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Chrysler announces battery-free hydraulic hybrid tech, compresses gas to make power
Think of a traditional hybrid and you probably think of a Toyota Prius. Then, after you've woken from your nap, you probably envision some complex system of batteries and electric motors and gears to capture power when braking and spit it back out when accelerating. Chrysler is now looking to deploy a different way, a seemingly much simpler way that's all based on hydraulics. The vehicle is outfitted with a low-pressure reservoir of hydraulic fluid and a high-pressure chamber filled with nitrogen gas. When braking, pumps move the fluid into the nitrogen chamber to compress it and then, when accelerating, that compressed gas is used to push the fluid and drive the wheels. It's a setup that was actually developed by the EPA and is currently in use by some commercial vehicles, most notably UPS trucks, but a hybrid Town & Country minivan could bring it to consumers -- though not until 2012 at the earliest. Now, there's a good chance the idea of a hybrid minivan is threatening to put you back to sleep, so we wish you pleasant dreams.
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.
2011 Chevy Volt gets stickered: 93MPG on battery, 37MPG on gasoline
The poster child for the electric car has just received its official EPA sticker, merely days after Nissan's Leaf received its own. The Volt has been found to have a 93MPG equivalent when running purely on batteries, while one could expect an average of 37MPG when using petrol alone. According to the EPA, the Volt will only be capable of cruising 35 miles on a full charge (here's hoping you've got a socket at your workplace, right?), but the overall range of 379 miles ain't too shabby for a car of this size. The good news here is that this sticker will enable General Motors to finally get these automobiles onto showroom floors, but the bad news is pretty obvious: 93 definitely isn't 230.
Nissan Leaf blessed with 99MPG 'equivalent' sticker, roundtable arguments ensue
Cue the pundits. Nissan's incoming Leaf has just nabbed an official EPA sticker, with a mind-melting 99MPG "equivalent" rating set to grace every single window. That'll undoubtedly catch eyes, but it's also likely to spur a huge debate on what "miles per gallon" truly means when you're throwing a battery into the mix. We actually had the pleasure of driving one ourselves late last month, but we weren't able to take off on any extended joyrides to really put MPG claims to the test. At any rate, the 99 rating breaks down to 106MPG in the city and 92MPG on the highway, but there's quite a bit of fuzzy math here that gas guzzlers aren't accustomed to considering. Nissan claims that the EPA uses a formula where 33.7 kWhs are equivalent to one gallon of gasoline energy, and that the entity also found the Leaf's efficiency to be 3.4 miles per kWh. Given that the car has a 24 kWh battery pack and can go 73 miles officially, then the EPA says it could theoretically go 99 miles if it had a 33.7 kWh pack. Still, the Leaf has to await its other label from the FTC, but it's apt to show a range of 96 to 110 miles of range. Head on past the break for the full presser.
iriver Story reviewed, incites rebellion over price
If you didn't feel you got the whole Story yesterday, here's a pleasing helping of seconds, this time in the form of a full-on review. The PC Pro team rates iriver's Kindle emulator as a "serious contender," and places its readability on par with Sony's touch-less Readers. While congratulations are also meted out for a decent integrated MP3 player, 3.5mm headphone jack, and the wide variety of supported formats, two issues stood out for the reviewers. One was that the support for Word, Excel and Powerpoint files was somewhat hit-and-miss, with zooming sometimes not working and rendering some files unreadable. But the major gripe related to the asking price of £230 including taxes (around $380), which the Story was not considered capable of justifying. Hit the link below for more -- even if your interest is purely academic.
