Greener Green Grass

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

New posts from Gas 2.0!

Better Place Battery-swap Station Gets Real in Israel (video)
AT&T Adds 101 CNG-powered Chevy Vans to New Commercial Fleet
Duke’s Garage Unveils Electrified Classic Porsche Replicas
F-22 Raptor Goes Mach 1.5 on 50% Biofuel Blend
As Gas Prices Rise, So Does Fuel Theft

Better Place Battery-swap Station Gets Real in Israel (video)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 02:00 PM PDT

Project Better Place keeps making waves, having recently announced partnerships with Renault and expansion into Denmark. With all the news and progress being made, Better Place certainly seems legit, but perception often lags reality, and some of our readers have left comments questioning whether Better Place’s business model had any legs.

As if answering in the affirmative, Project Better Place’s Israeli facility released this video of the battery swapper in action, effectively “topping off” the electric car with a simple swipe of a card in about the same time it would take to top-off a conventional ICE car. The stations themselves are designed to be modular in construction, and compatible with several different EVs – although they are presumably leaning heavily towards batteries powering Renault/Nissan’s EVs.

The Truth About Cars blog reports that 8 more Better Place battery-swap stations are currently in construction, and the company hopes to eventually have 40 similar stations operational throughout Israel. Shai Agassi, the company’s CEO, says "you're seeing the second Apple" in the video above … which may or may not mean that he plans to follow in Steve Job’s footsteps.

Source: The Truth About Cars.

AT&T Adds 101 CNG-powered Chevy Vans to New Commercial Fleet

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 01:00 PM PDT

The addition of over 100 new SULEV-ii compliant commercial Chevy Express vans to AT&T’s service fleet is a great way to generate some positive PR for the company – especially after last week, when the telecom giant announced it had bought TMobile’s US operations, creating a ~~new “Ma Bell”~~ bigger, more monopolistic cell company that many believe will hurt the freedoms (and pocketbooks) of pretty much everyone except AT&T’s board-members.

Still, the news that AT&T is choosing a clean-air option for its latest round of purchases is genuinely good for the environment and certainly good for AT&T’s bottom line, which will surely reap financial benefits from the CNG switch in the face of $5/gallon gas. Hopefully more fleet managers will follow suit.

Source: AutoEvolution.

Duke’s Garage Unveils Electrified Classic Porsche Replicas

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 11:00 AM PDT

Taking a classic car and converting to electric power seems to be gaining popularity with the old car crowd. Dukes Garage, a company that specializes in EV conversions, has introduced replica Porsche 356 eSpeedster and eSpyder electric cars.

Based out of Westminster, Colorado, Dukes Garage has made a business out of converting all sorts of cars to electric power, among them a classic Mustang convertible, several VW Bugs, and numerous Porsche. The eSpeedster and eSpyder will be their first "kit" car offering, with a price of $49,995, and a 110 mile range thanks to a lithium-ion battery pack and 39 kW electric motor. This electric Porsche will be surprisingly peppy, with a 6.7 second sprint from 0-60 mph, and running the ¼ mile in less than 15 seconds. The eSpeedster will have a top speed of around 90 mph too, and recharge in between six and eight hours. You also get a leather interior and an optional iPod-connecting radio.

The real key to this car is weight; this classic reproduction Porsche lacks much of the heavy modern safety equipment and unnecessary bells and whistles found on modern cars. Thus, a smaller battery pack can help it get much farther. And at under $50,000, it is less than half the price of a Tesla Roadster in arguably a much cooler looking package. Hell, I’m sold, but if you need more convincing, they’re also working on an electric ’75 VW MicroBus.

If you could convert any old car to electric power, what car would you choose? For me, it would probably be a 1967 Mercury Cougar, an offshoot of the Mustang but much cooler looking (at least to me!)

Source: Duke’s Garage

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.

F-22 Raptor Goes Mach 1.5 on 50% Biofuel Blend

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 09:30 AM PDT

A lot of self-proclaimed "patriots" seem to love oil as much as they love America. Maybe the military's use of biofuels can change some minds, as a F-22 Raptor was able to go Mach 1.5 times on 50% camelina oil blend.

The U.S. Air Force wants to achieve 50% of its domestic jet fuel from biofuel blends by 2016. The mixture used in this raptor was 50% JP-8 jet fuel and 50% camelina oil, with the camelina sativa breed being especially desirable for its used in alternative fuels. Jet fuel burns very hot and has a very high octane, which is needed to propel these fighter aircraft to many times the speed of sound. The maximum speed for the Raptor is estimated to be over Mach 2 with afterburners, so going 1.5 times the speed of sound, or over 1,100 mph, without the afterburners is a pretty big deal on 50% biofuel. There was no perceivable loss in power to the plane, and use of the fuel reduces emissions by up to 80% while coming from a domestically grown, inedible plant. Unfortunately, it's on a jet that may not be around for very long.

