Solo or Duo, Antro aims to give you a workout
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under EV, alternative transportation, biofuel, concept, hybrid
What weighs just 600lbs, reaches speeds of 80mph, gets 150 miles to the gallon and gives you a workout at the same time?
The Antro Solo, a hybrid solar- and gas-powered car from the Hungarian non-profit Antro.
Scheduled to arrive on european roadways in 2012 with a price tag of $18,000, the Solo can handle 10- to 15-mile local trips powered by the solar cells on the carbon fiber vehicle’s roof.
After that, drivers can rely on the gas- or ethanol-powered engine or they can power the generator themselves by pedaling. The founders of the futuristic auto company believe modern lifestyles are too sedentary; with the Solo, a short trip to the store can be a workout, too.
The Solo can also reduce CO2 emissions by three-quarters, compared with ordinary vehicles. And a six-passenger version is in the works: the Duo, which can be broken down into two separate cars in 10 minutes.
Specifics include:
*the SOLO seats three passengers
*the DUO seats six passengers
*very lightweight and streamlined configuration
*hybrid drive with renewable energies, running on vegetable oil and alcohol + electric motor
*solar cells on roof for charging the batteries
*supplementary drive by pedal-generator, the option of exercise during travel (fitnessmobile)
*use of only the electric motor + pedal drive at low speed, within residential areas (silent, 0 emissions)
*carbon fiber composite and magnesium alloy frame / body
*drive-by-wire control with driver sitting in the middle, in a frontal position
Day 2: Hydrogen Road Tour 2009-on the road with the CAFCP
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under EV, alternative transportation, biofuel, flight, hydrogen, infrastructure, legislation, mass transit
Day two of the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour began an early day on the Santa Monica Pier, followed by a trip to West LA to one of the newest hydrogen stations in Southern California. This is a mixed use station where in addition to formulating the hydrogen they sell onsite, they also sell gasoline, diesel and E85.
Seven automakers are taking part in the nine-day, 1,700-mile trip from San Diego to Vancouver, Canada.
This portion of the tour featured comments from many speakers including Shell’s Duncan McCloud, LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, Terry Taminem, and CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. After the governor’s comments, I was able to quietly ask him if he saw himself as an advocate for alternative fuel and vehicle technology after he leaves office. Psyche!
From there, we traveled to Burbank, site of the GM Training Center, and home to their Southern California Project Driveway headquarters.
For more information on the tour, visit www.hydrogenroadtour.com
Tags: alternative fuel, auto, battery, car, electric car, electric vehicles, energy, environment, EV, GM, hydrogen
Day 1: Hydrogen Road Tour 2009-on the road with the CAFCP
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under EV, alternative transportation, infrastructure, legislation
This week I joined the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour, or H2RT, a nine-day series of media, VIP and public events in California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia to highlight the communities where fuel cells and hydrogen stations are entering early commercial markets.
H2RT is a joint effort that involves the California Fuel Cell Partnership, California Air Resources Board, Powertech Labs, Air Products, Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. The caravan of fuel cell vehicles will stop at 28 locations on the trip, including universities, businesses, municipal buildings and sports complexes.
Also instrumental in this year’s tour was the National Hydrogen Association which advocates for hydrogen fuel cell use in passenger vehicles, transit buses, specialty vehicles like forklifts and even buildings and other non-transportation related functions, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, promote energy independence and bring new jobs to the US and Canada.
This is the second year for the event. In 2008, the vehicles drove from Maine to California in 13 days.
Tags: auto, battery, CAFCP, car, energy, environment, EV, fuel, fuel_cell, H2RT, hydrogen, NHA, vehicle
As goes California, so goes the nation….
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under legislation
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
U.S. President Barack Obama imposed tough national standards to cut emissions and increase gas mileage yesterday. Saying “The status quo is no longer acceptable,” Obama said new standards would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the program.
Calling it the start of a transition to a clean energy economy and praised by automakers and environmentalists alike, the president said the new vehicle standards will require U.S. passenger vehicles and light trucks to average 35.5 miles per gallon and requires automakers to achieve a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over today’s performance.
