Here in California where “highway” is virtually synonymous with “parking lot” during rush hour, a car may be the least efficient way to get to and from work. Motorcycles have the advantage of legally being able to drive between lanes of stopped cars, which gets you to work faster while simultaneously imbuing you with a delightful sense of smugness. You can get an extra helping of smug with Electric Motorsport’s GPR-S, an eco-friendly motorcycle powered by plug-in lithium-ion batteries.
The GPR-S has a respectable top speed of about 70 mph, and can make it about 60 miles on a charge, unless you’re chunky, in which case you’ll get as little as 35 miles. A full charge using the on board system takes around 4 hours, or you can hook it up to a speed charger and top it off in only an hour and a half. The best news is that the bike’s power system is completely modular, meaning you can swap out the battery and the engine when something faster / cheaper / better comes along.
About 25 of these bikes have been presold at $8k each, but if you’re so inclined, you should be able to get one for yourself without much trouble, as Electric Motorsport can roll out up to 500 of them a month, if the demand is there. Click on through for more pics, and full specs of the GPR-S at the Electric Motorsport site.
This little car is completely solar powered. Designed by Zhejiang’s 001 Group, the solar panels on the roof require 30 hours of sunlight to top the car off, giving it a maximum range of 150 km. Astute observers of nature may have realized that you can’t get 30 hours of sunlight a day (not in the latitudes of China, anyway), so fully charging the car is easily a four or five day process. Weather permitting. But, it’s a completely free, hands-off, eco-friendly process, and if you’re just running errands, an hour of full sun will buy you 5 km of juice. There isn’t much additional information about this car, such as whether or not there’s also a gas engine under there or if there’s also a plug-in option. I certainly hope there is some kind of plan b, because darkness and/or bad weather are precisely when you need a car the most.
Only 10 of these cars have been produced so far, at $5500 each, available only in China.
Animal Planet has commissioned a series of claymation videos on how to save the planet. None of the tips they offer are likely to surprise you, but the videos are pretty funny and they address common sense things that we should all keep in mind. You can view all 11 clips on YouTube here, and I’ve included another of my favorites after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
This, folks, is a solar powered camel. Let’s all just ponder that for a second. Truthfully, this camel is not, in fact, powered by the sun, but the refrigerator on its back is. The cooled-down camels are used to transport vaccines and the occasional pint of Ben & Jerry’s to remote health clinics; when they arrive, the panels can be detached and used to provide additional electricity to the clinic. A foot-powered system can be used as backup during the 15 minutes at night when the sun is not actively trying to fry you.
The camels are part of Princeton’s Mpala project, helping nomadic communities in Kenya to use technology to improve their lives.
This egg / Rolly / Eve / photon torpedo shaped can-thing called the Ovetto has two separate compartments to help make your recycling easier and more efficient. You see, “waste must be kept separate according to the material class it belongs to,” since “separation of waste plays an important role in the integrated management system of waste as it allows the reduction of the amounts sent on for disposal to positive conditioning of the entire management system.” Betcha didn’t know that. Yep, the Ovetto sure “meets the needs of domestic waste separation in order to educate the population to correctly dispose of waste in order to be able to consequently recycle it.” The Ovetto makes this absolutely crucial separation step easy with its dual compartments; I assume one of the compartments is for mixed paper and plastic while the other is for mixed glass and metal. It’s brilliant, I tell you, brilliant!
The Ovetto Recycling Egg is made from recycled polypropylene and sells for about $250 from WhereDidYouBuyThat.com.
With the Chevy Volt’s price going up just about as fast as its looks (and some specs) were toned down (okay, okay, for good reasons, but still…) here’s a bit of good news: In its infinite wisdom, the U.S. Congress has seen fit to include a tax credit of up to $7500 to future Chevy Volt owners along with the totally wicked awesome (or something) $700 billion bailout package. The sliding credit starts at just over $4100 for plug-in cars with 4 kWh batteries, but the top end $7500 is likely to only be seen by people who buy a Volt, with its 16 kWh battery. The Toyota Prius, with a measly 1.3 kWh battery pack, doesn’t come close.
Disappointingly, the Aptera Typ-1e, with its 10 kWh battery, is not technically an automobile (it’s only got 3 wheels, after all) and therefore does not get any tax breaks at all, which could put the $30,000ish space fighter on par with the $40,000ish - $7500 Volt. It’s gonna be an interesting next few years in the hybrid electric car market, that’s for sure… Maybe I’ll win the lottery and be able to get a piece of it myself.
Yesterday Schwinn unveiled their Tailwind eBike which uses Toshiba’s Super Charge ion Battery technology allowing it to be recharged using a standard residential outlet in just 30 minutes. Now I haven’t really been following the progress of electric bicycles, but Schwinn claims the 30 minute recharge time is about 1/8 the time needed for their competitor’s models, which if true is quite impressive. I also like the fact that if you didn’t know the Tailwind was a so-called eBike, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell if someone rode past you on one. (As long as they were pedaling that is.)
The electric motor is actually housed in the small hub on the front wheel, and the Plug N’ Drive battery pack is located on the rear bike rack making it easy to detach. So instead of having to run an extension cord to where your bike is, you can simply take the battery to the wall outlet. Depending on weather conditions, the wind and your course, the Tailwind is expected to get about 25 to 30 miles on a single charge, but a Shimano Nexus 8-speed internal geared hub allows you to switch over to pedal power should the battery die before you get home. In fact the only downside is the steep $3,199.99 price tag.
I’ve bought more than my fair share of camera bags over the years (trying to find the perfect one) and while Lowepro bags are available at almost every camera shop I’ve ever visited, I usually avoid the brand because I’ve always thought their stuff was kind of ugly. But their new Terraclime series are just the opposite when it comes to design. The bags are clean and even the giant Lowepro logo isn’t that offensive, but what will probably appeal to most people is the fact that the Terraclime series are made from 95% recycled materials.
In fact, the exterior of the bags are made from 100% post-consumer recycled Cyclepet fabric. The smallest bag represents about 2 1/2 recycled plastic bottles, while the largest one represents about 22. And the hardware like the zippers and hook closures are even comprised of recycled and repurposed trimmings saved from the Lowepro factory floor. The smallest bag, the Terraclime 10, runs about $20 while the largest, the Terraclime 100, runs about $80 and all 4 sizes are available in your choice of black, plum or grass colors.
I hate to admit it, but rarely when I am shopping for a new gadget do I consider how “green” a gadget is. Yes, I know that there are plenty of companies out there that go out of their way to make it known that their product is good for the environment, but you tend to pay a premium to be environmentally friendly. If you’re the type that strives to be “green” then you’ll like this Recycle USB flash drive.
This eco-friendly gadget’s exterior is made up from 100% recycled newspaper. Hopefully you don’t put much weight into looks, because this one is about as boring as they get. At least they’re being offered in capacities ranging from 512MB-16GB. No word on pricing or availability.
Related Tags: automotive, Eco-friendly
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