A long time ago, there were people experimenting with using pulse jets mounted on the tips of large rotors to make simple helicopters. By the looks of things, the idea just refuses to die, except now, the blades are mounted just inches above the operator's head. Sounds safe, no? Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana (TAM) is behind the project. That company actually does offer some rocket packs which get strapped onto the adventurous rider's back, so perhaps the company will go all the way with this newfangled design as well.
Blade-mounted rockets apparently allow for the deletion of the normally necessary tail-rotor. According to TAM, the lack of the tail-rotor makes this backpack-mounted helicopter-of-death safer than the more common types you see flying in the sky. Call us crazy, but regardless of how safe the manufacturer is suggesting that his proposed one-man flying-machine may be, we can't see too many people jumping at the idea of strapping rocket fuel to their backs and flying to work. Sure does look fun, though!
Speaking to the Commonwealth Club of California this week, GM CEO Rick Wagoner told the gathering that in order for electric cars to make a difference in global warming it will require large numbers of them to be deployed at prices that mainstream buyers can afford. While a few hundred Tesla Roadsters or Fisker Karmas may make the owners feel better about themselves, in the U.S. vehicle fleet of 200 million vehicles they they won't make any real measurable difference in the grand scheme of things. To make a significant impact on fuel consumption and emissions, millions of cars and trucks every year need to be more efficient. However, that can only happen if those vehicles are affordable to average car buyers.
When Wagoner was asked why it's taking as long as it is to bring the Volt to market he explained that it's a lot harder to create a viable $20,000 electric car than one that costs $100,000. Nonetheless it has taken Tesla almost as long to bring the Roadster to the street as GM will have spent on the Volt program. We still don't know how much cars like the Volt will cost consumers or GM when they launch, but one thing is certain: they won't be $20,000. Someday, the price may get closer to that price but that will take time and some serious battery cost reduction. In the meantime, parallel efforts to create large numbers of other kinds of more efficient vehicles will have to continue. That's why companies like Ford are pushing forward with smaller turbocharged engines that are lighter and relatively inexpensive. They can put hundreds of thousands or millions of these on the road annually at prices the masses can afford.
The DTE Energy company, which provides natural gas and electric services to Michigan customers, is going to start using biodiesel in its fleet of 800 diesel trucks and service vehicles (things like bucket trucks and light-duty vehicles). DTE will present a ceremony on Tuesday to mark the shift to the biofuel, but didn't announce the percentage of biodiesel it will be using. DTE did say that Michigan-based biodiesel supplier RKA Petroleum will provide the fuel and that the switch is the "environmental equivalent of taking about 120 of those vehicles out of service." Since "environmental equivalent" can mean a lot of things, we can't just calculate the biofuel percentage. What we do know is that even if you're providing energy to a lot of people, greening up your own supply isn't a bad idea.
The city of Monterey, Mexico, will have its subway system, called Metrorrey, propelled with electricity obtained from biogas. Simeprode, the company that manages the city waste system, is finishing a 5.3 MW power plant that will produce electricity for the two subway lines. This plant will allow Monterrey not only to run its mass transit system with bioenergy but also to expand the subway networks in the near future. The remaining power will be used for public lightning. The technology was imported from Germany, and the total cost of the project was about $6.5 million.
A month ago during GM's monthly sales conference call, it was revealed that the company had sold a measly 843 hybrid vehicles in the first three months of 2008. Although I don't partake in the most recent sales call, one of the readers over at TTAC did listen in this month and someone specifically posed the question of how many hybrids GM managed to move off dealer lots in April. As usual GM didn't break out hybrid sales in the overall numbers but when questioned, Marketing boss Mark LaNeve did acknowledge "over 1,100" sales with over 500 being the Tahoe and Yukon hybrids. The remainder were assorted mild hybrids of the Malibu, Aura and Vue varieties. That's still nothing to get particularly excited about, but it's a move in the right direction - unless, of course, profitability is the desired outcome. GM is undoubtedly loosing a significant number of dollars on every two-mode hybrid and selling more will only make things worse financially. It will be interesting to see if GM actually makes more of a push to sell the two-modes when the Escalade hybrid launches later this year at a significantly higher price.
Tesla Motors opened its first retail store the other day and held a party to celebrate the event. Of course we all couldn't attend but thanks to 21st century technology, videos were taken on cell phones and streamed live across the internets for all to see via Qik. In fact, they are still on the internets and we have some after the break. Jason Calacanis of Weblogs fame shot the first featured moving pictures while Jeff Macpherson from Tiki Bar TV shot some clips as well. So go ahead and have some hors d'oeuvres and a cocktail whilst you mingle with the rich and famous and check out some Tesla roadsters. Hear music legend Quincy Jones play the Tesla horn. Watch Elon Musk talk to the camera of Chris Paine about grilled cheese sandwiches. Why are you still here? Go watch!
