New posts from Gas 2.0!

Video: Fast Charging a Nissan Leaf by Towing It
GE Unveils Solar-Powered EV Charging Station in Connecticut
Hyundai to Offer Plug-In Hybrid by 2013
Eco Knievel: A Macho Force For Good | Maker Faire 2011

Video: Fast Charging a Nissan Leaf by Towing It

Posted: 26 May 2011 01:39 PM PDT

One of the common gripes against the Nissan Leaf is that it takes so long to charge the damn thing. But if you or someone you know has a wrecker, than a quick recharge is just a tow away.

Now we've already been warned about the dangers of using a conventional wrecker (i.e. not a flatbed) to tow an electric car. If the electric drive motor is left engaged during towing, but the car itself is off, the motor could possibly overheat, ruining the expensive electronics within. However, there are times when you just have to get a tow, and the only option available is a tow-behind wrecker…even though the Leaf's owners manual specifically warns against it.

The video (which is in Dutch) is hosted by a man named Vincent, who needs to get home to his little girl's birthday party in Amsterdam. So Vincent hooks the Leaf up to a natural gas-powered Toyota Tundra (awesomesauce) and proceeds to get dragged around. Vincent then goes on to discover that the Leaf charges rather quickly when he uses the brakes as being towed. In just ten minutes of towing, Vincent's Leaf went from just 10 km of juice (about 6 miles) to over 76 km (about 48 miles.)

But all is not well, as Vincent starts driving again, and the estimated range drops from 76 km to just 52 in about 5km of actual driving. Then there is the potential for serious mechanical issues as our host/hero blatantly ignored the warnings in his handbook. In other words folks, don't try this at home.

Source: YouTube

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.

GE Unveils Solar-Powered EV Charging Station in Connecticut

Posted: 26 May 2011 11:18 AM PDT

I'm not be a big proponent of government-backed charging stations, but I am all about private enterprise investing into EV infrastructure. GE has just unveiled a solar-powered charging station in Connecticut that can charge up to 13 cars a day.

The station, located near GE's facilities in Plainville, CT (just one town over from me!) should pull in enough of the sun's rays to fully power up to 20 homes for an entire year. However, this energy will instead be directed towards charging electric cars, and the carport has room and energy enough to charge up to 13 EV's every day via six Level 2 EV chargers.

Unfortunately, despite the number of "news stations" on hand for the unveiling (WTF GE? No love for me?) nobody bothered to ask how much the charging stations will cost plug-in EV owners, if its free, and what kind of plans GE has for a nationwide rollout of such stations. Kind of important info, but I guess next time I gotta use my telepathy to predict these sorts of events get my butt down there myself.

Even though my invitation to this unveiling must have been lost in the mail, I'm liking what GE is doing these days. Solar-powered charging station? It don't get much greener than that, ladies and gentlemen, and every day there are more and more EV charging stations being installed, destroying the argument about the lack of an electric car charging infrastructure.

Source: GE | The Hartford Courant

Hyundai to Offer Plug-In Hybrid by 2013

Posted: 26 May 2011 08:08 AM PDT

The plucky Korean automaker Hyundai has been making big waves in the auto world the last couple of years, and they don't seem intent on slowing down. By 2013, Hyundai will offer a Prius-fighting plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Hyundai has been making a big deal about its little cars, including the 40 mpg Elantra that does not require any special packages or gimmicks to achieve its 40 mpg highway rating (unlike the competition.) Another popular seller has been the all-new Sonata, which is due for a refresh in 2013 and will likely form the basis for a new plug-in hybrid.

Unlike much of the competition, Hyundai has many fuel efficient offerings, but only one hybrid vehicle, the Sonata hybrid, which recently crossed the U.S. on just two fill-ups and has respectable (if not Earth-shattering) mpg ratings of 35 city/40 highway. Along with its Kia Optima Hybrid sibling, the Sonata comes rather well loaded with premium features standard. In the meantime though, Hyundai has also been pushing forward plans to sell hydrogen cars, possibly as soon as 2012.

If Hyundai intends to take on the Prius though, they're going to have to do better than a combined 37 mpg or expensive hydrogen vehicles. As it is, nobody has yet to match Toyota's 50 mpg rating on the Prius, though the competition is quickly closing in and Hyundai plans to achieve a fleetwide rating of 50 mpg by 2025, which isn’t as far away as it seems. Will it be a Hyundai plug-in hybrid that takes the Prius down? Could be…

Source: Left Lane News

Eco Knievel: A Macho Force For Good | Maker Faire 2011

Posted: 26 May 2011 12:40 AM PDT

Having been to the Maker Faire a few times, I found myself feeling a bit like this guy. I rushed to the faire early Saturday morning, totally against my nature, to see Eco Knievel jump an electric "motorcycle" (BMX Bicycle, actually) over a Hummer (well, Prius, actually), at high noon. OK, it was a jump, it was cool. Then he rode through a wall of Tofu (held in wall form by some Tyvek), which was nifty too. But it was much more crowded than any previous faire, with a smattering of familiar Playa art, as well as some new pieces, like these lovely farting flowers:

Making Eco Macho

I went to the Maker Faire with the intention of writing about whatever interesting new vehicles people had been building in their garages, and didn't find much. Although it was a bit difficult to see through the throngs of people. Yes, Chevy had the Volt on display. And nobody cared. There was a plethora of bizarre Steampunk carriages, all human-powered. And there was Eco-Knievel. I first encountered Eco-Knievel at the Commonwealth Club the Thursday before the faire. He was on a panel discussion on "Injecting Macho Into the Environmental Movement" along with the following luminaries:

Mark Barden, Partner, Eatbigfish
Jit Bhattacharya, CEO, Mission Motor Company
Saul Griffith, Co-founder, Squid Labs, Instructables.com, Makani Power; Inventor; Author
Jason Mark, Editor, Earth Island Journal; Co-manager, Alemany Farm
Chris Lindland, Founder, Betabrand.com – Moderator

The podcast should be available soon. It was a good discussion, because regardless of gender, "eco" needs to be more sexy. More Tesla, less Prius, please. But then, I guess I could say the same for gas cars. As you can see in the video, the Betabrand disco pants were REALLY distracting. Eco should’ve been wearing them, then I wouldn’t have missed his first jump.

Do It for the Children

Although the original faire in San Mateo is getting too crowded for my tastes, it remains an excellent place to instill children with a passion for creation. It's teeming with wonderful examples of how science and math can be fun and wild. Luckily they now open on Friday strictly for students and educators (or so I heard…). But why wait till the next faire? Forget the scouts, sign your kids up as Young Makers! My brother’s kids are playing with toys made by this homemade 3-D printer. Not as fancy as the one they had at CRP, but still very cool.

Nothing Beats a Tesla

Except perhaps a My Little Soldering Pony. Despite feeling quite jaded elsewhere, there's one thing that never fails to fill me with wonder and delight. And that's a Tesla coil. Even better TWO Tesla coils! But even better than that, they're alighting on a Faraday cage filled with children! Oh, and just when you thought it couldn't possibly be any better…. the Tesla coils are playing music. And not just any music, but the Doctor Who theme song. We were all in Nerd Heaven. You can try to replicate the experience here, but it's not the same. So next year, I may skip it and compete in the Red Bull Soapbox Races instead. But rather than help start a Maker Faire Los Angeles, I'd like to go to Maker Faire Africa. That seems much more exciting. Though perhaps not as exciting as watching parents let their children dangle beneath massive boulders.