The announcement also brings to an end a long-running dispute between the government and the state of California, which had been seeking to impose its own tough standards on emissions. As part of the announcement, several lawsuits brought by California will be dropped.
The goal is to cut climate-warming carbon emissions by 900 million metric tons or more than 30 percent over the life of the program and accelerates by four years new fuel economy standards passed by Congress at the end of 2007.
As a result, consumers can expect to see more six-speed, seven-speed and even eight-speed transmissions and more use of smaller, turbocharged engines replacing bigger V-8 engines. Of course, electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will also have a big role to play including the the Chevrolet Volt and the Ford Focus electric car.
Once again, California has shown it can lead the way and bring the rest of the country in line behind it.
Tags: Barack, Chevrolet, energy, environment, EV, Focus, Ford, fuel, Obama, Volt
May 14th is Bike-to-Work Day
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under alternative transportation, bicycling, mass transit
Bike-to-Work Week kicked off May 11th encouraging all Americans to, you guessed it, bike to work. Originated by the League of American Bicyclists in 1956, the event is in turn part of National Bike Month and promotes bike commuting, environmental awareness and healthy transportation.
As part of the celebration, Bike-to-Work Day is held on the third Friday of May across the United States and Canada. Leading up to Bike-to-Work Day, national, regional, and local bicycle advocacy groups encourage people to try bicycle commuting as a healthy and safe alternative to driving by providing route information and tips for new bicycle commuters. On Bike-to-Work Day, these groups often organize bicycle-related events, and in some areas, pit stops along bicycle routes with snacks.
One company helping publicize the event is RentaBikeNow.com, a coast-to-coast bike rental network started by avid cyclists (who frequently bike to work). With nearly 200 bike rental locations, prospective cyclists can visit their website and reserve a rental bike to participate in Bike-to-Work Week. The RentaBikeNow.com website enables rental bike reservations at participating shops, from the comfort of your home or office, and includes road bikes, mountain bikes, comfort bikes, recumbents and more.
“A rental is a great way to try an increased commitment without the investment and to re-discover the joys of cycling,” says RentaBikeNow.com President, George Gill. He adds Bike Month celebrations should remind people to visit their neighborhood bike shop for a quick tune-up or to explore the latest models.
The company offers some tips to success:
-First of all, try it. Set a specific day to start and commit to riding your bike to work several days that week.
-Drive the course first and try some less traveled streets - what’s right for a car may not be right for a bicyclist.
-Try different routes, often the shortest route isn’t the quickest or most comfortable. Consult the internet since bike mapping websites and bike route information is readily available.
-If distance is an issue, incorporate mass transit into your Bike-to-Work plans.
-Take is easy. If you keep your efforts and pace in check, you’ll arrive cool and dry. And of course, it gets easier after a few commutes.
-Just in case, keep a spare set of clothes at work with a box of baby wipes for a quick way to freshen up.
-For bike parking, ask your employer if there is a safe room for you to store your bike - you’ll be amazed at how often they say “Yes,” and your employer learns that you are an energetic employee.
-Talk to other cyclists. Almost every office has a bike commuter, and they are usually more than willing to share their personal tips and tricks.
-Wear bright colors when riding, always wear a proper fitting bike helmet and obey traffic laws.
Here in Los Angeles, Bike-to-Work Day will be celebrated on Thursday, May 14th. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be offering free rides all day and manning pit stops with free refreshments and sponsor giveaways.
For more information, visit www.metro.net/projects_studies/bikeway_planning/biketowork/default.htm
Tags: bicycling, bike, Bike_to_Work, metro
Pursu-ing Mobility, 3-wheels at a time
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under EV, alternative transportation
This past week while chatting with The Courage Group’s urban planner Ray Gordon, who writes a blog Courageous Futures, I had the good fortune to meet Howard Levine, founder and COO of Persu Mobility. Formerly Venture Vehicles, the company is working on producing a PHEV, similar to the U.K.’s Carver, yet using a totally new platform significantly more advanced and specifically engineered to OEM-type standards, making it street legal in the USA.
