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ECOtality teams with Sprint to connect Blink EV charging network
ECOtality teamed up with Best Buy a few months back to expand its network of Blink EV chargers, and it's now finally announced which company will actually be connecting that network. ECOtality will be relying on Sprint's Command Center M2M solution, which will handle things like monitoring and electronic payments, and allow ECOtality to display digital content for advertising or other information, among a host of other network-related things. From an end-user perspective, that also means that folks will be able to keep watch on the Blink network from various devices, find chargers near them with GPS, and receive notifications of a charge interruption or completion. Head on past the break for the complete press release.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: sexy green cars, glass strong as steel, and Tianjin's Eco-City revealed
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week Inhabitat brought you unveilings of the world's hottest new eco vehicles as we hit the floor of the Detroit Auto Show and rounded up the seven sexiest green cars on display. We also took a first look at Toyota's new Tesla-infused RAV4, and we caught up with Venturi's powerhouse electric concept car. And if unconventional transportation spins your wheels, don't miss the shape shifting Uno 3 electric scooter and this masterfully-crafted Tron segway that could out-geek a lightcycle. We also looked at several groundbreaking building systems that stand to make our cities stronger and more sustainable, starting with a new type of flexible superglass that is stronger than steel. Meanwhile, Sweden is soaking up body heat from public places to help heat buildings, China unveiled plans for a futuristic eco city, and several offices in Minnesota flipped on a set of souped-up ceiling lights capable of broadcasting wireless internet. In other news, the world of renewable energy is jolting for joy as Southwest Wind Power unveiled the world's first fully smart grid-enabled windturbine. We also checked out a new ultracapacitor that can charge a power drill in 60 seconds, and researchers are working on energy-generating fabrics that can transform your t-shirt into a power plant. Finally, this week we wrapped up our CES coverage with a look at the best green gadgets from this year's show, and we flexed our creative capacity with 5 tech projects for kids that foster creativity and critical thinking.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: wind towers, viaduct power and how Four Loko will be recycled into gasoline
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. It was a monumental week for eco architecture as renewably-powered projects sprung up around the world. Japan unveiled plans for a massive new type of wind power tower, and we were wowed by a proposal to transform abandoned Italian viaducts into high-tech energy centers. We also showcased a solar-powered Dutch pavilion that can generate as much power as it consumes, and we were awestruck by one designer's plan for a crazy vertical skyscraper amusement park. In other news, eco transportation blazed a trail as a student-designed solar car smashed a world speed record. The recently released Chevy Volt outsold the Nissan Leaf by a huge margin last month, and we took a look at a breakthrough battery tech that could enable electric vehicles to charge 40 times faster. We also saw efficient aviation take to the skies as Honda launched a new jet that consumes 20% less fuel than comparable planes, and speaking of jet fuel, this week we learned that banned Four Loko beverages are being recycled into engine-ready ethanol. We also watched China light up the newswires with energy news as they announced the imminent construction of the world's largest solar plant and found a way extend the life of nuclear fuel by 60 times. Finally, this week we celebrated all of the hot new media tech at CES with a look at Lady Gaga's shutter-fly sunglasses, and we brought you a guide to how kids can use technology to create online media.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: of space elevators, floating cities and solar sheltered drinking machines
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week Inhabitat showcased several incredible examples of futuristic architecture, starting with an epic floating ark that houses a self-sustaining city at sea. We also saw a plan to harness carbon nanotubes to create the world's first space elevator, and we brought you an ingenious solar-powered shelter that harvests and purifies rainwater for drinking. In other news, Asia revved up the world of eco transportation as South Korea unveiled the world's first commercial electric bus, and Beijing launched a plan to cut eliminate gridlock by cutting vehicle registration by 2/3. We also checked in on the electric Bluebird supercar, which is gearing up to break the UK land speed record next year, and we took an in-depth look at the year's best electric vehicles. Finally, welcome to 2011! As the final countdown rang out we took a look at Times Square's dazzling 2011 eco ball, which is studded with 32,256 LEDs. We also looked back on Inhabitat's top green energy, transportation, and tech stories of 2010, and we rounded up the year's best green products and wearable technology concepts that stand to change the way we get dressed for the day. And if you're running errands this week to return any unwanted holiday gifts, check out Amazon's new preemptive return tool - it could save you a trip next year.
