When it comes to clean transportation, London is charging ahead at maximum speed – not only is the city’s mayor a cycling enthusiast, but he helped to push the introduction of London’s first hydrogen fuel cell taxis just in time for the 2012 Olympics! This week The Big Smoke rolled out their first fleet of zero emission taxis, which are now making their way across the city’s busy streets.
This month, A1 Co., Ltd. and BIES Ltd. opened the first set of solar-powered electric car charging stations across Sofia, Bulgaria. Built as simple structures, each station simply uses solar panels to collect solar energy and a special module for electric cars to connect to the batteries. While the number of electric cars in Bulgaria are still very few, according to experts, a boom in the purchase of electric vehicles is expected this year — particularly due special incentives that will be given by the Bulgarian government.
Compact cars take on a new meaning when they can literally fold themselves.
Spain will begin producing an electric car next year that’s about the same size as a Smart, but can collapse itself into an even smaller footprint when parked. The Hiriko, which means “urban car” in Basque, is the brainchild of researchers at the MIT Media Lab, and is designed to meet the needs of increasingly congested and parking challenged urban centers.
ONE of the biggest drawbacks with owning an electric vehicle (EV) is range anxiety – a driver’s nagging fear that the battery charge will not get them to their destination. Now IBM claims to have solved a fundamental problem that may lead to the creation of a battery with an 800-kilometre (500-mile) range – letting EVs potentially compete with most petrol engines for the first time.
Standard electric vehicles use lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which are bulky and rarely provide 160 kilometres (100 miles) of driving before they run down.
If this doesn’t sound like a dream come true, I don’t know what does. The German government is testing a new design for a low-energy home packed with renewable energy generation systems, dubbed the Efficiency House Plus. If the design works as it should, it’ll not only produce enough electricity to meet all its own needs, but it’ll produce enough spare juice to charge a family car.
The 1400-square-foot house generates all this power using a combination of solar panels and heat storage systems. At the same time, advanced energy management technology helps keep consumption down and ensures the house’s energy use is in line with what the energy of the weather provides. As SmartPlanet reports:
Highway blowouts and Fix-A-Flat could soon be things of the past. Following the trend started by Michelin with the Tweel, Bridgestone recently unveiled an airless tire of its own at the Tokyo Motor Show. Bridgestone’s air-free concept is supported by a mesh of spokes that are made of thermoplastic resin. The material is flexible and durable, and best of all, it’s 100-percent recyclable!
Springing up from the ground like a large leaf, the Lotus is a solar-powered electric vehicle charger that doubles as an LED streetlight and a sheltered bench. Perfect for parks and parking areas alike, the Lotus features a 2.8 KW photovoltaic surface, built-in LED lights, and a waterproof Scame electrical outlet that can be used to charge an EV.
This was supposed to be a big year for energy-related technology.
It was supposed to mark the ascendance of the electric car as the first full year of sales for GM’s Volt and Nissan’s Leaf, which represent the leading edge of electric vehicles planned by major automakers. But GM fell far short of its sales goals for the year, no doubt plagued by high costs due to expensive batteries. And the company ended the year under a cloud of smoke as the Volt’s battery pack caught on fire after safety testing.
It was the year by which advanced-biofuels companies were supposed to be producing 250 million gallons of fuels from grass and wood chips to meet a U.S. federal mandate. But the EPA had to waive the mandate, decreasing the goal to just 6.6 million gallons, because no large advanced-biofuels plants were up and running. The year ended with the demise of one of the first advanced-biofuels companies, Range Fuels, which shut down operations and was forced to auction off assets.
Evatran, which produces Plugless Power, a wireless electric vehicle (EV) charging system, opened its online reservation system last week and announced that it is offering a $150 rebate card for up to 6 months of free electricity to customers who use the system.
“The Preferred Customer Group will allow Evatran to understand its focus areas for product rollout and follows the recent news of the installation partnership with Sears Home Services(TM),” Evatran commented.
“The incentive is open to the first 500 Nissan Leaf or Chevrolet Volt reservations, and joining the Preferred Customer Group by reserving a system requires no upfront financial commitment.” (more…)
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