Trust an eccentric Brit to pull off something spectacular if he puts his mind to it, and you won't go wrong. That is the country that gave us the jet engine, after all, as it did thrust vectored aircraft, several amazing cars, some of the world's best stereo systems and much more. While the Brits love few things more than arguing and living the good life, they do some amazing work whenever they set their minds to it, and they do it in a fashion that no one else can emulate. I have posted about dale Vince and his company Ecotricity www.ecotricity.co.uk before. He had plans to manufacture what he called a "wind powered car," and while the term was somewhat sensationalist because the car was not directly powered by the wind, it was accurate because he owns the most profitable company generating power using the wind after all. Turns out that the car, a modified Lotus Exige, has some amazing performance as this link on Autoblog Green and this video show: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/06/24/video-ecotricitys-electric-exige-wind-car-exceeds-expectations/
As friends who are interested in electric vehicles understand, this is the same platform used by Tesla for their roadster. This is a proven platform, after all, and one that has been very successfully demonstrated as far as using it for electric vehicles is concerned. I like this idea of a different vehicle with similar shattering performance - I do wish that the final version of whatever Vince decides to call his car, would look different from the Lotus offering, though. Mark my words - this does have the potential to be another great British car produced by yet another eccentric British genius. I can't wait for more updates on this!
Showing posts with label Tesla Motors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tesla Motors. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
After a Controversial Initial Model, Tesla Motors Launches an Electric Family Saloon Car
For a company that has sold less cars than the average car dealership anywhere in the world sells in a month, Tesla Motors has received an enormous amount of attention for its initial roadster offering. Widely praised for its acceleration and occasionally criticized for its price and the very short range that the car is capable of, battery technology not quite being what it needs to be to make it more capable, the company just unveiled a four door family car which costs less than the roadster and offers a better range, if they manage tog et the money to build the thing: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/03/26/tesla-model-s-50-000-ev-sedan-seats-seven-300-mile-range-0-6?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_autobloggreen Autoblog Green, of course, is the site that I would choose to get news about something like this.
The car looks beautiful to my eyes and I do hope that they manage to build it. Not sure where the company will put it together, though - the roadster is basically a battery-powered Lotus Elise assembled to spec in the UK. Let's hope for the best - cars like these deserve to succeed if fossil fuels are to be shown the fist. Tesla Motors' website is: http://www.teslamotors.com/
The car looks beautiful to my eyes and I do hope that they manage to build it. Not sure where the company will put it together, though - the roadster is basically a battery-powered Lotus Elise assembled to spec in the UK. Let's hope for the best - cars like these deserve to succeed if fossil fuels are to be shown the fist. Tesla Motors' website is: http://www.teslamotors.com/
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Superb Show India! Now When Will These Cars be Available to Indians?
The Geneva Auto Show is the world's biggest and the most important in terms of new car models that come to be displayed every year. So why am I celebrating during a time of gloom? India's Tata Motors have managed to hog a considerable portion of the limelight with their Euro spec Tata Nano (a car that many so-called "experts" said could never be built - the same "experts" who gave AAA+ ratings to crappy Wall Street Banks, I'm sure) and, more importantly, since this is a blog meant to show Fossil Fuels the Fist, because of Tata's new Norwegian engineered Indica Electric car: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/03/04/geneva-2009-euro-spec-tata-nano-its-bigger-and-all-electric/ When a prestigious website like Autoblog Green raves about this, there is something for everyone to cheer.
This is a good beginning, no doubt, but there is competition that is certain to come. Several Chinese manufacturers have started working on electric cars and countries as diverse as South Africa and the UK have designed commercial vehicles that work on electricity. But I do think that if Tata have made it this far, there is no reason why they would not go further - a lot further in fact. And yes, I am rooting for them to succeed - and rooting for every other designer of electric vehicles to succeed as well. This means YOU Aptera, Tesla and all other creative companies out there. All the very best and may you all win!
