Alternative Transportation

[Doug]

The Greenbird, a land and ice craft vehicle that is powered solely by wind, is a pioneering hybrid vehicle for zero carbon transportation. Designed by Ecotricity, Britain's largest independent green electricity company, and Richard Jenkins of the Windjet Project, the Greenbird is marketed as part airplane, part sailboat, and part Formula One vehicle. Richard Jenkins and Ecotricity's owner Dale Vince view their miracle wind-powered vehicle, that is free of fossil fuels and excessive engineering, as the future of eco-conscious transportation.

On March 26th, 2009, the Greenbird shattered the land speed world record for wind-powered vehicles, clocking in at 126.2 miles per hour along the California/Nevada border.

See here.

[Doug]

Cannabis Electric Car



Hippies, rejoice: The world's first cannabis electric car may soon hit the roads of Canada. And guess what? The amusing auto is a truly inspiring feat of engineering.

Developed by Alberta-based Motive Industries, the car prototype—known as the Kestrel—is made from a biocomposite partly derived from local hemp. Because the material is uber-light, it reduces the car's electricity consumption. And it's cheaper, more renewable and less health-hazardous than standard fiberglass to boot. (The only possible hitch so far is the speed of the vehicle. It is projected to max out just under 60 miles an hour at maximum.)

...Unfortunately, while the idea is nifty, Americans shouldn't get too excited about driving their own cannabis coupe soon. Strict hemp laws in the U.S. mean we will be unable to develop similar contraptions here...



See here.

[Dardedar]

Wow, check out these awesome high mileage vehicles going for the X-prize ($10 million dollars).

Including the new Twike!



Video clips of them all here HERE

[LoveHer08]

Wow this would really be a big contribution to science.
Thanks for sharing this to us..!

[Doug]

The AirPod. A car that runs on compressed air.

It can hold three adults and one child, and it uses a joystick instead of a steering wheel.

"Compared to a standard car, the AirPod emits a fraction of the pollution, can reach up to 50 mph, and will cost around $10,000."

Range before needing to refuel: 90-120 miles (city).

Here.




Seating arrangement.


Convertible model.

[Dardedar]

Very skeptical of the compressed air vehicles. This fellow seems to explain the problem as I have read it elsewhere:

***
"If their claims are true (100 mile range per 175L of air at 350 bar), then this is extremely competitiv­e with battery electric cars, but I highly doubt that these claims are true.

Compressed gas power cycles require highly-eff­icient heat exchangers to minimize storage volume and maximize energy efficiency­. When gases expand adiabatica­lly, they cool down dramatical­ly, and unless the gas is heated to ambient temperatur­e, the energy return from expanding the gas to the atmosphere is substantia­lly reduced. So the engine needs an intercoole­r-type heat exchanger that operates on a relatively low temperatur­e difference­, which is technologi­cally challengin­g.

Also, the charging station will want to have a deep refrigerat­ion unit, first of all to condense the humidity out of the air and then to cool the air to near-cryog­enic temperatur­es to compensate for the rise in temperatur­e that will occur when the air is compressed­. Otherwise the vehicle's storage tank would have to be very large (pressure is proportion­al to temperatur­e) and heat-resis­tant. So the charging station is going to consume quite a lot of power for cooling.

The claimed 175L is only 46gal. They're basically claiming that they have a compressed air power cycle that approaches 10% of the volumetric energy density of a typical gasoline power cycle. That's a really implausibl­e claim. There's no way that 46 gallons of compressed air can deliver the same energy output as 4 gallons of gasoline. I don't buy it."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/js ... 62281.html

[Savonarola]

Range before needing to refuel: 90-120 miles (city).

I call bullshit without even doing the math.

Whoops, looks like Darrel beat me to it.

ETA: As usual, HuffPo's science information doesn't just leave much to be desired, it's positively nutbar realm.

[Dardedar]

Here's the amazing (same) new story... two years ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGdKlbW2 ... re=related

They've been doing this for ten years.

[Doug]

They've been doing this for ten years.

I call bullshit without even doing the math.

OK, I guess I'll just have to stick to the old tried and true:



Bicyles have been around (with pedals) since the 1860's. Fuel: energy bar and a water bottle.

This velomobile (pictured above) is expensive, but worth it. I'm saving up...

[Savonarola]

OK, I guess I'll just have to stick to the old tried and true:

Bicyles have been around (with pedals) since the 1860's. Fuel: energy bar and a water bottle.

Yeah, but that requires effort. Most people won't go for that. Sad, huh?

[Doug]

Electric Vehicles: Myths vs. Reality

This Sierra Club article debunks these myths/misconceptions about electric vehicles.

Myth 1: Switching to an electric vehicle will just mean that the same amount of pollution comes from the electricity generation rather than from the tailpipe — I'll just be switching from oil to coal.

Myth 2: Plug-in cars will lead to the production of more coal and nuclear plants.

Myth 3: Electric car batteries pose a recycling problem.

Myth 4: My electricity bill will go way up.

Myth 5: Electric vehicles will just fail again like they did before.

Myth 6: My battery will run out of juice.

Myth 7: Electric vehicles are much more expensive than traditional vehicles.

Myth 8: Electric vehicles are only available in California.

Myth 9: Charging an EV on solar power is a futuristic dream.

See here.

[Dardedar]

Electric Vehicles: Myths vs. Reality
Myth 4: My electricity bill will go way up.

Well, it may but it will be more than offset in the gas savings, as they point out. And they figure it on .12 cents a kwh. I think I am paying about .8 cents kwh so the savings would be even greater (gas is a little cheaper here however...).

Good list of debunks. Rightwingers are already out trashing the new EV's and hybrids coming out. The Nissan Leaf has 20,000 person waiting list.

[tmiller51]

I'm wary of companies trying to make 3-wheeled "cars" because they've had terrible track records and some have been outright scams. But, the re-start by a company called Aptera has me pretty excited.

https://www.aptera.us

Aptera_Sol4.jpeg