| MDI finds Indian love with TATA. Will finally manufacture theaircar! |
[Nov. 4th, 2007|02:00 pm] |
No, not hot air. Compressed. C-o-m-p-r-e-s-s-e-...
Woooooot! Well there you have it, once more, it pays to be persistent. At least that's how it's panning out for Guy Nègre who, as Green Car Congress just revealed has signed a manufacturing deal for his long awaited MDI Air Car. Yes! the silent car that gets about 125 Miles [at 70 MPH] on a tank of compressed air (and can fill back up in a couple of minutes). So Tata Motors, India's largest automotive manufacturer is going to start cranking these baddies out! And everybody says "Oh yeah!" ...Newly added, they are also going to be manufacturing a hybrid version that runs on gas and compressed air (gas to boost it at higher speeds, as well as to refill the air compression making road trips more doable).
And they don't just have the city cab version anymore, they got a sleek 21st century pickup truck now, and a family vehicle! I wonder if it is silent though, or if it sounds like a balloon slowly deflating (or a whoopee cushion?) Will have to wait and see, but so the question i am thinking is not so much when can i get my hands on a waycool EV, but more, in about 18 months which type of green car is going to be the one to get?? |
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| Here Comes the Total Mobility Project's Solar Mazda |
[Nov. 4th, 2007|01:25 pm] |
...feels like years since it's been here!
...just read in PhysOrg about The Total Mobility Project, a group in Japan who have
turned a Mazda car into a 100% Solar Powered Electric Vehicle. It's not 100% there, yet, seeing how it only gives you <20 Miles per charge, and seeing how the conversion kit so far costs about $20K, it's still a little out there ...but look at the capacitors coming down the pipe, the advanced-LA Batteries and LI-batteries, and you can see where this will go (throw in some phat Ted Seargent spray-on PV for a total chassis chargeability and then all of the sudden, voilà, ur solar whip is teh kewl (!) |
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| i zip u zip we all <3 zip for izip !! |
[Sep. 12th, 2006|04:45 pm] |
Dr. Currie gets all izzzpy with the CVTZzzy
Soon to be everybody's favorite electric assist bike. Izip is the new Wavecrest (and they're both black!) I ve been looking at these izip bikes for a few weeks now, and as much as steve jobs may hate it, there may be a new hot iproduct out there on the ihorizon.... Dr. Malcolm Currie's Curry tech has been re-branded, has some hot new bikes, and apparently the hybrid bike world's first CVT (continuously variable) Transmission. Not bad, certain to ensure a smooth ride. and Dr. Mal knows a thing or two about smooth rides... before he was a green transportation maven this 2 wheel enthusiast was CEO of a little thing called Hughes Aircraft Company (neat when you think of it, Wavecrest is all military guys too--- what do they know about electro drive transportation that we don't??)
[iZIP] |
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| to the moon, alice, this stock is going to go to the moon!! |
[Jun. 2nd, 2006|05:00 am] |
I know i said it months ago, but I am going to say it again. And now I'm not the only one saying it (thank you RenewableEnergy Stocks.com). Zappy the little Zappster is going to EXPLODE. Y'hear me? E-X-P-L-O-D-E!!! (sos if u were one of those peeps investing in pets.com or toys.com or burnallyourcash.com instead of, say, WholeFoods (which was $5 pre dotbomb, and is now around $66 (peaked @$80 in Jan, pre-walmartorganics) well, this may be your chance again!!
Zap (NASDAQ ZP) dipped to $0.70 last week, but has finally started to climb! They closed at $1.53 yesterday climbing again by 23% And now the press is going to start well, if not flowing, then something more than a trickle... it's still far from a household name.
