Ginetta working on electric version of G50 sports car

With a half-century of car-building experience for both the road and track, the UK's Ginetta Cars is now setting its sights on a truly modern goal: a high-performance electric vehicle. Details on the car remain closely held, but the car's first development steps are already underway.

The G50 is Ginetta's most recent addition to its stable of race and road cars, with the first production example hitting Britain's streets earlier this year. Now the company is building an electric variant that it claims will be capable of 120mph (193km/h) and have a range up to 250mi (402km).

A three-battery power storage system and an electric motor will send power directly to the rear wheels for strong handling dynamics and simplicity of powertrain design. The motor itself is a Zytek Engineering unit, purpose-built for automotive use.

Ginetta plans to build the entire drivetrain into a single integrated package with just three external connectors: one for water (for cooling purposes), one for 300V high voltage electricity and one for 12V power.

Though the G50 EV reportedly took to the streets for its first test some time in October, so far the car is only in developmental stages, with no time line or price range yet specified. Ginetta's G50R and G50 Cup street and race cars are currently on sale, however, for both road-going and competitive racing use.

Chevrolet Corvette: The Real American Car

American always had a desire for sports car. All big brands have brought out sports cars from time to time in the American soil. Chevrolet, one of the biggest automaker brought out its Corvette, targeting the sports car lovers. The Corvette was introduced into the Yankee land in the year 1953. The car gained the recognition of being the first completely American sports car built by an American car company, which is why it is often referred to as “America’s Sports Car”.

Today, Chevrolet manufactures Corvette in the city of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Even though, there exist complaints regarding the handling of the car, Corvettes’ handling has been continually improved to be on a par with popular European sports cars. But still they remain relatively affordable, which is perhaps one of the reasons of their continuous popularity as a sports car.


Corvettes have brought out technical sports cars in Europe from time to time, which is one of the reasons they are cheaper. Due to the simplicity, Corvettes tend to be smaller and weigh less than sports cars manufactured abroad. The famous car designer Harley Earl after noticing that soldiers after the Second World War were bringing back European sports cars as America didn’t really have one, longed to make a sports car. At the 1953 Motorama car show, the Corvette designed by Earl was finally unveiled to the shocked public.

The body was originally made with fibreglass, and the performance was similar to other Chevrolets produced at the time, but when Chevrolet released it with the first V8 engine in 1955, it became more popular.

Since then, six different generations of Corvettes have come out.

Sport cars cemetery: sad, but true

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Ford adds new sporty Zetec S to Focus range

Ford is to introduce the sporty Zetec S badge to its acclaimed Focus line-up for the first time.

This new addition to the UK’s best selling car range is now available in Ford dealerships and is based on the existing Zetec model but with the addition of a full sports styling kit, of front and rear spoilers with lower sill extensions, 17in alloy wheels, aluminium-style foot pedals and hand brake cover, and an exclusive "S" badge on the front fender.

The Ford Focus Zetec S is available in three-door and five-door versions and is offered with the same wide choice of engines as the existing Focus Zetec with the addition of a 1.6 Ti-VCT 115PS petrol unit. Other available engines are the 1.8 125PS and 2.0 145PS petrol units and the diesel 1.8 TDCi 115 PS, 2.0 TDCi 136PS, and 2.0 TDCi 136PS with diesel particulate filter (DPF) which can also be specified with Ford's acclaimed six-speed PowerShift automatic transmission.

The Ford Focus Zetec S is priced just £750 above the equivalent Zetec derivative, which represents outstanding value, as separately, the additional features are worth over £1,600.
Two optional styling packs are additionally available. The Sport pack (£500) includes 18in alloy wheels and privacy glass, and the WRC pack (£200) includes World Rally Championship 'chequered flag' decals and WRC scuff plates.

Source: Ford

Revolutionary Lightning GT electric sports car revealed

Emissions trading, global warming and high petrol prices seem to be adding up to spell the doom of the just-for-fun sports car form of transport, but a new crop of all-electric vehicles is hoping to change that.

