GreenRoad Technologies announced it has received $3 million in series C funding from Amadeus Capital Partners, Virgin Green Fund, Benchmark Capital, and Balderton Capital on Monday.

The company’s main product, the GreenRoad Safety Center, might be called a digital backseat driver. It features on-board sensors tracking some 120 moves …

The lack of a domestic oil-shale industry makes it purely a speculative endeavor to project the development of the technology necessary to extract oil-shale, the future demand for oil-shale leases, and the costs of developing those resources.

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Google.org is investing $2.75 million into electric-vehicle maker Aptera and battery start-up ActaCell. The announcement, which follows Google’s request for proposals from companies with electric car technologies, came Tuesday during the Plug-In 2008 …

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, GM, USA

The Wall Street Journal has published a very interesting article that states that GM is teaming with a dozen electric utilities operating in 40 states to prepare the arrival of its plug-in model (the Volt, if you didn't remember the name). From the business point of view, the article states that both the utilities and the auto industry have a lot to win. The plug-in hybrid car is seen as a "hot product" that can revive car sales, as well as reduce our dependence on oil. GM needs utilities which can keep the grid reliable for recharges, the same way it needed a reliable battery manufacturer for the cars to work correctly.

Why a safe grid? Think of what happens in a hot summer afternoon with all A/C working and energy at its peak tier prices and plants at maximum production. Intelligent chips and software tuning would identify the car as plugged to the electric grid and then use spare electricity to recharge. According to some studies, spare power plant capacity at night could feed millions of cars.


[Source: WSJ]

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The California Clean Tech Open, dubbed the “start-up in a box” contest, named 44 finalists Tuesday. It awards $100,000 in cash, office space, and professional services to each of the six winners. Categories are air, water, and waste; energy efficiency; green building; renewables; smart power; and transportation.

The Google-sponsored …

Filed under: Lightweight, European Union

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Spanish company IFR Automotive has unveiled the Aspid at the British Motor Show. The Aspid is a new ultra-lightweight sports car. The Aspid (Spanish for viper, ahem) features a 2-liter I4 engine in two versions able to produce 270 and 400hp, the latter thanks to supercharging. This powerful engine, mated to a 700 kg (1,543 pounds) weight provides spectacular performance. The 270hp version runs from 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) in 3.7 seconds, and 2.8 for the most powerful version. IFR also announced the estimated consumption figures, that would be vaild only if owners keep the Aspid at speeds roughly around the EU mixed cycle. In that case drivers might manage 4.8 and 5.5 l/100 km, which translates into 49 and 43mpg (US) respectively.

According to the manufacturer, the Aspid is not a simple toy to take for a drive out for track days, but it's a capable road vehicle, something hard to tell from its design. It's almost completely made from aluminum and carbon fiber. It also sports plenty of gadgetry: GPS, GPRS, a complete HiFi system, USB, Bluetooth, Wi-fi, and Ethernet connection, because the Aspid gathers data you can download regarding the car's performance. And all this gadgetry, as well as most of the electric systems have been simplified to a maximum level to reduce weight. Impressed? They're taking orders already.


[Source: IFR via Autoblog en Español]

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TED–short for The Energy Detective–is the smallest, cheapest phantom power solution we’ve seen so far. Is it the answer to greening your home?

TED, which starts at 130 dollars, is the home-based equivalent of the plug-in MPG gauges that are becoming increasingly popular in light of the rise in oil prices. The concept is simple, and one that dieters of all stripes will recognize: by putting the data in front of your eyes, you become aware of your level of consumption, and will be more motivated to lower it. If it can work with Diet Coke and gasoline, it’s got to work with electricity, right?

Features We Love

TED offers a multitude of features through a four-button scroll menu, which we imagine can’t be as simple as it seems.  If you manage to learn that, though, it’s got a 2-second reaction time to any change in power consumption in your home, allowing you instant access to your current/projected electric bill (you can program in your rates, even if they’re tiered), the power drain, the average consumption per billing cycle or per day, the peak consumption over those same time periods, and an alarm that sounds when you cross a certain power threshold–a great way to stick to a budget, be it for your sake or the planet’s.

How’s It Work?

This part is a little tricky–we’ll advise you to hire an electrician, who will more than likely cost more than the device itself, but only because we’re not entirely comfortable with the idea of poking around a breaker box with wire strippers and a screwdriver.  TED features a wireless transmitter that attaches itself to the breaker box innards, and broadcasts the relevant data to the receiver and it’s low-power LCD screen, which is plugged in anywhere in your home.

DOES it work?

According to the manufacturer’s claims, owning (and paying attention to) a TED will lower your energy bills by 10-20 percent, which means that the average American home would pay for the device in the first year of operation.  It’s a new product, so real-world efficiencies are yet to be seen, but the green press seems fairly consistent in their praise, if for not other reason than to raise awareness of power consumption.

More Reading:

TED Website
Save Money, Reduce Carbon Emissions (Treehugger)

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Fiat, UK

If you love the Fiat 500 as much as we do, live in the UK and wished you could buy an electric version of this nuovo-retro then you are in luck! The NICE Car Company have announced they will launch the Micro Vette Fiat e500 at the British International Motor Show (BIMS). Micro Vette has a close relationship with Fiat and because their work leaves the vehicle structurally undisturbed, not only is the e500 covered by the full Fiat warranty, but you can also order from the full range of Fiat options.

Powered by lithium-ion polymer batteries, the e500 has a range of 70 miles and will do 60 mph. While maybe not ideal for those with a super long commute, it seems to possess just enough performance to fill its role as an electric city car. It's definitely preferable to driving a G-Wiz (sorry Wizzers). If you're interested in it, let them know at BIMS since they are saying this produced-to-order sweetie is available for a limited time.


[Source: NICE Car Company]

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Filed under: Etc., Green Daily, USA

Photo: splorp - Licensed under CC 2.0

Higher gas prices equal fewer miles driven. Fewer miles driven equals fewer traffic fatalities. At least, that's the assumption, 'cause it's really impossible to know for sure what is driving the current death rate decline on American roadways. Still, that above equation sure makes sense, so we're gonna go ahead and conclude for ourselves that it's true. Add that to the fact that many drivers who can't get off the roads have slowed down to counter the high fuel surcharges which accompany a lead foot, and total motor vehicle fatalities are down 9-percent this year.

There have only been two other times in American history where traffic death statistics dropped so drastically in such short order, one of which was when the country endured its last gas price spike during 1973 and 1974. Coincidence? Hardly. One more good effect from higher gas prices is that fewer drunk drivers are on the roads, as more drinkers choose to consume their alcohol at home instead of driving to the bar. See? High gas prices do have their advantages. Thanks for the tip, Alex!

[Source: AP via AT&T]

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Filed under: Shopping Guide, GreenTech

The ATP Earthdrive isn't made entirely of corn (a notoriously poor conductor of electricity, which is the reason I always head straight for a cornfield during thunderstorms) but partly of that particular commodity, as well as other elements more greenish than your average USB drive.

Apart from its probable deliciousness, the Earthdrive sources green cred from the fact that the manufacturer donates a portion of each unit sold to an organization that plants trees. The packaging is also made of recyled materials.

Practically speaking, the Earthdrive come in storage sizes ranging from 1GB to 8 GB, and will run you from $29 to $99. That's a little more costly than lesser, planet-wrecking USB keys, but Gaia will smile whenever you transfer data.

If you want to buy, click on the picture at right.

via [Inventorspot]

 

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