And sure, they started off a little PT Barnum (oh like that stopped Steve Jobs?), Gary Starr was a wildman (but he knew his stuff!) and of course Daimler-Mercedes just really didn't like working with new CEO Stephen Schneider (maybe it was feeling like they had to work with a company called "Zero Air Pollution" or they just felt that some of the lower-end Zap products made them an unattractive biz partner?). But that's all in the past. Schneider and Co have developed, and own the software that makes smart cars street legal in the US! And smart cars are popping into the US in a big way, already the heroin of DaVinci and Inspector Cluseau are smartified, and when the Pink Panther hits the DVD racks, the smart is going to be in every eyeball in america!
And then Zap has other awesome cards up their sleeve. they have an all-electric car called the Xebra that is way cute, and made in China (affordable), Once people realize that they can get Italian Oxygen electric scooters there as well, the company is going to fly! And the stock... well I'm still betting that it will hit $25, let's say within 30 months. You just wait (and so, even if you aren't an investor, but you have played the occasional lottery ticket, plunk $100 down, here's a chance to make it grow %1000 in less than 3 years)
ok pics:
heres the 3 and 4 wheel versions:
and here's the Xebra interior (seriously, hot or not??):
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| TESLA MOTORS gets $40M Investment |
[Jun. 1st, 2006|06:26 am] |
ok thats not the carand the folks at Tesla Motors are being quite tight-lipped about the car (sposada have it's debut in a month!!) but they aren't quite as tight lipped about getting $40 million dolars from a bunch of silcon valley VCs... woop woop ok i know we have no idea how hot this car is going to be Very Hot!) but it is goingto be a performance electric, and with a name like that... gush! It does make me think of the Tesla Pierce Arrow electrics that Nicola TEsla hisself drove around.... could be great! Can't wait!! |
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| Altair Nanotechnologies nanos out the graphite! |
[May. 24th, 2006|07:17 am] |
Lithium Ion EVs just got a nano closer!!
According to Nannotechwire, Altair technologies Inc. just released great news about the testing phase of a new type of lithium ion battery, and the great news is that it may really ramp up production of 100% electric vehicles that will give you 250 Miles per charge and re-charge in a matter of minutes! See they've invented this new electrode material called nano Lithium Titanium Oxide, or nLTO, that replaces the graphite used in "standard" lithium ion batteries with safe, nanomaterials.
The standard LiIon batteries work great for things like cellphones, but they do have some issues with them, like, if they get too hot they can start smoldering, and even explode. And that would suck if you were using them to drive around town, right. But Altair has spent the past nine months running these in 270 degree heat, in freezing temperatures, smashing them, smooshing them, crushing them and dropping them off buildings... and the results; the new nLTOs do not explode. In fact they charge up to 9,000 times, and charge up about 150 times faster than a Li-Ion! And we say; bring it on! |
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| feed your head |
[Apr. 29th, 2006|05:22 pm] |
So you say you wanna get into the EV business....
Well if you are serious about wanting to get in, the first things you will have to ask yourself are, what niche can you fill? Where is there room? and of course what is needed? And you can find all of these out.. you can go to Yokohama in October for EVS22 and you can lock yourself up in your tower and surf the web till your eyes bleed. But if you really want the upper hand, this is the guy you have to listen to:
Dr. Peter Harrop. You can say he's the E.F. Hutton of the electric vehicle industry. And he is worth listening to. In fact he's worth the $2200 that it would cost for you to get his awesome book
It dishes out all the info on the $31 Billion dollar industry, including who are the biggest, who are the brightest, and what is on the horizon. Seriously, I've had the opportunity to sit & chat with Dr. Harrop, and hear him speak publicly. You won't find a more comprehensive analysis of the industry (which is expected to grow seven-fold in the next ten years). So if you really want to know what's going on.... Check out his Electric Vehicle Forecasts, Players, Opportunities 2005-2015. You'll be amazed at what's happening in the world of EVs. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 28th, 2006|05:34 pm] |
John Heru and E-ride are back in the news!
