Category Archives: Transport
Yet another green machine to sail the seas, the Ocean Empire LSV (Life Support Vessel) is as green as any floating contraption can get. This one powers up using juice from the sun, using solar cells that cover up its entire surface and illuminating two Hydroponic farms at the same time. And the sun isn’t the only renewable source of energy powering up the Ocean Empire. It uses the wind too! The wind energy is used to power up an auxiliary automated SkySail that drives the Ocean Empire to 18+knots while charging her GM ESS2 batteries through power sailing KER. And that’s not all. The Ocean Empire uses energy from Waves too, using the Motion Damping Regeneration system and features every super yacht luxury you could find or possibly think of with minimal carbon footprints.
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If you live in Japan and plan to drive green, you can simply climb into a Nissan, with the company planning to have 400 Leaf EVs up for rent soon. 400 units of the Leaf car will be employed by the Nissan Car Rental Solutions Co Ltd for its car rental service. In February 2011, the Leaf will be up for rent at the Nissan Car Rental Solutions, and reservations will kick off mid-January. For a rental fee of ¥8,925 (approx US$108.7) for a six hour use and ¥9,975 for 12 hours, the Leaf rental service will sure pick up soon in Japan. For those who plan to stick with a Leaf for a lifetime, the car costs ¥3,764,250, a bit expensive but a money saver in the long run.
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We all know what a Prius is. That lovable little car by Toyota that’s as clean and green as any vehicle on four wheels can get. It’s been around long enough for sales to top the 1 million mark and sport solar panels too! And now, Toyota has decided to push up sales with some pretty innovative, somewhat disgusting, and hilariously educating advertising. The Israeli arm of Toyota recently came up with an advertisement that showed “just how clean” a Prius really is. It effects the environment much less than a sheep with a bad stomach probably does! Yes, you’ve guessed it right. A sheep with a flatulence issue wrecks more havoc in the environment than the little lovable Prius.
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We’ve heard of Ford dreaming about a hybrid Focus RS before. The automaker is now all set to pull the veil of its fully electric version of this bestseller. To debut at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, the car will be shown off to the world for the first time during Ford CEO Alan Mulally’s keynote speech, which is scheduled for 11:00 AM PST on Friday. The electric Focus will pack lithium-ion batteries contained in a unique system that utilize cooled and heated liquid to regulate battery temperature. This will help extend the battery life and increase the car’s range up to 100 miles approximately. To start off with, sales will be limited to just 19 key markets towards the end of this year, with full sales beginning next year.
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Sports cars in the future will shed their gas guzzling addictions and switch to electric power, and with designs like the Astrum Meera concept that we just came across, we’re pretty sure of it! Designed by John Baltazar, Tim Tsai, Hussain and Ali Almossawi, this super car of the future stole our hearts from the moment we set our eyes on it. Complete with built-in sensors that track the level of CO2 emissions, alerting the driver when they exceed the normal limit, this one also boasts wheel rims unlike any other vehicle currently on-road. The rims use magnetic levitation, like train wheels that makes the car lighter. Also, the car packs some technological goodies like the retractable mirrors that automatically flip out when the car starts up.
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It’s been a decade since the Bluebird Electric Team along with Don Wales set the UK electric land speed record at the Pendine Sands in Wales with the speedometer kissing the 139 miles per hour mark. Now, ten years later, Wales and his team are all set to break that very record and will attempt another run next year and push ahead of 150 mph, a record set by his grandfather, Sir Malcolm Campbell in 1925. Wales also plans to break world records for the fastest electric around, and might just speed away at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the U.S. in today’s auto-markets, electric car aren’t really looked upon as quick speed deliverers. But with land speed records like these, we’re pretty sure Wales will help change the perspective of the world towards an electric engine and the speeds it can deliver.
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San Francisco start-up, Mission Motors has pulled the veil of an electric monster on wheels that is sure to leave bike lovers drooling. It looks great, performs like a beast, and loves the environment just as much as we do. The Mission R, a race-ready ride for the TTXGP electric motorcycle grand prix, packs a liquid-cooled AC induction motor with 141 horsepower and 115 foot-pounds of torque, powered by a 14.4 kilowatt-hour battery. It also features a Mission EVT 100 kilowatt motor controller with customizable throttle and regenerative braking maps. All this pushes the bike to a sweet 160 mph and a range of around 150 miles. Taking two hours to charge up the 220 volt battery pack, the 545 pound bike is sure to leave some of the gas guzzlers behind in the dust.
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Skeptics have forever been challenging the true efficiency of renewable energy, claiming that nothing ever gets better than fossil fuels. They’re in for a shock though, as a recent world record was broken, and has left the world looking up at the sun in awe. Built in UK, a little unmanned aircraft or an unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) stayed up in the skies for a whole two weeks, powered by the sun. This feat took place in July, and has recently been ratified by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). Weighing 50kgs, the aircraft stayed up for a whole 14 days, 22 minutes and 8 seconds. That’s 11 times longer than the previously held record.
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Here’s a greener way to taking out your trash to the landfill, an all-electric garbage truck. This shiny new truck, that seriously looks cute for a garbage truck, promises to keep the air clean, with only a bit of smelly rotten cheese and fruit fumes spouting out, no carbon. Well, we can bear with that, we hate carbon though. The 26-ton truck saves an estimated 130 tons of CO2 emissions each year over a diesel-powered model. Built by PVI Electric Powertrain, it comes with liquid cooled lithium-ion battery packs from Dow Kokam resting in its belly. The truck built by PVI Electric Powertrain also quickly climbs hills, unlike the usually slow accelerating trucks we have these days, thanks to the 100% availability of torque. With 250 kilowatt hours of energy being provided by the five strings of seven battery packs, this one sure keeps the city clean and the air too.
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Honda is literally running towards a green horizon, turning stones over, exposing the greener side. The company, in an effort further reduce Co2 emissions, is now planning for vehicle charging stations. Along with the charging stations, Honda’s Japanese trail will also include the electric vehicles Fit and Accord, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, (PHEVs), the new EV-neo electric scooter and the Monpal ML200 4-wheel electric scooter. The Fit EV takes just six hours to charge up with a 200-volt power source and can be driven a whole 160km while the PHEV uses an electric motor hooked on to a lithium-ion battery and an internal combustion engine. When in all-electric mode, this one can be driven 15 to 25 km and takes 1.5 hours to charge from a 200-volt outlet.
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