There was a time not too long ago that Lincoln and Cadillac fought over the high-end auto market in the United States. These days, the field is pretty much wild open for Caddy, though Lincoln still sells some nice vehicles. A few years ago, Lincoln commissioned the boys from Orange County to build a chopper commemorating the beginning of production of the Mark LT pickup. Cadillac apparently had to keep up, so the company will be showing off a new chopper at the upcoming LA Auto Show. This will actually be Cadillac's second commissioned bike, but this one is a bit special, as it's been designed to run on ethanol and will supposedly represent GM's "strength in science and technology." With all due respect to the builders of the bike, there's not a whole lot that's technologically advanced in a chopper built with a big fat rear tire and an air-cooled V-Twin, even one that has been jetted properly for alcohol fuel. Still, the machine should make a wee bit more power running on ethanol, and we look forward to seeing the new Cadillac bike in LA.
Can the vehicle above become a new icon of emission-free transportation in the City of Love? Perhaps, as Paris now has a small fleet of hybrid pedal rickshaws, similar to those in Rome and Valencia. The rickshaw service, called Urban-Cab, is defined as an "intermediate non-polluting solution between a bus and a taxi." The rickshaws operate on a route that passes along the Bastille, the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Saint-Michel and Notre-Dame - basically where tourists want to go. The rickshaws are powered not only by pedal power, but also a battery and an electric motor that assists on steep grades. Urban-Cab claims that these are a completely carbon-free means of transport and they expect to have more than 100 units around Paris by the end of this year.
[Source: Urban-Cab (thanks to Dominique for the tip)]
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, drivers in Ohio are facing problems when it comes time to register their electric three-wheeled vehicles. Most states classify three-wheelers as motorcycles, but Ohio adds one more item to their definition of a motorcycle: a saddle. This means that three-wheelers which have a normal "car-like" seat are unregisterable as a car, because they have fewer than four wheels, or a motorcycle. Two vehicles are mentioned in our source article, the ZAP! Xebra and the NmG from Myers Motors (pictured above), a company based, ironically enough, in Ohio. According to Josh Engel, chief legal counsel for the BMV, "It's not the first time that the law hasn't caught up with technology," adding that the state of Ohio is supportive of electric vehicles. Basically, the law needs to change, and Tom Hunter, communications director for the BMV, suggests that the real solution would be to classify the vehicles as neither cars nor motorcycles. A special class of vehicle would be created, and hopefully a motorcycle endorsement would not be required. We'll keep you updated if anything new comes of this issue. Thanks for the tip, Ken.
Segway transporters hold a special place on our site as technologically advanced electric two-wheelers available all over the world. While the Segway's usefulness as a transportation device is often scrutinized, the zero-emissions status of the self-balancing little machine is not up for debate. Now, the Segway i2 even comes painted in the right color: green. Specifically, the chosen hue is known as "Metallic Sage." Apparently, just calling it green doesn't do the new shade justice, as Segway remarks that the color "has a goldish finish with hues of green and a metallic underbody that grabs changing light." But wait, there's more, the "Segway wordmark is presented in an off-white green with a subtle outline above the gray i2 logomark."
To be frank, our meager blogging budgets don't allow us to afford a Segway i2 anyway, but if we were to purchase one, this is the color that we'd choose.
We recently had a short email exchange with the president of Bajaj USA, Al Kolvites, and we were informed that the 3-wheelers, known as rickshaws in some other countries, are no longer available in the states. Kolvites cites the manual transmission as one major reason as to why the 3-wheelers didn't sell very well in the U.S. Apparently, modifications were needed to make the machines DOT and EPA compliant, and Bajaj did not see the point of making the required changes considering the low number of units actually sold in the U.S. Kolvites says that he had asked for an automatic transmission version to sell here, but Bajaj declined, saying that most of their customers preferred the shift-it-yourself tranny and the mileage benefits that generally accompany them.
Bajaj USA has sold out of the inventory of 3-wheelers, meaning that if you want one, you'll need to scour the used market. We're truly sad to hear that the venerable rickshaw is no longer available in the states, especially considering the fuel mileage that the unique machines were capable of.
India, the seventh largest but second most populous country in the world, has good reason to encourage electric vehicle sales, considering that its automobile market is growing very rapidly. Pollution could become a much larger problem than it already is if steps are not taken to manage it now. India's government realizes this fact, which led it to recently waive the excise duty for electric cars. Up until now, though, the tax has stood at 8 percent for electric bikes. Not anymore, as both two- and three-wheeled electric bikes are now duty-free, enabling them to be more cost-competitive against the gasoline-powered motorcycles they compete with. According to The Economic Times, electric cycles currently cost between Rs 20,000 to Rs 36,000. After the excise waiver goes into effect, the price for electric bikes should drop by Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,400.
