Ford C-Max Solar Energi Concept can go off the grid

Ford has unveiled a new concept car based on the C-Max plug-in hybrid vehicle. The concept car is called the Ford C-Max Solar Energi Concept. Ford says that the car was built to deliver the best aspects of a plug-in hybrid with the ability to go off the electric grid and still operate optimally.

The concept car has a large solar panel array on the roof that is designed to get power from a solar concentrator lens. That solar concentrator lens is similar to a magnifying glass according to Ford. The concentrator lens is able to deliver intense solar rays to the solar panels on the roof of the car.

Ford claims that the result of the solar concentrator and roof solar panels is that the concept car is able to deliver the same performance as the normal plug-in C-Max without having to be plugged into an electric outlet. The normal C-Max provides 108 MPGe in the city and 92 MPGe on the highway.


Ford will have the C-Max Solar Energi concept on display at the CES 2014 show kicking off next week. Ford says that the tech the concept uses would allow 75% of all trips made by the average driver to be powered by solar energy. Ford has been in trouble with owners of the C-Max and offered small refunds for fuel efficiency that was less than promised in the real world.








SOURCE: Ford

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Trending iPad Air Sony PS4 Nexus 5 Moto G Microsoft Surface Hubs Apple Android Cars Phones iPhone “Air” concept is thin as two credit cards, light as a feather

A new iPhone concept has surfaced from Italian ad agency SET Solution, and they’re calling it the iPhone Air. We would love to see Apple produce something like this, assuming it’s even possible. It’s as thin as a couple of stacked credit cards, the display reaches all the way to the edges with nary a bevel in sight, and TouchID is integrated despite the size limitations. An agency can dream, can’t it?

The iPhone Air concept is 1.5mm thin at the top edge of the phone, tapering down to double that at 3mm at the bottom edge. It’s 13cm tall from top edge to bottom edge, and 6cm wide. It weighs a feather-light 70 grams. SET has poured a lot of effort into producing concept videos for the fictional iPhone Air, replete with dramatic piano and cinematic music.

The agency has been producing these concept videos on an ongoing basis. Apparently it is gunning for some big contracts with the gambit. One of the videos drives home the lightweight concept by showing it on a scale — balanced with an actual feather. The usual exterior features are all shown in high relief. The camera lens, speaker, volume buttons and port can all be seen. Plenty of profile views show the sliver-thin phone, giving us gadget tingles all over.

It’s the thinnest — and perhaps most optimistic — iPhone 6 concept we’ve seen to date. One concept we saw in March also emphasized borderlessness. The real iPhone 6 has been in development since the beginning of 2013.




SOURCE: Nowhere Else (French)
SOURCE: Slashgear

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'Audi' crossover concept unveil coming next month

Next month one of the first major auto shows of the year will kick off in Detroit. Audi has announced that it has a new concept car set to debut at that auto show. The concept car might be the prototype version of the rumored Audi Q1 crossover, but that is unconfirmed.

The concept is being teased in a rendering that shows a very sleek concept car. The car does wear e-tron badges on the side suggesting that it is a hybrid. The concept will be a 3-door and is tipped to be 4.2 meters long. That makes it about the same size as the Audi A3.

Renderings also show the Audi quattro name on the front of the car suggesting all-wheel drive will be available as well. No firm details on the concept have been tipped by Audi. The only feature we know for sure is that it will use 19-inch wheels.

Audi has recently said that the Q1 is in development leading to speculation that the concept car might hint at what the Q1 will look like. The Q1 is expected to go on sale in 2016. All the details will be offered in Detroit next month.




SOURCE: slashgear
SOURCE: Telegraph

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