It appears that companies are realizing that zero emission electric vehicles should not just be for the “rich”. In May, Nissan announced that it would begin electric cars in the U.S. to be available in 2010. This week, they announced they would mass produce a zero-emissions electric car by 2012 that would be affordable. However, during a Nissan shareholder’s call Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn refused to speculate on the sticker price.
According to an Associated Press article, Ghosn said, “If it’s not affordable, it’s not gonna work. We are not going to come with a very high price. We are gonna come with a reasonable price,” he said. “We are here to mass market them.”
What I want to know is what the company will consider affordable now that America’s economic turmoil continues to spiral downward. Read the rest of this entry »
And the prize for new product adoption goes to…the City of Santa Monica, CA for its purchase of the first ZeroTruck.
The ZeroTruck is an all-electric zero emission medium duty truck produced by Electrorides, a company focusing on bringing electric vehicle applications to market. The ZeroTruck is based on the Isuzu N series chassis and according to the company is the only U.S. built electric truck offered for sale in the United States in 2009.
Although the ZeroTruck has been tested in various markets. the City of Santa Monica is the first to actually purchase the truck. In the city’s application, the vehicle will be equipped with a Scelzi utility body. Fleet Superintendant Rick Sikes is excited about the technology and its applications for the city. “This truck meets the needs of our Water Division and the goals of our Sustainable City Plan to reduce emissions and reduce our use of petroleum. A zero emission medium-duty truck is something that has never been available to us until now.” Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve always enjoyed the antics of Jesse James, the motorcycle mogul who owns the custom bike shop West Coast Customs. He was the star of Monster Garage, where him and a team of equally-eccentric characters were challanged with creating oddball rides, such as an ambulance that does wheelies. That is one trip to the hospital I wouldn’t mind. But he isn’t exactly what I would call an “enviromentally concious” person, especially after last week’s episode of Jesse James Is A Dead Man, where Mr. James was tearing across through housing projects and golf courses in a nitrous-injected Camaro.
But apparently the idea of breaking the land speed record for hydrogen cars has been on his mind for some time now. Last Wednesday, Jesse blew past the current record of 185 mph and set a new record of 199.7 mph
When Magellan first set out to circumnavigate the globe, he had the stars to guide him and the wind to propel him. While Magellan was killed before he circled the globe, his second-in-command Juan Sebastian Elcano finished the journey after 3 years and 1 month. For the next three hundred years, world trade and travel was accomplished solely through wind power, until the advent of the steam engine, and subsequently the internal combustion engine. But one company hopes to reignite a second Age of Sail with a simple yet effective design that will cut down on shipping costs, toxic emissions, and fuel consumption. Enter the SkySail.
This week Sao Paulo, Brazil is hosting one of the world’s largest gatherings of the international biofuels industry. The Ethanol Summit 2009 was kicked off in part by President Bill Clinton who noted that Brazil is known for producing the most energy efficient and cost competitive ethanol in the world using sugarcane. The downside, though, says Clinton, is that the country’s increase in ethanol production is a precursor to the continued destruction of the rainforests.
The issue of rainforest destruction (which many experts say is NOT a primary result of increased biofuels production) segues in to the debate of “good biofuels versus bad biofuels”. A bad biofuel may be one that uses food crops, excessive land and too much water. A better biofuel uses biomass, or waste, little water and little to no land. Read the rest of this entry »
At the Eco-Aviation Conference in Washington, Air New Zealand’s Chief Pilot Captain David Morgan announced the company’s findings on a test flight from last December. Powered by a combination of biofuel and jet fuel, the test resulted in a fuel savings of 1.2%. It also cut CO2 emissions by over 60%!
While a 1.2% fuel savings doesn’t seem like much, that is over 1 ton of fuel!
The test was conducted using a commercial 747-400 fitted with Rolls Royce engines. Rolls Royce had certified the fuel — a 50:50 blend of standard Jet A1 fuel and synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from jatropha oil. Read the rest of this entry »
Ohio state trooper cruisers are getting small solar panels to assist in the powering of their onboard equipment. 1,150 Ford Crown Victoria cruisers will get 5 watt solar panels to improve battery peformance and reduce fuel consumption.
