Recent Comments:
Honda VFR conversion to electric power now complete {Autoblog Green}
Jul 8th 2008 5:46PM If only I had the room and equipment to build these. A little bit more range or if I could find a house closer to work and the bike would work out for me. Who knows - maybe I'll get a garage and the tools so I can try to build my own like Travis!
Hey Mark D - you and Tom need to figure out how to power one of those carbon fiber gravity racers you guys built with battery power, just for fun!
(Dave - also in San Diego)
Lower speed limit movement spreading as John Warner jumps aboard {Autoblog Green}
Jul 7th 2008 2:58AM Why bother dropping the speed limit further, if existing speed limits are already ignored by the fast majority of drivers on the road today?
Is dropping the speed limit further really going to cause people to slow down more?
For example, I drove 120 miles from Los Angeles to San Diego today along I-5. The first 20 miles the speed limit was 55mph, because the freeway is rather narrow and crowded. You'd seed speeds between 60mph and 75mph depending on road conditions. The only time you'd see anyone doing 50-55mph is if they were merging on to the freeway and never learned how to floor it when doing so (like one idiot who stopped at the end of the onramp with his signal on waiting for a gap) or if traffic got too heavy.
Then it opens up to 4 lines + a carpool lane and the speed limit goes up accordingly to 65mph. Now everyone is travelling 70mph+ with 80mph being common.
Trucks are already required to travel at a max of 55mph on all freeways in CA, but most travel at 60mph.
Is lowering the speed limit to 55mph going to significantly affect travel speeds? Or are people just going to travel at the rate of speed which feels comfortable and safe to them?
Chrysler adds integrated temperature humidity sensors on hybrid SUVs {Autoblog Green}
Jun 24th 2008 6:27AM @MemphisNET - I don't know - the tone I got from the summary suggested that only Chrysler had the technology to do so, since they have it patented. I'm not sure what they have patented, since at least Toyota has been doing something similar for years which was my only point.
It's good to see that they're introducing this technology in their hybrid, but when are we going to see this across the product line? (Same goes for Toyota's intelligent A/C system!)
VIDEO: Nanosolar makes a one gigawatt printing press {Autoblog Green}
Jun 23rd 2008 6:27PM OhmExcited wrote:
> Even if it were, the low efficiency would not make it practical.
Low efficiency compared to what? The most efficient solar cells available from the lab? Or what's typically used today for installations?
Nanosolar's cells are up to 14% efficient (it would be nice to know what their "typical" efficiency is but you can even assume 10% for this argument). Your typical silicon panel used today is up to 20% efficient.
Not exactly a huge difference, and it's only a difference that would be worth pursuing if your project was space constrained and not budget constrained.
The vast majority of installations have plenty of roof-space for cells. The limiting factor preventing more installations is the cost - and Nanosolar appears to be on target to reduce the cost of panels by 3-4x.
Chrysler adds integrated temperature humidity sensors on hybrid SUVs {Autoblog Green}
Jun 23rd 2008 6:12PM The Prius has been using a humidity sensor, multiple air temperature sensors and a light sensor to adjust A/C output since at least the 2nd generation model was introduced in 2004.
French magazine calculates the real savings using low-rolling resistance tires {Autoblog Green}
Jun 21st 2008 9:57PM What we need is an easy way to compare the rolling resistance between tires. Just like how tires are rated now for treadwear, top speed, load carrying, wet weather braking, etc, they need to be rated for rolling resistance.
Then let the consumer make the decision on what tire best fits their needs (or desires).
VW is OK with EU CO2 targets, proposes nuclear power {Autoblog Green}
Jun 17th 2008 3:08AM While the biggest source of Germany's electricity comes from coal, it doesn't not appear to be the "vast majority" as quoted in this article.
Germany already gets about a third of it's electricity from nuclear plants. Between 10-15% is renewable (wind/solar/geothermal). The rest (about 50-60%) is from coal or natural gas.
Germany has already shut down a large number of coal plants since the reunification of East/West Germany.
Greener golf with a solar golf cart {Autoblog Green}
Jun 16th 2008 3:05AM I have a feeling that putting the money spent on getting solar panels on the roof of a golf cart would be better spent by putting the panels on the roof of your house or business where you can be sure to angle the panels for maximum exposure to the sun.
The only advantage I see is that the solar panels can significantly extend the range of a cart, but since existing low-tech lead-acid battery technology already provides plenty of power for more than 36 holes of golf, I don't really see the point.
Toyota exec throws wet blanket on PHEV dreams {Autoblog Green}
Jun 12th 2008 4:14PM Is it any surprise that a vehicle designed to operate as a gas-hybrid doesn't operate up to it's full potential when converted to a PHEV by the aftermarket?
Even then, the plug-ins in Google.org's fleet are still posting impressive fuel economy numbers, ranging from 55mpg to 70mpg and further reduces total CO2 emissions from a standard Prius by about 20%.
No doubt that if the vehicle was designed as a PHEV from the start, they would significantly boost the performance capabilities of the generators, controllers and inverters to account for the added power available in a PHEV battery back.
Extreme Motorsports introduces second all-electric sandcar, and it's street legal {Autoblog Green}
Jun 12th 2008 4:05PM No, they're not street legal now, but if you read the summary, you'd see that they are working on a street legal package of the electric Dune Racer.
