The Solar Shelf Concept was a design entry to the Green Life Competition, and has come up as one of the top three designs submitted to the contest. A basic requirement of the competition was that the design entered should be environment and design centric, and that the entry should not be unrealistic.

The Solar Shelf Concept from Chinese designer Leon Zhu intends to provide the car with a certain degree of protection, while generating energy by utilizing solar panels. The concept includes a Rear Wing for cars; this rear wing holds on to the solar shelf.

While the car is in motion, or there is no requirement for the solar panels, they remain safely attached to the rear wing. When it is suitable, the user can pull out the solar panels from the wing to cover the car. This provides some protection against the elements for the car, while the solar panels can also generate some electricity to power the car’s auxiliary systems like air conditioning and radio.

Via: Autoblog Green

Zero Motorcycles has received a lot of acclaim for its electric motorcycles, which have been greatly appreciated and admired. Testament to their success is the “Best Electric Motorcycle” award at eCarTec in Munich, Germany, and the appreciation Governor Schwarzenegger put forward for the motorcycles during the AltCar in California early in October.

Governor Schwarzenegger had questions for the Zero S electric motorbike during his tour of the show, and displayed some interest in the motorcycle as well. Buoyed by the success, Zero Motorcycles have issued a release calling for the Governor to ditch his Harley, “Switch Out Your Harley for an All-Electric Zero S!”

The Zero S motorcycle and other electric bikes from Zero Motorcycles are cool, and indeed environmentally friendly, but there still is a long way to go before such ambitious sounding words actually have any effect. The Zero S is no Harley, and it is very unlikely that Swarzenegger would switch it with a Zero S. Hopefully, electric motorcycles will soon be able to compete with the likes of Harley, and actually make people switch to the all-electric motorcycles.

Source: Autoblog Green

General Motors apparently has plans to put the Cadillac Converj into production. The Converj was displayed as a concept at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, and the upcoming extended range electric vehicle will be built on the same technology as the General’s much anticipated Chevrolet Volt.

Putting the electric Converj on the market will give GM the additional advantage of having an electric vehicle in the premium range, where the impact of the cost of lithium ion batteries may be minimized. The production Converj will most likely remain faithful to the concept version unveiled earlier, there will of course be changes, but a radical departure from the stunning concept seems unlikely.

Interested consumers will have to wait for quite some time though. The Chevrolet Volt itself will reach production by the end of next year, and will be followed by the very similar European model, the Opel Ampera in 2011. Any possibility for the Converj to appear in dealerships will likely be after these models have launched, and after the automaker has gauged the customer response.

Source: Ecofriend

Merrill Lynch has just said what has been the writing on the wall for some time now. A research carried out by Bank of America and Merrill Lynch says merely having a “green” tag isn’t going to sell many EVs/ PHEVs unless they get better looks. So while electric cars like the Tesla Roadster, Tesla Model S and Fisker Karma will likely sell well, other EVs that look as if they came from a different planet will have a tough time convincing buyers.

The analysts also reached the opinion that while having the eco-friendly tag will help sell EVs/ PHEVs, they are not likely to get extremely popular, at least until their associated costs come to the same level as conventional, or ICE vehicles.

All this does make good sense, cost and looks are factors that sway buyers. To make electric vehicles more attractive for buyers, companies may soon offer other features. As analyst Steven Milunovich says, cars may soon come with loads of customization like Wi-Fi, LED lights and the like.

Source: Autoblog Green

The effect of millions of electric vehicles connecting to the grid during peak hours has been feared and discussed since long. While charging vehicles during off-peak hours may be good for utilities, in an interesting turn it may even earn some money for the owners. More specifically, EV/PHEV owners in West Texas and Illinois are being paid to charge their vehicles during off-peak hours, and that’s clean wind energy we’re speaking of.

With the growth of wind energy in these states, there is an oversupply of energy during off-peak hours, and this has in turn pushed prices into the negative range. Since wind turbine owners get a tax credit to the tune of 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour of energy generated, they prefer not to shut down the turbines during off hours and pass on a share of the subsidy to the end user.

Since there is no efficient energy storage system in place for off hours, the turbine owners are short of options. Smart Meters could prove to be useful for customers and utilities during such times, at least for the near future, until the demand increases or energy storage systems like Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) come into play.

Source: Reuters

These solar panel clad racecars aren’t simply racecars, they also function as hallmarks of solar and electric vehicle technology, and also help spreading environmental awareness. Moreover, the technology developed could also find use in mainstream vehicles. The best example here would be the Chevrolet Volt, which benefited from the technology used in the Sunraycer from the 1987 World Solar Challenge.

Source: Inhabitat

Rumors about the introduction of a Prius Coupe and MPV refuse to die out. It has long been rumored that Toyota’s very successful hybrid car will spawn other models, like a coupe and an MPV. In fact, there were even rumors of the Prius becoming a brand itself, with an entire range of vehicles.

After a calm of a few months, speculation has fired up again, contending that the Prius coupe is indeed in the works, and along with the coupe, will come an MPV.

The rumor goes on to say that the coupe will get the same 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine with hybrid synergy drive as the Prius, and would also get the same chassis.

According to the rumor, the MPV model will compete against the Honda Skydeck concept that was displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show. This speculation also means that Honda will put the Skydeck into production, even though the automaker has not announced anything to indicate that the Skydeck is going to production.

Source: Autoblog Green

F1 is pretty much the pinnacle of automotive technology, and while a few things do trickle into mainstream production automobiles, the partnership between Williams Technology Center and Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) to bring green tech from F1 to mainstream vehicles is quite a jump.

Williams and Qatar intend to put their brains together for bringing the energy recovery system KERS from Formula 1 racing to mainstream automobiles with application for buses, trains and cars.

KERS, as used in F1 is an energy recovery system, that recovers energy from braking and stores it to provide the drivers with brief bursts of extra power when required. It is not explicitly clear how the two companies intend to use the tech for mainstream vehicles.

The technology is expected to complete final testing in two-three years. While Williams and Qatar aren’t giving out details on expenses involved, they say the project will cost less than $50 million.

Source: Reuters

While Aptera Motos is keeping its upcoming electric car under wraps, images of the production version Aptera 2e have found their way to the internet. The latest leaked image is purported to be a rendering of the production spec Aptera 2e and this one show’s the three-wheeled, futuristic-looking car’s front three-quarter.

It is well understood that the production version of the car will differ slightly from its concept version, and as the image shows, a hood and front bumper have found their way to the car. The rendering, which first appeared on ApteraForum also shows asymmetric front wheel pods, a new headlight cluster that integrates the turn signals, side mirrors, and windows with a lower sill.

The Aptera electric vehicle has been much talked about, mainly due to its unconventional shape and design, and also because of the fact that it happens to be a three wheeled car.

Source: Autoblog Green

Vespa scooters enjoyed a high place during their heydays, but as time passes, these classics from the past get old, rusty and useless, not to mention that their fuel efficiency would be too poor by modern standards. All that aside, there’s still a lot of people in love with the old scooter. Bel & Bel give people a chance to own the Vespa, albeit in an entirely different way.

The Bel & Bel design studio reuses the old Vespa scooters to create office chairs. They use the leg shields from the scooter to create impressive office chairs that look cool, and being made from salvaged scooters, are eco friendly as well.

Some of their designs even use the tire of the scooter with the chair, and some other parts of the scooter are used as well. The major method though, appears to be the use of the Vespa’s leg shields. Just in case you were wondering, there’s a range of colors to choose from.

Souce: AutoblogGreen