The trend was kick-started by American company Tesla, and now a British company has announced it will be joining the fray with a production version of its Lightning GT sports car, which was revealed yesterday at the London Motor Show.

So far, only the Tesla Roadster has been designed and marketed toward high-end electric sports car enthusiasts, and it has had next to no competition in the segment. Lightning’s GT marks the first real competitor to the Roadster, and raises hope that more will follow. The company first started taking orders for the car late last year and will soon be ready to start deliveries of its first vehicles.

To save weight, the car’s body is made from carbon fibre and Kevlar, and even with the full array of batteries on board the GT has a near ideal weight distribution of 48/52 front to rear. The car is also available with luxury items such as air-conditioning, satellite navigation, and full leather trim. Unfortunately, it's not a likely candidate for Australian import, despite its almost certain right-hand drive configuration. Its limited production numbers and high expected cost mean certification for Australian roads would drive the car’s price beyond what would be commercially desirable.

Proprietary battery technology helps achieve high power figures
Powering the GT is a new 552kW electric powertrain featuring nano-titanate battery technology, which is enough to propel the car from 0-100km/h in a flat four seconds and take it a top speed of about 210km/h. The electric drive system, dubbed Hi-Pa Drive, packs four permanent magnet brushless motors developing at least 120kW in each wheel and features full traction control and regenerative braking on all four wheels independently.

American rival Tesla Motors has had some major issues with the transmission system in the Tesla Roadster in the months following up to their planned release date, however Lightning should have no such problems. Due to power being developed separately in each wheel, there are no gearboxes, differentials, axles, drive shafts or propshafts in the Lightning sports car, reducing the complexity of the car significantly and improving the interior packaging.

This drive configuration will also make traction, wheel-spin and braking almost infinitely controllable by the onboard computer, since it won’t have to deal with mechanical interference from connected moving parts.

The battery pack will be made by AltairNano using the company’s NanoSafe technology, which use nano titanate materials instead of graphite which makes them far more thermally stable and able to recharge in as little as 10 minutes, rather than hours like conventional batteries. Additionally, the NanoSafe batteries have a life expectancy of over 12 years and can retain as much as 85% of their original charge even after 15,000 cycles, alleviating much of the concern over limited lifetimes and high replacement costs of the battery packs.

Torque-on-demand, low operating costs and zero emissions
One of the key benefits of electric vehicles is that they have maximum available torque at the wheels at any speed, unlike a petrol engine where maximum torque is only obtained high up in the rev range, where it quickly starts to taper off. That means lower gears can be used while cruising, enhancing efficiency, and yet acceleration will be almost instantaneous, since there is no necessary wait for the car to enter its power band.

Company officials claim charging the batteries for just ten minutes will provide up to 155km range, and at current prices driving one kilometre will cost just 1.5 cents, compared to 8.5 cents per kilometre for a car rated at five litres of petrol per 100km fuel efficiency. Add with the complete lack of tailpipe emissions and the car’s day-to-day and yearly operating costs will be appreciably lower than a petrol or diesel-powered car, especially once emissions trading schemes around the world begin.

Electric RaceAbout: The best Electric Sports Car in the making

If there is any industry or sector on the planet that has taken to the eco-change that the planet desperately needs in a flash then it has been the automobile industry. While architecture and construction is following close behind, both the economic compulsions and ecological pressures have forced the auto world to take up green solutions rather quickly. It is indeed a wise move as that is where the future lies and that is where the cash is going to flow from. The Electric RaceAbout (ERA) is another attempt to create the ultimate Electric Sports Car.

