A friend of EasyAutoSales, Lance Weatherby, recently wrote an article on his blog about the Wheego Whip plug-in electric vehicle. EasyAutoSales would love to share his insights with you! Check out what Lance thinks below…
This past weekend while the North American International Auto Show kicked off in Detroit I had my own little personal auto show. I spend the weekend tooling around in a prototype of the Wheego Whip by RTEV. It was a fun experience. When I brought it home both of my kids exclained “cool.” And boy did it generate a lot of attention and spark several a conversation over the course of 72 hours.
Nearly everyone that looks at the Whip says “Is that a Smart Fortwo?” The answer is no. The car’s platform and body is manufactured by Shuanghuan Automobile in China and then shipped to the US for final assembly at the RTEV manufacturing facility in South Carolina. While the production car will eventually be capable of speeds of up to 60 mph, it will be launched as a Low Speed Vechicle (LSV). LSVs are generally capable of speed up to 35 mph and allowed to travel on streets with that same speed limit. The prototype I tested was an LSV.
The Whip is a “plug-in” all electric vehicle. To charge it you literally plug the car into a normal 110 or 220 volt electrical outlet. A single charge was getting me about 20 miles in the prototype. The production vehicle is expected to get 60 on a single.
In place of the fuel input there is a male electrical receptacle. It is so easy to charge that a fifth grader is capable of doing it.
The dash on the Wheego is straightforward.
Almost as straightforward as putting the car in forward or reverse.
Before the weekend was over we were using the Wheego as our main vehicle to run errands or ferry the kids to sports practices and sleepovers. It’s fun to drive in a way that is a lot different from my power laden and gas loving 540. I was mostly just hanging out in the right lane of four way streets while cars buzzed around me (in Atlanta a posted 35 mph means go 50). But what I began to notice was that I was pulling right up to these cars at the next traffic light, pretty much making my way at the same pace. And I spent not a penny in gas.
The Wheego Whip is expected to be available in May of 2009 at a price in the $20k range.
A lot of people have been using the above graphic to show the current state of gas taxes and the fact that states are contemplating a tax hike in order to increase governmental revenues in the current economic environment. Though it’s been shown time and time again that people will use less of what they are taxed upon (and in turn, revenues will actually go down, not up), local, state and federal agencies continue to tax the average citizen instead of optimizing their budgets like any private organization. Looking at the above should be a reminder as to whom makes the most amount of money from gasoline. It’s not Exxon or Shell. It’s the state and federal government. Whereas the profit margin (on average) sits between 3-5%, the government makes almost 22% (in the lowest case) of the price of a gallon of gas (and mind you, they have done nothing like exploration, refining or transport to take that oil from the ground and turned it into something that will power your car).
I hope you will all remember this next time Congress starts to complain about windfall profit taxes and the greed of oil executives.
Lock up your GMs! Seem as if criminals have it out for you this year. Between Cadillacs and Hummers, GM hold 4 of the top 8 spots on this list. In fact, if you have any large American car, you might want to think about building a small shed to house it.
Car: Claims Per 1,000/Average Loss Payment Per Claim
For the same reason American car makers love to sell large SUVs and truck, thieves are seeking these behemoths out. They are large, cheap ways to get a nice car that will allow you to put expensive stereos, large rims and other accessories on that are easy to steal and resell without too much worry. Dropping 24s on your Hummer may say, “You’re ballin’” to your friends, but it says, “Come steal me” to every car criminal out there.
On the other hand, should be you be looking for the most inconspicuous (boring) cars on the road to protect your insurance premiums and pimped car stereos, you might want to check out the list below. To be honest, not all of them are boring or lame. Some of them just have excellent security systems and car-jackers know that it’s not worth the time to steal the car or there will be no way to re-sell the expensive parts off the car. As you can see, most of the cars are people carriers though with a preponderance of SUVs. The interesting thing is that whereas some of the cars are rather popular (Ford Focus, VW Beetle, Toyota Prius) some of the cars are the most obscure models available (Buick Terraza, Saturn Relay).
On more than a few occasions, numerous people recently have accused Detroit of building cars Americans don’t want. People are blaming Detroit’s choice in car production for their desperate position.
Bullocks!