Wheego Whip LiFe grabs up EPA certification
Yes! Another reason to write about the darling and awesomely-named Wheego Whip LiFe! This time, it's good news indeed, as the all electric micro-car has received EPA certification. The cars, which are priced at a reasonably affordable $32,995 (or $25,495 after the Federal tax credit), are now simply waiting for final approval from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration before they can roll into dealerships. It looks like the cars will ship at the beginning of the year now, with production well underway for the past few months. We'll take two, please.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: electric cars compared, molten salt solar, and a renewable Merry Christmas!
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Electric vehicles took the country by storm this week as both the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt were officially released to eager customers - if you're still trying to decide between the two, check out our electric vehicle smackdown, which compares the two EVs based on their most important features. We also took a spin inside Honda's electric Fit, and we showcased a futuristic home decked out with enough solar panels to completely charge an EV. The Sonex airplane also signaled bright horizons for electric aviation as it completed its maiden flight. Meanwhile California lit up the newswires by giving the green light for the state's first molten salt solar energy project, and San Francisco announced a plan to generate 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. We also saw ten European countries forge a plan to build a massive renewable energy supergrid in the North Sea, and we showcased two hot examples of wearable teach that harness body heat - Fujitsu's solar-thermal power band and a band-aid styled mp3 player. Finally, this week Inhabitat geared up for the holidays by showcasing 6 brands of dazzling LED christmas lights that save you energy and money, we showcased some innovative Christmas trees made with unusual materials, and we highlighted out favorite green gadget gifts for the holidays this year. And when all those presents are unwrapped we know exactly what to do with the aftermath - researchers have developed a way to recycle 100% of the material in plastic wrapping paper and artist Jason Rogenes wowed us with his incredible futuristic spaceships made from the styrofoam used to package electronics.
Senate approves Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, ensures a future for noise pollution
If you've been lucky enough to occupy the driver's seat of a hybrid or electric vehicle you've surely enjoyed the bliss that comes from smoothly and silently pulling away from a stoplight. You've also, surely, run over at least a couple of pedestrians while doing it. (We hit at least eight of the poor souls during our latest Volt test drive.) Sadly, here comes John Kerry and the rest of the US Senate to ruin our Carmageddon-esque fun. The Senate has unanimously approved the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, which requires: ...minimum level of sound emitted from a motor vehicle that is necessary to provide blind and other pedestrians with the information needed to reasonably detect a nearby electric or hybrid vehicle operating at or below the cross-over speed How much sound? Well, they haven't figured that out yet, nor have they figured out up to what speed it must be required, nor what sort of noise is required, but by golly there will be noise. Those answers will in theory be found through the course of a study that will take no more than 48 months to complete, leaving us wonder if current noisemaker options on the Volt, Leaf, and Prius will meet the need. Regardless, if you want a quiet car you'd better start your financing.
Source London: network of 1,300 charging stations coming by end of 2013
London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced a plan to create a city-wide electric vehicle network dubbed Source London. It calls for 1,300 public-use charging stations to be installed by the end of 2013 - assuming the Mayan's weren't right about 2012. Any driver who registered for the network and paid an estimated annual membership fee of £100 (roughly $160 at the current exchange rate) could juice their EVs across all of the stations. For perspective, keep in mind that the city already has 250-plus stations with 16,729 electric vehicles and hybrids registered, of which only 2,100 draw power by being plugged in. That implies if the plan is completed, drivers would technically have better odds of finding a charging station than a gas pump in the city. Combined with Johnson's schemes to provide cell coverage in the tube and city-wide WiFi, it's also yet another example of how jolly old London is prepping for the future in between bites of scones and episodes of Top Gear. To learn more about the project, make sure to check out the source link below.
Nissan Leaf goes 116.1 miles in first anecdotal test, with the air conditioning on
If there's one thing we've learned from years of toying with technology, it's never to believe a manufacturer's estimate regarding battery life, but it seems like the estimates Nissan provided for its Leaf electric car may not be too far off the mark. Though the vehicle obviously isn't getting 367 miles to its non-existent gallon, PluginCars did manage to eke out a solid 116.1 miles in the car's first anecdotal test, and all they had to do to go the distance was drive casually and slightly below the speed limit. "It wasn't like I was driving like an obsessed hypermiler," said the driver, who spent most of the trip with the A/C blasting. Nissan recently revised their range estimates for the Leaf to anywhere from 62 to 138 miles depending on speed and weather conditions, so 116.1 is a pretty solid run, but until those charging stations permeate the countryside, we're still going to take the ol' gas-guzzler on our road trips.
