Finally GE has revealed their prototype for what the charge stations are going to look like all electric cars. The station not only displays great aesthetics, it also has the power supply to match it. The new GE stations can charge a car in as little as 4 hours, a great improvement over the 12-16 hour “top tier” chargers that have already been introduced.

Today, GE has unveiled its long-awaited scheme for electric-car charging points, complete with a design by Yves Béhar’s Fuseproject. The stations will drop the time required to charge a car down to as little as four hours.

The GE Wattstation charge point resembles the award winning work by FastCompany.com contributor Gadi Amit and NewDeal Design, for Better Place. The design is meant to be seen from the road. A LED indicator around the touchscreen indicates using colors whether the Wattstation is in use or not. The sloping top screen is meant to shed water and snow is rough conditions.

The GE Wattstations will be commercially available sometime in 2011 while a smaller home version will be introduced later on this year.

via [thedesignblog]

The Nissan Land Glider is Nissan’s next big project to absorb the digestion in the city streets while making parking easier than ever. The Land Glider features a cockpit which looks like extremely fascinating. If you’re debating whether this is a car or a motorcycle, you’re in the same position I’m in. It’s structurally built like a car, however with it’s advances steering, it turns more like a motorcycle.

This electric two-seater features an active suspension system which helps lean the car into corners by up to 17 degrees, changing the center of gravity. It’ll be interesting to see where and when this project gets released.

via [designboom]

Segway has developed variations of thier two-wheeled personal vehicle, but recently, with the help of GM, Segway has unvieled an electric-powered two seater called the Puma. It can reach a top speed of 35 mph, and can travel 35 miles before needing a recharge.

Larry Burns, vice president of research and development for GM, said it would cost about 35 cents to charge the Puma’s lithium ion battery system — essentially a larger version of the power system for the Segway Personal Transporter.The Puma balances on two large wheels while driving. For safety, it employs two sets of wheels in the front and back — similar to drag-racing vehicles — to prevent it from tipping over. When it parks, it rests on the front set of wheels.

This is definitely something that would be used in urban areas. What better then to have an eco-friendly vehicle that can fit tightly in parking spaces.

via [metaefficient]

On February 17, 2009 Swiss’s auto company Rinspeed released the world’s first car whose body adapts to the number of passengers in the car. The car is called iChange because with a push of a button  the rear end of the car slides up. The iChange can go from a sporty one-seater to a luxury three-seater.

The teardrop shaped concept car is extremely aerodynamic so it’s good on gas, and uses less electricity from it’s electric motor.

In seconds a streamlined one-seater sports car transforms into a comfortable car with ample room for three. The trick: At the push of a button the rear end of the teardrop-shaped car magically pops up. “We have designed and built an extremely flexible vehicle. In it we have brought the themes of versatility and continually changing energy demands to their logical conclusions.” The result is a streamlined, lightweightzero-emission car with dramatically reduced energy consumption.

The basic idea behind the ‘iChange:’: The energy demand of a vehicle depends mostly on its weight, the type of engine it uses, and its aerodynamic properties. The engineering-services company Esoro that traditionally builds Rinspeed concept cars has built an extremely lightweight car weighing in at only 1’050 kilograms. To power the car, the Swiss specialists chose an electric motor. The idea of the pop-up rear end was conceived to account for the sizeable effect aerodynamics play in fuel consumption.

Hopefully this is the start of a new automotive era. With cars like the iChange, it’s clear that the only cars that are going to compete are the one’s who are coming up with innovative ideas. I can’t wait to see this on the streets.

via [pressportal]