JustBritish

While other models were sleek and streamlined, the Morgan looked and sounded like sports cars were supposed to. But its throaty roar could be a thing of the past, at least on one model, with the 101-year-old company developing an electric low-carbon version of the iconic vehicle.

The electric car will be made of aluminium and be powered buy a plug-in battery. Morgan is co-operating with two other British companies, Zytek and Radshape, to produce a concept car which could be seen for the first time at the Geneva motor show next year.

In fact two cars are being produced. One will be held back for further engineering research, while the other will be on public view as Morgan decides whether to develop a version which could be put on sale.

The project is being backed by a £100,000 grant from the Government which sees electric cars as part of the solution to climate change. With the project still in its infancy, the range of the car and its top speed has still be decided. It will, according to a spokesman for the project, be quick.

MUNICH — BMW plans to export nearly 500 electric versions of its Mini car to California, company sources said.

The electric Minis are being built at the Mini factory in Oxford, England, without engines, gearboxes or fuel tanks, then shipped to Munich, Germany, where they are being fitted with electric powertrains.

BMW sources told Automotive News Europe that 490 of the Minis will be leased to selected customers in California and 10 will be used as show cars.

The electric Minis are painted silver and have yellow roofs, the sources said.

BMW engineers working on the electric Minis are part of a new division called Project i established by the automaker to develop low-emission city cars.

The electric Minis will help BMW to meet new California regulations that will require carmakers selling cars in the state to offer zero emission vehicles.

Mini spokesman Cypselus von Frankenberg did not confirm that BMW is building electric Minis.

“BMW will announce whether it will build electric vehicles or not later this year,” he told ANE.

Other carmakers are developing electric cars.

Volkswagen, Daimler, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and Renault have all announced electric-vehicle programs in recent months, joining several U.S. and Japanese automakers that are working on the technology.

While I am as green as the next person, or maybe even more so, this just seems wrong on so many levels. The British cabinet is debating replacing their Jaguars with the hybrid Prius. As the Financial Times reports, “Gordon Brown’s cabinet clashed yesterday over whether to replace British-built ministerial cars with Japanese Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles, amid new evidence that the government is failing to live up to its green rhetoric. John Hutton, the business secretary, led the criticism of the plan to import more cars from Japan rather than use traditional British vehicles, saying it sent out a bad signal to domestic manufacturers.”

Sad, very sad.

You can read the full article at the Financial Times site.

In June 2007, The Lightning Car Company announced its intent to develop electric technology for a luxury British sports car – the Lightning GT. Today sees the unveiling of its evolutionary design. This super car with its outstanding presence & performance is set to put British sports car innovation well and truly back on the map. Designed to accommodate the latest battery and motor technology and reflect its 100% electric power and performance, the electric Lightning prototype is being hand-built by a small team of passionate British engineers, designers and collaborators.

Whilst the rest of the automotive world engages in the hybrid, hydrogen or electric debate, the Lightning Car Company firmly believes its 100% Electric Lightning GT will help kick start the market for performance EV’s. Without a significant positive shift in perception, electric motoring will remain a huge compromise in the eyes of driving enthusiasts and therefore fail to impress the masses. Our vision is shared by the world’s biggest car maker, General Motors, who believes the global oil supply has peaked and a switch to electric cars is inevitable.
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Bentley is pinning its green future on more efficient gasoline engines powered by biofuel combined with lighter-weight body construction, rather than a radical switch to diesel or hybrid powertrains.

“We don’t think our customers, particularly in North America and Europe, are ready for a diesel Bentley, said Uli Eichhorn, Bentley chief engineer, on Tuesday at the Geneva motor show.

Although Bentley Chairman Franz-Josef Paefgen refuses to rule out a diesel powertrain, Eichhorn said: “Not ruling it out does not mean it is our top priority.”

Hybrid powertrains don’t fit the typical usage cycle of a Bentley, according to Eichhorn. “(Hybrids) are very good in cities and stop-start driving, but that’s not where out cars are used.”
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We have covered it before, but I just can’t get enough of this “Green” Morgan. But there is another article on Morgan’s unveiling of the world’s first pollution-free sports car at the Geneva Motor Show. This car is simply gorgeous.

For the full article, see The Daily Mail.

What do you think of the styling? Would you buy one? How does it fit in with the other Morgans?