Chalk this up to being both funny as hell and simultaneously environmentally friendly. A bank robber in Washington (state, not D.C. – bank robbery takes a different form in D.C., usually surrounding that giant bank called the Fed, but I digress) entered a Key Bank in Woodinville, produced a pistol, and proceeded to go fully [...]
The FedEx fleet just got larger with the addition of four new electric delivery vans being requisitioned by the freight company for urban door-to-door delivery duties. The first left Chicago today, one of two from Navistar, the other to be delivered by June. Two more will follow those from an as yet unnamed manufacturer. The [...]
Big news today. Mitsubishi announced the United Kingdom price tag for the iMiEV electric car that goes on sale there in January next year. It’s about equivalent to the Japanese price for those on sale already. It’s roughly $50,000 American ($53.5k in the UK, $51k Japan). Fifty thousand smackers, people. F I F T Y [...]
General Motors, along with partners Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) and Segway, has released a concept car (the word is used loosely) platform called the Electric Networked-Vehicle (EN-V). The platform has three vehicle concepts, all based on the same drivetrain and chassis. No word yet on how much bialout money was used to pay for [...]
I wrote a feature for FutureCars.com on the INGOCAR from Valentin Technologies. The car itself is nice, but not really anything extra-special. What is special is the underlying platform, which has been in development for decades. Ingo Valentin, the man behind the breakthrough, is a mechanical engineer specializing in hydraulics. His chassis/drive train is the [...]
Lots of stuff happening at Chrysler (finally). The company that went into bankruptcy, for which the taxpayer footed the bill, and then emerged with a clean slate so that a foreign company, Fiat, could buy it up has since been floundering around looking for an identity other than “bailout welfare queen with the Italian boyfriend.” [...]
According to some study by some people who have too much time on their hands and access to government grants, if you’re into eco-living or generally being “green,” you’re likely an ass. At least this was done with Canadian grants instead of ours. I never did trust those Canooks. They think curling is a real [...]
The good people over at the KillaCycle Team HQ, down in Colorado, are apparently not happy having the fastest EV on two wheels. They need something faster. What’s more, Crew Chief Eva Hakansson wants to be the one to drive it. So they’re putting together a new streamliner motorcycle in hopes of heading for the [...]
This is a little off-topic, but that’s never stopped me before. Right? Wired’s Autopia published a great post titled 6 Cars So Alluring They’re in an Art Museum. Wow, these are some awesome piece of automotive art. Here’s my favorite. Go check out the list and tell me yours.
The current buzz in electric vehicle news is the rumor-mill guessing as to the price tag for the U.S. release of the Nissan LEAF, which arrives later this year. Personally, the price tag is only part of the problem with getting people to buy electrics. In fact, it’s probably the least of the problems. People [...]
Today, I wrote a blurb based on a PR I received from Polaris about their latest addition: an electric All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) or “4-wheeler” to those on the street. They basically took the Ranger ATV and put electric components on it to turn it into an electric ATV. Now, it’s not a normal 4-wheeler as [...]
I saw a story in Wired’s Autopia about General Motors’ latest advances in designing heads up displays (HUD) for the automobile. The idea isn’t new (they’ve been on it for 22 years and aren’t alone) and is still just waiting for its time to come. The technology is all basically there, it’s a matter of [...]
Who killed the Chinese electric car? BYD, apparently. The battery maker-turned-automaker announced that they’ll not be making the E6 as quickly as planned and that the 100 planned models for use as taxis in the area around the company’s HQ may be the only battery-electrics made. This comes, of course, well after their financial projections [...]
Holy crap, this is an awesome machine. I don’t know the background on it (yet), other than it’s in Idaho and has got to be the coolest 4×4 I’ve ever seen in operation. @$%@$# bad@#$%@%@#$ bubba! This is some serious engineering right here. Thanks to Judie for the link!
Tesla sponsored a concept by the Instituto Europeo di Design of Turin and the well-known design school didn’t disappoint. Assuming all you’re after is EYE candy, of course. The concept, called the EYE, was showcased at the Geneva Motor Show and features some very forward looks and style. A model of the design was on [...]
Not much of a post today, just wanted to quickly point you towards an excellent article that explains the basics of aerodynamics and their impacts. The title of this post is also the title of the article by David Herron, which you can read on Examiner by clicking here.
I read an interesting, but narrow piece by Martin LaMonica at CNet News titled Will ‘fun factor’ or mandates drive electric car sales? and thought that the presentation he gave was compelling, but too constricted by old thinking. I’d considered leaving a comment there, but thought that this deserved a lot more consideration than just [...]
When I wrote about the USPS contracts for test-run electric delivery trucks a few days ago, the comments centered around my confusing ZAP with ZENN motors and the EESTOR battery/superconductor/possible pipe dream. One question that was asked by a friend of mine while on the phone yesterday concerned another of the contestants in that battle [...]
Back in 2008, Treehugger talked about petitioning Google to ad a “Bike There” feature to Google Maps to go alongside driving and public transit directions. Unfortunately for them, Wired noticed the addition to Google Maps before they did. In fact, as of this writing, the bike-loving freaks at Treehugger still haven’t seen it. Of course, [...]
The study, done at the University of California Davis, looked at current owners of electric cars and found that they are not really all that concerned with range anxiety. I hope that a lot of money wasn’t spent on this study, because I could have just frikkin’ told them that. Of course current EV owners [...]
When you think of “turbines,” what comes to mind? Jets. Exactly. Now think of jet engines on a car and what do you think of? Right, that urban legend about the guy who straps a rocket to his Buick/Chevy/insertoldcarnamehere. Well, never fear, you can have your jet turbine and really damn cool car and not [...]
The United States Post Office shopped out contracts for trial-run electric delivery trucks. So far, they’ve selected five different companies to convert trucks for the USPS to test out in Washington, D.C. Better known as the Land of Oz. Every small EV maker in the country whose products are even remotely shaped like a truck [...]
Ya, I’m opinionated and that was proved when I went off on the “Toyota vs. Dodge” thing yesterday. LeRoy B, a commenter, asked what would be my favorite car. Well, that depends on how you want to qualify it, LeRoy-whosenameisthesameasmydog’s. Does it have to be a “car” per se and does it have to be [...]
Nope, I didn’t misspell that title. They don’t look like “dogs,” they look like Dodge hatchbacks. Both the Lexus CT 200h and the Aria hatchback look the same and they look a lot like the somewhat popular Dodge station wagon/hatchbacks that have been driving around the U.S. for a while. Dodge (part of Chrysler) has [...]
When I talk about electric or hybrid-electric vehicles, I don’t generally get to talk about electric bicycles much. I have written about them in the past, of course, but to be honest about it, I’m not much of a fan of e-bikes. Once in a while, though, something pretty damn cool comes along and I [...]
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