ok i know i've talked about them before, but i just love it when there's press about something cool. And the something cool, sure, it's E-Ride who like i said before are FINE NEVs! And apparently, judging from an article from Scripps Howard News Service, I'm not the only one! The king of Morocco, NASCAR driver Richard Petty and Wendy's founder Dave Thomas all have them! But they aren't too expensive either, and while they are NEVs (neighborhood electric vehicles, which can only go 25MPH) NEVs are now legal in 40 US States! So whether you want the uber stylee King of Morocco version or the simple get around the town version, this is a product you can rely on for two things; getting you around cheaply ($0.016 a mile) and also turning lots and lots of heads.... |
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| ...what was that about hip hop hybrids?? |
[Apr. 11th, 2006|12:35 pm] |
OK so if everyone has had their share of vanity fair. And still no one spins the wheel of conversation (no, seriously, how many blogs are now all up in it with VF?). So we stick to magazines. Well here's a neat spin on that idea... a magazine that has been around for quite some time, but is now available at the Newsstand!
Bruce Melan's Electrifying Times has always been a great source for info. Specifically EVs and other green energy info (usually related to propulsion). You can still subscribe, but the maverick magazine will now be available TO THE MAINSTREAM! and this kicks ass! Is there any better way to sire up the imagination of the average joe than to have it in 8x11 glossy pages right next to a magazine dedicated to Angelina Jolie's baby bump and who's hot or not? I say no! And melan's not going to pull back on the content, you know, dumb it down for the masses, not at all! ( click here to Check out the table of contents: ) |
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| who? |
[Apr. 7th, 2006|05:47 pm] |
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| hats off to all the kids ....you're all winners in my book! |
[Apr. 6th, 2006|07:35 pm] |
Big Meet this weekend!
Several hundred students representing 21 schools from North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Florida will race against each other in Raleigh NC Friday and Saturday for the 11th annual EV Challenge Final Event Weekend.
The EV Challenge is the country’s premier alternative fuel education program, unique because of its integration of several disciplines, including math, science, engineering, language arts and more. It's a year-long program designed to teach 6th-12th graders the importance of alternative fuels. In the program, the student design and construct of a street-legal electric vehicle(!) which will be entered into several competitions during the weekend. Go speed racers go! |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 1st, 2006|12:12 pm] |
DoItYourself
EVworld has an awesome post today in their blog, from Jim Stack.
He shows the little guys who are doing what the big boys say can't be done: i.e. car conversions. Sure, I've told you about the guys in California, but Jim gives us names numbers and locations for converters all across the US of A! So, no more excuses, go to the post and find out which one of your neighbors is secretly doing electric vehicle car conversions!! |
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| P-I-H-E-V plug that baby in! |
[Apr. 1st, 2006|11:53 am] |
plugin hybrids, well that's one way to make me like 'em
According to recent PR NEwswire, Daimler Chrysler is getting seriously in the game with the launch of real world real customer testing of their plug-in-diesel-hybrids! These are hot!!! you can do at least 20 miles on charged batteries alone (ok thats not quite like the aluminum batteries down there, but this is one you can get your hand on now! Yes! Its seems that up to 40 Dodge Sprinter Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) will be placed in operation with customers in California, Kansas City and New York among other locations within the United States (so seriously go bug the chrysler dealer near you now, and insistently!)
