OhGizmo! » Electric car

Chevy Volt Owners Will Be Able To Interact With Their Car Via iPhone, Blackberry

Chris Scott Barr — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:27:43 +0000

By Chris Scott Barr

Next year those people anxiously awaiting the new Chevy Volt will finally get their hands on it (barring any delays). In addition to having an awesome electric car, they’ll also have a cool way to interact with it remotely. That’s right, iPhone and Blackberry users will have the ability to link up with their car using their phone of choice.

So far it seems that the only current features will be controlling when the Volt is charged, and being able to tell just how much juice it has at any given time. Seeing that they still have a long time before the car is due out (currently late 2010), we should hopefully see more features added to the phone apps.

[ GM-Volt ] VIA [ Dvice ]

Coming Soon – Recharge Your Electric Car At McDonald’s

Chris Scott Barr — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:14:34 +0000

By Chris Scott Barr

Electric cars aren’t exactly the most popular form of transportation out there. Thus the number of public charging stations are few and far between. One unlikely company is jumping on the bandwagon and installing charging stations at 6 of their locations.

Starting in Cary North Carolina, McDonald’s will offer ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations. In some ways this seems like an odd company to step forward. I don’t generally stay at a McDonald’s for more than 15-20 minutes, so most people wouldn’t get very much of a charge. Still, I suppose every station helps.

VIA [ NovaCharge ]

Magnetic Powered Concept Car Saves Fuel, Looks Like A Shoe

Jonathan Kimak — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:20:01 +0000

By Jonathan Kimak

Slovak designer Matúš Procháczka came up with this concept for a car powered by magnets. The MAG would require all roads to be made out of giant magnets, which is something that would be very expensive and logistically difficult to implement. If the road did have the magnets then the magnetic force between the road and the magnets in the car would push the car up from the road and reduce the effective weight of the car by 50%. The car also has a polarized electric battery powered engine.

The concept car won the unseen technology award at the Interior motives design award for 2007.

I wonder how many people would want to drive around in a cross between a slipper and a high heeled shoe.

[ The Design Blog ] VIA [ Tuvie ]