Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota

Toyota may have lead the way to mass-market hybrid vehicles with its Prius, but that institutional knowledge is apparently not helping it on the Formula One circuit. While Toyota reportedly spends more money on its F1 program than any other team (and perhaps several small countries) it has yet to win a race after 6 years of trying and now they seem to be behind in developing a hybrid system for the racers. Starting in 2009, F1 teams will be able to use a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) to provide regenerative braking and an on demand performance boost. Toyota F1 boss John Howett has told AutoSport magazine in Britain that his team are unlikely to be ready to run its KERS system from the beginning of the 2009 season. Toyota are not the only team having issues with the development, Red Bull and BMW have both had testing incidents with KERS. F1 teams will have to learn to deal with high voltage batteries and also ensure that they can actually gain performance even with the added weight and complexity.

[Source: AutoSport]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Given all the news coverage about the rise of the Chinese economy, you could be forgiven for thinking that the world’s most populous country is hogging all the world’s resources, while the developed nations are fighting for scraps.

original news source

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Aptera, USA

Click above for more images of the Aptera Typ1 e

Way back in September of 2006, Google.org, the philanthropic part of the Internet giant, announced that it would be investing in PHEVs. The following year, Google followed that bit of news up by launching its RechargeIT initiative which would begin investing in some for-profit manufacturers in an effort to see these fuel-saving products make it to market as quickly as possible. The first two investments from RechargeIT have now officially been announced, and at least one of the companies benefiting from the $2.75 million investment should be well known to our readers: Aptera.

We've been covering the futuristic new vehicle since it was first introduced, and its exciting to see the project mature to the point where people, in California at least, are anxiously awaiting the first electric Apteras to be delivered. This financing should only help matters as the company works to get its electric and hybrid vehicles to customers as quickly as possible.

The other company receiving some funding is known as ActaCell and is based in Austin, Texas. Based at the University of Texas, Actacel is hard at work refining its lithium ion battery technology with the goal of producing low cost, high output cells while retaining a high degree of safety. A tall order for sure, though one that could be made easier with its newfound cash outlay. We've pasted ActaCell's press release after the break. Thanks for the tip, Karen!


[Source: Google.org via Cleantech]

Continue reading Google invests $2.75 million in Aptera, ActaCell

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Hell’s Half Fire, the fire that forced a mandatory evacuation on my home, has burned 15,146 acres, according to Inciweb. At least 1/3 of that acreage is from burn out operations. It is hard to see my neighborhood intentionally lit by hand crews and aerial ignition, and one can’t help but wonder if the fire would have spread as far as the burn out operations naturally. So why burn out?

original news source

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

We've been saying recently how well electric cars seem to fit into island life and now we can bring you a very Smart example of that. One of our faithful readers was recently on the Channel island of Guernsey and had the opportunity to go for a test ride in a locally converted Smart along with his video camera and invites us all to view the result. First though, we offer a bit of background.

Mark Parr and his brother started The Electric Vehicle Company in an old shellfish factory on the West coast of the 24 square mile island and for the past few years have been perfecting their version of the electric Smart car. They've tried different battery technologies but now that they have incorporated lithium ion into the design, they seem satisfied with the result and are now offering them for sale. In fact, they've already sold three of the six they are currently working on. The Guernsey Smart EV is capable of 60 mph and has a range of up to 65 miles. It has regenerative braking and is a perfect fit for the islands narrow roads. According to the BBC, the price is £15,000 ($29,840). Go for a ride around the beautiful island after the jump. Thanks Andrew for the tip!

[Source: BBC / Guernsey Climate Action Network / The Guernsey Press]

Continue reading VIDEO: Guernsey Smart EV gets tested

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

It took Barack Obama a mere nine minutes into his first speech in Europe to tackle the issue of climate change — and end eight years of frustration about U.S. foot-dragging on global warming by the world’s number one emitter of greenhouse gases.

The U.S. presidential candidate got right to the point in Berlin when he said climate change is a threat to the future of the world. He said it was vital for nations to work together with a spirit of unity similar to the one that brought down the Berlin Wall 19 years ago.

It was all music to the ears of the 200,000 spectators in Berlin after hearing the years of doubts about global warming and then resistance to any meaningful agreement on cutting emissions from George W. Bush and his administration — and the cheers for his lines about fighting climate change in a country where angst about that topic runs high were among the loudest on the warm summer evening.

