Friday round-up
August 19, 2011 § Leave a Comment
The end-of-week round-up. Yee-ha. Sorry, couldn’t resist that. Anyway, in no particular order:
No more Deep Ellum Blues: the city of Dallas, Texas is to get 200 ECOtality EV charging stations in the coming months. The first were opened this week in the historic downtown Deep Ellum neighbourhood. “Throughout Texas and across the United States, consumer demand for electric vehicles is growing at an exponential rate”, says ECOtality. More at EON Businesswire. Deep Ellum’s an old industrial district of Dallas, originally home to a Model T Ford plant, juke joints, blues clubs and rough gangster gambling dens, now cleaned up and marketed as an ‘arts and entertainment district’. Gratuitous off-topic clip here, as it’s Friday and I’m in the mood for some music.
- Mazda’s testing a hybrid system for the 6. Spy shots at Edmunds Inside Line.
- Had a chat with Giles Brown, founder and organiser of the EcoVelocity show. He said that it was clear from the last 2008 London Motor Show that there was demand for a ‘green’ consumer motoring event, though it wasn’t viable until there was a sufficient range of suitable mainstream vehicles to promote and display. Now there is. Show’s going to be good.
- Solar Roadways of Idaho is devloping, yes, solar-panelled surfaces for roads. The electricity could power vehicles via inductive charging, road signs or heating elements for de-icing. More, including video, at the Green Car Website.
- That Smart ‘pedelec’ (electric-assist pushbike) is going to be launched at the Friedrichshafen Eurobike Show (from 31st August). It’s built by German bike-maker GRACE, and will go on sale early 2012. It’s got a three-speed gear hub, a 25o-watt motor, regenerative braking, four selective levels of power-assist, disc brakes and a USB interface.
- Infiniti unveiled the JX crossover at Pebble Beach yesterday. Not much detail on spec yet, but a hybrid version will follow. There’ll also be a hybrid version of the new Lexus GS-series, another debutante at the Pebble Beach show.
- Heard about the hybrid caravan? Electricity is generated from the turning of its wheels and stored in batteries; a full charge gives on-site power for up to four days. The Knaus Tabbert concept could go on sale as an aftermarket modular package early 2012. More at Spiegel.de (use Google Translate); thanks to @WilkinsDavid.
- DIY EV of the day: the 1981 Chevrolet Camaro of Ron Adamowicz, a drag-racer good for a 10.08-sec quarter-mile (Green Car Reports).