This is a good beginning, no doubt, but there is competition that is certain to come. Several Chinese manufacturers have started working on electric cars and countries as diverse as South Africa and the UK have designed commercial vehicles that work on electricity. But I do think that if Tata have made it this far, there is no reason why they would not go further - a lot further in fact. And yes, I am rooting for them to succeed - and rooting for every other designer of electric vehicles to succeed as well. This means YOU Aptera, Tesla and all other creative companies out there. All the very best and may you all win!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Green Transportation Right Now
All of my friends who know me know how much I love cars and motorcycles. I have been riding and driving since I was 15 and even today, nothing works better for me as an anti depressant than driving or riding a bike on a calm and peaceful rural road. It was when India's roads began to become more crowded and filthier by the day from the early 1980s onwards that I began to wonder if there was a possible solution to this whole mess of transportation and to making it cleaner. Let's face it - there are more people today than there have ever been and the world is a crowded place. While population experts suggest that populations could taper off in the future, any reduction in crowding is at least half a century away. And people have to work, public transportation is not reliable unless you live in Moscow, Paris or London, and this makes clean transportation a crying need.
For a long time, car companies were lazy, doing little to harness technologies that could save fuel and even now, some of the hybrid technology and advanced diesels that are being used are a first step, and not the full potential of the technology that is available to us even today. Fortunately, small firms are showing the way ahead. Some of the products are expensive, but they do work and large scale demand for them could make them significantly cheaper. In any case, it is summer here and my heart is not in my car. Who wants to bake inside it after it has stood in the sun for two hours? This is a time for the open road and for short hops to the grocery or to meet friends. For those romantically inclined, sitting with your significant other on a bike is also much more fun than sitting side by side even in a Ferrari.
So, here goes with a few links:
1. For the power freaks, there is a bike that uses fossil fuel, but with a twist - the diesel Neander cruiser is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful bikes ever made in my opinion. Their website is: http://www.neander-motorcycles.com/motorbike/en/ The bike's engine used a very innovative crankshaft that would have some special applications in the diesel and even gasoline engines of the future. Instead of buying a convertible of ANY kind, this is the bike to go for
2. For a full electric bike, there is a design that is garnering a lot of attention in this part of the world: http://www.enertiabike.com/ Bloody expensive if you ask me, but very beautifully styled, and, if you take the manufacturers' background into consideration, it should be superb. They make the Ariel Atom sportscar in North America
3. And then there is something really special: http://www.erockit.net/
This is actually a bicycle with a patented electric boost system which allows it to be pedalled at upto 50 Km/hr. I think it looks simply superb and it would be more than adequate for most cties in the world, especially in South Asia
4. In cars, there is the old Th!nk car, once a Ford subsidiary now revived by the Norwegian government with Venture Capital funding from the USA who have two designs: The Think City and the Think Ox (not as in ox-cart but as in Oxygen) which you can check out at: http://www.think.no/ I just might buy the Ox when it goes on sale in Chicago
5. And then there is the Aptera, a design that has wowed much of the US media including diehard skeptics like Popular Mechanics magazine. This is a design that requires a lot of hand fitting. It would be ideal for someone to assemble in South Asia under license. Do check the website out: http://www.aptera.com/ and also have a look at the many videos and reviews on Google, Youtube etc. The company plan to drive their car from Los Angeles to New York this summer on one tankful of gasoline in an attempt at getting the Automotive X Prize. The prize is for the first production car that gets the equivalent of 100 mpg. The Aptera will do at least twice that
6. There is something that we overlook until we have one of these discharge soot into our faces through our car windows - delivery vans. A British company called Modec has started manufacturing electric vans and has sold a large number to the British postal service. They also have orders in the Netherlands. Their website is: http://www.modeczev.com/ Capable of taking 2 ton loads, these could be ideal delivery vans for South Asia. To boot, they come in Right Hand drive, something that the other cars do not come in
7. There is a new concept here of the "Neighborhood Car." This refers to cars that are driven inside city streets and which do not go on highways. In the USA, thjese are given special exemptions if their top speed is restricted to 25 mph / 40 kmph though this particular design is capable of easily exceeding that if the restrictors are removed: http://www.zenncars.com/ The car would be superb for South Asian streets as a low speed people hauler that costs much less than any car in the world in use and which is much safer than the badly designed Indian Reva
There are several planned solutions from Mitsubishi, GM's Chevrolet Division, Nissan, Renault etc for the future as well as limited production cars like the Tesla http://www.teslamotors.com/ and the Fisker Karma http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/ I seriously doubt if any of the big names would come to South Asia. Even in advanced markets theya re being pre-empted by the small guys. Showing fossil fuels the fist also means showing a fist to those who have been making us use oil without bothering to innovate.