Researchers propose 'roaming' charging stations to keep electric cars powered
No, we're not talking about robotic charging stations that roam the highways and recharge your car without even stopping (sadly), but a new system proposed Zafer Sahinoglu and his colleagues at the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts may just help to fill in some of the gaps on the road. While exact specifics are a bit light, the basic idea is to have a series of "roaming" chargers that would be charged up at night and moved around based on demand -- demand that would be determined by sensors in electric vehicles, which would report their findings back to a central operations center. According to Sahinoglu, you'd only need five charging stations to cover 100 electric cars on a 100-kilometer stretch of highway, so it would seemingly be a quick and relatively inexpensive way to cover a large area -- assuming you can find an efficient way to actually move the chargers around. Look for more details to be announced at the Vehicular Technology Conference in Ottawa next week.
San Francisco Bay Area gets $5 million for EV chargers, Detroit will charge $40 per month
Electric vehicles are inching closer, with several already priced and rearing to go, but so far would-be owners won't have to pay for the devices to charge their cars. Free charging stations are popping up at every red dot on this map, and apparently not satisfied with the 1,600 that Coulomb's installing in California and the three at City Hall, San Francisco and neighboring cities have just approved $5 million for over 5,000 more chargers -- of which only 50 will appear along public highways, for some reason. Meanwhile, the state of Michigan has approved the first standardized rate for EV charger use -- a pilot program by provider DTE Energy will see 2,500 customers paying $40 per vehicle per month (or a variable off-peak rate) through December 2012. Gotta wonder how those grey states are feeling right about now.
BlackTrail BT-01 is the $80,000 electric bicycle of your dreams (video)
When Germany's PG-Bikes sets out to build a cruiser, it doesn't mess around -- the contraption above may look like an electric bike, but when it goes on sale in the US this year, you may have to register it as a motorcycle. Constructed of lightweight carbon fiber, aerospace aluminum, titanium and magnesium, the BlackTrail BT-01 travels up to 65MPH with a 1.2 kilowatt motor embedded in its 44 pound frame, and can carry you across 120 miles on a single 2.5-hour charge of the leather-clad 17Ah Li-ion battery pack. Of course, those sorts of numbers don't come cheap -- the company's marketing it to the likes of West Coast Customs, The Sharper Image and a vehicle enthusiast named Jay Leno -- and each of the 667 limited pieces will cost $80,000, the better part of a Tesla Roadster and far beyond a Brammo. Still, if anyone has an offshore bank account they care to donate, we call dibs on 666 -- the number of the beast. Video after the break.
General Motors upping Chevy Volt production by 50 percent in 2011
On Friday, during a visit from President Obama to its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, GM announced some good news for all the Volt fans out there. Production from 2011 to 2012 for the electric vehicle -- originally slated at around 30,000 units -- has been boosted to a projected 45,000 units, a 50 percent increase. The Volt, which has a range of 340 miles (on gas -- it goes approximately 40 miles on battery alone) is being produced at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which received $336 million in investments to prepare for the production. The full press release is after the break.
The state of the electric automobile, in pictures
You've heard the announcements. You know the specs. You may even be able to guess how the showdown will play out. But unless you were in San Jose, California, this week for Plug-In 2010, you've probably never seen six contenders for our future electric vehicle dollars all in one room. We hopped in our late-80s gas guzzler and hit the show floor in your stead, snapping enough pictures of the Leaf, Volt, Focus, Prius PHEV, fortwo Electric Drive, and the i MiEV to give you a virtual tour. See what we saw after the break.
DoE forecasts far cheaper, lighter, longer-lasting EV batteries by 2015
Dippin' in a Tesla is an expensive proposition, as we're sure you're well aware, but the US Department of Energy seems certain the cost of electric vehicles -- or at least their all-important rechargeable batteries -- will come down to reasonable levels. The government estimates a stack of cells good for 100 miles will drop to $10,000 by the end of 2015, and that 40-mile batteries for PHEVs will sink to $4,000 in the same timeframe -- both around one-third of what the containers presently cost. On the physical front, portly packages of Li-ion presently weigh 333kg (about 734 pounds) per 100 miles of range, but are expected to slim down to 222kg (489 pounds) by 2015, and shed weight precipitously in following years. Like any weather forecast, the figures are subject to the prevailing wind, but it's looking like average Americans may one day have use for all those free charging stations. Find the full report at our source link.
