1936 Chevy Sedan gets the electric car conversion treatment [w/video]
Click above and scroll down to watch the video Shade tree mechanics. A 1936 Chevy Sedan. Down home narrator vibe. Yup, this video from a local TV station in Oklahoma has got everything you might be looking for to prove that electric cars are as American as apple pie. Emissions and gasoline use, on the other hand, don’t belong in this rewritten version of classic American cars. They are banished in favor of a recycled forklift motor and some truck batteries. This EV conversion, done near in Oklahoma City, has created a car called the DC Cruiser. The Cruiser can go about 20 miles on a charge using a 10-inch electric motor coupled directly to the transmission, there is no clutch, and has about 50 horsepower. Nothing fancy here, just a few older gentlemen who wanted to revive a classic – and make it better. Watch their story after the jump. [Source: News Channel 4] Continue reading 1936 Chevy Sedan gets the electric car conversion treatment [w/video] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Green Culture , Chevrolet , Green Daily 1936 Chevy Sedan gets the electric car conversion treatment [w/video] originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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1936 Chevy Sedan gets the electric car conversion treatment [w/video]
San Francisco puts electric car charger in front of City Hall, ZipCar gets its frist PHEV
The city of San Francisco took another step into electric vehicle territory by installing “Smartlet” electric vehicle charging stations outside of City Hall today. The Smartlets are on loan from Coulomb Technologies and will be used to charge up cars from ZipCar, City CarShare and “a plug-in car in the City of San Francisco municipal fleet.” Mayor Gavin Newsom made the announcement this morning. Mayor Newsom, one of the few to actually own an EV1 back in the day, also wrote a post for Gas2 in which he says that he believes battery electric vehicles – not hybrids and he did not mention hydrogen – “are the quantum leap we need to make.” One thing about this caught my eye. A ZipCar with a plug? Huh? The San Francisco ZipCar site doesn’t list any vehicles that can get juice from the grid, so I called the San Francisco ZipCar office. They told me that they have just one plug-in model, specifically designated for city hall, which is a converted PHEV Prius. Thanks to Natasha M. for the tip! Gallery: EDTA 2008: ChargePoint Smartlet Station [Source: Gas2.org ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Green Culture , Green Daily San Francisco puts electric car charger in front of City Hall, ZipCar gets its frist PHEV originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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San Francisco puts electric car charger in front of City Hall, ZipCar gets its frist PHEV
GM consulant: Volt may have a halo, but it will not be GM’s savior
Click above for a high res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt At auto shows and gatherings with friends, I’m often asked what I think will happen with GM and if the Chevy Volt will ever really come out. My answer is that while Volts on the sales floor won’t guarantee that GM survives, if GM survives, they most certainly will build and sell the Volt. I certainly don’t know if this is true, but it’s the best I can do with the information I’ve seen and read. It appears that I’m not alone. Rob Kleinbaum, who worked at GM for nine years before taking on a consulting role for 15, wrote a white paper in January called “Retooling GM’s Culture” ( PDF ). In it, Kleinbaum writes: The mainstay belief is that all will turn out well if only they [GM leaders] have the chance to implement their plans, starting with the much heralded Volt. Then they will consider turning their attention to considering these types of “secondary” issues [labor contracts, cost issues, etc.] . Kleinbaum also spoke with HybridCars about his white paper and said that the Volt program is “set up to fail.” The car itself might work as advertised, but, “The way they set it up as saving everything. There’s tremendous risk that it won’t meet expectations. Even if the Volt meets all its targets, GM will not survive unless the entire product line is well executed…GM has shown it can execute world-class products; they just cannot execute a broad portfolio of them.” I guess my answer to the GM/Volt question just got a bit more detailed. Gallery: 2011 Chevy Volt [Source: HybridCars ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , GM , Green Daily GM consulant: Volt may have a halo, but it will not be GM’s savior originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Leave a commentGreenlings: Why do so many green cars have only three wheels?