“The fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope,” Obama said. “But that very closeness has given rise to new dangers — dangers that cannot be contained within the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.”

Obama, who has in the past gone out of his way to praise Germany’s pioneering laws that promote renewable energies, put global warming up there alongside stability in Afghanistan and nuclear proliferation as the “new peril” facing the world. His strong language won the hearts of the crowd in Berlin:

“As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya. This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands.”

Obama also praised Germany for its leadership on reducing carbon dixoide emissions, down nearly 20 percent since 1990. (The United States’ CO2 emissions have gone up 14 percent since 1990).

“Let us resolve that all nations — including my own — will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere,” said Obama, who wants to cut U.S. CO2 back to 1990 levels by 2020. “This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.”

But if he’s elected in November, will Obama really be able to stand up against the powerful U.S. interests opposed to any deep emission cuts? Will he really be able to help the United States get off its “addiction” to oil? How will Americans react when the price of gas rises to $8 per gallon (like Europeans pay) when they already get so worked up over the $4 gallon?

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Nissan

Carlos Ghosn has some harsh-sounding words for alternative vehicles which still use some form of oil for their operation -- think current hybrids and future extended-range electric vehicles. "I want a pure electric car. I don't want a range extender. I don't want another hybrid. It's not going to be zero emissions in certain conditions. It's going to be zero emissions." Sounds like Ghosn is taking a little shot at today's hybrids like the Toyota Prius and even Nissan's own Altima, which uses technology licensed from Toyota. Also under fire from the Nissan chief would be the next generation of green cars like the Chevy Volt. Intriguingly, Ghosn also claims that Nissan's electric vehicles will be profitable right from the get go, unlike many other impending alternatives... again, the Volt.

Another interesting tidbit revealed by Nissan's head honcho is the fact that the EV's his company sells in America will have the ability to travel 100 miles before being depleted, while Europeans will only require half that range.

[Source: The New York Times]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

First Solar is teaming up with Sempra Generation to build in the Nevada desert what could become North America’s largest thin-film photovoltaic plant. The 10-megawatt project would be located 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas, next to Sempra’s natural gas plant in El Dorado.

“As a result, the …

Filed under: Solar, Nissan, Green Daily

While solar-powered cars have a long road ahead of them before there is any real chance that our daily driven vehicles will be powered by nothing more than the sun (not counting large arrays powering a single electric car), a small smattering of solar cells hooked up to a car battery is enough to keep the ancient lead-acid lump charged up. Some dealerships have chosen to purchase these small solar chargers individually, and now it appears as if Nissan as a whole will be doing just that for dealerships carrying its vehicles. All North American and European Nissans will be equipped with solar chargers from ICP Solar, as the two companies announced recently.

Tom Clark, Nissan's vice president of sales for the Americas said, "With the new generation of cars including more and more electronics embedded such as GPS navigation systems, DVD player, cruise control, hands-free cell phones, and voice activation, the battery drain on new cars will become more of an issue for major automotive manufacturers and car dealers." Considering how long Nissan's Titan truck is sitting unsold -- the company has an almost unbelievable 489 day supply -- perhaps this wasn't a difficult decision to make.

[Source: CNET]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Etc.

Click on the image for more shots of RCA's Eco-Cars of the future

To celebrate forty years in business, the Royal College of Art's fourteen graduates this year have undertaken the challenge of designing a future eco-friendly car for the 2008 Pilkington Automotive Vehicle Design award. Of course, some of the concepts are pretty far "out there," though others, like Sergio Loureiro Da Silva's Phoenix concept actually seem plausible. The Phoenix is a bit of a mixture of a motorcycle with sidecar and a normal four-wheeled automobile; it looks awfully futuristic. Pierre Sabas won the competition with his Airflow concept, which features electric motors directly integrated into the wheels. This technique is currently being explored by multiple companies for production cars, so the design doesn't seem to stray too far from reality.

The Nereus concept by Ceri Yorath, on the other hand, strays a bit from normality with its fuel cell powertrain and transformable body panels, which shape themselves based on how you are driving. Still, Jung Hoon Rhee's Noah concept seems the furthest from reality, as its "wave seats" were meant to "duplicate the lightness of being immersed in water." Right. Take a look at all of the concepts in our gallery below. Thanks for the tip, Mike!


[Source: Inhabitat, Wallpaper.com]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments