The United States Postal service is the second largest civilian employer in the country, after Wal-Mart. Over 650,000 are employed by the USPS, which utilizes some 260,000 vehicles. While 43,000 of these vehicles run on E85 fuel, they still manage to get an average of just 9 mpg. Pretty terrible gas mileage, and E85 made with today’s methods isn’t all that much better when it comes to carbon emissions anyway.
Perhaps that is why the government is considering granting the USPS $2 billion to electrify 20,000 delivery vehicles. And if there is any government agency that could benefit from electric vehicles, it is definitely the USPS.
General Motors has been accused of a lot of things in the past year, and personally, I feel like that horse is dead, beaten, and buried. For all intents and purposes, it is a new company now. Or at least that is what we are being told.
One very important aspect of the new GM is its commitment to electric vehicles. The Chevy Volt is due out later this year, and the Cadillac Converj is also on the table. Today GM has announced that it was launching a program to start building its own electric motors in house, improving quality while cutting costs. And even better, GM says that the first vehicle to get a GM electric motor will come in 2013, and will be rear-wheel drive.
We’ve talked a lot about electric motorcycles here at Gas 2.0. But what about biodiesel? Once the darling of many eco-modders, the fuel has largely fallen out of favor. But not with everyone.
Meet the Metalback motorcycle concept. Designed by Jordan Meadows, a man with plenty of street cred when it comes to vehicular design. The Metalback concept combines alternative fuels and recycled materials in a missle-shaped machine drawn straight from some science fiction dystopian future. And it just plain old looks cool.
Hyundai/Kia is one of my favorite automakers right now, probably because they used to be one of my most hated. But both brands have come a long way in terms of style and quality, and are now poised to take a bigger role on the world automotive stage.
Kia in particular seems to be branding itself the more thrilling cousin of Hyundai, as some of their recent concept cars have shown. This latest teaser of the plug-in hybrid “Ray”, as it is being called, doesn’t reveal much, but certainly makes me want to see more.
There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of small niche-market car makers across the globe. Some cater to the extremely wealthy, while others are more dedicated to the pursuit of performance. But as the global market shifts away from petrol and towards electric cars even these smaller shops are considering EV projects.
Take Caterham for example. Well known in racing circles, this company has essentially survived for decades by building variants on just one type of car, the Series 3 Lotus Seven. Traditionally powered by English-built Ford Kent or Cosworth engines, head honcho Ansar Ali suggested in an interview with Autocar that they maybe, possibly, could-be adding an electric variant to their lineup.
I loved LEGOS back in “the day”. I would spend hours upon hours building and looking for just the right pieces to complete my architectural nightmare. Then I would always knock it down in my terrifying rendition of Godzilla, just ’cause. LEGOS are still awesome, but you can’t exactly live in a house made of them as James May of Top Gear proved.
Anyway, the whole LEGOS analogy is the first thing I thought of when I read about the Trexa EV platform. It is basically a completely integrated, all-wheel drive electric skateboard that you can build your own kind of car upon. Pretty freakin’ cool, right?
Think about all the cool cars in Mitsubishi’s lineup.
Chances are, you could only think of one; the Lancer Evolution.
Turbocharged, 300 horsepower, all-wheel drive; the perfect prescription for New England snowfall and the doldrums of conventional family sedans. It has worked for Mitsubishi for years now, and a cult of fanboys (and girls) has cropped up around this car. So why would Mitsubishi consider making it a hybrid?
There were surprisingly few unveils at this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and even fewer thrills. The AWD turbocharged Buick GS concept and electric Fiat 500 not withstanding though, perhaps the best looking car to come out of Detroit is the 2012 Ford Focus.
Based on the Blue Oval’s “One Ford” global platform sharing idea, the 2012 Focus will share over 80% of its components with European models. Even better, an electric model of the Focus should hit showrooms sometime in 2011.
File this one under over-engineered.
Bayerische Motoren Werke, better known as BMW, has come up with some eyebrow-raising concepts and engine ideas before. But this one is certainly far out. Bimmer has reportedly filed a patent for a hybrid system that features two separate-but-equal petrol powered two-cylinder engines, PLUS an electric motor. Those crazy Germans, always making things so… complicated.
Last year’s TTGXP, was a huge success, with electric motorcycle manufacturers from across the world taking the trip out to the Isle of Man for the single lap race. Agni Motorcycles walked away with the 2009 crown, but many electric motorcycle manufacturers sat out the inaugural race. 2010 is going to be a much different year as the TTGXP expands its series to several different countries. The first race is scheduled to take place at the Infineon Raceway in California.
Throwing their hat into the ring with the likes of Mission Motors and Brammo is Roehr Motorcycles. They are promising to bring their an eSuperbike to the TTGXP that has more torque than most family sedans. Sweet!
Aside from lithium-ion batteries, cell phones and electric cars don’t have all that much in common. Or do they? A new luxury electric minivan from Luxgen, a Taiwanese company, was unveiled at the Dubai International Auto Show (irony?). It utilizes the same technology found in HTC smart phones to combine luxury, electric power, and advanced technology all in the same package.
So will it actually work, or is just more pie-in-the-sky vaporware?
