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New Car: Dacia Hamster

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Hamster is the new Dacia Renault model, first Romanian electric car. The design line continues the Nissan Sandero Stepway model and Dacia Duster. The new car is 4x4 and have an engine EcoMatic Hybrid system. Dacia Hamster is a Hybrid diesel-electric, plug-in type, the new concept is combustion engine which is placed under the front hood and the rear electric system that moves the rear wheels, which means that the Dacia Hamster wheel drive type is a E-4WD(Electricway-4WD). Note that this propulsion system is the creation of the Dacia HamsterAlternative Propulsion Systems Laboratory and RegenerativeEnergy from the Technical University of Pitesti.The Dacia Hamster project represents the study on electricity supply from solar cells placed on the roof. Dacia Hamster is also equipped the machine with a Start/Stop engine.

New Car: Lotus Elise

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Car Enthusiast - Lotus heats up its bread and butter sports car to make it a rare bit of kit. Via Yah oo! rss_cars : Car News | Motoring News - Yahoo! Cars UK

USA: Trucks outsell cars first time in a year

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It surprised no one that September's United States light vehicle sales were better than 2009's post-rebate swoon. According to Ward's, volume was up 28.5% and year-to-date (YTD) sales are now 10.3% ahead of 2009. Via Daily automotive news and comment - from just-auto.com

German OEMs pick one electrical charging connector to rule them all

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Audi , BMW , Mercedes Benz , MINI , Porsche , SMART , Volkswagen , Legislation and Policy , Europe/EU , Daimler One massive sticking point with electric cars is the lack of standards when it comes to plugging in the vehicle. In the 90s, the General Motors EV1 didn't use the same kind of plug as the Toyota RAV4 EV , and that meant electric vehicle charging stations had to keep multiple adapters on hand if they wanted to service to multiple machinery. If there's any hope that EVs will take off in popularity over the next few decades, some standardization is in order. To that end, German manufacturers Audi , BMW , Daimler ( Mercedes-Benz and Smart ), Porsche and Volkswagen have banded together banded together in support of a modular connector system for electric vehicle charging. The consortium's connector system has been submitted for standardization under the designation IEC 62196-2 Type 2 for single- and three-phase charging with alternating c

Overweight and overfueled - fat America uses more gas

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According to the study, an estimated one billion gallons of extra fuel were used up to compensate for the added weight of drivers and passengers from 1960 to 2002. If you look at it another way, 0.7 percent of all the fuel burned in vehicles from 1960 to 2002 was due to passengers who have packed on a few extra pounds. Or, how about this one: 39 million gallons of fuel are burned for each pound gained by the average American. While these numbers will probably make an eco-conscious driver think twice next time they're in line at a fast food joint, it seems unlikely that the majority Americans will slim down for the simple sake of saving fuel. Via Autoblog Green

UK: Carlyle Group hires Rothschild for Britax sale

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Car seat manufacturer Britax owners The Carlyle Group has hired Rothschild to advise it on a potential sale. Via Daily automotive news and comment - from just-auto.com