cars

Jump on the plug-in hybrid bandwagon

Consider this an open invitation to get on the plug-in hybrid bandwagon. Plug-in hybrids, for those not in the know, are hybrids whose batteries can be recharged by the grid. By running in electric-only mode as much as possible, emissions are reduced and efficiencies gained.

The other week, I visited Prof. Andrew Frank at UC Davis, the popularly acclaimed father of the plug-in hybrid. Impressive stuff.

Among the many vehicles his students have built, he's got a Chevy Equinox -- a smallish SUV -- retrofitted with a 1.6L engine with a continuously variable drive transmission and a lithium ion battery pack that holds about 15 kWh of juice. It can go 60 miles on battery-only, and 100 mpg in all-day driving conditions. If you recharged every night, it could go across the country on one tank of gasoline (runs on e85). Performance? 320 horsepower, 0-60 in 6.5 seconds (vs 9.5 sec stock).

The benefits of plugging in are many.

Umbra on electric cars

Dearest Umbra, Why are electric cars considered so great? They don’t pollute the air where they are driven. But certainly when they are plugged in they use energy from a power plant, which does pollute and also contributes to global warming. Doesn’t this just move the pollution from one area to another? Then you have […]

Umbra on washing your car

Dear Umbra, What can I do about washing my car in a more eco-friendly way? Is phosphate-free soap enough, or should I just suck it up and go to the drive-through car wash every time? Katie North Carolina Dearest Katie, You are one of those fastidious people I see busily washing their cars on Saturdays. […]

Umbra on carpooling to a reunion

Dear Umbra, You have told us, in no uncertain terms, that traveling by train is better ecologically than traveling by car. Several members of my family plan to carpool to an upcoming family reunion 600 miles away. I have considered trying to talk them into taking the train instead, but face the following problem: It […]

Electric Car director on Daily Show

Chris Paine, director of Who Killed the Electric Car?, appeared on The Daily Show last night, and did pretty well.

Video below the fold.

Seattle’s papers catch up with electric cars

Here in Seattle, we have two daily papers. They're embroiled in a seemingly endless joint-operating dispute. I don't know the ins and outs of the deal, being a relative newcomer to the city, but I do know this: every morning at the bus stop, as I review the front pages displayed in the papers' side-by-side machines, I marvel at their attempts to tell the same stories in different ways.

Today, for instance, both front pages featured huge, splashy photos of our visit from the Blue Angels -- but with different headlines, people! Different headlines! And there, at upper left, each had a plug for an article on an electric car. The Times went with the Tesla, while the P-I featured the Zap! Xebra. (Both PDFs, sorry.)

Semi-funny, yes. But it's also an indication of how far we've come. This is the dawning of the age of the curious. Better to have two papers reporting on this kind of thing than none.

Umbra on car trade-ins

Dear Umbra, I’m the not-so-proud owner of an 18-year-old Honda Civic — great car in that it gets 39 mpg, has a decent amount of zip, and generally runs well. However, it needs some mechanical work, the paint and some of the upholstery are shot, and the AC runs on Freon. I’ve reached the point […]

GM fights back via … Google?

Tucked away in this little USA Today story on the resurgence of electric cars is this interesting tidbit, about GM's reaction to Who Killed the Electric Car?:

The City Gas Guzzler

You gotta love this new ad from Greenpeace. Well, unless you're an SUV owner.

(Via TH)