Click on the image to view more shots of Brandon Boyd's Vespa LX150
If you're an Incubus fan and feel the need to save some gas, this could be your lucky day. Brandon Boyd, lead singer for the rather oddly-named band, has placed his Vespa LX150 up on eBay along with an arranged meeting and photo-op. One-hundred percent of the proceeds from the auction go to the non-profit organization "Make Yourself Foundation," which was started by the band-members. Note that the scooter is definitely an LX150, not a PX150 as it states in the auction title. The PX150 is a retro-looking, metal-bodied two-stroke, while the LX150 is a more modern design and comes with a 150cc four-stroke -- much better for the environment. With less than 300 miles on the odometer, the new owner will likely be able to enjoy this machine's 72 miles per gallon for quite some time. What they won't do is reach 90 miles per hour as stated in the auction. Expect a realistic 60 mph or so.
Not into scooters? How about taking a look at this auction as an alternative, which features a 10 foot long epoxy surfboard, also signed by Brandon Boyd.
France loves the Solex. The original was basically a bicycle with a small two-stroke motor powering the front wheel with friction. This 49 cc, 0.5 HP unit is also detacheble. allowing the bike to be used the old-fashioned way -- exclusively under human power. As we reported previously, the Solex is back as an EV scooter for eco-concious retro-lovers. The good news is that you don't have to buy one to enjoy it; you can now rent one through Europcar (although the price is not yet on its website). So far, the rental company just offers it at four locations: Paris porte Maillot, Paris Diderot, Marseille Prado and Cannes ville. Thanks to Dominique for the tip!
Yamaha is not the first manufacturer to tout the fuel efficiency of its line of scooters, but it is the first to go so far as to list the estimated fuel mileage on each of its website's product pages. Scooter riders will be happy to see that Yamaha is claiming 124 miles per gallon from its Zuma, though its two-stroke engine likely emits more pollutants than a comparable four-stroke. Thankfully, both the Vino Classic and C3 use four-strokers and still do better than 100 miles per gallon. If higher speeds are a necessity for you, perhaps the Vino 125 will do with its 96 mile per gallon rating and 50+ mile per hour top-speed. Moving up the line, the futuristic Morphous and its 250cc four-stroke engine manages 56 miles per gallon and is freeway capable. Yamaha's top-of-the-line Maxiscooter, the Majesty, offers a 400cc engine which still delivers over 50 miles per gallon.
The fuel efficiency of various scooter models has been under discussion as of late. Most outlets agree that 100 miles per gallon is only really possible on 50cc machines, but their larger brothers are still capable of figures which are well beyond what the average automobile is capable of. We'd expect other manufacturers to follow Yamaha's lead in making fuel efficiency a selling-point for scooters and small-bore motorcycles as gas prices continue to climb.
As the video pasted after the break points out, running a 26 mile marathon is a tough task as it is. Though this writer couldn't hope to complete one anyway, doing so while bracketed by pollution-spewing cars and motorcycles makes it that much harder. So, we love the idea of using Vectrix electric scooters as the pace-setters and support vehicles for the just-finished Boston Marathon.
The video also mentions lighter but higher capacity batteries on the horizon. We can only assume that this refers to lithium ion packs. Take note of the electric MP3-style scooter that we've mentioned before which is slated to go on sale in eight months along with the electric sportsbike that could go on sale within a few years, depending on the interest level. The video concludes by making mention of the Brammo Enertia (see our ride here) and Zero Motorcycles off-road bike.
Last year, we showed you Canadian teen Ben Gulak's much-cooler interpretation of the Segway. Called the Uno, his 120 pound machine is capable of balancing itself and its rider using custom-programmed software and some gyros. When we last saw the contraption, it looked very much like the DIY machine that it is, but now the Uno appears in a much more finished state, complete with sporty bodywork in bright orange. There's also a website for the project, though not much is posted there as of yet.
The Uno was created as a possible response to the pollution that our internal combustion engines emit as we drive. On a 2006 trip to China, Ben says that "The smog was so thick, we never saw the sun." Though most of the hard work was done by Ben himself, a few experts stepped in to provide a bit of assistance, and the end-result is reportedly very easy to ride. We likey.
The folks at Optibike have been building electric bikes for a few years and that experience now manifests itself in their ultimate creation, the new OB1. It takes the signature Optibike part, the patented Motorized Bottom Bracket (MBB) that uses a derailleur system to give you the optimum gear ratio and mates it with a 850W continuous brushless DC motor powered by 20ah of lithium ion batteries housed inside an aluminum monocoque frame. Add to that handlebars, brakes, derailleur, chainring, and cable ferrules made of carbon fiber. Suspend it with Fox Racing shocks and forks connected to TAG Dupont resin wheels and let it light up the night with twin 10W halogen lights. All done? Not even close. It has a fully integrated wireless PDA to monitor things like battery state of charge, motor temperatures, and expected range. You won't need to worry about getting lost either since there is also GPS satellite navigation.
According to their website "Your OB1 will be custom painted to your specifications by an artist at Gunslinger Custom Paint and the entire bike is covered by a 2 year full warranty". The battery is covered for 3 years or 30,000 miles and the wheels, frame, and Chris King Headset are guaranteed for life. Every flight of fancy has its price and the OB1 will set you back $12,995 if, of course, you act fast enough because quantities are very limited.
Optibike has a range of models besides the OB1 that are more than adequate for us mere mortals. Hit the jump for some videos of them in action doing craziness like traversing Breckenridge and climbing Pike's Peak.
Here's a project that caught our attention. After all, it's got a motorcycle powered by fruit.
The bike was a Triumph Daytona 675 motorbike that broke a speed record of 158.7 mph at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground. The interesting part of the project is that the fuel used to run the bike was ethanol obtained with basic equipment. So basic that it was made by students from the Prince William School in Oundle, Northamptonshire, UK in their A-levels Chemistry Lab. The bike was lightly modified by Bike magazine (just a remap of the fuel injection system) and provided for free by Triumph Motorcycles. Then the A-level students (equivalent to High School seniors in the U.S.) crushed and fermented 6,000 apples to obtain the ethanol. . [Source: Triumph]
DIY to the max is one great way to describe the Voltzilla homemade electric motorcycle you see in the picture above. The Voltzilla (also called the ForkenCycle) is the creation of Russ Gries, who was able to score a free (if old) battery-powered forklift from his work and then bought (for $50) a 1976 Honda CB550. Our friend Darin interviewed Gries over at Ecomodder. Gries says that while he "loves to tinker," gas engines are not his friend. Working on the EV motorcyce was a lot more fun. Plus, since he was able to sell the forklift chassis for scrap, the total cost for the Voltzilla thus far is $15.61. Now that's cheap. Since the bike is based on the forklift, there are a number of differences between this motorcycle and other EV two wheelers: it's 24 volts (instead of the more common 48), it has a transmission and a reverse gear. With the cheap cost, you can safely guess that those are some golf cart batteries moving the Voltzilla along. Check out Ecomodder for more details. Thanks to James and Darin for the tips! There are some sweet videos of the Voltzilla after the jump.
It's Friday afternoon. There are a few minutes to go for all of you stuck in the office before the weekend hits. Why not enjoy a little laugh courtesy of the comic Diesel Sweeties. Diesel Sweeties is a strip that blends old school computer graphics with some eco-aware young people who like video games and robots who like cats. Diesel Sweeties was created by rstevens back in 2000 and is now syndicated in some newspapers.
We're not going to spoil the punchline to a recent comic that fits well with AutoblogGreen. Click here to read rstevens' genius idea to solve the four problems listed in by the robot in the image on the right. There are other green-transport-related strips here and here. In fact, go ahead and just click around the DS site for a while. Your boss won't mind, I'm sure, and this strip is quite genius. Thanks to Shawn for the tip!
There was a time not too long ago that Lincoln and Cadillac fought over the high-end auto market in the United States. These days, the field is pretty much wild open for Caddy, though Lincoln still sells some nice vehicles. A few years ago, Lincoln commissioned the boys from Orange County to build a chopper commemorating the beginning of production of the Mark LT pickup. Cadillac apparently had to keep up, so the company will be showing off a new chopper at the upcoming LA Auto Show. This will actually be Cadillac's second commissioned bike, but this one is a bit special, as it's been designed to run on ethanol and will supposedly represent GM's "strength in science and technology." With all due respect to the builders of the bike, there's not a whole lot that's technologically advanced in a chopper built with a big fat rear tire and an air-cooled V-Twin, even one that has been jetted properly for alcohol fuel. Still, the machine should make a wee bit more power running on ethanol, and we look forward to seeing the new Cadillac bike in LA.
India, the seventh largest but second most populous country in the world, has good reason to 
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