Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Company Shows Off Plug-In Hybrid ‘Ultra-Green Superyacht’

Posted: 01 Jun 2010 01:27 PM PDT

Although little more than an idea on paper right now, Sauter Carbon Offset Design has set its sights on being the first company in the world to cater to the as-yet-non-existent ultra-rich luxury green yacht crowd.

The first vessel they hope to sell will be the Transcendence, a 49 meter superyacht with a Mercedes Benz diesel powerplant hooked to a generator to provide the electricity to run the props, a lithium-ion battery system to store power from the grid when plugged in at dock, a bunch of solar cells to help provide a bit of power when out at sea, and a top speed of 25 knots. The company says the boat will have a “50 to 100% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions” when compared to its counterparts.

Does this herald in a new generation of luxury yachts, or is it simply the wish list of a company that has no chance in hell of succeeding?

(more…)

GM Pulls Out of Electric Car Partnership in India; Mahindra-REVA Force to Be Reckoned With

Posted: 01 Jun 2010 12:47 PM PDT

After last week’s announcement that Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra had bought Indian EV maker REVA to form the bigger, badder Mahindra REVA, GM has now decided it’s in their best interest to pull out of a partnership with REVA that had aimed at developing low-cost electric vehicles for emerging markets.

It seems GM didn’t feel that sharing EV tech with a company that will likely be a major competitor in the years to come was a wise move.

(more…)

How Racing Electric Motorcycles Could Pay Better than Going Pro

Posted: 01 Jun 2010 09:46 AM PDT

TTXGP 2nd place winner Michael Barnes with the Lightning EV1-powered bike.

Earlier this month, I wrote about the season opener of the TTXGP, the first electric motorcycle racing series. In that article I mentioned one of the things that makes this series so special — the unique ownership structure, Trust.eGrandPrix.org. The TEO enables teams to own a piece of the TTXGP series. Nobody can buy into the TEO, it's only open to competitors. Normally, teams spend a lot of money to compete, much of which is paid by sponsors, while the organizing body pays to hold & market the events, then collects all of the income from TV rights, ticket sales, and event sponsorship. If TTXGP grows as popular as MotoGP, or even a national series like the AMA, this has enormous potential.

For example, Dorna, the company which manages MotoGP, showed operating profits reported at €51.1m for 2008. For an established series like MotoGP with sizeable purses for winners, it might not make sense to share ownership amongst the competitors. But for a new series in the startup phase, it's a great way to reward racers for their loyalty to the cutting edge. This new ownership structure rewards loyalty in a number of ways.

(more…)

Japan’s “Science City” Will Test Solar Powered Electric Car Sharing

Posted: 01 Jun 2010 09:38 AM PDT

Tsukuba City will test a car sharing plan that uses solar powered electric vehicles

In a classic case of sustainability layering that borders on downright slathering, the City of Tsukuba in Japan is set to test-host a new car sharing system using electric vehicles that are powered almost exclusively by solar energy. According to a recent report on the solar electric car sharing plan, the partnership involves the Mazda2 (aka the Demio in Japan) with electric vehicle drive trains from Think, using lithium ion batteries developed by the U.S. company EnerDel, and all based on the ZipCar car sharing model.

The choice of Tsukuba as a test community is no accident, considering its moniker “Science City.” By design and population, the city is an ideal laboratory for giving sustainability concepts a real-world workout.

(more…)
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)