Energy Star 3.0 regulations set to impact TV designs
If you thought there was a row over the Energy Star 3.0 requirements for TVs, you haven't seen anything yet. Research firm iSuppli rightfully calls out some challenges for even the energy-miserly LCD TVs to duck under the numbers in the draft version of the Tier 2 (effective 2010) and Tier 3 (effective 2012) versions of the standard. For example, a 50-inch TV will have do limbo underneath a 153-Watt peak for Tier 2 compliance and 108-Watts for Tier 3. We're confident that some clever engineering will allow LCD to reach those figures; the real impact might be on plasma TVs, however. It pains us to say it, but plasma's going to have a hard time making that grade; of course, that's assuming that plasma TVs are still being made and marketed towards consumers who value the Energy Star label. For those of us who want efficiency and ultimate image quality, it's time to pull for LED-backlit LCDs. Read - Energy Star TV requirements draft [Warning: PDF link] Read - iSuppli predicts change in LCD design
All Insignia LCD TVs to meet or exceed Energy Star 3.0 spec
While Best Buy completely failed to issue a press release trumpeting the inability of its latest Profile 2.0 Blu-ray deck to pass Energy Star specifications, it didn't hesitate to pump one out extolling the power-sipping virtues of its Insignia LCD televisions. In case you weren't aware, the Energy Star 3.0 specification went into effect at the beginning of this month, and any Insignia LCD TV manufactured after November 1, 2008 will meet those requirements; in fact, six of the models will exceed the requirements by 15% of more. Um, cookie?
EPA calls for greener consoles starting 2010
As you play your beloved Super Mario game tapes, your Nintendo Box drains energy from earth's dwindling supply. It's a well-known scientific fact that at our current rate of consumption, Earth will be returned to an archaic wasteland within thirty years, when feared energy pirates will travel between the planet's ruined cities, plundering precious fuel for their own contemptible settlements. Luckily, the Environmental Protection Agency has a plan to combat our wasteful ways.The EPA hopes to include modern home gaming consoles in their Energy Star plan which has been regulating the energy usage of certain home appliances since 1992. The latest draft of the plan addresses the power consumption rates of Wiis, Xbox 360s and PS3s, requiring an auto-off function, a sleep mode, and low-energy network settings in all consoles produced after July 1, 2010. We certainly hope the plan is adopted, lest we be left to our seemingly inevitable, Mad Max-esque fate.
EPA wants greener consoles starting in 2010
While they're not as crazy as, say, Greenpeace, the EPA is concerned about the energy uses of home consoles. They plan to introduce new energy requirements for home consoles starting July 1, 2010 as part of its Energy Star program. These new requirements include an auto off function, a sleep mode for television/display, power scaling and a wireless access point function that will use less than 10 watts of power. Seeing as how the Wii already uses less power than its competitors, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle for Nintendo to include these functions. Why 2010 though? The EPA hopes that's enough lead time for console manufacturers to institute these new features.[Via 1UP]
Updated Energy Star spec goes into effect November 1
The new Energy Star 3.0 TV specification -- this time including a test for how much electricity televisions use while turned on, not just while off -- goes into effect next month. According to CNET's tests, the difference in power saved by more efficient (but not necessarily ideal PQ) default settings could be as much as a $100 a year, although that will vary based on the TV and the settings. Of course the new rules mean only 25 to 30-percent of TVs are expected to be able to meet the standard, but when you see it on a box, it will actually mean something. Punch the read link for the final draft, we're just going to turn some unnecessary lights off.[Via Crave]
Auto-brightness to be the first step in LCD TV green status
Summer is coming, and that means the plasma TV that bathed you in warmth all winter will soon become between you, your air conditioner and comfort. Yes, we love the images that are pumped out by the emissive cells of a plasma display, but as a general rule, LCDs spin the electric meter more slowly. This benefit is not lost on The LCD TV Association, which has launched its GreenTV logo program to tout the fact. The baseline requirement for an LCD TV to wear the badge is ambient light sensors that adjust the backlight brightness, a feature good for at least a 30-percent reduction in electricity consumption. The association has more plans as well, so expect to see environmentally-conscious features like recyclable parts, fewer heavy metals, and LED backlights get billing as well. With the EPA's Energy Star ratings coming to TVs this year, being "green" could be a real differentiator in the market -- and we all know that more badges on the box mean more sales, right?