Powered by a hybrid power plant, the company’s ULV or Urban Life Vehicle is rated at 75 miles per gallon (the actual figure is expected to be closer to 100mpg) with a top speed approaching 100mph, and at about four feet wide, it also can maneuver in traffic much like a motorcycle, while the enclosed cabin keeps the elements at bay.
The 3-wheeler uses a patented Dynamic Vehicle Control system or DVC™ tilting technology, utilizing a combination of hydraulic and mechanical technologies, thus eliminating the stability issue inherent in non-tilting three wheel vehicles and providing high reliability and quick response. The advantage of these vehicles is that they are lighter weight, use less materials and smaller batteries, and are more aerodynamic.
It’s low drag coefficient and plug in capabilites provide an all electric range of at least 20 miles and a total driving range at least 400 miles on a six-gallon tank of gas, and has a rumored price tag of around $25k.
The company remains in stealth mode as it works to solve it’s main challenge: engineering the vehicle’s production methods to achieve U.S. reliability and durability standards in volume.
You see, it’s incredibly expensive to build a vehicle to U.S. standards. We Americans sometimes forget the millions of dollars it takes to tool a plant for precision metal fabrication, or other materials for that matter, for seamless fit and finish, let alone the R&D costs.
Two key elements to the company’s success came when Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a bill giving their vehicle HOV lane access in California and President Obama’s stimulus package that includes a tax credit (against income and alternative taxes) for consumers who purchase 2-wheel or 3-wheel plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles having an onboard battery capacity of at least 2.5 kilowatt hours. The credit is for 10% of the cost of any qualified vehicle up to $2500. This is a significant policy step for the advancement of alternative vehicles and 3-wheel plug-in hybrids in particular.
With a projected debut in 2012, we’ll be waiting and watching to learn more about this ULV, a vehicle I already LUV.
For more info: Visit the company’s website www.flytheroad.com or to sign on to their preregistration list (at no cost) to learn more about their future plans.
Tags: 3_Wheeler, battery, Carver, cool, Courageous, drag_coefficient, DVC, Dynamic_Vehicle_Control, EV, HOV, Howard_Levine, motorcycle, mpg, mph, Persu, PHEV, Ray_Gordon, speed, stimulus, ULV, Venture_Vehicles
Citroen’s new C1 Ev’ie
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under EV, alternative transportation
The first all-electric family car went on sale in the United Kingdom recently.
Launched by Citroen and called the C1 ev’ie, the lithium ion battery-powered, all-electric mini car is classified as a car, unlike the Indian-built Reva G-Wiz, which had to be registered as a quadricycle.
It features a 30kw electric motor, is powered by 25 li-ion batteries mounted in place of the fuel tank and has a range of 60 to 70 miles.
Applying regenerative braking as soon as you take your foot off the gas, Citoren claims the C1 Evie generates the most electricity possible from a regenerative energy system. A full charge takes six hours from a domestic 13 amp socket at a cost of about USD $1.34, which results in a fuel cost of less than .02 cents per mile
London is one of the most pro EV cities in the world, with more than 300 dedicated EV charging points already installed and plans to introduce more than 25,000. Other EV incentives include no road tax, no London congestion charge and free parking in addition to the fuel savings from running an electric vehicle.
Top speed is 60 mph and the C1 Evie comes standard with ABS, airbag, side impact door protection, crumple zones and electric power steering and electric windows. Available in both 3 and 5-door versions, the MSRP starts at £16,850 (USD$25,100) and the Electric Car Corporation Plc (ECC) is also offering to rent or lease the vehicles.
ECC expects to build 500 C1s over the next 12 months, with production volume increasing to between 2,000 and 4,000 in 2010. The company has also struck a deal to supply cars to UK rental car company Green Motion.
Tags: auto, battery, car, Citroen, energy, environment, EV, Evie, fuel, Green_Motion, G_Wiz, Li_ion, Matt_Kelly, Reva
Chocolate as a fuel?
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under alternative transportation, biofuel, concept
145 mph on chocolate?
My question is that milk or dark chocolate?
London scientists just unveiled what they hope will be one of the world’s fastest biofuel vehicles, powered by waste from chocolate factories and made partly from plant fibers.
