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The first commercially viable, industrial-scale plastic to fuel oil generator has been successfully demonstrated in Derwood, Maryland. It turns recyclable plastic feedstock into light oil, medium oil, and emulsified oil, and at a price of about $10 a barrel. More »
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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. 500+ vehicles into this series, we've finally got an electric car! More »
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You've seen us cover the propane-powered Roush F-150 in all of its tire-shredding glory. Now, they've upped the ante with a medium duty F-250 running on the same BBQ fuel. More »
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Combining an alternative fuel with an alternative engine design, this hydrogen-powered rotary-engined Mazda RX-8 has hit the Norwegian roads, one of 30 of the RX-8s for use in Norway as commercial leases. The hydrogen RX-8s are part of a program directed towards making hydrogen-powered vehicles mainstream in the kingdom in an effort to reduce pollution. The only emission from the tailpipe of a hydrogen-powered vehicle is water vapor, and we're impressed these hydrogen-powered Mazdas are more than just vaporware. Press release after the jump. More »
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A new report shows the number of E85 ethanol pumps in the U.S. has grown nearly 28% in the past year, surpassing the 1,800 mark with 1,693 available for public use. The states with the most E85 pumps are, as you'd expect, in the corn belt, including Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri. Just don't expect to find them in every corner of the country: Despite the growth in E85 availability, seven states still don't have any E85 pumps, including Alaska. Considering E85 expansion is part of our current national energy policy, it makes us wonder if Governor Palin should revise her favorite chant to "distill, baby, distill." More »
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Toyota announced today plans to show off a CNG Camry Hybrid concept at the LA Auto Show in November. For those not in the exclusive "T. Boone Pickens Fan Club," CNG stands for "Compressed Natural Gas." Although details are sparse on what to expect in LA, the press release below the jump does provide lots of memories of Toyota's failed 1999 CNG Camry experiment, undertaken during the heyday of the SUV when cheap gas was plentiful. More »
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There is no good reason at all for Nissan to take their fuel-cell-powered X-Trail to the Nordschleife, but that's what they've gone and done. An 11-minute, 58-second lap time and putting a fuel cell-powered SUV on the 'Ring are both patently ridiculous. Enough. Nissan, it was great when you blasted round the 'Ring with the GT-R, but now you've just Fonzied yourselves. [EdmundsInsideLine] More »
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A recent report in the Windsor Star claims the cars Chrysler plans to hybridize by 2013...will be minivans. On top of that, they're even looking at a diesel version of the soccer mom-mobiles, with both to be built at the company's Windsor, Ontario plant. More »
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If you hadn't already divined it from the tea leaves Ferrari has been sprinkling around lately, hybridization is officially coming to the Ferrari stable. Whether it was the bold proclamation at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show that Ferrari would reduce its emissions by 40% by 2012, or the recent hybridized F1 cars outfitted with the KERS system, we all knew it had to happen. Apparently 2015 is where the blindly thrown dart landed on the wall of time. More »
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When we covered the magical algae-powered VW Westfalia, we didn't imagine there would be a commercially viable version of the faux dino-juice available anywhere in the near term. Little did we know about the happenings over at Solazyme, which has just completed the rigorous ASTM D-975 (nerd speak for standard test) certification for diesel fuels. This new green diesel is made with a combination of algae and enzymes in a big enclosed vessel with all kinds of industrial leftovers as the feedstock. Huh, sounds like some kind of silver bullet. We, for one, welcome our new algae-baron overlords. Presser below the fold. More »
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There's an awful lot of hubbub surrounding the 2010 Chevy Volt, and rightfully so: GM is whipping us over the head with PR talking up a mostly electric car that may actually be useful in the real world. This, of course, doesn't mean they haven't built EV's before. Everyone remembers the GM EV1, an experiment which was eventually pried from public hands and shredded to avoid the crushing liabilities of used cars. But few remember its predecessor, the 1973 GM Urban Electric. More »
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Even though this news is almost two months old, it's interesting to see GE bringing good things to life, namely giant mining trucks which improve upon the previously standard diesel-electric powertrain — especially in light of Friday's news of Chrysler tying up with Thomas Edison's conglomerate. These Goliaths of the open pits have been using monster generators to power equally massive in-wheel electric motors for years, but GE is now testing a system which puts a battery between the generator and the motors, creating a true hybrid rather than just a monstrously torquey one. More »
