Recent Comments:
Chrysler explains details of the $2.99 gas price guarantee {Autoblog Green}
May 11th 2008 4:09AM I'd hate to have one of the vehicles where the card is only good for E85. Good luck finding that every day.
Palm Bay Police Chief bans patrol cars from idling {Autoblog Green}
May 11th 2008 4:04AM If anyone could use a stop/start micro-hybrid, it's police on patrol. They could avoid nearly all idling without worrying about no A/C or rebooting computers or wasting time restarting the vehicle when they get a call.
The ideal police hybrid might use an engine shutoff system plus a battery pack just large enough to keep the accessories running for a couple hours, in order to minimize engine restarts. Using a full-blown hybrid like a Prius probably wouldn't gain them much more fuel savings unless they were doing continuous neighborhood patrols.
Iranian engineer creates 1hp bio-fuel powered hybrid, the Naturmobil {Autoblog Green}
May 8th 2008 8:27PM I really want to know how well a horse copes with traveling 50 miles an hour. It can see out of that thing, too, and it has no concept of gearing.
Ethanol powered chopper from Cadillac to be shown in LA {Autoblog Green}
May 8th 2008 8:23PM Considering how far an advertising chopper like this is likely to travel in its lifetime, it won't get any benefit from ethanol anyway.
Battery power would be more than adequate for this thing. For that matter, so would pedals. If this was just a weirdly-shaped bicycle it would be lots of fun to ride around the convention floor.
Tesla's European lessons {Autoblog Green}
May 8th 2008 8:12PM Wait, did he just say that "Job 3 has been delivered"? Isn't that the first "real customer delivery" that everyone was waiting for?
Battery-powered 1994 minivan cost $6,000, runs 20-25 miles {Autoblog Green}
May 8th 2008 7:55PM The sticking point of these home conversions is always the cost of battery capacity. It's not that he couldn't have made the vehicle with much more than 25 miles of range, it's that he couldn't have done that for anywhere near $6000.
TX4E electric taxi will only appeal to some London cabbies {Autoblog Green}
May 8th 2008 7:49PM Maybe they could benefit from a removable battery pack that was part of a battery-swap system. The spare pack could go in the trunk to provide extra range for commuting, then get turned in at the start of working hours. At the end of the day, the cabbie picks up a new trunk pack to get home.
A combination of fixed and removable battery packs like that might expand the appeal of EVs to those with longer commutes in the U.S., too. It's still no good for long road trips, though, since a removable pack would have to eat into luggage space.
Prius wins JD Power award for highest consumer satisfaction in U.K. {Autoblog Green}
May 8th 2008 7:41PM I take it they also measure consumer self-satisfaction?
Ohio refuses to license electric 3-wheelers {Autoblog Green}
May 5th 2008 8:05PM Here's the best description of Ohio's definition of a motorcycle I could find:
"4511.01 ( C ) states in part, Motorcycle means every motor vehicle, other than a tractor, having a saddle for the use of the operator and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, including, but not limited to, motor vehicles known as motor-driven cycle, “motor scooter” or “motorcycle” without regard to weight or brake horsepower."
The saddle is "for the use" of the operator, but they don't specify what use. In theory one could add a bicycle seat and use it to hold one's cell phone. That's a "use."
Gas tax debate continues unabated, Hillary tries to defend herself {Autoblog Green}
May 5th 2008 7:44PM GoodCheer,
Exactly! High gas prices are a problem without a short-term solution (other than driving and buying less, which doesn't help a weak economy, either).
The problem is that when no one can solve a problem, people reflexively turn to the government. The government can't solve problems either, but politicians are more than willing to PRETEND to have a solution in exchange for money, power, and votes. If that's the level of ethics we can expect, we'd be better off giving our tax dollars to email spammers.
It's to be expected that the candidates will jump to offer "solutions" to high gas prices, even if the solutions are worse than the problem. This campaign is about the Audacity of Hope, after all, not the Honesty of Knowing Your Limitations.
