New posts from Gas 2.0! |
- Green Speed: FIA President Wants All-electric Racing by 2013
- Your Electric Motorcycle is Sooo Mainstream
- Zero-emission Taxis hit London
- Bamboo and Rattan Electric Car Wows in Milan
| Green Speed: FIA President Wants All-electric Racing by 2013 Posted: 04 Apr 2011 04:00 PM PDT
In a move to generate more “We want as soon as possible to have new categories with new energy,” said Todt. The FIA president is hoping to avoid what the UK’s Telegraph calls “a piecemeal introduction” in favor of a more aggressive worldwide “roll-out” of the new electric racers, adding “As much as we can do it, we will do it.” The project is part of Todt's ongoing plans to encourage teams to adopt and adapt new “green” technology (like KERS and variable-vane turbos), and to use F1 as a means to foster enthusiasm for sustainability and green energy within the motorsports community … which is all well and good, but I wouldn’t hold my breath while I waited for an electric F1 car. Source: The Telegraph (and, as far as I can tell, it’s not an April Fool’s joke).
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| Your Electric Motorcycle is Sooo Mainstream Posted: 04 Apr 2011 12:00 PM PDT
I love Hipster Kitty – the Internet meme that pokes good-natured fun at our friends who try just a bit too hard to be different. We all have them (or are them), we all love them, and we all know they’d go nuts over Brooklyn Motorized’s new/old lineup of electric motorcycles. The bikes themselves are pretty cool, with Brooklyn Motorized claiming a 60 mph top speed and a 30 mile range (more than enough to effectively navigate the city). More impressive, though, is the fact that the bikes are cleverly designed for apartment living, with easily removable battery packs that can be pulled out of the frame for convenient charging indoors at home or at work, or easily swapped-out for a fully-charged battery. With a projected price tag of just $6000 and a clever re-use of an existing chassis (which we’re big fans of – as evidenced here, here, and here) I would love to get more worked-up and excited about the bikes … but I can’t. Not because the idea isn’t awesome or because I have some insider knowledge about the bikes or the company – it’s because I have next to ZERO knowledge about either, because the 2 page corporate website is apparently “too cool” to give out information, and features nothing more than the company logo and basic contact information (see screen caps, below).    Hopefully, Brooklyn Motorized will get more information up (or to us!) in the near future, and we’ll be able to tell you more about this fantastic electric commuter concept. Source: New York Times, via Engadget.
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| Zero-emission Taxis hit London Posted: 04 Apr 2011 10:00 AM PDT
Hydrogen fuel-cell powered cabbies are motoring around the streets of London this week, courtesy of Intelligent Energy – the UK-based firm charged with filling London’s roads with a zero-emissions taxi fleet by 2012. Unlike a dozen other “greenwashing” programs in major cities around the world, however, London’s is ON TRACK and ON TIME. The fuel cell/battery hybrid taxis themselves can travel about 250 miles (400 km) on a single charge/tank, and are designed to benefit from rapid-refueling technology as well. It’s also worth noting that the new powertrain fits comfortably under the shell of a conventional London taxi, allowing for existing cabs to potentially be retro-fitted with the new tech. in the future (in keeping with our recent theme promoting re-using and recycling existing vehicles). So far, the cabs have covered over 8000 miles of driving, and Henri Winand (CEO of Intelligent Energy) is happy to see the cabs in action, adding that “the Fuel Cell Black Cabs are now road proven with thousands of miles of operation. Indeed, many people may have seen them as they have been driven around various parts of the UK, but we are now happy to formally announce their road legal status and that you will be seeing more of them in the coming months.” Full press release, below.
Source: Intelligent Energy.
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| Bamboo and Rattan Electric Car Wows in Milan Posted: 04 Apr 2011 08:00 AM PDT
Filipino furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue presented an ultra-lightweight car design last week that takes the use of renewable materials to a whole new level. Using bamboo and rattan, Cobonpue feels that the project – called “Pheonix” – perfectly embodies “this era's thrust towards artisanship and craftsmanship, biodegradability and environment-friendliness, as opposed to assembly-line production and high technology – the contrast between man's handiwork and machine.” The Pheonix was unveiled at last month’s the “Imagination and Innovation” exhibit in Via Tortona in Milan, where the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports that it was met with rave reviews. Cobonpue explains that “it's a challenge (to design a car). When you think about it, car building has been all about high technology, robots. But maybe you don't need all that. It can be handmade. Cars outlive their purpose. How long do you keep a car? Five years or a little more? Then it goes to the junkyard. It is not environment-friendly. The cost of recycling (a car) is prohibitive. So why not build from a biodegradable material, the shell you can replace?” We’ve made the claim that the greenest car out there is one that’s already been built, but if you extend that out 20 or 30 years, something made of wicker and rattan may have it beat. What do you think, readers? Re-use and re-cycle what we’ve got, or start fresh with slick little bio-pods like the Pheonix?     Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, via Inquirer.net.
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