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Peugeot-Citroen is teaming up with Mitsubishi to work on production electric cars in response to the current world freak-out over gas prices. Mitsubishi already has the i MiEV pictured above, but that vehicle isn't even available here. So, it remains to be seen what exactly the Franco-Japanese alliance is attempting to engineer. More »
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Nissan has announced a strategic partnership with tech giant NEC for a lithium ion battery factory in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The facility will operate under a new company dubbed Automotive Energy Supply and will be capable of putting out 16,000 batteries by next year, and 65,000 at full rate by 2011. With this $115 million announcement, Nissan's claims of putting EVs on the road by 2010 don't seem so far fetched. If Carlos the vanquisher says it will be, it will be. [Wired] More »
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The Cadillac that ain't your father's may be just be two-wheeled. Word of a new Cadillac motorcycle sporting gee whiz ethanol hybrid technology has just surfaced in D Business. The Caddy that leans will be built by V20 Consulting in New York and shown off at the next LA Auto Show. The irony of an outside company building a technology demostrator isn't lost on us, but it isn't the first time the General has collaborated with someone on a motorcycle. Just a couple hundred feet from the Detroit offices lives the first Caddy chopper, built by and currently for sale at Great American Chopper in Clawson, MI. More »
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Sand cars are one of those really fun, but incredibly impractical corners of the automotive world we don't manage to get around to very often. Apparently Xtreme Motorsports out in California has decided to jump on the green bandwagon and has announced the availability of an all electric version of their popular car. Built around the same Li-Ion batteries and a beefy electric motor good for 663 lb.ft. of torque, the car should be quite a screamer as the company is quoting 0-70 MPH times around 5 seconds and a range of 200 miles. More »
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It turns out that John Law takes a dim view of human-powered cars on the streets of Toronto, as artist Michel de Broin discovered to his dismay when he attempted to take his pedal-powered 1986 Buick Regal out for a little spin last year. In Mr. de Broin's view, the Shared Propulsion Car, with its perfectly functional brakes and steering, is safe for street operation. Safer, in fact, than gasoline-powered vehicles, and so he is fighting his Operation of Unsafe Vehicle ticket. [National Post] More »
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When we hear "steam car" we imagine a car with wooden wagon wheels that spends it's time in Jay Leno's garage. What we don't think of is a fiberglass-bodied VW kit car from the '80s. This is apparently a one-of-a-kind creation of a former Steam Automobile Club of America member. We're thinking of it as a kind of grown man's science project. It allegedly ran at speeds up to 80 MPH at one point, but we're not so sure we would know how to run it even if it's still capable of driving. More »
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Sleeplessly cramming hour after hour for organic chemistry in college has proven to have been a complete waste of time, cause we can't understand how the newly unveiled Oorja Protonics Methanol Fuel Cell works. "Methanol you say?" Yes, the alcohol with one less carbon atom is now making news as a possible fuel of the future. Seems these new fuel cells are two to tentimes more powerful than previous methanol fuel cells, and it's only a matter of time before the Envirocrats start using "Methanol Fuel Cell" as their latest buzz word. Expect bills in Congress, concept cars, hippy rallys and pogo sticks which tout methanol fuel cells any time now. [Via Oorja Protonics] More »
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So you want a plug-in electric but don't feel like waiting to buy a Chevy Volt or a Tesla Roadster? Do you also only need to hit 40 MPH on a straightaway and said straightaway is only 40 miles long? Then maybe you need to get yourself a 110V plug-in 1979 Sebring-Vanguard electric CitiCar. Oh, you can't find one of the 2,200 little 3.5 HP two-seaters powered by eight 6V golf-cart batteries made by the Sebring-Vanguard car company from the Florida city of the same name? No worries, there's one up on EBay and you've got about two hours left before the gavel drops. The current bid's just $1,550. Wait, you want to know more? Hit the jump — we'll pass for now, we're waiting for a second one for the other foot. More »
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We heard about the Tata backed and French developed Air Car back in January and are intrigued by the brilliantly simple concept. It seems the Beeb has caught wind of it too and recently ran the coverage you see above. The numbers on it are pretty exciting for something running like an air compressor with its valves reversed. A top speed of 110 km/h and a range of 200 km makes it seem almost useful. Predictions on production dates are to be taken with a grain of salt, but claims of the end of the year are bandied about. Wonder if it will be an available option on the Tata Nano? More »