Why do i like these so much if i usually don't care all that much for hybrids? Well to begin this is the first major step towards plug n play (sure there are the DIY Prius soldiers who mod their cars and sacrifice their warranty, but this is legit!). Then on top of it its a diesel and you know what that means; biodiesel, SVO whatever you want.... So now we are getting somewhere! Yipee! |
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| 750 Km on a charge? thats a heavy battery~ |
[Apr. 1st, 2006|11:42 am] |
OK so normally when i hear about something like this, part of me really wants it to be real, and the other 1/2 says "yeahhh riiiiight buddy...." especially when its not in production yet, only has prototypes, and makes claims like this. I usually try to embody as much healthy skepticism as possible (for a hopeless romantic like me), but then sometimes there's reasons to believe:
Then again, when someone wins the Frost and Sullivan technology of the year award, you got to at least suspend disbelief for a few seconds... ok? So say hello to EuroPositron a company that can radically change the way we look at electric vehicles! They are making these aluminum rechargeable batteries, using nanoscale electrochemistry technology, that end up 20 times as strong as the next best battery. That is pretty impressive, even before you think that the main ingredient might hav eonce been a can of coke. I'm looking forward to this one hitting the markets and people flipping out!! Yamon! |
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| fun EV facts |
[Mar. 2nd, 2006|08:36 pm] |
gee, i haven't mentioned Bill Moore's EV World for like, a week now. But w/e, go there and read his fun EV facts. You'll be happy you did. Read about 1918 Hybrids and how you can go 300 miles on a single charge!! Fun Fun Fun!! |
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| EZ MIEV Needs a new name! |
[Mar. 2nd, 2006|12:14 pm] |
Mitsubishi hot Premiere EV sadly needs a new name....
The MITSUBISHI Concept-EZ MIEV is sitting pretty at the Geneva Motor, it's premiere already turning meany heads.. MITSUBISHI Concept-EZ MIEV uses four in-wheel motors and a lithium-ion battery system to drive all four wheels. And boy am I glad that they are showing more than just Hybrids .....This next-generation electric vehicles employs in-wheel motors and a high-energy-density lithium-ion battery as core technologies. The concept car uses a 20kW outer rotor-type in-wheel motor on each wheel to generate a maximum 80kW (110PS) of power. Maximizing the space freed up by the MIEV design, which does away with a central powertrain thus resulting in a low flat floor layout (a problem in old EVs). It has some cute bells and whistles, and I hope it gets certification fast. I want one!!! |
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| Huge EVgrins on their faces.... |
[Feb. 26th, 2006|07:48 pm] |
stlee stylee EV from Minnesota's E-Ride!
 
Bill Moore, Founder of EVworld has a blog (well, why shouldn't he?) and on his blog i recently saw a review of those beauties up there.... They are the E-Ride, and not only are they HOT, but apparently they are good performers too! This is what Mr. Moore had to say about his visit withe them post test ride: "As I stood chatting with the utility's director of fleet maintenance, two other executives(from an electric company looking to purchase some), who had just taken the stake bed iNEV out for a spin around the maintenance yard, came back with huge EV-grins on their faces"
All electric, safe, and they are just soooo cute!!
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| Ultracapacitors.... |
[Feb. 24th, 2006|09:05 pm] |
carbon nanotubes lead to MIT battery revolution
A breakout technology from MIT looks towards the charging of electronic gadgets in minutes, never having to replace a battery again, and dropping the cost of electric vehicles. The technology has the potential to provide energy storage ten times more powerful than even the latest batteries in hybrid cars -- while outliving the vehicle itself! The new technology, developed at MIT's Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems, should improve ultracapacitors by swapping in carbon nanotubes, and thus greatly increasing the surface area of electrodes and the ability to store energy.
Ultracapacitors, like the capacitors widely used in electronics (but more like that, on steroids), have been around for decades. They're well-known for being powerful, able to quickly absorb and release electricity. But they can't store much energy, so they get depleted in a matter of seconds. As a result, they've been limited to niche applications, such as providing quick bursts of power in some hybrid transit buses. Researchers at MIT have now found what they believe is a way to improve the endurance of ultracapacitors several-fold -- allowing the devices to retain the power and longevity advantages, while storing about as much energy as the batteries used in hybrids.
And it's all thanks to those carbon naotubes... The amount of energy ultracapacitors can hold is related to the surface area and conductivity of their electrodes. The researchers have increased surface area by "more than an order of magnitude" One square centimeter of conductive plate when coated with the nanotubes has a surface area of about 50,000 square centimeters, compared with 2,000 square centimeters using the carbon in a commercial ultracapacitor today. That's quite a change! Can't wait until it's commercial! |
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| First In Show! |
[Feb. 21st, 2006|06:51 am] |
Smith, the new EV Playa unveils both their Edison
and Faraday at UK Commercial Auto Show!!
