cars

It will have lasers

WorldCarFans has caused a bit of a blog uproar by posting what it claims is a spec-ed out sketch of the 2008 Prius (larger version here). According to Jalopnik, the new Prius will, depending on who you believe … … have a turbo, a diesel engine, a plug-in feature, a rooftop solar panel, a methane […]

You may be surprised

I have been reading negative reports about Prius mileage and cost effectiveness for years. Here is one called "The Hybrid Hoax," written about a year ago. The author propagates misinformation by referring us to another article written in 2004 by a USA Today reporter (Kiley) who drove a Jetta diesel from Detroit to Washington, D.C., and a Prius back from Washington, D.C. to Detroit:

Kiley had to stop to refill the Prius, which ended up averaging 38 miles per gallon, compared with 44 miles per gallon for the Jetta

Catch up post: replying to some comments

As promised, this is a catch-up post, wherein I belatedly reply to various comments.

It ain’t pretty

According to this video (below the fold), the Chevy Volt -- GM's much ballyhooed plug-in hybrid concept car -- sounds like a jet engine taking off as it tops out at somewhere between 6 to 7 mph.

Conspiracy theorists, start your engines.

We will wonk you

DR: You’re a big supporter of hydrogen, which is a storage medium for electrical energy. Moving our transportation infrastructure to hydrogen means offloading the power burden from oil and liquid fuels to electricity sources — predominantly natural gas and coal. How is that an environmental gain, to go from oil to coal? TT: It isn’t, […]

Chinese company to make plug-in hybrid

I've long (at least 6 months anyway) said that the best thing that could happen to jumpstart the production of plug-in hybrids by American car companies would be for a Chinese car company to announce its intentions to build the same.

Warning: techno-engineering speak ahead

Amory Lovins is rightfully admired by environmentalists. But nobody is right all the time, and the hydrogen path is one of his few mistakes. He summarizes his argument for hydrogen in Twenty Hydrogen Myths (PDF). More extensive discussion is embedded in his book Winning the Oil Endgame (book-length PDF).

His basic proposal:

An interview with Mary Beth Stanek, General Motors energy director

Trucks with a green hue? GM is in heaven. What a difference three bucks a gallon makes. In the past year, General Motors has rallied state and federal support to get more E85 (an 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline blend) pumps at U.S. gas stations, launched a corn-hued marketing blitz, and announced that it […]

Electric bike triumphs and travails

Rode my bike to jury duty last Wednesday. It was pouring rain and the winds were gusting into the 50s. I had my trailer hitched up because I was hauling a laptop, magazines, and a battery charger with me. I don't think I could have done this without the electric motor.

However, at one point, a gust -- accelerated by the venturi effect of two skyscrapers -- stopped me cold. I jumped off and cowered in a nook where I found another guy hiding with the remains of his umbrella. I managed to drag, not ride, my bike the last block in a veritable deluge.