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Funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same. This page out of the August 1936 edition of Inventions magazine features a form of doom and gloom everybody is familiar with seventy two years later - pending depletion of known oil reserves. Todays saviors are hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells, the solution in 1936 was "Radio-Fuel". This vaguely worded bit of gee-whizery presents a fantastical feat of far fetched engineering. More »
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Those crazy Welchmen. A development team at the University of Glamorgan have created a "tribrid" 16 passenger bus that will be pressed into duty as a short range student and faculty hauler. A tribrid, in case you're slow, is a vehicle that relies on a three part motive system. In this case we're looking at power from a combo of hydrogen fuel cell, an ultracapacitor, and a battery pack. While the fuel cell and battery pack are pretty conventional, the advantage of the ultracapacitor is what's interesting here. More »
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With the looming crude oil madness, you can bet that the masses will be pretending to care about clamoring for alternatives when gas tops five bucks. Bad for most, spectacular timing for the the folks running the Solar Taxi project. A ragtag international group of environmentalists and engineering nerds has put together a completely solar powered car and they're in the midst of driving it around the world to show off the benefits. The trek began in July after a departure from Switzerland, and they've made their way through Europe, the Middle East and South Asia so far. Right now they're tooling around in Australia. The planned 15 month route will cover around 50,000 km and what looks like a couple Jalop back yards in the coming months. You can follow their progress through blogs and maps at their website solartaxi.com. More »
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]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=329537&view=rss&microfeed=true When you gut a 1986 Regal, what power source would you install to enhance its lightweight hoonliness? Some of us might choose the tried-and-true turbo-ized Buick V6, but Canadian artist Michel de Broin came up with a solution that gives you and your passengers a good workout whilst doing away entirely with gasoline expenses. Sadly, Toronto law enforcement mellow-harshers whipped out the rule book and towed it away. [Blogto.com via [BoingBoing] More »
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We've been talking an awful lot for the past few days about Honda's FCX Clarity. OK, fine — I've been talking a lot about it. Still, I filled up my car today to the tune of $3.56 a gallon — which is whack — and those numbers don't look like they are headed down any time soon. Oil is over $100 a barrel. The UN says that global warming is about to start torturing poor people. Game theorists are predicting that $7 a gas will lead to the end of society as we know it. That said, what are you putting your faith into? Is internal combustion still the way to go? Batteries? Alien tech? Bicycles? What? I've swallowed the Clarity Kool-Aid, just so you all know. Go Hindenburg. More »
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[Update: Full first drive road test here] Honda's hydrogen powered family sedan has a new name — Clarity. Following a decades old corporate mandate, "Blue Skies For Our Children," the mid-size Clarity will (supposedly) return an EPA-certified 68 MPG. The Clarity also will pass federal safety standards, start in minus 22 degree weather and survive trips out to Las Vegas (high heat). Refueling is still a pain as you either need a getting-smaller-but-still-bulky natural gas fired home unit, or live near Santa Monica, Torrance or Irvine. For now. However, the per-tank range is 270 miles. Coming to a Honda dealer near you this summer (2008), Honda will happy to lease you a Clarity for $600 a month. Make the jump to read Honda's press release. More »
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Murilee and I spoke with Wert on Saturday after the Pumpkin Smash. He was already in his Howard Hughes Suite room at the MGM Grand, so we asked if he was going to play some Texas Hold 'Em or get blotto off free booze or hit a strip club — you know, any Vegas-type activity. No, he told us, he was going to sit tight and post press releases. Which prompted me to remark that in a lot of ways, Ray and I are very different. Regardless, that boy can post! Which brings us to today's winning comment, right after you jump. More »
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Rob Del Bueno used to play bass for Man or Astro-man? He also built all their stage props ('member the Tesla Coil?) and even their theremin. These days however, he can be found hocking grease in Atlanta. But not just any old grease. No, Del Bueno is involved with the first first biodiesel retail station in the Southern half of the country. He also built his own biodiesel plant where he refines his own green gold. The LA Times has the whole story, so be sure and check it out. Two things of interest: for our right wing readers, Del Bueno's biofuel empire is being bankrolled by none other than Hanoi Jane's daughter! Can I get a Drudge style squeal of disapproval? The other thing is, last year I saw Man or Astro-man? play in Chicago at the Touch & Go 25th Anniversary Party. How do I put this nicely? Killdozer! Fuck the other bands! Mr. Del Bueno's day job seems interesting. [Los Angeles Times] More »
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