Looking eerily like the Tesla Roadster that Daimler just bought into and almost performing to those same numbers, I introduce the Dodge Circuit EV. Part of Chrysler’s “building a new car company” process, I think I like it. Yes, I’m a gear head. Yes, I love the smell of high octane racing fuel, running rich through open pipes, but yes, believe it or not, I’ve got a little hippie in me. It’s that part of me that gets hot when I see someone throw a beer can out the window of their truck near the property where I ride gas guzzling ATV’s. I’ll let that one soak in for a minute.

Back to the car. I’m curious to see how much, if any, of it is sharing platform or components with the Tesla/Lotus. That might make for an interesting marriage between Chrysler, Fiat, and Lotus-via-Yank-volt-heads. Performance specs are better than most and you even see a 20hp (15kW) bump in horsepower. Acceleration is a second slower than the Tesla as well but then we look at market segments. Dodge, hopefully, isn’t going to try to market this one to the supercar crowd as diligently as Tesla motors. Range is approximately the same but the Top Gear crew found out that in hard driving situations, don’t count your 150-200 chickens. It’s closer to 60. Here are Chrysler’s stated performance specs.

Performance

• Power: 200 kW (268 hp)
• 0-60 mph: Less than 5 seconds
• ¼-mile Acceleration: Low-13 seconds
• Top speed: Greater than 120 mph
• All-electric range: 150-200 miles

There are goods and bads to any performance car. You buy the Lamborghini for the speed, the 500SL for its style, and the Atom to scare yourself. Either might not be the ideal replacement for the previous and this little hair dryer might not replace the Viper, but I’ll bet your fuel bill it will be a lot of bang for the carbon credit.

Daimler buys 10 percent stake in Tesla
San Francisco Business Times – by Steven E.F. Brown

German carmaker Daimler AG bought a 10 percent stake in electric car business Tesla Motors Inc.

San Carlos-based Tesla had already been working with the Stuttgart giant to improve battery technology. Daimler, which used to own troubled U.S. car company Chrysler, is making electric versions of its popular two-person smart car.

Daimler, which puts out the Mercedes-Benz brand, put Herbert Kohler on Tesla’s board of directors.

Tesla, started by Elon Musk, has been looking for money. Last year it abandoned plans to build a new head office and factory in San Jose. It’s been waiting for some $350 million in loans from the U.S. government to pay for a new factory, probably in Southern California.

Low gas prices combined with a recession mean Tesla is having to work hard to promote its vehicles. So far, it only sells a $109,000 sportscar, which has been pooh-poohed by some critics as just a showy, expensive toy well out of reach of the average driver. As of mid-April, it had delivered 330 of the sportscars.

Last month Tesla said it had taken 711 reservations, at $5,000 each, for its four door sedan model, due out in late 2011, though Musk said this boost from Daimler might speed that up. Although that adds up to some $3.5 million for the business, those $5,000 reservation fees are refundable.

By 2011, several competitors, including Nissan, Ford and Chevrolet, may have competing electric cars on the market.

Ford said May 6 it will spend $550 million to retool a factory in Michigan to start making electric versions of its Focus sedan in 2011, the same time Tesla’s new car hits the market.

Tesla’s sedans will cost about $57,500 each, although owners will be eligible for a $7,500 tax credit, cutting the cost to about $50,000.

Using a $4.25-per-gallon guess at future gas prices, Tesla’s math says the sedan “is equivalent to a gas guzzler with a sticker price of about $35,000.”

Daimler is testing 100 of its electric smart cars in London right now. Its factory in Hambach, France, will start making up to 1,000 of the electric smart cars later this year.

A battery-powered Mercedes is due out next year.

Daimler has a stake in Li-Tec, a German battery business, and it plans to make all its own vehicle batteries by 2012.

Another Tesla rival, Irvine’s Fisker Automotive Inc., started selling its hybrid Karma model in San Jose this week. The four-seat Karma, which costs about $88,000, gets around 100 mpg using batteries and two electric motors.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said his city is “working regionally to make the Bay Area the electric vehicle capital of the world.”

Caddy is finally chopping the CTS down to a more fitting size. While, yes, the saloon has been a great car and the v8 CTS-V is well beyond a performance sedan, I’ve been waiting for a coupe for a while. Look at their competition to date:

BMW – well known for their performance sedans like the 330i and the M-5, they’ve also always offered a sportier 2 door in one size or another like the M-3 and the infamous 6 series.

Mercedes – like the bimer, they’ve always complemented their line of full sized sedans with those crowd-pleasing coupes. Remember the old gull-wing SL’s? Alright how about the newer SEC’s and CL’s… most of which were also offered in convertible versions like BWM.

Where do we go from here? How about a drop-top CTS coupe v8. We’ll call it the CTS-CI. Ahh, one can dream I suppose.

• AC bumpers and nerf bars
• Works shocks all around
• Steering stabilizer
• 8” rear wheels with wholeshots and beadlocks
• Wide track front A-Arms, wheel spacers, comp tires
• Renthal racing handlebar
• Bored/stroked engine (440cc)
• HMF exhaust
• K&N Air filter with wrap
• New brakes all around (thank goodness)
• And more stuff I’m just finding.

Basically this means the thing will pop a wheelie in 2nd gear from a dead stand-still. I haven’t gotten to take it out to the woods yet but count on that happening soon. Now I’ve just got to sit on my hands for the next few weekends while I’m out of town… rrrgghhh…

In looking through the pictures I’m seeing some nice little effects like the stabilizer-fin-meets-spoiler on the rear, coil-overs all around, oversized wheels, and sweet tires that look pretty sticky. Now I’ve got to figure out how to steal this thing.

My concern is that they’re tipping the scales a little.  Yes, it’s insane but to date, the lotus has been a street legal go-cart with enough power to scare you into church without putting you in the trees.  Now those crazy Brits might have gone and done it… an over-powered go-kart with a taste for blood.  But who’s got time for concerns at 200 mph?  Sign me up.

More info here. http://www.pistonheads.com/lotus/default.asp?storyId=19286