New posts from Gas 2.0!

A Diesel Airplane with Glider-like Efficiency
Pay-Per-Mile Tolls Back on the Table
Electric Peugeot EX1 Sets Lap Record Around Nürburgring
Video: EV Cup 2011 set to Launch August 6
Test Ride | 2011 Zero S Conquers The Mean Streets of Hollywood

A Diesel Airplane with Glider-like Efficiency

Posted: 03 May 2011 04:00 PM PDT

Gliders may seem girly, until you consider that we basically landed an entire army with parachutes and gliders during World War II's Operation Market Garden. So a diesel-powered plane with glider-like efficiency might be just what we need.

With five seats and a 200 horsepower engine, the Synergy concept will tip the scales at just 3,100 pounds. But the real key to its success lies in the wing design, which manages to nearly achieve the efficiency of a glider in a relatively compact package, if preliminary flights with a scale model are to be believed. The designer, John McGinnis, hails from Kalispell, Montana claims that the 32-foot wingspan packs 144 square-feet of wing area, nearly as much as gliders with a 46-foot wingspan. McGinnis hopes to get a full-scale plane built in order to enter the NASA/CAFE Green Flight Challenge, where $1.5 million is up for grabs for the most efficient airplane design.

Air travel sucks these days, and I think it is because of the scale. We've got huge planes jam-packed with people, that require huge airports and terminals which means many smaller cities are simply skipped over when it comes to aviation travel. I'd prefer planes that held between 20 and 40 people, comfortably, didn't fly quite so high, and were able to land at smaller airports in smaller cities. I think that is the future, and who knows, this weird design might actually come into play. Not sure how the diesel engine will work out, but why not, right?

Source: Wired

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can read about his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout or follow his non-nonsensical ramblings on Twitter @harshcougar.

Pay-Per-Mile Tolls Back on the Table

Posted: 03 May 2011 11:10 AM PDT

The gas tax is broken. There, I said it. And since raising the gas tax is political seppuku, lawmakers are looking at other ways to raise the necessary funds to repair our nation's infrastructure. Pay-per-mile tolls, here we come!

It is going to take a whole lot of money to repair America's crumbling roads, and there just isn't enough money going into the Federal highway fund to maintain, never mind improve, our nation's roads. Don't take my word on it though; there's any number of very scary reports out there on the structurally deficient and obsolete roads and bridges carrying hundreds of thousands of cars every day.

But with the age of electric cars dawning, and the political tug-of-war going on in Washington, there are very few options available to raising the necessary funding. One idea being bandied by the White House, ominously called the "Transportation Opportunities Act," would launch a pilot project to raise congestion charges during peak traffic times to discourage people from traveling by car, as well as raising the necessary funds required to improve the area around the toll. London was the first major city in the West to implement this charge, and while it didn't reduce CO2 output, it has reduced congestion and poured some much-needed money into the Royal coffers.

A second proposition allows for the tolling of smaller area, via electronic transponders, with the funds again being used to maintain and improve the area where they are collected. I like this idea better, as under the current system urban motorists pay a majority of the federal and state road taxes, even though there are many more miles of roads spanning rural areas and states. Federal funding is awarded based on how many miles of highway a state has, how far residents drive, and how much fuel they burn, so the fewer miles residents drive and the less fuel they burn, the less money a state gets. Not exactly an incentive to reduce driving time or congestion.

The gas tax system will eventually need to be replaced as electric cars roll out en masse and hybrids deliver better and better fuel economy, leaving an unfair burden on the many Americans who rely on heavy-duty vehicles to run their businesses. And the truth is, America's infrastructure is at its bursting point. There are too many cars, too much congestion, and not enough money to make a difference. Nobody wants to pay more taxes, I'd feel a lot better knowing that the tax money I am paying is getting directly reinvested into the roads I drive every day. And it is a hell of a lot less invasive then tracking your mileage via a GPS device, which is being considered in a surprising cross-section of states. The money could go towards more public transportation options, better roadways, so on and so forth.