"I am selling this truck in the hopes of buying a new hybrid for my growing family." That is the reason eBay user jeremg gives for selling his Nissan Xterra. His timing could not be better.
You see, this particular Xterra was featured on The Office earlier this week (jeremg works for the show) when the plot revolved around Dwight selling the Xterra on eBay. Since jeremg owns the SUV and was able to score a signed script and a few other show goodies, off he went to eBay Motors. All the goodies - and the SUV - can be yours if you're willing to overpay for what the vehicle is worth.
Our friends at Autoblog checked, and Kelley Blue Book values an Xterra in excellent condition at $9,715. Current bid for Dwight's Xterra is $15,300. So he's up five grand and change thanks to his star car. Still, jeremg has a ways to go before he can just use money from the sale of this Xterra to buy a Prius or a hybrid SUV (the latter would be my guess, considering jeremg made a point of "my growing family" and all the stuff he carries). Now, if only we could get Dwight's gun rack Prius.
That's Jason at the wheel - Photos by CK Sample III
For those unfamiliar with the history of this site, a little background. AutoblogGreen and our elder sibling Autoblog are both part of the Weblogs Inc. network of blogs. Weblogs Inc. also includes sites like Engadget and its off-shoots, Joystiq, TUAW, Cinematical and many more. Weblogs Inc. was founded by a gentleman named Jason Calacanis and his business partner Brian Alvey in 2004 and in late 2005 they sold the company to AOL who own it to this day. Jason eventually went on to some other endeavors and most recently launched a human generated search site/directory called Mahalo.com. Along the way he also decided to plunk down some of the cash that he accumulated from building and selling his various enterprises on a Tesla Roadster. Jason wasn't one of the earliest customers and unlike everyone but Tesla Chairman Elon Musk has yet to receive his new battery-propelled speed machine. Fortunately for Jason, Elon apparently took his kindergarten lessons in sharing to heart and decided to loan production Roadster #1 to Jason for a bit and Jason shared his good fortune with his own staff at Mahalo. Check out the Flickr photo set here and Mahalo's Roadster page here. And for the record, yes, it is a slow news day.
As vehicles get more and more complex, auto suppliers will need everything in their arsenal to win major contracts from automakers. According to an article on Just-Auto (sub. req'd), by the year 2012, automotive suppliers will bear more than half of the total research and development of a given automobile. What this means for suppliers is that they need to stay at the forefront in environmental technologies. Increasingly complex systems will be necessary for automobiles to meet stringent emissions and fuel efficiency requirements. Biofuels and clean diesel technology are reportedly one area that suppliers are being relied rather heavily upon.
Not only must the suppliers integrate the latest technology into their equipment, they need to do so at an agreeable cost to the manufacturer. Donald Walker of Magna International indicates that the road ahead will not be easy, saying, "There will be fewer pieces of the business to bid on, so the supply chain is going to shrink. Some suppliers will prosper and others will go out of business." Sounds like an already tough business stands to get even tougher.
The single most expensive environmental initiative put forward by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Conservative) was a biofuels initiative that is now seeing significant new opposition. The CDN$2.2 billion (about a $1 trillion at current exchange rates) was intended to provide incentives for biofuel development north of the border. However, recent spikes in food prices and criticism of using food crops to make transportation fuel has caused some who previously supported the plan to switch sides.
Opposition International Development critic (Liberal) Keith Martin went as far as calling for a moratorium on biofuel subsidies until the problems are better understood. NDP members of parliament also opposed the plan while the Bloc Quebecouis officially supports it. However, Bloc environment critic Bernard Bigras is opposed to the use of corn ethanol. Conservative Environment Minister John Baird is arguing in favor of the legislation and says that $500 million of the total is set aside for research into next-generation biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. The legislation looks likely to pass regardless of the new opposition, although an amendment to the bill calls for a review of the environmental and economic impact of the 5 percent ethanol target one year after the law passes.
Lots of Nissan electric car news today. Shortly after hearing that Nissan intends to be a global leader in affordable electric cars, news comes that the company is looking at a few cities to trial some of their new electric vehicle technology. One such city on the short-list is reportedly London. Carlos Ghosn says, "We have not yet got to the level of talking to the mayor's office. At this stage it is just a feasibility study, but London is definitely among the cities interested." London seems to be a rather obvious choice, considering the cities controversial new congestion charges which would offer zero-emission vehicles a big advantage over their gas or diesel-consuming cousins.
Let's recap the other recent news. Israel and Denmark want in on the electric car craze too. In fact, What Car reports that Israeli authorities have struck a deal with Nissan allowing the automaker exclusive rights to sell electric cars in Israel for a period of ten years. California is slated to be the first stop for an upcoming Nissan electric car in the U.S.
