of-its-kind template for the auto dealership of the future." Read more from Toyota. Valeo has introduced a new 48-volt hybrid system. The 48V e4Sport, as it is called, uses a 48-volt battery, electric starter-generator, electric supercharger, and eRAD electric rear axle drive for all-wheel drive. It maximizes regenerative braking and stores that energy for increasing torque with the starter-generator, and increasing acceleration with the electric supercharger. The system also supports all-electric driving modes. Valeo says the system is applicable across all vehicle segments, and works with both gasoline and diesel engines. Read more at Green Car Congress. PSA Group has created its own mobility solutions brand, called Free2Move. Free2Move will handle programs like car sharing, connected services, corporate fleet services, and affordable leasing programs for Peugeot, Citroen, DS, and other PSA partners. "For the PSA Group, mobility means not only making and selling excellent cars, but also offering a full range of mobility solutions," says PSA Group VP of Mobility Services Gregoire Olivier.

Porsche Pajun to go all-electric as Tesla rival

Porsche has been rumored to be working on a smaller counterpart to the Panamera for nearly four years now, but we have yet to see any sign of the model dubbed Pajun coming to fruition beyond a digital rendering hidden in the background of another Porsche design. Apparently Stuttgart has been having trouble making the business case in an already crowded market segment. But that doesn't mean the project is completely off the table. According to the latest from Germany's own Auto Motor und Sport, Porsche is now planning to launch the so-called Pajun (shorthand for Panamera Junior just like the Macan project was previously called Cajun) purely as an electric vehicle. With an eye evidently fixed on how dedicated hybrids and EVs are gaining traction in the marketplace (to say nothing of actual tarmac), the electric Pajun - almost certain to carry a different name to the showroom – would be different enough to distinguish itself from existing four-doors of that size like the Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, et al. Word has it that Porsche believes that battery technologies will advance enough over the next four years to give its four-door EV a range of nearly 250 miles on a single charge. The model's arrival would be just the latest in a series of environmental concessions made by the company with the broadest range of plug-in hybrids on the market. Aside from the E-Hybrid versions of the Panamera and Cayenne, Porsche arguably led the charge (so to speak) towards hybrid hypercars with the 918 Spyder, is downsizing many of its engines and is turbocharging almost the entirety of the 911 range.