EPA fines IOGEAR $208,000 for making unverified claims about germ-resistant mice
Okay, raise your hands if the first thing you thought when you heard about IOGEAR's Germ Free Wireless Laser Mouse was "That probably uses an unregistered pesticide that warrants government involvement." Yeah, that's what we thought -- but it appears some freak concerned citizen had your best interests in mind, because the EPA just fined IOGEAR $208,000 based on a tip that the company's Germ Free keyboard and mice peripherals were violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. Apparently no one ever verified that the titanium dioxide and silver nanoparticle compound on the mice is actually effective at killing nasties, and even if it is, it's illegal to sell pesticides without Uncle Sam's blessing. IOGEAR's stopped claiming that the products kill germs and forked over the cash, but it's not clear if the products still have the coating on them. Either way, you should probably start washing your hands more, Mr. Filthy.[Via Nanotech Project]
UCSD's Squirrel puts pollution monitoring on your mobile
Giving an animal a phone to tote around and monitor pollution is one thing, but hooking up a critter to your cellphone sans wires sounds like a much more viable solution to keeping track of filthy surroundings. UC San Diego's Squirrel -- which sounds an awful lot like a project UC Berkeley was working on -- is a Bluetooth-enabled, palm-sized sensor that currently measures carbon monoxide and ozone, but eventually will be able to "sample nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide in the air, as well as temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity." After sampling, the device then utilizes a software application dubbed Acorn to allow the user to "see the current pollution alerts through a screensaver on the cellphone's display." Furthermore, the program can periodically upload the captured data to a public database operated by the "California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), which is funding Squirrel's development." Of course, cleaning up the mess that these monitors will inevitably find is an entirely different matter.[Via MedGadget]
Little Green Apples: the EPA approves
Ars Technica reports that the EPA really likes Apple's computers. (Cue Sally Field.) The EPA, which grades computers on a a 51-criteria scale, gave Apple some very high marks. According to the grading scheme, computers that meet all the required criteria and at least half of the optional criteria are awarded silver medals. (No computers have won gold medals.) Apple's MacBook Pro line received 6 silver medals, as did the Mac Pro and several Cinema Displays. We've already covered Apple's extensive recycling program, energy efficiency goals, and reduction of harmful materials in manufacturing in an earlier TUAW post. It's nice to know that the EPA agrees. Clearly some groups targeting Apple for environmental concerns aren't in agreement with the EPA's stance.
Get more mileage from that Hummer
Nothing, we mean nothing, says success like rollin' in a big fat Hummer eh sparky? Only thing is, you can't stand the thought of those accusatory stares from your fellow highwaymen as you lumber along sucking-up fuel. Well, we guess you never heard of the Mileage Maximizer then? Don't sweat it, 'cause two friendly Detroit, rock city Hummer dealerships have, and they'll happily sell you the $190 wonder mod while touting its 30% increase in fuel efficiency. The promotion has been so successful at selling new Hummers in fact, that these boys are now considering expanding the modification to more stores and vehicles. Sure, GM and Hummer officials don't endorse the application of the "Vortex Valve" to the vehicle's intake manifold and may not even honor warranties. And just you never mind that no one will stand by those unofficial claims of increased efficiency or that tampering with the emission controls on EPA certified vehicles is, ehem, illegal. You go right on feeling better about yourself... after all, you tried, right?
Update: some air purifiers create -- cough, cough -- smog
It's been a year since we first heard that ionic air purifiers can actually make air quality worse, and that finding has now been confirmed by a peer-reviewed, government-funded study. According to the study, which appears in the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, using an ionic ozonolysis air purifier in a sealed room can lead to ozone levels as high as 350 parts per billion, a level equivalent to a Los Angeles Stage 2 Smog Alert. The EPA has already come out against ozone-producing air purifiers, saying that they have "little potential to remove indoor air contaminants."Update: As pointed out below in comments, the study quoted above apparently referred to both ionic air purifiers and ozone generators. However, many media outlets, including LiveScience (our source for this post), conflated the two. According to lead researcher Sergey Nizkorodov, a chemistry professor the University of California, Irvine, "ionic air purifiers do emit ozone. [But] none of the ionic air purifiers produce enough ozone when they are used properly to exceed smog alerts." LiveScience has since added a correction, which can be viewed here.