The solar panels will help power the radio and other electronics when the cars’ engines are turned off. Currently electronics drain batteries when the cars are not running. The official press release states the solar panels will decrease the chance of an officer being unable to respond to an incident due to her or his car having a dead battery. The panels will be installed in the rear deck area, and their brackets have been made from recycled license plates. Each panel costs $37 and could last five years.
A few years ago, retro was all the rage, with car designers and marketing teams recalling American nostalgia for the days when flashly muscle cars were common and gas cost but a strawpenny a gallon. But even back then, there were a few forward thinkers at General Motors who had at least a passing concern for gas mileage and pollutant control. The Stir-Lec 1 was a hybrid-electric car based on an Opel Kadett, with a small petrol motor recharging 14 acid-lead batteries which in turn powered an electric motor that drove the car. Wild stuff, huh?
And the winner for the best sustainable vehicle infrastructure in America is…Seattle? Last week, the World Electric Vehicle Association (WEVA) honored Seattle Mayor Gregory J. Nickels, for the town’s commitment to developing clean, efficient and sustainable modes of transportation. This prestigious award was given during the 24th International Electric Vehicle Symposium in Stravanger, Norway. Other winners of the E-Visionary Award were London Mayor Boris Johnson and Osaka Prefecture in Japan.
Why the surprise? Well, in my somewhat narrow world, the two cities I always hear about that are leading the way in developing electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure are San Francisco and Portland. And wouldn’t you know it, the mayors, Gavin Newsom, San Francisco, and Sam Adam, Portland, of these two fine towns have been engaging in a verbal repartee on this very site. Read the rest of this entry »
The 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals
One of the world’s most prestigious and established biofuels meetings, the 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, is currently underway May 3-6 in San Francisco, with more than 800 scientists expected to attend sessions on topics ranging from commercialization of biofuels and their long-term sustainability to emerging technologies and turning algae into fuel.
It has long been said that its not what you drive that determines your gas mileage, but how you drive. Stomping the gas pedal at every stop light, even in the most frugal fuel sippers, will suck up more gas than slow and even acceleration. Drivers have been applying hypermilling techniques to get the most out of their mpgs, and in an effort to promote their new Fusion Hybrid, Ford launched its mid-size family sedan on a 1,000 mile journey with just a single tank of gas.
That was on Saturday, April 25th. Yesterday, the 28th, the Fusion finally ran out of dinosaur juice after a staggering 1,445.7 miles on a single tank of gas over the course of three days. This publicity stunt not only showcased the Fusion Hybrid’s ability to get an average gas mileage of 81.5 mpg, but also raised more than $8,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Read the rest of this entry »
“…few opportunities blend economy and sustainability like the electric vehicle does.”
Editor’s Note: This is Portland Mayor Sam Adams’ first post for Gas 2.0. It’s a direct response to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who posted for us earlier today and said the race to electric vehicle infrastructure “symbolizes what is best about our region and our country.” Mayor Adams will be holding a press conference today at 1:30 PST about this issue. UPDATE: Added video of the event above.
Portland is a great place to live, and it’s a great place to innovate. It could be Oregon’s natural beauty that inspired our long-established commitment to environmental stewardship and conservation, the Beta version of what we now call sustainability.
Couple that innate sense of stewardship with a culture of design, planning, discourse and collaboration and you get Portland — a City ranked by SustainLane (based in San Francisco, no less!) as America’s most sustainable city two years in a row! Read the rest of this entry »
Made by William Morrison in 1891, some say the Morrison was the first electric vehicle in America. It had a four horsepower engine , and could carry 6-12 passengers. Top speed was about 20 mph. The batteries needed to be recharged every 50 miles.
It has been said the car was actually completed in 1887 and was driven in a Des Moines parade in 1888. If that is true, the Morrison was first built 122 years ago, and it was built in America, where today they are almost no electric cars on the roads.
Gas 2.0 digs into the viscous world of biofuels and the fast-paced transit arena, exploring the technologies and substances that are the future of transportation.
