In July 1979 the USA was gripped by the second of the 1970’s fake oil crises. OPEC decided to give us a second lesson of its power to control the American populace by shutting down oil deliveries. In the midst of that “crisis”, Carter gave this speech demonstrating why he…
Solar- and Wind- based electricity is clean and renewable, offering a great solution for both Climate and Fossil Fuel Availability problems. But both sources are intermittent, meaning they don’t provide 24 hours a day, and therefore adopting renewable electricity in a big way requires changes in the electricity production/consumption system.…
Last week at the Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge in Utah, Terry Hershner became the first electric motorcycle rider to win the challenge. With new modifications to his 2012 Zero S electric motorcycle, he easily finished the 172 mile route, at 2/3rds the cost of the closest finisher. In the fuel…
It probably doesn’t matter to most people what their car weighs. Some people geek out on things like this, and for example claim that the Tesla Model S is really heavy because it weighs about 5,000 lbs. And when you’re told a number like that, it sounds heavy, but then…
Yesterday, Edison2 unveiled their new version of the Very Light Car (VLC) with CEO Oliver Kuttner claiming some features in the new VLC would be a disruptive technology that could “change the entire automobile industry.” These are big claims which remind me of the hype surrounding the launch of the…
NRDC’s Luke Tonachel testifies in joint EPA and Dept of Transportation hearings that the proposed CAFE standards upgrade would produce huge economic and environmental benefits. Today in Detroit was the first of three public hearings on the Obama Administrations proposal to increase CAFE standards to 54.5 MPG equivalent fuel efficiency…
The other day Ford and Toyota announced a partnership to develop hybrid drive train technology for light trucks and SUV’s. That nice announcement filled my mind with images of contractors, construction workers and farmers driving around hybrid F-150’s or F-250’s starting in 2020ish. But then a couple brain cells…
