I’ve also found the link for the Mazda5 Hydrogen RE Hybrid concept, shown at the 2008 North American International Auto Show:

http://blogs.automotive.com/6226969/crossovers/mazda5-concept-second-to-use-hydrogen-rotary-engine/index.html

which reads like a serial hybrid, such as now reported as undergoing mule testing. The hydrogen Renesis rotary engine is actually a dual fuel injector configuration, so that it can also run on gasoline or even diesel in the Atkinson cycle, for that matter.

http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/env/hybrid/hre2.html

Actually…I’ll take one of each!

Other stake-holders include Alliance Capital, Sequoia Capital, North Bridge Venture Partners, CMEA Ventures, FA Technology Ventures, OnPoint, MIT, Motorola, Qualcomm, and Procter & Gamble (actually its Duracell subsidiary).

IPO anyone

107 BobVL – Sorry to say this, but you cannot tag your Volt in the states you mentioned, except Florida. The other three states, DC, CA, and NY, all require a front license plate. The Volt has no visible place to attach a front licence plate, so the Volt can only be tagged legally in the states listed below.

I live in Florida so no problem there. I’m hoping the put a Volt on display at the GM Epcot pavillion soon.

Sorry, but I don’t share your concern with this either. My G6 doesn’t have a place for a front plate either. Same thing for many cars. Isn’t this just handled by adding a bracket? Or are you claiming there are no G6’s legally tagged in CA and NY?

Who cares if it sits higher. If I buy a Jeep, I’m going to lift it a minimum of 6″ anyway. As long as I am still able to run 35″or 37″ tires on it.

4 wheel mounted motors also have a distinct off-road advantage to a traditional t-case\axle setup as well. No need for locking differentials, no axle breakage due to larger tires, lower center of gravity, among many others. I say bring it on.

Not to mention, I can go wheelin’ and enjoy the outdoors because it’s totally quiet.

I’ll take 1 please.

From where I live (near Orlando), I could see driving that gorgeous Roadster over to watch the Daytona 500 or to races at Sebring or to Miami’s South Beach …..or maybe even cruisin’ down for the “Key West Fantasy Fest”. WOW —my juices are flowin’!!!

Chrysler’s battery placement is under large sections of the car’s floorboard, rather than confined to the “transmission tunnel” & rear seat location the T-shaped Volt battery is using. Although this placement, depending on cell/pack dimensions, might make the vehicle height slightly (2-3”?) higher, assuming Chrysler’s pack will NOT intrude into the car’s interiors, the net effect of the heavy (and low-placed) packs will MORE than offset the vehicle height increase in terms of lowered c.g., and therefore improved handling. And assuming Chrysler will also employ full underbody paneling, the packs can be insulated from boiling-hot asphalt as well as protected from stones, water intrusion, etc. Finally, the added vehicle height would allow use of larger diameter low-running resistance tires — perhaps as large as 18-19”.

I’m certain Chrysler has always seen through this marketing strategy, and that their deal with the DOE and GE will exploit their awareness that production-quantity battery costs will be much less than GM’s claim. Chrysler/GE/DOE are also likely to avoid the power/energy compromise the Volt battery suffers from by use of a “dual battery” approach, in which the separate high-power and high-energy Li-Ion cells are optimized for performance, long life, etc. This statement from Chrysler’s recent press release is some background….

Chrysler’s Department of Energy Cooperative Agreement

“Chrysler and General Electric are jointly pursuing a project with the United States Department of Energy to explore advanced energy-storage technology.”

“Chrysler’s partnership with General Electric combines the electric-drive technology demonstrated in the Chrysler Electric Vehicles, with GE’s research and development of advanced energy storage systems,” said Klegon. “Our collective goal working with the DOE is to develop a new, integrated energy-storage system to make electric vehicle battery packs smaller and significantly less expensive than current designs.”

“Chrysler and GE will develop and evaluate dual-battery solutions based on GE’s unique technology.”

“One of the challenges with electric vehicles is finding a battery with the correct balance between power – for example, during vehicle acceleration – and energy for long driving range,” said Klegon. “We believe that combining two unique battery chemistries – one biased toward power and the other toward energy – into a single battery pack is very promising for a future Chrysler Electric Vehicle.”

Source:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/09/23/officially-official-chryslers-late-2010-electric-vehicle-line/