The F-22 Raptor, which only formally entered service in 2005, was the center of a bitter debate over budget cuts and military spending. Eventually Secretary of Defense Robert Gates threatened to have the President veto the procurement budget if it included the final order of Raptor air supremacy fighters. Future fighters are sure to have alternative fuel capability as a mandatory requirement when companies submit their bids. This falls in line with the Marines buying two Smith Newton electric trucks, and the Army soliciting bids for a hybrid flying armored car.

Montana has been experimenting with camelina biofuel blends, and I dare you to call one of their cowboys a hippy. Growing fuel from an inedible plant and employing Americans while limiting the money that goes to oppressive regimes is exactly what this country needs. The U.S. military knows that it must wean itself off of oil by 2040, and sees fuel shortages happening as soon as 2015, but I guess some patriots would rather pledge allegiance to oil than practical thinking.

Source: Gizmag

As Gas Prices Rise, So Does Fuel Theft

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 07:17 AM PDT

Gasoline is still one of the cheapest liquids-per-gallon in the U.S., but across the pond the Brits are once again dealing with record petrol prices. This has prompted thieves to take to stealing petrol from parked vehicles.

We're not quite at $4 a gallon in the U.S., but petroleum prices in the U.K. have shot past $8 a gallon. With a 20 gallon tank, that's $160 worth of fuel just ripe for the picking. If you're talking about big trucks with 1,000 liter (about 260 gallons) of fuel, that's over $2,000 just begging to be stolen. Entire truck fleets can have their fuel tanks empted in a single night, with the thieves pocketing over $20,000 for a few hours of siphoning fuel. What's more, they're doing it with relatively simple tools, like a battery-operated minipump and a few drums to store the fuel. The problem is rather prolific too. Two-thirds of the respondents to a Road Haulage Association survey reported fuel theft in the last year.

Another problem has been "red diesel," a lower tax fuel designed for off-road use in boats and farm machinery as opposed to cars. It has a lower tax rate, and there are organizations removing the red dye and selling it as regular diesel. I'm not positive, but this is probably less-refined fuel, meaning more emissions and less money via the taxes.

Sounds just awful. Glad we're not there…yet. But if gas prices continue to edge towards $4 a gallon, fuel theft will probably go on the rise in America too. It’s happened before, and parts of California already have gas for over $5 a gallon, so you better get your locking gas caps now.

Source: BBC

Monday, March 28, 2011

New posts from Gas 2.0!

Can the EU Get Off Fossil Fuels by 2050?
Gasoline Hits $5.40 (Regular!) in California
Your Last Chance to Win A Tesla Roadster RC Car from Gas 2.0!
Scientists Make Lightweight Plastics from Fruit
Volvo to Lease C30 Electric Car for $2,100 A Month

Can the EU Get Off Fossil Fuels by 2050?

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 04:39 PM PDT

The internal combustion engine can't get no love these days, especially in Europe. The European Union will announce a plan next week that eliminates the use of fossil fuels in vehicles in Europe by 2050. Can it be done?

Probably not, I'd wager, though not for a lack of trying. The EU wants to cut overall emissions by 60% by 2050, which seems like a realistic goal if you include the introduction of more renewable fuels and power sources. Another big part of the plan is to push more of the population on to public transportation, which makes sense in Europe's old, congested cities. Eventually, they want to ban the use of gas and diesel fuel in city centers entirely, which could make the delivery of goods difficult.

However, completely eliminating the use of fossil fuels in city centers just isn't likely to happen in less than 40 years, with the big outlier being the transportation of goods. Unlike the United States, Europe has struggled to turn a profit on freight rail (though their passenger trains do just fine.) So while electric cars might be just fine 40 years from now for transporting people, will the technology have evolved enough to make transporting goods hundreds, or thousands of miles overland? Will they be stopped at the city limits and forced to transfer their load onto smaller EV delivery trucks? Sounds inefficient and costly, and that cost gets passed on to the consumer.

I don't know. By banning fossil fuels though, the EU alienates alternatives like CNG and LPG, both of which are cleaner burning and readily abundant. Electric cars certainly are promising, but their acceptance is going to take plenty of time, and ICE technology has been stalled for decades. Who is to say the same won’t happen with EV’s? And while the EU is pushing for big advances in EV technology, the plan calls for most journeys between cities of more than 186 miles to move from the road to rail. But why push for more range out of EV’s if you’re just planning on putting people on trains anyway? You’ll have EV’s that can go 300 miles that no one will want to buy because hey, we have trains for those long trips.

I think the EU should concentrate on getting its city dwellers around without cars. Apparently Europeans use cars to get around the city 75% of the time, which is probably still way less than most Americans, but more than it should be with today's available technology. I agree that traffic congestion is a problem, but the EU might back itself into a corner with this dramatic proposal.

Do you guys think the EU can get around without fossil fuels by 2050?