There are many reasons the Detroit Big-Three are failing. However, they have build exactly what Americans WANT. Note the word choice. WANT. Americans have a love affair with large trucks and fast cars. Cars like the Ford F-150, the Ford Mustang, Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Corvette are the American cars people WANT. They are stylish, reliable, fast and are enjoyable cars to be in. In the past 15 years the American car companies have realized they need to compete on a reliability level with Japanese automakers becuase that’s what American’s started to value in a way they never had before. However, as gas prices started to rise and the economy started to take a nose-dive, Ford, Chevy and Dodge started to build cars like the Chevy Cobalt and Ford Fusion hybrid get over 30MPH and are as reliable as their Japanese counterparts. Even their styling is starting to come along. So, why is GM, Ford and Chrysler are in such dire straits?
The simple answer is labor unions and the huge liability of unions and their pensioning system. Almost $1500 from every car goes to pay for liabilities for employees that no longer produce cars. The complex answer has to do with generally poor judgement about labor contracts and leveraging credit beyond what was reasonable for an auto manufacturer. Poor mangement decisions from a group of people who thought the car business could continue this unlimited growth have put the companies in a bad position. So, what do you think? Do American car companies make cars people want? Am I totally wrong?
The Porsche Panamera seems to be popping up more and more these days. Recent images and videos from San Francisco have shown a completely unmasked pre-production Porsche Panamera in its full glory. Whereas many have questioned Porsches forray into the world of sedans, they have already done more to sully their name with the Cayenne than a sports sedan will ever do. With that said, what’s the full story on Porsche’s soon to be super-saloon? Let’s start with Porsche’s take on the machine itself:
No imitation. No fluff. Not looking to be trendy. No compromises. Porsche has always positioned themselves as the true “Ultimate Driving Machine,” no matter what BMW may tell you. So with their new slogan for the Panamera, “Four, Uncompromised,” Porsche now will take their fight to the super saloons of the world. Porsches are about as perfect a drivers car you can get on the street without the compromise of street legal track cars like the Zonda or Enzo. The Porsche 911 is a crisp drive with all the feedback one would expect, the quality one could want and relaibility one would desire from a finely crafted German automobile. Now, the Panamera comes along and offers all the 911 does and lets you take two more people along with you and your luggage.
Looking at the Pamera, you should have no problem with its long cabin and full rear hatch. The Panamera reminds me of CItroen C6, a car that only Europeans know about. However, it is a car known for for its ultimate style and supurb ride quality. Though it’s a bit quirky compared to most American sedans, I belive the people who would buy a Porsche will have no problem with it’s unique styling. Here at EasyAutoSales, as long as the drive is as inspiring as we expect, the Porsche Panamera is for us!
Though nothing has been officially been released about engines, based specifications should come with a V6 (standard and with hybrid capability), Porsche’s 4.8L V8 out of the Cayenne and either the twin-turbo V8 in the Cayenne or a V10 sourced and modified from the Carerra GT. It’s hard to imagine how inspiring the V6 will be, but anyone who has driven an underpowered car while autocrossing or around a race track knows the joy of truely flogging an engine that won’t forgive you if you can’t carry your speed properly. Plans for diesel version have also been mentioned, though as with the rest of the engines, nothing is set in stone.
Where as Porsche should sell a lot of these car to over excited parents looking to take their kids to school, no one can plan if this will be the next BMW M5 or Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG. Worst case scenerio is that this car will turn into a VW Pheaton, one of the most well built cars ever to come stateside (based off the Bentley chassis noless), but a car that people just won’t understand. If that does happen, deep discounts should direct these cars into the hands of true enthusiasts. However, as the Cayenne has shown us, even a seemingly questionable production model from a company likst Porsche will be gold. Either way, I look forward to my first drive of the Porsche Panamera, even if it’s not with ‘4′ other people.
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Looking at the Pamera, you should have no problem with its long cabin and full rear hatch. The Panamera reminds me of CItroen C6, a car that only Europeans know about. However, it is a car known for for its ultimate style and supurb ride quality. Though it’s a bit quirky compared to most American sedans, I belive the people who would buy a Porsche will have no problem with it’s unique styling. Here at EasyAutoSales, as long as the drive is as inspiring as we expect, the Porsche Panamera is for us!
