GreenerPolitics

by Clayton B. Cornell, Gas 2.0

This could be it: the Th!nk City electric car, a four-seater with 110 mile range and top speed of 65 mph, priced under $25,000, made from 95% recyclable materials, and available in the U.S. in 2009.

The Th!nk City electric car is the product of Norwegian firm Th!nk Global, an auto manufacturer backed by Silicon Valley funding who has plans to assemble the cars in Southern California. In contrast to Tesla’s limited release of 300 cars per year, the Th!nk City is designed for mass production to the tune of 30-50,000 units within a few years. Th!nk already produces about 10,000 of these cars in Europe annually.

As an interesting aside, Ford Motor Company originally developed the vehicle, but (in a move they may soon regret), sold it to Norwegian investors in 2003. Why is it so cool? Because most of us don’t drive more than 40 miles in a day, and small electric cars are optimally suited for congested city driving. The benefits are pretty obvious, but if you’re worried about getting out for the weekend with the Th!nk City, don’t. Use it for city driving and keep that gas-guzzling SUV for forays into the mountains. You’ll still come out ahead.

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Plenty, the World in Green By Eric Mack

If someone tried to sell you a zero-emissions car that costs around $10,000, you might think he was full of hot air. Turns out it’s the car that’s full of it: The vehicle runs on and emits nothing but air. Now, after more than fifteen years of languishing in automotive obscurity, it’s heading for mass production.

The Air Car is the brainchild of Guy Negre, a French inventor and former Formula One engineer. In February, Negre’s company, Motor Development International (MDI), announced a deal to manufacture the technology with Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial automaker and a major player worldwide. “It’s an innovative technology, it’s an environment-friendly technology, and a scalable technology,” says Tata spokesperson Debasis Ray. “It can be used in cars, in commercial vehicles, and in power generation.”

Though Negre first unveiled the technology in the early 1990s, interest has only recently grown. In addition to the Tata deal, which could put thousands of the cars on the road in India by the end of the decade, Negre has signed deals to bring the design to twelve other countries, including South Africa, Israel, and Germany. But experts say the car may never make it to US streets.

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Here is a relatively dated video about MDI’s air car that will give you an idea of the technology involved in the air car:

By Forbes Bagatelle-Black, EV World

We live in a polarized nation.

Millions of people passionately believe that our current military action in Iraq is absolutely necessary to preserve our national security. Millions of other people believe, with equal passion, that the situation in Iraq threatens not only our national security but the political stability of the entire globe.

Many feel that the money we are spending on our current military actions is a small amount compared to what we would be spending if we allowed the situation to go out of control. Others feel that the hundreds of billions of dollars we are spending are only making the situation worse by allowing us to remain entrenched in a conflict we cannot win.

But there is one idea that is garnering increasing support from hawks and doves alike; our nation will be safer when everyone starts driving electric vehicles. EVs will increase our self-sufficiency by allowing us to use domestically-produced energy to fuel our automobiles. A dramatic decrease in our demand for foreign oil would cut off the cash flow to terrorist organizations bent on the destruction of our society. Since EVs can run on renewable power sources, widespread use of them could eliminate the threat of global warming, which would eliminate the associated threats of natural disasters and the political upheaval such disasters would create.

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Written and researched by Jan Triska - correspondent

I have always wanted to see hydrogen fueling stations, up close, in action so to speak. It so happens that there is now one open right across the street from where I work. The new station is part of a growing experimental network of hygrogen fuel insfrastructures, partially funded by Natural Resources Canada. 

The new station, at the Natural Resources Canada Booth Street campus in Ottawa, is the fifth permanent hydrogen fuelling station in Ontario and the tenth currently operating in Canada. Natural Resources Canada, through the Canadian Transportation Fuel Cell Alliance, and Air Liquide Canada each contributed $800,000 toward the $1.6-million station.

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By Chuck Squatriglia, Wired Magazine

In the hypercompetitive world of Formula 1 motor racing, the only thing greater than the level of technology is the money spent developing it, and a lot of that money is about to be invested in green technology that will appear in cars the rest of us drive.

The biggest teams — Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Toyota among them — each spend $200 million or more a year on fossil-fuel technology with little real-world application. But now the sport’s ruling body has said, “Enough,” and banned further investment in F1 engines. Teams must now focus on hybrid systems and other eco-friendly means of producing power.

“For Formula 1 to do this is a big step forward,” said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal. “It will bring a lot of new technology to street cars. The old adage is, ‘Race on Sunday, sell on Monday.’”

Fuel injection, traction control and semi-automatic transmissions are just some of the innovations developed in race cars, and the racetrack will become a valuable proving ground for emerging automotive technology, experts said.

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