Source: Autoblog

Gasoline Hits $5.40 (Regular!) in California

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PDT

This photo was posted over on the Quattroworld (Audi) forums earlier today, and it clearly shows a Death Valley, California Chevron station charging $5.40 for a gallon of regular, and $5.62 (.9) for each gallon of 91 octane “premium”. The price of diesel is another gut-check, at $5.77 … which would easily mean $100 fill-ups for diesel Volkswagens and up to $200 for big diesel trucks.

$5 gas isn’t around the corner, people. It’s here. The real question is: what do we do now?

I’ve already got a pair of 50 cc Honda scooters as my “fuel crunch” vehicles – what about you, dear readers? Did you swear you’d switch to local bio-fuels once gas hit $5 a gallon, or are you already running on CNG? Do you plug your car in at night? Are you glad GM used some of their bailout money to rush the Volt to market?

If you haven’t made your “$5/gal.” plans yet, you’d better move quick: I expect to see $5000 Geo Metros on eBay any day now.

Source: Quattroworld, via Jalopnik.

Your Last Chance to Win A Tesla Roadster RC Car from Gas 2.0!

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 02:23 PM PDT

So this week is the last chance for loyal Gas 2.0 readers to WIN a Tesla Roadster RC Car, and the contest couldn’t be simpler. Just follow us on Twitter or Facebook, answer one of our daily questions, and you’re entered in twin of two awesome RC cars! What are you waiting for?

Scientists Make Lightweight Plastics from Fruit

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 09:00 AM PDT

One way to lose weight is to eat more fruit. Turns out a fruit diet is good for cars too. Researchers in Brazil have made a lightweight plastic from the nano-fibers of bananas, pineapples, and coconut shells.

I already knew fruit was amazing, and the process of weaving wood fiber into paper has been around for centuries. Only recently though have researchers from Sao Paulo University in Brazil begun to unlock the mysteries of nano cellulose fibers. You can supposedly fit 50,000 of these fibers across the width of a human hair. When woven together and combined with plastic, they produce a material that is up to three times lighter and four times stronger than the types of plastics currently used in cars. Researchers say that in as little as two years that fruit nano fibers could be used in car production in as little as two years, shedding hundreds of pounds in weight without sacrificing rigidity. Comparable materials, like carbon fiber and Kevlar are expensive to make. What is so promising about these fibers is that they come from the leftovers of fruit, like pineapple stems and leaves, rather than the edible fruit itself, thus avoiding the food-for-fuel issue. Other good sources of nano-fibers include the coir fibers in coconut shells, sisal fibers from the Agave plant (get ready for a Tequila shortage), and bananas (banana skins?)

A lightweight, affordable plastic that could shed hundreds, or even thousands of pounds from a car could have huge implications for fuel economy. Weight is the enemy of fuel efficiency and performance, and cars seem to just keep getting bigger and heavier. Is this the revolution we've been waiting for, or another dead-end dream?

P.S. What’d you guys think of my awesome MS Paint skills?

Source: The Daily Mail

Volvo to Lease C30 Electric Car for $2,100 A Month

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 06:13 AM PDT

We all know electric cars are still quite expensive, but automakers believe there are people who will pay a premium to drive emissions free. Even so, Volvo's $2,100-a-month lease for its C30 EV seems like an expensive pill to swallow.

Volvo, the perky Swedish brand which was recently sold by Ford to Chinese car company Geely, certainly falls under the "premium" category of automobiles. And not to be left in the dust of the electric car movement, Volvo has given us a few clever concept cars, from the ReCharge concept to the plug-inV60 diesel-electric hybrid that sounds very promising. Now they even have a road-ready EV concept that they're ready to put into the hands of consumers…for 1,500 euros, or about $2,100 a month, for 36 months.

Got your calculators handy? I do, and if you go through the full 3-year lease, that's about $75,600 you're paying to not own the car. Umm…who thought this was a good idea?

Ok, first, let's step back and analyze this. $2,100 a month to lease a car sounds like a lot, and it is. But is it any crazier than paying $599 a month to lease the Smart ForTwo EV (which you can soon rent), which seats half as many people and cargo? Or the $800+ people paid to lease the MINI E? I'd wager not. In fact, Volvo claims that even at these exorbinent rates, they are only breaking even. How, exactly, I don't know (they still own the car…) but Green Car Advisor points out that perhaps Nissan has spoiled us with the comparatively-low entry price of the Leaf EV, which you can purchase for under $33,000. Volvo's aren't cheap to begin with, so adding tens of thousands of dollars in battery equipment and electric drive systems to the armored personal carriers that the Swedes call cars was never going to be cheap.

All told, The Big V plans to lease the C30 EV, with its 24 kWh battery, more to private and government test fleets than to individual customers. Which really doesn't make me feel any better, knowing there's some government jockey rolling around in a car that costs more to lease than most people pay for a mortgage, but Volvo is only bringing around 100 C30 EV's to America.

What are your thoughts on this leasing scheme?

Source: Green Car Advisor