I just read this news release via EVWorld and thought I would share it with you!
Smith Electric Vehicles is making its debut at the Commercial Vehicle Show, where it will unveil a new range of battery powered vans and LCVs ((light commercial vehicles)) that will revolutionize the urban goods delivery market. British manufacturer Smith is launching two next-generation electric vehicles (EVs), Faraday and Edison. ((OK not only are those names Geek-a-licious, but notice how these aren't Hybrids or Fuel Cell vehicles but something that can be used, um, today? Wow!))
Kevin Harkin, business development manager for electric vehicles, said: "Our vehicles are cheaper than diesel or petrol LCVs and require far less maintenance. "There are obvious environmental benefits, but the bottom line is simply that EVs cost less." Extensive research carried out over more than five years by Smith's technical experts has found that the whole life cost of a Smith Electric Vehicle is up to a third less than that of the equivalent van or LCV ((and thats not even getting into oxidizing hydrides...))
( click this way for more more more!! ) |
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| Mr Ken Kelly Steps Up |
[Feb. 16th, 2006|12:55 pm] |
Hot US Electric Scooter company EVader hires new CEO
Ken Kelly is EVader's new CEO. Welcome aboard Mr. K! For the past 12 months, he's been serving as a special consultant to Evader (who's electric bike up there hs a cruising speed of 80KmH!). He has been instrumental in setting up efficient systems for both engineering and manufacturing. that are in place today. Ken Kelley has had a long and distinguished career. He was a design supervisor for McDonnell Douglas in the early 1960s with responsibility for both the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft. He held the same position with Boeing of Seattle working on the Boeing 747. After serving as Vice President of Engineering for the Heath Techna Corporation of Kent, Washington which supplied composite design and manufacture for the aerospace industry, Kelley formed his own company, Kelley Morrow Industries supplying the airline industry with interior component design and manufacturing, pioneering the installation of the enclosed overhead storage compartments now seen on every aircraft in existence. From nothing he built the firm into a 500 employee, $30 million enterprise before retiring in 1984. He was coaxed out of retirement by Swissair and by Pacific Power of Portland Oregon working on a consultancy basis. "We are all excited to have a person of such experience and background helping us turn Evader into a world leader," said Julio Almeida, President of Evader. "Ken is the ideal person to lead the Evader team as we ramp up sales and manufacturing. He has a thorough understanding of engineering, design and manufacturing and, most importantly, profitability." This is exactly what an electrodrive company needs! While I still have my bias (I Loooooove Vectrix, sorry) This does look like a hot little bike and 80KmH is finally breaking that 40 mp 35mph glass ceiling, so a great product, a serious goto guy, looks like we have another great playa in the field!! |
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| How Valvoline got her groove back! |
[Feb. 13th, 2006|05:59 pm] |
Fallsbrook Technologies and Valvoline announced today that they've entered into a trademark licensing and development agreement to design, test and market specialty fluids designed to optimize the performance of Fallbrook's NuVinci continuously variable planetary (CVP) transmission technology. The NuVinci technology is the most practical, economical and universally adaptable CVP for human-powered and motor-powered vehicles and machines. It is also ideally suited for applications in many major industries, ranging from bicycles, light electric vehicles (LEVs), and automobiles to trucks, agricultural equipment, and utility-class wind turbines, among others.
CVPs use a set of rotating balls between the input and output components of a transmission. Tilting the balls changes their contact diameters and varies the speed ratio. I know it sounds complex but here's what it means to you: Seamless, instant shifting over an infinite number of gear ratios, up to a 400% ratio range with no steps or pulsation & no gaps between gears, and improved vehicle range, acceleration and hill climbing capability.
