Category Archives: Transport
Ghost Yachts has just pulled the veil of the Ghost G180H, built together with Italian design studio Gloss Design and Imtech Marine & Offshore, the first full hybrid super-yacht. Using a Fast Displacement Hull Form (FDHF) by Van Oossanen & Associates, this sustainable and highly efficient yacht propels ahead using two electric Voith Inline Propulsors (VIP) of 750kw. With an integrated electric motor, these motors are hubless and require no shafts, rudders and such. The yacht is operational in seven different modes, starting of with an electric-only mode to full hybrid, each for different situations to increase efficiency.
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The good old city of London can now stand up with its head high in the sky, flaunting its soon to be launched Source London electric vehicle program. The Spring of 2011 will see the unveiling of this system, giving citizens access to as many as 1,300 public EV charging points located across the city, which by 2013, will be fully functional. The city today has just 250 charging points and around 17,000 electric cars and hybrids registered. Mayor Boris Johnson has been dreaming of having at least 100,000 electric vehicles on London streets and this is just part of the plan. Also, people buying electric vehicles will be showered with benefits like a 100% discount on congestion charges.
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Electric cars have never been reliable enough in the past to be driven on highways. Low speeds, short ranges and similar drawbacks have kept these little environment-friendly vehicles of the roads for long. Well, the dawn of a new breed of electrics is here and in a short while we’ll have a whole lot of EVs out on the road, pushing out gas-guzzlers. One of these is the LiFe. This car by Wheego Electric Cars, an EV manufacturer based in Atlanta, is quicker than ever and has a great range too. With a 100 mile range and a top speed of 70 mph, the LiFe is ideal for both urban use as well as highway use. The car was named after the battery, a lithium-iron. These batteries are also cheaper and moer reliable than lithium-ion batteries.
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Toyota has pulled the veil of yet another electric car. Based on the iQ compact car earlier unveiled by the firm in China, the announcement of this electric’s conception took place at the 2009 North American International Auto Show. A year after, the car has showed its face to the world for the first time at the 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition (EVS25). The car uses an 11kWh lithium-ion rechargeable battery, enough for commuting. Don’t try taking this one on a long drive though. The electric car also has a drive range of about 100km under the JC08 test mode and about 60 miles under the US LA4 mode, making it ideal for urban use. Weighing 1,260kg, this one boasts a maximum speed of 125km/h.
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Skating to work has never really been an option before. Dressed up formally with a briefcase in one hand, a cell phone in the other and a pair of roller-skates on your feet would sure as hell look silly, if not stupid. The FlyRad changes things though. This contraption packs just a single wheel that power up. To travel, you need to hold on to it with a pair of roller-skates on your feet. Probably inspired by kids holding on to garbage trucks for an easy skate around the neighborhood, the FlyRad comes in three sizes, one for adults, teens and children. The adult version uses a 500W motor powered by a 36v battery. Weighing in at 24kgs, this one boasts a maximum speed of 25mph. charging it for four hours allows for a 31 mile range!
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The bigger the better, that’s what’s on every American mind. Well Mitsubishi kept this in mind while designing the North American version of the i-MiEV. To be unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the all electric car is a bulked up version of the original European and Japanese models. The car has an enhanced and enlarged body and boasts plenty of space to comfortably seat four adults. Also, the car has a different look too, with new front and rear bumpers, unlike the original. The current version of the i-MiEV released in Japan and Europe uses an electric motor with 64HP (47kW) and 180Nm (132.8-lbs/ft) of maximum torque with a range of 100 miles. No news has cropped up on the North American car’s drivetrain though.
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So you’ve planned to set out on a long journey down an empty desert road in an electric car. This sure sounds suicidal to most of us. Well, doing so might just be a lot easier and not so much of a suicide fantasy, if you’ve got a trailer packed with lithiums hooked behind your ride. Indiana-based Electric Motors and Vehicles Company (EMAV) have come up with this trailer complete with lithium-ion batteries and a four-cylinder, 750-cc diesel generator that will keep your electric on the road for a longer stretch of miles. The Power Regeneration Unit will show up in 2011. Now you probably might have felt the urge to comment and say “Hey! Won’t having to tow that thing along drink up more juice!”
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Car and environment lovers alike are sure to go all drooly over this set of wheels unveiled just recently. Britain’s first electric supercar ever, the car developed by green energy firm Ecotricity, is quick and keeps the air clean too. This one is indeed emission free and uses energy generated by its maker, Ecotricity. Christened the Nemesis (we love the name!), this car will leave a V12 Ferrari far behind. And when we say “quick”, we aren’t exaggerating. The Nemesis goes from 0-100mph in a mere 8.5 seconds. Also, keep the pedal pushed down and this one can go all the way up to 170mph! The car can travel anywhere between 100-150 miles on a single charge, depending on just how and where you drive it.
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Now at first, we really couldn’t figure out just what Roberto Dei Lidi had in mind while designing this one. So, we gave it a real close look, and were left baffled. Bike sharing programs are now pretty common and heard-of in the world today. No-one really thought too much of car sharing programs though, mostly because of space crunches and the cost of such a project. Roberto’s design makes it all seem a lot more feasible though. This project basically is a parking system for what could be an electric car sharing program. Known as the Smart Tower, this one works great, keeping away the parking-space woes we’re used to today. The cars are lifted and rotated above ground, and once parked on the tower, left to charge up.
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Volvo is keen on having the fastest Hybrid truck around. So keen that the Volvo Trucks division is now busy building the Mean Green diesel-electric hybrid truck that might just claim the World’s Fastest Hybrid Truck in spring 2011. Trucking ace hailing from Sweden, Boije Ovebrink, will drive this one around. The truck uses a 16-liter Volvo engine and is fitted with Volvo Penta twin turbos, increasing peak output to a whopping 1,900 hp (1,417 kW). An additional 200 hp (149 kW) and 1,000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque comes out of the electric motor.
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