Good googie moogie! A car that gets 300 mpg.

Image by boomerharley11

The Aptera Typ-1 Concept Car is a three-wheeled vehicle. The two front wheels are used for steering and the rear wheel is connected to an electric motor. The Typ-1 will consume 60-80 Watt·hours/km at 55 mph (90 km/h), making it a low energy vehicle.

The Typ-1 has a drag coefficient of 0.11, compared with 0.19 for the record-holding EV1.

It has recessed windshield wipers, low rolling resistance tires, and cameras in place of side mirrors. And, did we say it goes 300 miles on a gallon of gas?

Here is a pictures gallery (thanks to jalopnik)

And the video …

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On a lot of levels, this doesn’t make sense to me and probably you either, but South Korean truck drivers parked their trucks and let them idle away the fuel. They don’t seem to have any more sense about this than their European counterparts but anyway, who’s asking us?The truckers who want lower diesel fuel costs, higher fees for hauling freight and a standardized pricing system, were protesting the Korean government’s policy package dealing with record-breaking crude oil prices.

Let’s see, they want us to give them cheaper fuel, pay them more to haul it and give them a higher wage or, they’ll just paralyze the nation.

In 2003 South Korean truckers went on strike costing the nation some $540 million. This time they got a promise that the government is going to spend $9.77 billion over the next year to deal with these high prices.

In the end, who paid for that? People who went shopping to buy the food and other items they haul. People like you or me!

The Norwegians are on to something. Think Global is the company and Think City is their electric car that can go 110 miles without a recharge. Apart from meeting all US and European safety standards, the two-seater also packs very good performances and tops at 65mph.

Assembled in Southern California, Think City will be sold for less than $25K and the company “could be selling as many as 50,000 units in two or three years.”

Think Chief Executive Jan-Olaf Willums said test vehicles will be brought to the U.S. in coming months. He also said that a convertible Think City model, is in development. Can you imagine wind blowing through your hair at 65mph, without harming the environment?

Now if they could just come up with a better name…

Here’s a quick pictures gallery if you still need to be convinced !!! (thanks to mr.frego)

See also -

The “Microjoule” does 7,148 mpg - beat that!

What if those more than 5 million heavy duty trucks rolling up and down just the U. S. highways, would be powered by an engine wit 30-percent better fuel mileage, that doesn’t have pistons and needs no lube?

Such a truck gets on average a 7 mpg and with oil, diesel and gas prices only going up, someone had to come up with a solution. Turbine Truck Engines may have good news for the big fellas, a new engine dubbed Detonation Cycle Gas Turbine (DCGT) that:

• will use 30-percent less fuel
• will reduce emissions by 30-percent
• will be able to use all sorts of fuels - biofuels, hydrocarbon fuels, H and even synthetic
• will have fewer moving parts, which will reduce maintenance costs
• will use no lube oil, filters or pump because it has no pistons or valves
• will be lightweight : only 2lbs / hp

All they need is investors.

Where’s Pickens when you need him because having this technology in all those French and Spanish trucks idling and on strike, would be great. Right?

India and China are showing the rest of the world how to do things with electric bikes.

On the heels of success in those to developing countries Ultra Motor’s Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) is coming to the U. S. and Europe this summer. The eco-friendly and economical urban transporter, the A2B Bicycle, goes for $2,200 and can reach a top speed of 20mph (32kph).

For what is worth, I can do that on a regular bicycle, but the question is for how long?

The bike comes with a tissue-box sized lithium battery that can be charged in a normal electric outlet just like you do with your laptop or mobile phone. Right now they’re working on rolling out a LEV Cities concept that includes the charging stations. Dock your bike, log in, pay for the electricity (with your card they say) and ride to work.

Still, it seems better to me to have a bunch of electric bikes running around than the many other alternatives that aren’t working. And, if all these bikes had naked riders on them? That would be fun!

Everybody wants to lower gas prices. And everybody has an idea of how to do it.

Yesterday I wrote How Not to Lower Gas Prices.

Today…part 2.

A couple in Dartmouth decided they would beat the system by hoarding some gasoline in their apartment.

Fumes ignited from the gasoline that was stored in a utility closet and sent residents from eight units fleeing for their lives.

Firemen were on it, and the sprinklers worked well to extinguish the jugs of gasoline that had been covered with cloth rags.

Are we sure Obama wasn’t talking about people in MA, too?

The whole apartment came dangerously close to a vapor explosion.

It wouldn’t have lowered the gas prices overall, there would just be a few less people lining up at the gas pimps, er, pumps.

source

Looking at the new M-112, a compact economical car that recently participated in the Shell Eco Marathon 2008 in France, I’m pretty sure there are big chances it will be an inspiration for cars we’re going to drive in 5 - 10 years. Large cities will get even more crowded and I don’t even want to think what those traffic jams will be like unless, of course, we build suspended cities or develop flying cars.

Designed by Ignacio Garcia, the M-112 is a real concept car not just a prototype. Elegantly tiny and packing an ecological engine under the hood (really has one?) I’m pretty certain the one seater futuristic go-kart will turn heads when you make a trip to the city center.

I wonder if it’s expensive, because I’d definitely want to drive one.

via Novate (translated)

In the “that’s what happens when oil reaches new records” category (no we don’t have one) truckers from Spain and France went on strike on Monday to protest against high diesel prices. And they have damn good reasons : €1.30 for a liter in Spain ($7.71 a gallon) and €1.45 in France ($8.62 a gallon). This is 40-percent more than last year and 20-percent more than January.

For the record, these are not the highest prices for diesel in the European Union. The Brits are leading with ~ €1.65 for a liter.

Most of the big cities in Spain such as Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona suffered traffic jams because of the low speed driven trucks, while the two main borders with France, La Jonquera and Irun were blocked because no vehicle was allowed to pass, by the demonstrators.

The protests are expected to continue till the end of the week when Portuguesse truckers may join, too. Of course, one way to save gasoline/diesel fuel is to sit and let your trucks idle for a couple of days, right guys?

We’re still waiting for the mainstream electric trucks. How about you guys?

I don’t like high gas prices any more than the next guy or gal. It’s $4.53/gal for the cheap stuff right down the street from my house.

There’s a goof ball lady up the street, relatively speaking, from me who has decided to protest the high gas prices here in California. Protesting is a hobby in these parts.

She decided she would make a statement by trying to set the restrooms of two gas stations on fire. The 64-year old woman told police, “I wanted to take a stand.”

The same woman was spotted at a McDonalds’ carrying eight logs. Presumably she was taking those logs to the restrooms, not bringing them out.

She did not cause damage to the gas stations; just caused a stink.

The grandma told police she woke up that morning and decided to do something about high gas prices.

That’ll do it. Deplete the supply. It lowers gas prices every time.

source

I can think of a couple of hundred reasons to drive a car instead of walk, bike, or inline skate.

Pollution, smution…

In Madrid, Spain, protesters stripped down and rode naked on bicycles to protest against the expansion of automobile use instead of riding a bike.

I’m only seeing the backside in these pix, but from what I do see, I am not that interested in what’s up front.

But, then again, I’d like to get a talking to from some of these protesters.

In the meantime, I am somewhat inclined to keep driving depending on who might ride naked to try and stop me.