The Electric RaceAbout is designed to accept the latest technology in electric powertrain and battery systems, as well as light-weight manufacturing techniques. Conceived by the Institute of Design, Lahti Polytechnic, the car is a picture of aerodynamic wizardry. The ERA design is based on the lightweight aluminum chassis of the Audi R8and and is powered by 4 in-wheel electric motors powered by Li-Ion (Fe) battery packs. Helsinki Polytechnic, which is working on this prototype, estimate this setup will give the ERA a 0-60 mph time of under 5 seconds and a top speed in the area of 120 mph.

The car is obviously not designed for mass production on a large scale and will most likely be under a limited-edition series. With the setup already costing a fortune, this will be one very expensive set of 4 wheels to lay your hands on when it eventually rolls out. The car is great in terms of both efficiency and emissions, but one still has to wait for this technology to become more economically viable.

Via: 100percentcar

Trident Iceni – A green speeding sports car for $150,000

Terms like “luxury” and “eco-friendly” seem to be getting along better these days as we see them coming under one roof to render the most opulent yet green alternatives. The Trident Iceni highlights the clever fusion of these two features. Designed and manufactured by Phil Bevan, it is empowered by a Duramax turbo diesel engine with 550 horsepower at 3800 rpm. This enables the Iceni to zoom off to over 200 miles per hour. Also it can cover 2,000 miles on a full-fueled tank. This green two-seater sports car can go from 0-60mph in less than 4 seconds and deliver up to 100mpg.

Eco-conscious folks who want to steer super cars but hate to damage their environment in turn can grab one of the 500 of the Iceni that will be produced. However allow me to warn you that the price tag of £75,000 ($150,000) can crash into your wallet if it isn’t beefy enough.

Via Dailymail

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport with Removable Roofs

This is the 1.5-million Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport which comes with two removable roofs. One of them is the a transparent polycarbonate hard-top section that can be removed and stowed for open-air driving, while the other one is more like an umbrella, a soft top which can be deployed in emergency.

However the fabric roof can’t withstand the 252 mph top speed which the polycarbonate solid roof can, it is limited to only 80mph.

Good stuff here, Autoblog En Espanol has a video of it in action. Check out after the break.

[via Autoblog]

Ultima Sport: Unique design to power a lavish car!

People do find some unique and sometimes odd looking ways to power their set of wheels. A lot of times it depends on purely individual perception when one calls some thing new as either cool or classifies it as ‘not so cool’. This car surely is one of the best when it comes to stealing the show. The Ultima Sport with its very unique and almost separate aerodynamic wing at the back is really shaped to give the best possible result for a super fast car.

Ultima Sports Ltd. is a sports car manufacturer currently based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. Founded in 1992 by Ted Marlow, Ultima manufacture the components to construct cars derived, as road going versions, from the Noble Motorsport Ltd. originated Ultima racing cars, which were designed by Lee Noble who is more famous now for the models produced by Noble Automotive. All models in the Ultima range have always been primarily supplied in component form, which is Ultima produces the parts required for an owner/builder to construct the car offsite, and this is the only way to receive such a vehicle in the USA.


The car is obviously pretty popular with the racing folk in USA and across Europe as well. What really catches your attention is the special aerodynamics on it. Just enjoy the Ultima Sport as we continue to bring you some of the best cars from around the globe.

Via: seriouswheels

ERA - Electric RaceAbout Based on Audi R8

Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia in cooperation with Lahti Polytechnic Institute of Design in Finland, has drafted a carbon fiber, lithium-ion powered sports car with a few components which are based on the Audi R8 which is known as ERA.

The electric powered sports car, ERA – Electric RaceAbout, will compete in the Automotive X Prize where participants are required to build and race a commercially viable 100 mpg vehicle.

The ERA will be powered by a Li-Ion battery packet technology powering all 4 wheels and able to accelerate the car from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 5 seconds with the top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph).

With a single charge, the ERA is expected to be able to be driven for 300 km (186 miles) while the target weight of the car is set at 1,250 kg (2,755 lb).

The designers are also hoping that the ERA could be produce on a small scale just like the other 11 research vehicles that were already been produced.