The car “fuel” is vegetable oils and chocolate waste that has been turned into biofuel. The steering wheel is made out of plant-based fibers derived from carrots and other root vegetables, and the seat is built of flax fibre and soybean oil foam. The body is also made of plant fibers.
So not only is the car eco-friendly, its also edible? Not.
Scientists at the University of Warwick say their car is the fastest to run on biofuels and also be made from biodegradable materials.
They hope it can reach 145 mph on a racetrack in a few weeks . They have driven it at around 60 mph and are now making final adjustments to the engine before driving it at top speed.
Warwick’s project manager James Meredith said their model shows that it is possible to build a fast, efficient, environmentally friendly car.
The car, named the “WorldFirst Formula 3 racing car,” will go on display at several races including the European Grand Prix and Britain’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Bring your own sweet tooth.
Tags: auto, biofuel, cars, chocolate, cool, energy, environment, fast, fuel, Matt_Kelly, racing, speed, transportation, Warwick
Zipcar launches FastFleet, partners with ZimRide
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under alternative transportation, ride sharing
Have you heard of Zipcar?
Begun in Cambridge, Massachusetts nearly a decade ago, the startup pioneers the European idea of car-sharing here in the U.S.
Its concept is simple: offer self-service vehicles by the hour or day to city residents and businesses looking for an alternative to the high costs and hassles of owning a car in the city.
The company just announced FastFleet, a new service that enables government and other fleet managers to save money, reduce risk and promote sustainability. Washington, D.C., the first city in the country to adopt the system, estimates it has saved more than $300,000 during its four month FastFleet pilot program and the city estimates it will save more than $1 million in the first 12 months.
“I believe that technology can be used to create efficiency and save taxpayer money,” said Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “FastFleet has allowed us to better optimize our fleet and we will continue to evaluate our existing fleet and look for additional cost saving opportunities.”
Nationally, approximately 4 million vehicles are deployed across thousands of fleets within local, state and federal governments. Typically, fleets are sized to meet peak demand, which means on a daily basis thousands of these cars and trucks sit idle.
FastFleet enables fleet administrators to transition from dedicated vehicles, to high efficiency shared vehicles with no reduction in availability for drivers. Additionally, FastFleet-equipped vehicles can be located in a distributed network of locations, instead of a centralized “depot”. Employees use an intuitive reservation system over the web, phone or mobile device, to select and reserve vehicles. A swipe of a wallet size access card unlocks the doors of a reserved vehicle, courtesy of an integrated card reader mounted under the windshield.
“Sharing a fleet of small, new, fuel-efficient cars helps keep pollutants out of our air and water,” said George S. Hawkins, Director of the District Department of the Environment. “And, as Zipcar users already know, every quart of oil, set of tires and pair of wiper blades has an environmental cost. Using fewer vehicles will lower that cost.”
FastFleet mirrors Zipcar’s car-sharing model with one key difference: FastFleet doesn’t supply the vehicles. Instead, fleet administrators determine the numbers, types and locations of vehicles, which are then equipped with FastFleet’s in-vehicle technology, wirelessly linking them to a dedicated FastFleet server.
Using the power of social networking, including sites like Facebook, Zipcar also last month debuted a first-of-its-kind partnership with Zimride at Stanford University.
Before, Zimride users could organize a carpool online and then separately rent a vehicle if they didn’t own one themselves. But now, Zipcar users at Stanford can post their trip on Zimride, while Zimride members without a car can reserve one via Zipcar, making carpooling easier. With Zimride’s carpool software, members simply set up a social profile and proceed to post trips they would like to take or offer. The system integrates seamlessly with a Facebook profile, allowing members to get to know potential riders or drivers beforehand.
“By leveraging existing social networks, we make it easy for people to feel comfortable because they know, or know about, the person with whom they’re sharing,” said John Zimmer, co-founder and chief operating officer of Zimride. “The intent is to make it easier, more convenient and fun for people to share rides—even if they don’t own a vehicle.”
