Thursday, October 28, 2010

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Road-Straddling Bus Might Come To The U.S.

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 02:21 PM PDT

Like most Americans, I hate traffic. Sometimes though, there just isn’t anyway to avoid it, especially if you commute to a congested city. You would think, with the millions of miles of highway stretching across the United States, somebody would have come up with a way of utilizing highways that didn’t involve cars. It took a Chinese designer to come up with a way to literally get around traffic.

I already brought you the story of the Chinese bus-train that would straddle highways and carry “hundreds” of passengers right over traffic. I just never expected it might actually come to the U.S.

To quickly rehash, The Straddling Bus was designed by Song Youzhou, who wants to start work on this interesting traffic-avoider sometime in 2011 in China. It is part train, part bus, and takes its passengers over traffic. He also is starting a U.S. company, called U.S. Elevated High-Speed Bus, to work on bringing the Straddling Bus to U.S. cities. Spokesman for the group, Mark Shieh, said that "Relative to the cost of a subway line or other rail transit, our bus delivers extraordinary value. Aside from the low cost, the time for construction is about one third that for a subway."

Sounds all well and good, but what about those pesky big rigs and overpasses that tend to dominate our highways? Hell, even some jacked-up Hummers might pose a problem for this unique idea, as the bus rides just eight-feet above traffic…though last I checked, Americans tend to drive some pretty tall cars and drive up some pretty low underpasses. Also, the average speed of just 25 to 50 mph isn’t very impressive, even if it is 100% electric. I’d rather take my chances with traffic.

I’m not saying this idea won’t work. I just want to know how they intend to get around all these problems.

Source: Wired

Chinese Claim New High Speed Rail Record

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 01:59 PM PDT

China has substantially reinvented itself in just a few decades, going from a closed-off communist bastion to hosting much of the world’s manufacturing capacity. That foreign investment, plus buying up U.S. debt, has allowed China to launch itself into the 21st century, building all sorts of projects from bullet trains to mega highways to a very impressive Olympic Village for the 2008 Olympics.

China is currently gunning for the record of world’s fastest train, and claim that a recent 268 mph broke a world record. So what record exactly did it break?

All land-speed records, whether it be for planes, trains, or automobiles, are divided into classes. The current record holder for conventional is the French V150, which went 575 kph, or about 357 mph. However, that train, so far as I know, does not operate a daily rail service. The fastest maglev train belongs to Japan, which went 581 kph, or 362 mph. That is the absolute fastest train ever.

China is claiming that its new, home-built bullet running train between Hongqiao and Hangzhou achieved a top speed of 262 mph, but will run at a more leisurely 220 mph on a regular basis. That means the 126-mile trip will take just 45 minutes, with tickets costing about $12. On my recent excursion to New York City, it took the train over 90 minutes to cover just 80 miles from New Haven.

The Chinese hope to take the train up to 312 mph eventually. Plenty fast, but hardly record-breaking. So what record did China break? Perhaps it is the fastest Chinese-built train ever?

I guess it doesn’t matter, because China also has the world’s most extensive high-speed rail network. They might not have the absolute speed record now, but give them a few more years and they will. America has a lot of catching up to do.

Source: Endgadget

Is This The Toyota Prius MPV?

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 10:13 AM PDT

Toyota has been hinting that it will expand the Prius lineup to include more than just the current sedan. A natural progression seems to be a more spacious, larger family vehicle, not quite a mini-van, and not quite a station wagon, but something in the middle. A Prius MPV, if you will.

The plan was for Toyota to unveil this Prius MPV at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Pictures of this MPV have leaked on to the Internet though. So is this the Prius MPV, and if so…do you like it?

We already saw some pictures of the outline of the MPV Prius on a billboard, behind a regular Prius. There have also been sightings of a test mule running around. Apparently the Prius MPV will be driven by the same 1.8 liter four-banger in the current Prius, though with a hefty horsepower bump from 98 ponies to 138. This will help haul the family and cargo without feeling underpowered (I hope).

The question then, is will this Prius MPV manage to maintain the lofty fuel efficiency we have come to expect from the world’s best-selling hybrid. More to the point though, is this a vehicle you could see your family in?
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