[hot off the presses] |
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| fun times at Sandia |
[Feb. 13th, 2006|08:16 am] |
a job i can really sink my teeth into!
...I was just reading about what Sandia does to Li-Ion Batteries. And I want in (tbh i love the prodigal Sandia! that's no secret and I'd go there anyway, but this looks like sooo much fun!).
Ok, they have to do this, to make sure that one day, when we get our EVs with Li-Ions, that they will perform well and take the average joe's abuse. So what do they do? They abuse the s@#t out of them! According to LA's Daily News "You won't want them to fail if you're driving just a little too fast, so we take batteries to conditions they're not designed for and see how they fail," so researchers overheat the batteries, simulate a fuel fire, crush or penetrate batteries and drop them on hard surfaces. They also charge them too much, perhaps to twice the limit, or short-circuit them. "The idea is to see what the response of it is, to characterize the magnitude of the response, how severe it is" so engineers can figure out how to overcome the problem, (Sandia's Dan) Doughty said." What fun!! |
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| 5 minute recharge??? No wonder theyjust got $30Million |
[Feb. 7th, 2006|08:34 am] |
A123Stsyems ((formerly Aaaaaaaardvark inc-- j/k)), makers of Li-Ion batteries that can recharge in 5 minutes just came out with a great announcement: From their A123Systems Press release:
Watertown, Mass. – February 6, 2006 – A123Systems, developer of a new generation of Lithium-ion batteries, today announced it has completed its third round of private equity funding totaling $30 million. New investors in the company are GE ((ecomagination at work!!)), Alliance Capital Management and FA Technology Ventures. Also participating in this round are existing investors, including Motorola, Qualcomm, North Bridge Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, OnPoint, YankeeTek and Desh Deshpande, the company's Chairman of the Board.
“A123Systems' advanced batteries have the potential to drastically lower the weight and cost of batteries for hybrid electric vehicles, bringing a new level of performance to automobile manufacturers,” said David Vieau, CEO and president of A123Systems. “An A123Systems battery is projected to be 80% lighter than batteries used in current HEVs and will offer superior life and durability.” Announced in November of last year, A123Systems’ battery technology delivers up to 10X longer cycle life, 5X power gains and dramatically faster charge time over conventional high power battery technology. Preliminary performance results show a technology with great promise for the future of electric and hybrid electric vehicles. |
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| Mythbusting part II: The Hybrids |
[Feb. 5th, 2006|10:15 am] |
Well, people seemed to like the 27 solar & hydrogen myths busting so much, I thought I would share one more myth busting with y'all... ths one is from Bradley Berman at BusinessWeek online and it's called The Top Ten Hybrid Myths"
I like this one because it not only dispells the myths held on the right; it does so without the teary-eyed myopia that usually comes along with the green cheer-leading: Berman explains in Myth #9, how hybris will save the world. that it isn't exaclty like that; "The 200,000 hybrid car sales in 2005 represent 1.2% of the 17 million new cars sold last year. If every new hybrid driver doubled fuel economy from 20 mpg to 40 mpg for 40 miles of daily driving -- an optimistic estimate -- then a gallon per hybrid car would be saved every day. That's a whopping 100,000 gallons per day chalked up to hybrid car drivers. But we've only reduced our daily U.S. consumption from 400 million gallons to 399,900,000 gallons" a quick easy and sobering read.... |
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| LiFePO4: Coming to a car near you! |
[Feb. 5th, 2006|08:27 am] |
 Researchers have successfully developed safer, cleaner and cheaper lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries for electric vehicles. The Materials and Chemical Research Laboratories (MCL) under the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan, said most lithium iron batteries currently used in electric vehicles use lithium nickel oxide or lithium manganese dioxide as cathode materials, which are more costly and not as safe. According to the MCL, the two main obstacles in the application of lithium iron phosphate material lay in patent rights and power discharge, both of which the institute has overcome by working with the Montreal-based Phostech Lithium Inc, developing the cylindrical high-power LiFePO4 batteries for electric vehicles. The LiFeP04 batteries have passed all the rigorous safety tests conducted by the laboratory, the MCL said.