Interestingly, Nissan hopes to get 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, of range from a single battery pack, which could then be swapped out or recharged at an EV station -- sorta like an electrified version of today's gas stations and part of the Project Better Place idea. Ghosn says that Nissan is fully capable of offering an EV, sans battery, for the same cost of a normal gas-powered car. After the initial purchase, the cost of the battery and the amount of money spent keeping it charged will be less than the cost of gasoline. Ghosn also says that Nissan's electric cars will be sexy and attractive. That seems to cover all the bases rather well. Nissan, you've got our attention... we're waiting!
James Wang, director of the Intelligent Mobility Technology division of the Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium (TARC), believes that Taiwan is the perfect testing ground for small, low-speed electric vehicles. The fact that huge numbers of people live centered around large urban areas means that most people don't need to travel long distances to get what they need. Additionally, Taiwan's warm weather is favorable for batteries. So, TARC has created what it is referring to as a light-electric-vehicle (LEV). TARC envisions these two-seat vehicles, with their odd wheel arrangement of three in the rear and one in front, zipping around the urban Mecca's that make up emerging countries.
TARC's goal is to reach a range of 100 kilometers (62 miles) and a top speed of 40 miles per hour. Those targets shouldn't be too difficult to reach. The LEV is powered by four removable lithium ion batteries which can either be recharged in the vehicle or replaced when discharged. We think that the specifications are fine, but question why the design of their LEV is superior to a more conventional arrangement (Remember the Ecooter?). Regardless, the vehicle is currently being tested in in rural areas, and plans are in the works to bring it into urban settings shortly.
Two years after its racing debut at the 2006 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the Audi R10 TDI is making its first ever visit to the classic Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium. The R10s are running in the European Le Mans Series for the first time this year and Spa will be a whole new challenge for Audi. The length of the Belgian track has been cut by more than half to 4.4miles from its original 9.3miles but it still remains one of the most challenging tracks in the world. The diesel-powered Audis will again be taking on the dominant Peugeot 908 HDis but the R10s are fueled by a GTL fuel supplied by technical partner Shell. GTL is a gas to liquid fuel produced from natural gas. GTL has an advantage over conventional petroleum diesel in that it is free of sulfur and produces less particulate emissions without any changes to the engine. The same processes used to produce the liquid fuel from natural gas can be used to produce fuel from a syngas derived from biomass. Audi's press release is after the jump.
Sometimes we get a little fired up about new developments in solar technology. This new solar energy system (pictured above) from SUNRGI is making us downright delirious. What is it exactly? Thought you'd never ask. This, my friend, is the latest in concentrated solar technology or Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics ™ - XPV™ as it is referred to by the company. If it lives up to its extraordinary claims of producing electricity for a meager ¢5Kwh, we may all be saying "Good-bye coal, helloooo sunshine".
It works by using a magnifying glass to concentrate sunlight to make it 1,600 times brighter than the sun. It's focussed onto a photovoltaic cell that converts more than 37 percent of the sunlight directly into electricity. Of course, there are other companies that make similar types of concentrated solar systems that can concentrate light by 500 times but where the SUNRGI excels is in the dissipation of the heat that gets created. Apparently it has some nanotechnolgical goop made by Spectrolab that helps conduct the heat away from the cell so it stays only 20 degrees above the outside temperature instead of 3,300 degrees which helps it reach that 1,600 times figure. Already tried and tested, co-founder Robert Black says it should be on the market in 12 to 15 months.
Despite the untimely death of project manager Frank Swanston from lung cancer, the British Steam Car Challenge is still on for a record attempt at the Bonneville Salt Flats in August of this year. Before assaulting the World Record, the British team will first tackle the standing record in their home country. Set on July 3, 1938, the British record stands at 126 miles per hour. That's just under the official World Record, which was set in 1906 by Fred Marriott, who drove a modified Stanley Steamer to 127.659 miles per hour.
With their extremely aerodynamic steamer, the British Steam Car Team shouldn't have too much trouble setting a new record later this year. In fact, the team is hoping to break the 200 mile per hour mark. After their historic run is completed, the vehicle is to be placed on permanent display at the National Motor Museum Trust at Beaulieu.
A long time ago, there were people experimenting with using pulse jets mounted on the tips of large rotors to make simple helicopters. By the looks of things, the idea just refuses to die, except now, the blades are mounted just inches above the operator's head. Sounds safe, no? Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana (TAM) is behind the project. That company actually does offer some rocket packs which get strapped onto the adventurous rider's back, so perhaps the company will go all the way with this newfangled design as well. 
As vehicles get more and more complex, auto suppliers will need everything in their arsenal to win major contracts from automakers. According to an article on 
Lots of Nissan electric car news today. Shortly after hearing that Nissan intends to be a 
_thumbnail.jpg "Beijing 2008: BYD e6")
