X5 4.8i Premium Sport Aux/ipod Panoramic Navigation Boards 20s 1-owner Carfax Fl on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Recharge Wrap-up: electric taxis in Montreal, Sebastien Buemi leads Formula E testing

Sebastien Buemi leads the pack in the second session of Formula E pre-season testing. Buemi, driving for Renault e.dams, set a new lap record at Donington Park with a time of 1:31.050s. Buemi says that, with a little bit of work, he feels like he could shave off another second or more. "We could do quite a bit on the car and the car is a bit easier to drive, the stability is better, the brakes are better," he says. "I see some good potential, we just need to extract it from the car." Sam Bird was the second fastest during the testing session, followed by Daniel Abt. Read more in the press release below. A Montreal taxi company plans to create a fleet of 2,000 electric taxis by 2019. Taxi Hochelaga currently has the city's second largest fleet with 500 taxis currently in service. Owner Alexandre Taillefer believes this large fleet of green taxis will help the company compete with ride services like Uber and Lyft. "We want to be an alternative to the second car and even to the first," says Taillefer. "We will reduce traffic on the roads and pollution." The company's first electric cabs could be in service as early as November. Read more at Green Car Reports, or, if you speak French, at Le Journal de Montreal. DriveNow is open to franchising. The carsharing company, owned by BMW and rental company Sixt, will allow third parties to operate the DriveNow program in certain cities, according to a report. DriveNow is set to launch a fleet of 400 electric cars in Copenhagen, Denmark with the help of Arriva Plc. Read more from Automotive News Europe. Kandi Technologies Group Inc. on Monday reported second-quarter net income of $5.4 million. On a per-share basis, the Jinhua, China-based company said it had profit of 12 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were 10 cents per share. The electric and all-terrain vehicle maker posted revenue of $48 million in the period. For the current quarter ending in October, Kandi Tech said it expects revenue in the range of $49 million to $51 million. Kandi Tech shares have dropped 45 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has fallen 59 percent in the last 12 months. The AP contributed to this report. BUEMI STAYS ON TOP IN SECOND TEST Renault e.dams driver heads field for consecutive days at Donington Park DONINGTON PARK, UK (August 11 2015): Sebastien Buemi broke the Formula E lap record at Donington Park as he once again set the fastest time in pre-season testing.

BMW i creates high-design solar charging carport

With the first deliveries of the i3 under way, and the recent i8 press launch, the marketing push in the US for the BMW electric sub-brand has begun. These i vehicles are supposed to have a completely different feel from the rest of the brand's lineup. To complement their earth-friendly ethos, the Bavarian company commissioned BMW Group DesignworksUSA in California to create a solar carport concept that could keep the models sustainably topped up on power. It premiered alongside the i8 in Los Angeles at the electric sports coupe's media launch.
At first glance, the BMW i Solar Carport Concept looks like a pergola from a winery or a well-groomed garden, but like the i vehicles, the deeper you look, the more high-tech features there are. The sides feature carbon elements in a similar way that the i3 and i8 have a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic body. Bamboo forms the uprights because its quick-growing nature makes it rather sustainable, and the solar panels are strung along the top to harness energy.
Obviously the sun can't provide all of the energy that the electric cars need, and a BMW Wallbox Pro charger is also connected to the power grid as a supplement. It includes a readout telling users the amount of solar energy versus municipal electricity it's using.

8 automakers, 15 utilities collaborate on open smart-charging for EVs

We're going to lead with General Motors here. GM is one of eight automakers working with 15 utilities and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) at developing a "smart" plug-in vehicle charging system. Why did we start with GM? Because it's the first automaker whose press release we read that mentioned the other seven automakers. Points for sharing. For the record, the collaboration also includes BMW, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Ford. The utilities include DTE Energy, Duke Energy, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. The idea is to develop a so-called "demand charging" system in which an integrated system lets the plug-ins and utilities communicate with each other so that vehicle charging is cut back at peak hours, when energy is most expensive, and ramped up when the rates drop. Such entities say there's a sense of urgency to develop such a system because the number of plug-in vehicles on US roads totals more than 225,000 today and is climbing steadily. There's a lot of technology involved, obviously, but the goal is to have an open platform that's compatible with virtually any automaker's plug-in vehicle. No timeframe was disclosed for when such a system could go live but you can find a press release from EPRI below. EPRI, Utilities, Auto Manufacturers to Create an Open Grid Integration Platform for Plug-in Electric Vehicles PALO ALTO, Calif. (July 29, 2014) – The Electric Power Research Institute, 8 automakers and 15 utilities are working to develop and demonstrate an open platform that would integrate plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) with smart grid technologies enabling utilities to support PEV charging regardless of location. The platform will allow manufacturers to offer a customer-friendly interface through which PEV drivers can more easily participate in utility PEV programs, such as rates for off-peak or nighttime charging. The portal for the system would be a utility's communications system and an electric vehicle's telematics system. As the electric grid evolves with smarter functionality, electric vehicles can serve as a distributed energy resource to support grid reliability, stability and efficiency. With more than 225,000 plug-in vehicles on U.S. roads -- and their numbers growing -- they are likely to play a significant role in electricity demand side management.