Tag Archives: electric vehicle

Voltz Electric Bikes at The Gadget Show

April 17, 2014electric car, energy saving, Gadget Show, Green Technology, Interviewbicycle, electric, electric vehicle, Gadget Show, Interview, scooter, transportation, vehicle, VoltzPalmer

Personal electric vehicles were very much in evidence at The Gadget Show with bicycles, scooters and skateboards all on show from different vendors. Voltz Bikes covered two of these categories; bicycles and scooters.

First up is the Voltz eTrail, an electric mountain bike which was recently road-tested on The Gadget Show itself. With a range of up to 50 miles, the 1.9 kW motor can give some serious “oompf”, technically speaking. Looking over the bike, the attention to detail and component quality is impressive, which is not entirely unsurprising given that it costs around GBP £8,500, which is not cheap.

Next is the brand new eScoot is a electric scooter with a range of 30 miles and a top speed of 20 mph. A range of accessories will be available including the neat trailer shown in the photo below. Also not cheap at £2000 but I could see myself buying one of these or similar – my job requires me to travel between sites that are usually no more than a few miles apart and a vehicle like this would be ideal for those journeys. No worries about parking either! Both the eTrail and eScoot are made in Britain which is great to see in these economic times.

Dan, who helps make “awesome fun products”, reviews Voltz range with me at The Gadget Show.

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Ford Focus Electric

February 23, 2012automotive, ces, electric car, Ford, Information, Special Mediaces, electric vehicle, focus, FordKL Tech Muse

Ford showed off the Focus Electric Vehicle at CES 2012. Instead of starting from scratch, they took a vehicle that was both familiar and popular with the consumer and the critics and turned it into an electric vehicle. Unlike many of their competitors electric cars which can take up to 8 hours to do a full charge on a 240 volt system. The Ford Focus Electric Vehicle can do a full charge in three to four hours. The addition of MyFord Mobile allows you to control when your car is charging from your computer. So you can charge your car during off-peak hours and stop and start it when you want too. Another third-party that Ford has partner with was MapQuest. So now you can map your trip on your computer or tablet and send it to your car so it there when you are ready to leave.

It can get from 75 to 100 miles per charge and reach up to 100 mph. Ford has placed two battery packs in the car one behind the rear seat and the other under the floor panel in the rear. This allows for maximum capacity while not taking up room where the consumer may want it, such as the trunk. The batteries are encased in steel and protected by the car itself. Ford did a lot of testing to make sure they were safe in case of a crash. This vehicle is made mostly in the U.S. The Michigan plant that is building the powertrain for the Ford Focus Electric Vehicle also builds the powertrain for other vehicles. Ford continues to invest in technology of the future.

Interview by Jeffrey Powers of Geekazine

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Trikke A Fun (Electric) Ride

January 27, 2012Gear, Information, Special Mediaelectric vehicle, recreation, trikkeKL Tech Muse

If you live in the city or suburbs and are looking for a vehicle that you could ride to work and have fun doing it, then you may want to take a look at the Trikke. As the word indicates the Trikke is a three-wheeled electric vehicle. Because it has three wheels it is very stable and easy to ride. You simply turn the throttle and go. You can lean into the curves and the wheels never leave the ground. It folds up so you can easily fit it in the back of a car or carry it into the office. A Trikke weights between 35 and 48 pounds (with battery) depending on the model, so you are probably not going to want to carry it far. You can plug it into any outlet to recharge it. A battery takes about three hours to fully recharge. On a fully charged battery a Trikke will go from 10 to 24 miles depending on model and weight of the rider. You can reach speeds up to 17 miles per hour.

Trikkes are available in different colors and models and the prices range from $1300 to $2200 depending on the model. If you are a skier a Trikke would be a great way to keep in shape for the skiing season. You use the same muscle and movements on a Trikke that you do for skiing and it is low impact. Easier to ride than a bike and a lot better on the bottom.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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