But what about the rest of you? Gas tax, congestion charges, or more highway tolls?

Source: The Truth About Cars via The Newspaper

Electric Peugeot EX1 Sets Lap Record Around Nürburgring

Posted: 03 May 2011 09:00 AM PDT

For decades now, automakers have used the famed Nürburgring in Germany as a test bed for performance vehicles. Peugeot recently sent its all-electric EX1 'round the 'Ring, setting a new lap record for EV's.

The Nürburgring is actually comprised of several interlacing tracks, with the main stretch, the Nordschleife, comprising about 20 km, or almost 13 miles of hairpin turns and long straightaways. On any given day you'll find just about everything out there, from classic American muscle to hypercars like the McLaren F1.

Peugeot, which is celebrating its 200^th birthday, decided to send the EX1 to the 'Ring to see what kinds of records it could beat. It managed to complete the Nordschleife in just a tick over nine minutes (official time: 9 minutes, 1.333 seconds.) The EX1 managed an average speed of over 138 kph, or 85 mph.

Leave it to the French to make green motorsports competitive. The EX1 isn’t the only example, as Peugeot also has some diesel-hybrid American Le Mans racers putting on a good show. While covering almost 13 miles in 9 minutes certainly sounds impressive, it is about the same time as a Chevy Cobalt SS, and just a few seconds slower than a supercharged Range Rover. However, the 9 minute run was 50 seconds faster than the previous record set by a Mini E EV last April, which was the first time any EV completed the circuit in under ten minutes. That mean's we're making steady progress, and at this rate it'll only be a few more years before EV's are making a run at the overall track time record. Look out world, the EV racers are coming.

Source: World Car Fans

Video: EV Cup 2011 set to Launch August 6

Posted: 03 May 2011 06:25 AM PDT

The EV cup that was announced last year is finally kicking of its 2011 season on August 6th at Silverstone (UK) with 3 classes of electric racecars battling it out on TV in an effort to prove to the world’s Doubting Thomases that electric cars can deliver all the fun and thrills of dino-juice racing without the negative ecological impact.

With Formula 1′s teams looking for greater sustainability in F1 and the sport’s sanctioning body eye-ing EV technology for the 2013 season, there’s little doubt that the (admittedly small) EV Cup series will be closely watched, indeed.

As above, the 2011 EV Cup series will feature three distinct classes of electric racers.

Th!nk City EV Cup
The slowest class features the same Th!nk City EVs being built in Elkhart, Indiana, but modified for track use (below) to be over 200 lbs lighter. The car’s li-ion batteries and eelctric motor performance have been improved slightly over the street-going model, to 50 hp and 66 lb-ft of torque. The tiny Th!nk’s top speed during races has been set to approx. 85 mph.

Sports iRace EV
This class features purpose-built, open two-seat racers in the same spirit as the (appropriately named) Westfield iRace (shown, above) which was designed specifically for the EV Cup series. The car’s dual electric motors deliver 260 hp and more than 480 lb-ft of torque to EACH of the iRacer’s rear wheels. In addition, the driver can press a steering-wheel-mounted “boost” button for a few seconds of extra passing power (similar to the KERS systems currently employed by F1).

Prototype EV
Established as a demonstration category, this class features “against the clock” endurance racing that pits non-production EVs (example, below) against one another in a battle for technological supremacy. There are safety regs., to be sure – but otherwise this is exactly the kind of “formula libre” class that truly “improves the breed”, and that made Can-Am and Group B racing the stuff of legend.

You can get a sneak peek at one of the Th!nk City racers lapping the circuit at Brands Hatch in the video, below. Enjoy!

Source: Motorpasion.