Cheers!
Post Script: A friend in Sri Lanka had an intriguing question. Is there any way that treadmills could be hooked up to do small jobs from utilising the energy that exercisers use on them? Run a small fruit juicer, perhaps? So you have an instant smoothie after you finish exercising? Ideas please...
For a long time, car companies were lazy, doing little to harness technologies that could save fuel and even now, some of the hybrid technology and advanced diesels that are being used are a first step, and not the full potential of the technology that is available to us even today. Fortunately, small firms are showing the way ahead. Some of the products are expensive, but they do work and large scale demand for them could make them significantly cheaper. In any case, it is summer here and my heart is not in my car. Who wants to bake inside it after it has stood in the sun for two hours? This is a time for the open road and for short hops to the grocery or to meet friends. For those romantically inclined, sitting with your significant other on a bike is also much more fun than sitting side by side even in a Ferrari.
So, here goes with a few links:
1. For the power freaks, there is a bike that uses fossil fuel, but with a twist - the diesel Neander cruiser is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful bikes ever made in my opinion. Their website is: http://www.neander-motorcycles.com/motorbike/en/ The bike's engine used a very innovative crankshaft that would have some special applications in the diesel and even gasoline engines of the future. Instead of buying a convertible of ANY kind, this is the bike to go for
2. For a full electric bike, there is a design that is garnering a lot of attention in this part of the world: http://www.enertiabike.com/ Bloody expensive if you ask me, but very beautifully styled, and, if you take the manufacturers' background into consideration, it should be superb. They make the Ariel Atom sportscar in North America
3. And then there is something really special: http://www.erockit.net/
This is actually a bicycle with a patented electric boost system which allows it to be pedalled at upto 50 Km/hr. I think it looks simply superb and it would be more than adequate for most cties in the world, especially in South Asia
4. In cars, there is the old Th!nk car, once a Ford subsidiary now revived by the Norwegian government with Venture Capital funding from the USA who have two designs: The Think City and the Think Ox (not as in ox-cart but as in Oxygen) which you can check out at: http://www.think.no/ I just might buy the Ox when it goes on sale in Chicago
5. And then there is the Aptera, a design that has wowed much of the US media including diehard skeptics like Popular Mechanics magazine. This is a design that requires a lot of hand fitting. It would be ideal for someone to assemble in South Asia under license. Do check the website out: http://www.aptera.com/ and also have a look at the many videos and reviews on Google, Youtube etc. The company plan to drive their car from Los Angeles to New York this summer on one tankful of gasoline in an attempt at getting the Automotive X Prize. The prize is for the first production car that gets the equivalent of 100 mpg. The Aptera will do at least twice that
6. There is something that we overlook until we have one of these discharge soot into our faces through our car windows - delivery vans. A British company called Modec has started manufacturing electric vans and has sold a large number to the British postal service. They also have orders in the Netherlands. Their website is: http://www.modeczev.com/ Capable of taking 2 ton loads, these could be ideal delivery vans for South Asia. To boot, they come in Right Hand drive, something that the other cars do not come in
7. There is a new concept here of the "Neighborhood Car." This refers to cars that are driven inside city streets and which do not go on highways. In the USA, thjese are given special exemptions if their top speed is restricted to 25 mph / 40 kmph though this particular design is capable of easily exceeding that if the restrictors are removed: http://www.zenncars.com/ The car would be superb for South Asian streets as a low speed people hauler that costs much less than any car in the world in use and which is much safer than the badly designed Indian Reva
There are several planned solutions from Mitsubishi, GM's Chevrolet Division, Nissan, Renault etc for the future as well as limited production cars like the Tesla http://www.teslamotors.com/ and the Fisker Karma http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/ I seriously doubt if any of the big names would come to South Asia. Even in advanced markets theya re being pre-empted by the small guys. Showing fossil fuels the fist also means showing a fist to those who have been making us use oil without bothering to innovate.
Cheers!
Post Script: A friend in Sri Lanka had an intriguing question. Is there any way that treadmills could be hooked up to do small jobs from utilising the energy that exercisers use on them? Run a small fruit juicer, perhaps? So you have an instant smoothie after you finish exercising? Ideas please...
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