Solar Plug-In Station for EVs Unveiled in Chicago
First Solar Powered Electric Charging Station is in Use in Chicago
EARTHTIMES.COM
CHICAGO, April 8 /PRNewswire/ — Carbon Day Automotive, a Chicago based company committed to providing smart grid technology and services that will enable individuals and businesses alike to lower their carbon footprint, unveiled the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station in the City of Chicago as part of the IOC tour. The Solar Plug-In Station(TM) will pave the way to fuel plug-in electric cars and will be used daily by the City of Chicago Department of Fleet Management to power the city’s electric cars with energy from the sun.
MORE!
Carbon Day Featured on evwind.es
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Nation’s First Networked Solar-Powered Charging Station for Electric Vehicles Unveiled
Carbon Day and Coulomb Technologies featured on AllCarsElectric.com
Flying Cars coming before we know it : )
A Boston startup is confounding naysayers with a plane that combines the ease of driving with the thrill of flying, and it could shake up the industry by ushering in a new wave of recreational aviation.
Terrafugia’s unusual aircraft just made a 30-second test flight as historic as it was brief, proving that flying cars aren’t as outlandish as you might think. But as much as people might want to call the Transition a flying car, Terrafugia insists it’s actually an airplane you can drive.
“We’re excited by the reality of what we’re doing here, but this is not the start of the flying car,” company CEO Carl Dietrich told Wired.com. “This is a light sport plane that can be driven home after a day of flying and parked in the garage. It’s designed for pilots. That’s our target market.”
Inventors, engineers and crackpots have been promising promising flying cars since the 1920s. The Aerocar is perhaps the most famous and successful attempt, but it is hardly the only one. All of the Big Three automakers have considered them at one time or another. Boeing toyed with them. And everyone from the Naval Air Warfare Weapons Division to guys in their garages have pitched ideas for flying machines we can drive to the airport.
They’ve all been beaten to the punch by Terrafugia, which has already received 49 orders for a $194,000 plane it won’t start delivering until 2011.
What is NASA doing?
We mentioned earlier today that NASA has new data showing the Arctic sea ice is thinner as well as there is simply less of it. Posted today on YouTube is a simulation from NASA on Arctic sea ice changes. The 2009 Arctic sea ice maximum extent (the amount of sea ice covering the Arctic at the end of each winter) has just been reached – and there isn’t a whole heck of a lot of it. Click through to see how this year rates with previous years.
The video shows some incredible simulations of the melting ice shelf, then goes on to a narration of how information was gathered.
Fisker Auto Raises $85MIL
Fisker Beast
This Car has Good Karma
Fisker Automotive is getting closer to launching the Karma plug-in hybrid, a car with a powertrain that works on a principle similar to the GM Volt: It’s 100% electric for the first 50 miles, and after that a gasoline engine kicks in to recharge the battery (but the gas engine never directly powers the wheels). But to get to full production, it needs money, which is why it raised an extra $85 million in venture capital from New York-based Eco-Drive (Capital) Partners LLC, a European-American investment consortium, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, an early investor in Fisker.
The 2009 Zero S Electric Motorcycle on a Track
Zero S Technical Specifications
All the tech specs you could want are here, but here are some highlights:
Torque: 62.5 ft-lbs (84.6 Nm)
Peak horsepower: 31 horsepower
Peak electrical input: 22,000 watts
Top Speed: 60 mph (96.6 kph)
Battery: Lithium-ion, 4 kWh (58volts @ 70Ah)
Range: Up to 60 miles (97 km)
Recharge time: Less than 4 hours (can take 110V or 220V)
Total weight: 225 pounds (102.1 kg)
And the best for last:
Typical cost to recharge: Less than $.01 per mile or kilometer
Zero Motorcycles is taking orders for the Zero S, with deliveries expected to start in May. Cost is $9,995 + $500 shipping to anywhere in the continental US. You can order with a $1k deposit.