Both Zimride and Zipcar see college and university campuses as the perfect place for their integrated service—given their parking constraints, their need to control congestion and, at Stanford, a passion for adopting an increasingly comprehensive array of transportation programs. Also, campuses tend to have large populations of students without cars who are more than willing to spread out the cost for gas—or avoid transportation expenses altogether.
From here, Zipcar and Zimride plan to promote the same integrated service to colleges and universities across the country. Zipcar has 275,000 members and 6,000 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses in North America and in London. Zimride serves more than 300,000 users around the world.
Sadly however, in Southern California, after merging with FlexCar, ZipCar removed all their vehicles from areas outside of the universities they serve–cars remain at UCLA, USC, Pomona, UCSB, UCSD and UCI.
The company does state that “later this summer, Zipcar will extend its program beyond the USC and UCLA campuses to surrounding neighborhoods through a partnership with the city.”
Upon the successful completion of the pilot program, the City will consider expanding car sharing to other suitable areas including Venice, Hollywood, Downtown and other neighborhoods.
We’ll keep you updated.
Tags: Adrian_Fenty, auto, car, car_sharing, Clean Energy, energy, environment, FastFleet, fleet, FlexCar, Matt_Kelly, ride_sharing, Stamford_University, Sustainability, Zimride, Zipcar
Will Bike Sharing come to LA?
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under alternative transportation
Paris. Vienna. Rome. Stockholm. Washington, DC. What do they all have in common?
Each city has a successful public bike-sharing program that’s helping pave the way to a greener urban environment, one city at a time.
The bike-sharing concept began in Paris in July of 2007 and allows an individual to check out a bicycle from a public docking station, then return it at another location, providing an alternative form of public transportation within city limits that reduces carbon-dioxide pollution.
“Paris showed the world that a substantial bike-sharing fleet can change how people, non-cyclists, in fact, move about a city,” says Paul DeMaio, founder of MetroBike consulting.
The city has 20,600 bicycles (one per 100 individuals) at 1,451 stations throughout the city. These “smart” bikes are equipped with electronic locking systems verified by credit card, allowing for better tracking and less theft.
Clear Channel Outdoor, the company behind the SmartBike programs in Oslo, Stockholm, Milan and Barcelona, broke into the U.S. bike-sharing market with its SmartBike DC program, which has been operating up to 120 bicycles in Washington D.C. since 2008.
The company charges users an annual fee of $40 for unlimited use of bikes, up to three hours per journey.
“The advertising-company model can be improved,” says DeMaio, “but I think long-term sustainability would lend itself to the government, quasi-governmental transport provider, university, non-profit, and for-profit models.”
Most systems are now directly linked to Web sites that update the availability of bikes, and often their location, in real-time, like Rio de Janeiro’s Samba bike-sharing system, which can only be activated by mobile phone, once the customer has registered online.
Set to launch in this month with 3,000 bikes at 300 mobile stations, Montreal’s award-winning Bixi system is run by the parking company Stationnement de Montreal and features sleek solar-powered docks equipped with RFID (radio-frequency identification) chip readers for wireless (and thus portable) connection and operation.
The biggest obstacles to bike sharing’s success are infrastructure, funding, and liability, says DeMaio.
“A jurisdiction must [already] have a network of bike infrastructure, such as bike lanes and cycle tracks (i.e. bike lanes physically separated from motor vehicle traffic) so that people have safe places to ride,” he begins.
“Funding is the next obstacle, as the capital cost of system implementation is about $3,600 per bike, which includes the stations and back-end system, plus another roughly $3,000 per bike annually for ongoing maintenance and distribution costs — still cheaper than creating a streetcar line or subway station.
Liability is the third major obstacle, especially in more litigious societies such as the U.S., as insurers are hesitant to insure programs.”
Will bike sharing appear in Southern California? Santa Monica and other Westside cities seem to be the ideal location as are the closed communities of California’s State Universities and State Parks.
What do you think?
Let me know your thoughts. Email me at majicmattyla@gmail.com
Tags: alternative_transportation, bicycling, bike, bike_sharing, Bixi, Matt_Kelly, MetroBike, Paul_DeMaio, RFID, Samba, SmartBike