You may have noticed that a lot of new “green” cars not only lack a large carbon footprint but they also seem to be missing something else; a fourth wheel. Recently the three-wheel configuration has been appearing in various forms of vehicles, from the space-age Aptera to the a-bit-more-than-a-motorcycle Piaggio Mp3 . With this seeming flood of tricycles sloshing about one question needs a clear answer: “Why do so many green cars only have three wheels?” As you might imagine there are a variety of possible reasons why one would design a vehicle this way. Hit the jump to take a tricycular journey to find out why. Gallery: Aptera 2e Continue reading Greenlings: Why do so many green cars have only three wheels? Auto Blog: Green Culture , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , On Two Wheels , USA Greenlings: Why do so many green cars have only three wheels? originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Washington 2009: modded Prius is part solar PHEV, part bed, part crazy
Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Green Culture , Hybrid , Toyota , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , Green Daily , Washington DC Auto Show We usually use the main picture in a post to give you a straightforward idea of what vehicle or technology the post is about. More unusual images can live in the gallery. For a vehicle we discovered at the Washington Auto Show, though, we needed to use the main picture spot to show off just one of the many highlights that Bob Bruninga has made to his Prius: wood trim on the doors (see it from a distance here and here ). This little homebrew addition is just one of a ridiculous number of modifications made to the Prius Power vehicle we found on display in the Green Car Pavilion The more important mods include: solar panels on the roof and hood, a bigger battery setup (248 volt, 9 amp hour array) to give the solar energy somewhere to go when the car is parked, a retro analog instrument panel to keep track of all the added electronics, and a wood and glass/plastic cylinder thing on the top. No one was around when I stopped by, so I’m not sure what that’s all about but, man, is it cool. In a “huh?” kind of way. Bruninga writes that the solar panels and beefed up battery cost him about $3,000. He knows it won’t get him 100 mpge, but he doesn’t care. He wants to provide power for ham radio field days and explore the possibilities. One more thing: the passenger seat has been replaced with the DIY ” Prius Inn ,” bed for one option. Who knew you could do so much to a Prius? He has plans for more , BTW. Gallery: Washington 2009: Prius Power [Source: APRS ] Continue reading Washington 2009: modded Prius is part solar PHEV, part bed, part crazy Washington 2009: modded Prius is part solar PHEV, part bed, part crazy originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Posted in Auto Green | culture, green-daily, green-exclusive, main, post, prius, prius inn, prius-power | Leave a commentIt’s Friday: Making roadkill live again through recycling
Auto Blog: Etc. , Green Culture , North America It’s bound to happen. If you travel very many miles, especially at night, it’s quite likely you’ll create roadkill . Even some of the expert drivers here at AutoblogGreen have taken the life of a street-crossing animal (I’m sooo sorry , Mr. or Mrs. Bunny, I tried to miss, I really tried.) While different areas have different ways of dealing with this all-too-common occurrance, today we focus on the amazing art of Amy Nugent (no relation to Ted ). The Canadian artist brings some life back to hapless victims of the tarmac by using their bits to create everything from very nice bracelets (above) to wall hangings. The off-beat source of her inspiration came to her while traveling Canadian highways that are often the final resting place of many a poor-sighted porcupine. Having heard of their quills being used by indigenous peoples for utilitarian and decorative purposes, she decided that she wanted to “resurrect this stuff that we just pancake out there.” And so she began her quest with simple cuffs and has progressed to much more refined pieces that she markets under the brand name, wait for it, ” Roadquill .” [Source: Canadian Press ] It’s Friday: Making roadkill live again through recycling originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Posted in Auto Green | a-local-one-, community, community-scale, culture, fabulous, florida, green-culture, life, press, roadquill, texas, weekend | Leave a commentFerrari tested at least three different KERS configurations in F1 car
Auto Blog: Hybrid , Ferrari Ferrari reportedly tested at least three different kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) configurations on its Formula One cars during 2008 and was dissatisfied with all of them. The most unusual setup involved mounting the batteries in the nose of the car. From a weight distribution standpoint, this was considered the most desirable approach. Unfortunately, this layout caused problems and required running the high voltage wires alongside the cockpit. The front-mounted battery also caused issues with the front wing which is critical to the performance of modern F1 cars. A system that was developed with Magnetti Marelli had technical problems and a third different configuration simply didn’t provide the required performance benefit. Ferrari engineers also encountered one of the big problems that engineers on road-going hybrid systems have to deal with: learning to blend friction and regenerative braking. This is no easy task on road cars and, given the performance required of these race cars, it must be particularly difficult. [Source: World Car Fans ] Ferrari tested at least three different KERS configurations in F1 car originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Posted in Auto Green | a-local-one-, community, culture, fabulous, ferrari, ferrarikers, florida, texas, wires-alongside | Leave a commentHy Tric Motors offers new electric cars, and some we’ve seen before
Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Green Culture , Hybrid , Green Daily , NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) Click above for a high-res gallery of the Hy Tric trike We got a tip recently about Hy Tric Motors , a company based in Ventura, California that offers electric vehicles and electric retro fit kits. The company seems to focus mostly on low-speed electric vehicles, but the Hy Tric Electro Cycle seen above has a top speed of 125 mpg. It costs $23,999, but there are virtually no other details available. In fact, the entire website is not set up to provide a whole lot of information about the cars. We can see pictures of the 2009 AFS Hy Tric 4 Seater (the green vehicle in the gallery below) that starts at $10,900 and the 2009 AFS Hy Tric EVCapus, a work truck for $13,900, but not much more about them. The only car that Hy Tric offers any real details on is the 2009 AFS Hy Tric Electro XRb-series , an EV that costs $9,999 and can go 60-90 miles on a full charge of its lead acid batteries (eight 12V/120AH packs). A 4 kW motor offers a top speed of 37 mph (can be limited to 25 mph to fall into the NEV category). Hy Tric also offers a series of conversion kits ranging from $2,500 (48 volt kit) to $5,000 (144 volts) to add onto your own vehicle. The site also lists a “2009 AFS Hy Tric LG1 Euro racer Model” that looks an awful lot like (ok, exactly like) the Triac electric car . Not sure what’s going on there. Gallery: Hy Tric Electro Cycle Gallery: Hy Tric 2009 AFS Mini Electro Cars [Source: Hy Tric Motors ] Hy Tric Motors offers new electric cars, and some we’ve seen before originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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VIDEO: Zap Alias prototype in action
Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Zap In the last couple of years, Zap has become better known for questionable financial dealings and breathless press releases than actual products. Hopefully, what we have here is a sign of something better. After seeing numerous computer renderings of this spacey looking electric trike, followed by a development chassis and a styling mockup , this might be the real thing. Zap brought what is claimed to be a prototype of their Alias three-wheeler to the National Automobile Dealers Convention in New Orleans over the weekend and shot some video of it on the move. We showed a clip of it moving in a warehouse the other day and now there is a second clip of it out in the open. It’s not clear if this is a fully functional unit or simply a styling buck with a golf cart motor like most concepts. Regardless, it’s at least tangible proof of life for the Alias. Now if Zap would just let us drive it we might be able to build some real confidence. Thanks to Mckinzie for the tip! Gallery: Zap Alias in Red [Source: YouTube ] Continue reading VIDEO: Zap Alias prototype in action VIDEO: Zap Alias prototype in action originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Posted in Auto Green | a-golf-cart, alias, california, culture, entry, green-culture, unit-or-simply, zap alias in red | Leave a commentDetroit 2009: E85-powered Mustang, the HP2g, gearing up for the Auto X Prize
Auto Blog: Ethanol , Green Culture , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , Detroit Auto Show , Green Daily , Automotive X-Prize Click above for high-res gallery Down in the basement (the smelly, smelly basement ) of Cobo Hall at the Detroit Auto Show, we found Doug Pelmear and Jennifer Rodgers. They were sitting next to a car we didn’t expect to see at the show, a 1987 Mustang. Why was the car there? Because Pelmear is still promoting his claim to get 110 mpge with the car and will be participating in the Progressive Automotive X Prize. This Mustang is called the HP2g , and Pelmear told us that he and his team are gearing up for the business plan portion of the X Prize, specifically how they’d sell 10,000 units a year. The 110 mpge claim is also a bit difficult to nail down. Nowhere on the HP2g website or in the materials provided to us at the show is the number fullly explained; just that “Mileage performance verification by cross country road test in October/November, 2008.” The best we can figure, as we noted when we wrote about this car before , is that Pelmear is only talking about the petroleum portion of the E85 fuel, and is somehow counting the ethanol as free energy. That may work for the headlines, but it won’t win the AXP, which looks at all the energy that goes into the car. Still, Pelmear made it clear that he intends to win the popularity portion of the competition with his iconic ride. Good luck with that. If you’re in Detroit, the Mustang and all the other vehicles we talked about will be on display through the weekend. The show closes Sunday. Gallery: Detroit 2009: E85 Mustang Continue reading Detroit 2009: E85-powered Mustang, the HP2g, gearing up for the Auto X Prize Detroit 2009: E85-powered Mustang, the HP2g, gearing up for the Auto X Prize originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Detroit 2009: E85-powered Mustang, the HP2g, gearing up for the Auto X Prize
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