Category Archives: Uncategorized
Volkswagen renames itself Voltswagen to demonstrate EV embrace
Name change from Volkswagen to Voltswagen would cement VW’s role in EV’s, too bad this is a marketing stunt
Protect yourself from unhealthy air in wildfire zones
As this is written, the US west coast is under a “Siege” from hundreds of wildfires triggered by unusually hot weather. Millions of acres of wildfires have burned over the last month in California alone, with millions more acres burning in Oregon and Washington State. If Climate Scientists are correct,…
Solar and Wind power could help Romania avoid electricity blackouts
Twice this year it is reported that Romania nearly suffered a complete electrical power outage. Grid operators in Romania say the cause is that the country is that “no investments were made in the power plants”, and that therefore electrical generation capacity is not enough. The grid operators are planning…
First gasoline station in the USA switches to 100% electric vehicle charging
In what may become a common occurrence, a gasoline station in Takoma Park Maryland has shut down its gasoline pumps and has switched to 100% electric vehicle charging. Instead of the gas pumps, the station will have four charging units capable of as high as a 200 kW charging rate…
Elon Musk says Tesla is coming to Romania soon
The announcement came in the wake of an obtuse tweet noting that the flags of Romania and Chad are amazingly similar. The blue is a slightly different shade – you do see that don’t you? While of course the most important thing is that Tesla is finally coming to Romania,…
Fuel cell airplane maker ZeroAvia targets mid-range air travel
Hydrogen for fuel cell aircraft can be produced locally from renewable energy. That message is buried in today’s press release from ZeroAvia, a new company that emerged from stealth mode to demonstrate a fuel cell drive train for medium sized airplanes. Pictured here is ZeroAvia’s test mule, a Piper M-Class…
Chevy Bolt owner to NY Times: LA to Las Vegas takes 1/2 hour charging, not 2 1/2
A couple weeks ago a NY Times reporter specializing in alternative energy issues drove a Chevy Bolt from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and wrote an article claiming it was a horrible experience. According to that writer the trip required 5 hours of charging time. But any level-headed assessment of…
Green New Deal outline proposed in US Congress
With the 2018 elections the USA elected a sweeping change in Congress, lots of new Representatives elected in the Democratic Party many touting a proudly Progressive line. Perhaps the boldest one is also the youngest, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the new Representative from Bronx/Queens. One of Ocasio-Cortez’s key proposals is the Green New Deal,…
Romania Electric car sales grew 165% from 2017 to 2018 – state of EV adoption in Romania
Last week the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association of Romania monthly report of car sales showed a huge increase in sales of hybrid and all-electric cars in Romania. For the first 9 months of 2018 (Jan-Sep) such cars had a 2.6% market share versus a 1.9% market share in the…
Electric cars with 400 mile range are coming, and may need DC Fast Charging at home
Electric cars with 400 miles range are preferable, according to presenters at the CharIN Alliance 1st annual North American meeting held in Fremont earlier this week, see CharIN alliance meets on Tesla’s doorstep, presents CCS as the best DC Fast Charging system for electric cars. The main topic of the meeting was…
ChargePoint’s host site sales pitch, and the charging station infrastructure that doesn’t quite serve us
With the recent embrace of DC Fast Charging, as well as Home Charging solutions, ChargePoint has positioned itself as a full service electric car charging station network. Today, ChargePoint held a Webinar targeted at “property owners” who would be a charging station host site. The goal of course is to persuade…
New development at Santana Row, San Jose, will worsen traffic, no plan for integrating transit
A new development proposal slated for property next to Santana Row (a mixed use retail development in San Jose) would drastically increase car traffic, while doing nothing to encourage use of mass transit. Earlier this year I wrote about a proposed “Agrihood” project nearby which would combine high density housing…
VW Group facing yawning chasm after intentionally cheating on emissions certification
It’s been a tumultuous weekend for the Volkswagen Group. Last weeks announcement that the EPA and CARB are investigating the company over allegations that VW had fabricated TDI Diesel car emissions results has thrown a monkey wrench into the credibility of not only the VW Group but the whole system of validating emissions…
More details on Audi e-Tron Quattro concept electric car – still not a Tesla Killer
A month ago Audi announced preliminary information on the Audi e-Tron Quattro concept car, an all-electric SUV with a 300ish mile electric range. The press went goo-goo thinking that Audi is launching a Tesla-killer, when in fact this car (if it goes to production) will be several years behind the…