Test Ride | 2011 Zero S Conquers The Mean Streets of Hollywood

Posted: 02 May 2011 07:19 PM PDT

Warning: Motorcycling, especially in Los Angeles, is extremely dangerous. Never ride beyond your comfort level. With experience, riders eventually feel comfortable at higher speeds and riding in riskier situations. But we all have our own risk tolerance level. I acknowledge that lanesplitting is somewhat risky. But in 25 years of riding, my experience (and statistics) have found entering intersections to be far more dangerous than any other aspect of street riding.

The Need for Speed

In spite of constantly whining that currently available electric motorcycles aren't fast enough, I must admit… There’s a special feeling that comes from exceeding a bike's specified top speed. Sure, it was downhill, but still. 75mph is well above the 67mph limit Zero claims the 2011 S taps out at. Now imagine the speeds one can achieve with a little engine modification… I’m not sure why they chose to supply both a digital and an analog speedo, but there they are. The digital one reads 75, so it must be right.

This is the 4^th Zero I've test ridden, and by far the best. It feels much more solid and capable of higher speeds than any other Zero S I've ridden. The belt drive does indeed make it blissfully silent and almost completely maintenance free. And with a top speed of 75mph, I'm likely to go through fewer tires than on my R1, so it will even be lower maintenance in that regard. However, at 75mph I was just barely keeping with the flow of traffic on the Hollywood Freeway. On the other hand, I was tearing up the curves on Mulholland like I actually knew how to ride a Supermoto (I don't, and feel completely lost on them).

I could’ve gone faster on Mulholland (links to video), but that’s as fast as I want to go on a bumpy road in a residential neighborhood. The ride up Laurel Canyon (links to video) was great too, despite the fact nobody could hear me coming up alongside them. I didn't feel any less visible than I do on my gas bike. This video is of the final and fastest segment, on the Hollywood Freeway. This is the toughest test of any small vehicle, and I feel the Zero S performed adequately. I would’ve felt safer if I had a bit more speed in reserve, in case I needed to throttle my way out of a hazardous situation. But for the rider who prefers not to risk a double point infraction, this bike is more than adequate for LA riding. (More than 20mph over the speed limit is worth 2 points in CA.) Apologies for the fog in this video, the earlier ones are clearer. Those GoPro anti-fog inserts are hard to come by.

I rode the bike as aggressively as I would any other bike, and while I really missed the raw acceleration I get off the line from the 180hp gas guzzler I normally ride, the Zero S had no problem leaving cars in the dust at each green light. I checked my mirrors a few times on Hollywood Blvd, sure that the cars would've been right behind me, only to find they were still taking their time moseying away from the light. I returned the bike to Hollywood Electrics with about 30% less juice, after an aggressive 13.3 mile ride which included about 2 miles at top speed and doing my best to win imaginary drag races at every green light (after first checking to make sure no cross traffic planned on running their red light!).

To compare the Zero S to a more comparable machine, EmpulseBuyer shows the ownership costs of this bike against ownership costs of a Suzuki SV650. The SV650 is an excellent comparison, as both are great entry-level/commuter bikes that are also loads of fun in the canyons. In fact, the SV650 is so much fun in the corners, and cheap to own, that many people race them.

Motorcycles Make Los Angeles A Fun Place to Live

Here’s the route I took, which I recommend for anyone test riding a motorcycle capable of 60+mph from Hollywood Electrics:

(click map to go to google maps)

Of course, Hollywood Electrics won’t let anyone test ride a motorcycle without a motorcycle license, and the best way to get one of those is to find a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course near you. Students who pass the course can usually skip the DMV’s driving test and get a discount from most insurance companies. As reported here, electric motorcycles & scooters are set to outpace electric car sales worldwide. This is very exciting news for people who’d love to see scooters & motorcycles as ubiquitous here as they are in the rest of the world. Yes, riding is more dangerous than driving. Mainly because it requires MUCH more concentration. But that’s also the joy of riding- being at one with your environment, undisturbed by phone calls, texts, thoughts of anything beyond the vehicles around you.