Honda will bring plug-in hybrids, full EVs to United States in 2012
Though they probably won't look anything like Honda's adorable EV-N, the Japanese automaker's got some new technological vehicles up its sleeves -- in a speech today, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito formally announced plans to produce a plug-in hybrid competitor for Toyota's flashy new PHEV Prius by 2012, which rumor has it will sport an estimated fuel economy (when it's using fuel, we assume) of roughly around 140 miles per gallon. Better still, a completely battery-powered electrical vehicle will also go on sale by 2012, and you won't have to fly to Japan to try them out, as they're slated for the States as well. Hydrogen fuel cells are apparently still Honda's long-term solution, though the FCX Clarity received only a passing mention. In the short term, Honda's still circling the wagons around part-gasoline systems like the Civic (which will receive a Li-ion battery pack) and the Fit Hybrid, destined for Japan this fall.
Coulomb to electrify California with 1,600 shiny new EV chargers
Fret not, Cali residents. Your state government may be desperately sinking into the quagmire of its own extravagance, but cash will always be found to fund good old "private" enterprise. Coulomb Technologies is expected to today announce the rollout of 1,600 ChargePoint stations across the sunny state, aided in part by a $3.4 million grant from the California Energy Commission. The principal aim of these installations will actually be research, as the state tries to figure out EV usage and recharging habits. Happily though, once that academic exercise is over, they should still be operational and might well make Coulomb's home patch the most advanced in terms of EV infrastructure yet. Yes indeed, we'll all be driving our Volts along potholed streets with nary a public servant in sight... it'll be like Mad Max: Beyond Budgetary Deficits.
Europe gets first fast-charging EV station, hungers for more
Epyon, a small Dutch startup, is showing the big boys how it's done with its recently unveiled fast-charging station for electric vehicles. Billed as Europe's first commercially available charger of its kind, this unit will recharge anything up to a nine-seater taxi van within 30 minutes, thanks to its 50 kilowatts of power capacity. It's now installed alongside more conventional petrol and diesel refilling points in a fueling station over in Leeuwarden. That's the capital city of Friesland, a Dutch province that has set itself the ambitious goal of having 100,000 EVs on its roads by 2015. That aim is shared by the wider European Union as well, which yesterday agreed on defining a common electric recharging standard, whose universality might attract skeptical consumers and more cautious investors into the field. They've set themselves a deadline of "mid-2011," though the broad outlines and new incentives for buying greener cars are likely to appear by the end of this year.
Korea starts testing 'recharging road,' might make it part of its public transport system
Time to set aside the chains of worry that have prevented us from jumping on the electric bandwagon -- Korean researchers have figured out a way to make us forget all about charging stations and cruising ranges with their magnetically recharging road. The Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV) you see here went into service yesterday and can now be found towing three bus-loads of tourists around a Seoul amusement park. It operates on a battery five times smaller than conventional EV juice packs and can collect its power through non-contact magnetic transmission from the recharging strips in the ground. We're also told running costs for this system are a third of what a typical EV would require, and should it prove successful and find itself expanded to the public transport system, only about 20 percent of bus routes would need to be electrified -- at bus stops, crossroads and the like -- with the rest being covered by the power stored inside the OLEV. Here's to hoping it all works out.
Tesla Motors CEO 'does not devote his full time and attention to Tesla'
We've already discussed the seemingly suicidal situation Tesla finds itself in with relation to its 2011 Roadster production cessation, but that SEC submission for the company's IPO is a long, long affair (which you may read below), and there were more nuggets of madness to be found. Apparently, CEO Elon Musk is a busy man -- with CEO and CTO functions at SpaceX and a chairmanship at SolarCity to attend to -- and so he couldn't possibly be expected to focus his full attention on ensuring that the half billion dollar state loan his company received gets spent as wisely as possible. Add Musk's corporate bigamy to an expectation of "continuing losses" and dwindling waiting lists and you have to wonder who, other than the US government, will be buying shares when this offering goes public.
