What is green, soft, glows in the dark and can do a 360 standing in place? The Honda PUYO concept car. Although it is not literally green, not until it glows in the dark perhaps. With a design reflecting a cross between a space moon buggy and cartoon car, this concept car is pointless. Well, we mean to say it is all curves and soft bumps, and is void of sharp edges.
Late last year Honda opened the 40th Tokyo Motor Show with the theme “For the endless joy of mobility on our earth”, and I imagine they were going for safe with this concept car as well. The PUYO runs on a fuel cell and is constructed of a soft gel body that glows at night.
Now whether is evokes the ethereal feel of a bubble or the recoiling feel of a chewed bubblegum exterior is subjective. I would liken it to Mr. Bean’s car of the future; simple, safe, friendly. Along those lines it seems well suited as a vehicle for road therapy, one to be assigned to road rage offenders rather than a car you would purchase for a functional purpose. Read the rest of this entry »
It was announced this week that Coca-Cola will purchase a record number 120 hybrid trucks this year from Eaton, their largest sale to North America to date. This number is up from the twenty Coca-Cola purchased in 2007 for its test run of the hybrid electric drivetrain that proved successful. The test boasting a decreased 32% in emissions led to this purchase with 120 trucks expected to be added to the Coca-Cola fleet before the end of 2008.
This turns out to be just one of the efforts Coca-Cola is making to go green in its day-to-day operations. On top of Coca-Cola’s fleet of diesels and their use of the new hybrid electrics on order and in the test field, a Coca-Cola subsidiary, Montevideo Refrescos SRL is using an electric truck from Zero Air Pollution (ZAP), called the Xebra. The Xebra is estimated to run as fast as 40 mph. Each charge produces enough power to travel 25 miles until the next charge. Read the rest of this entry »
New tests are being announced everyday regarding hybrid buses in different transport sectors. While not new on the scene, hybrid buses are certainly changing the landscape. From private to public transport hybrid buses are becoming available and are being noticed.
Two-week testing began this week at Haneda airport in Tokyo of the Hino hybrid wireless bus. The bus which will transport between airport terminals charges without the need to plug-in as it uses an electromagnetic inductive charging setup. Essentially this is a plug-in hybrid vehicle that doesn’t need to be plugged-in.
While Mercedes-Benz plans their next move to field test the Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid in the public-transport sector, it was announced the beginning of February that this urban bus received the 2008 DEKRA environmental award. Mercedes-Benz has sold an estimated 2600 hybrid buses and has their site set on making a more cost-effective diesel-electric, hybrid urban bus as well. Mercedes-Benz services the US market through its Orion brand.
Transit companies are either in testing mode or are awaiting the results of others. It goes beyond public transit as well. School districts are jumping on board to go green. Some districts find the cost of a new hybrid school bus as high as $200,000 so they find other solutions such as converting a bus that costs less than $100,000 and adding less than a third of that cost into the package to convert.
The numbers may be low nationwide as to school bus hybrids in motion but as the numbers grow other school districts are taking notice. The same can be said everywhere. People are taking notice and none more so than those spending tax payer dollars. While the initial cost of the vehicles may be high in some cases they are doing the math and know the long term savings.
As the price of oil increases it is likely that we all will be shopping for the same savings at home. Either we will be driving a hybrid car, or we can take the bus.
The Central Vermont Public Service donated a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), a modified Toyota Prius, to University of Vermont (UVM) for research in two projects. Researchers will test the plug-in vehicle for its adaptability to cold weather conditions and hilly terrain. As plug-in hybrids contribute less to carbon emissions by 30-percent or more, UVM hopes to find out how they compare to non-hybrid vehicles in similar conditions.
Meanwhile across the states in San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom is requesting city and county leaders to voice a commitment to purchase plug-in vehicles from auto makers if they start making more of them. He will share his efforts at the U.S. Conference of Mayors this summer. Currently a local garage converts hybrid vehicles to hybrid plug-ins for the city.
Plug-ins are more beneficial now than when they were first on the scene as a potential vehicle of the future. Oil plays a miniscule amount in the production of our electricity then it did years ago; not to mention that gasoline is hardly needed in a plug-in as well. Read the rest of this entry »
After launching its line of green automotive products in October of 2007, Green Earth Technologies Inc. (GET) has found a partner to manufacture its “G”-Branded automotive performance products. A new relationship with Bio-Tec Fuel and Chemicals LLC will join the technologies of the two entities to further the development of green automotive products.
GET’s product line has been produced from organic feedstock. Products to date have included automotive and marine motor oils; and 2-cycle motor oils. Bio-Tec will share their formulas that have transformed biomass from animal fat-tissue into similar motor oils.
This news is on the coat-tails of GET announcing their partnership with Philadelphia’s Inventek Colloidal Cleaners LLC who will assist in manufacturing GET’s environmentally safe carwash and windshield rain repellent. Read the rest of this entry »