Not only will they recharge WAY faster than traditional batteries (lead acid) but getting rid of the costly cobalt in conventional Li-ion is worth a fair amount/ They say that once volumes start climbing costs will head down. In sufficient volume, LiFePO4 are made for small multiples of their materials costs. Iron is literally pennies a pound, and a car would only need a few tens of pounds of cathode material. Titanium dioxide is mighty cheap too. We might end up with those PHEVs soon enough (running on switchgrass ethanol when on in electric mode?? Hmmmm the future: greener by the second!) |
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| DIY Electric |
[Jan. 16th, 2006|08:07 am] |
I was just thinking about John Shaeffer's electric Porsche, and the link to that DIY electric motorcycle, and thought, well who are the grandaddys of electric conversions? Why it's Northern California's Electro Automotive! Yes! They are the guys who turned Mr. Real Good's Porsche into an electric (Sure it's a 914, but still...).
I was just yammering on over at treehugger with some people who are goo-gooing and ga-gaing and drooling over this 3-wheeled volkswagon (which is basically a motorcycle in a weird car-shell). And it dawned on me, instead of spending $20-50,000 on a gasoline vehicle (sure it was in treehugger because it gets 43 MPG, big whoop!) what else could you do with that amount of $$$ and I realized that one could buy a cool 70's car, and then convert it to electrism. Not only would you be under $10K but with the leftovers you could buy a few solar panels and either feed in to the grid to offset your electrical needs, or solar power your charger and then have (virtually) zero emissions, and get around in style... |
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| Zen and the Art of D.I.Y. Electric Motrorcycles |
[Jan. 14th, 2006|08:39 am] |
$40 and you get the manual, the instructions and all you need to get going....
Over at EVDeals, they are offering a unique product! A build-it-yourself kit for building the gorgeous electric El-Chopper. Sure, it's the 2D and 3D designs, and easy-to-follow instructions, not the actual pieces (which run you appx $1,000), but from reviews I've seen, some basic mechanics training under your belt and you're good to go! Literally. And while it looks like a chopper, it acts a lot more like a moped (top speed of 30mph), so it's even easier to license and operate (in many places, like NHTSA, if it doesn't go faster than 30 you get a lot of slack with the standards). What fun!! I can't wait to start building my own!!! |
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| plug-in hybrid pizza making/delivery vehicles! |
[Jan. 14th, 2006|07:25 am] |
OK so they're not organic, not RAW, none of the above. So in a few ways, not nearly as kewel as Galactic pizza, what with their eSparrows for delivery...), but in many other ways Wisconsin's SuperFast Pizza is cooler! They do what a million late night pizza eating stoners have thought about: make the pizza en-route, eliminating the need for a store.. but they one-up that, they're doing it with plug-in hybrid vehicles. That's right they can recharge and only need to use gasoline when the batteries are absolutely in need of a recharge. And knowing the Mercedes vans that their chrysler is styled after-- the range is probably good enough that on a busy day there's no need to switch to gas (the Mercedes vans had a range of 150 miles). Hey someone oughta tell these guys about how much roofspace they have, and get them installing solar panels for added ooomph! |
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| sea lions prefer priuses (prii?) |
[Jan. 12th, 2006|02:04 pm] |
..from the Awwwwwww-ain't-that-cute department.
And what do you call more than one Toyoto Prius, anyway? ....OK I might not love them as much as I oughta, but a Sea Lion in Seattle WA certainly has a thing for hybrids! I'm sure this story is cute and feel-good-eco to make it to all the cable news tonight. 'Cept maybe Fox where it will be about the dents the Sea Lion left on the car. |
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