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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Etc.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Building new cars, no matter how efficiently they might operate, still takes a lot of energy. That’s means there’s a good sustainability argument to be made for reusing older cars if you can. Sure we all want a Tesla Roadster, but let’s face it, most of us will never get close to owning one. But if you want some cutting edge technology like all-wheel drive and all wheel steering and you live on a K-Car budget, you can always take the reuse, recylce path. Canadian television legend Red Green doesn’t want to see even the lowliest cars end up on the scrap heap. Check out the video after the jump for a project that even the team at Make would envy.

[Source: YouTube, via TheCarConnection]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Etc., Transportation Alternatives

Have you heard about Aeromovel, a train that is driven by compressed air? You can see the train (which has no on-board motor) as it uses a sail-like propulsion device on what looks like traditional train tracks in the video above. It’s currently in use in Brazil and Indonesia. Below the fold is a video of a vehicle that can only carry one person but has access to a street car’s network of rails. Usually, street cars are designed to carry lots of people. Oh, another strange thing about the personal street car concept vehicle is it looks like a flying carpet.

Related:

• Videos: London’s Heathrow airport to use driver-less, electric POD transport system
• Video: Car-free city coming 2009
• Video of “naked streets” and how banning stop lights will save gas
• Cool videos: street lamp electric bubble car, Disney’s 1958 hovering solar car

[Source: YouTube]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Daily

We told a few days ago about Dennis Berube and his record-setting 1/4 mile run in his electric dragster, the Current Eliminator V. Now thanks to the magic of YouTube you can see the 7.956 second run at almost 160mph. The dragster “fueled” by a bank of Altairnano batteries is eerily quiet as it does its burn-out and and then its solo run down the strip. Check out the videos, including one from an on-board camera, after the jump.

[Source: YouTube, thanks to Domenick for the tip]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Hydrogen, Cadillac, Detroit Auto Show, Green Daily

What does it mean to Provoq if you’re Caddilac? We’ll find out the details sometime in the next 24 hours, but GM released a statement today (available after the jump) saying that the Provoq concept will be “a vision for a petroleum-free future of luxury transportation.” I guess that leaves us with two options: battery-only or hydrogen fuel cell. My money’s on fuel cell, and we can guess that this is some Caddy evolution of the E-Flex platform (there have been rumors of this, even though they were strongly denied by GM). GM CEO Rick Wagoner will unveil the Provoq at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas tomorrow before the Provoq comes to Detroit next week.

Related:

• Fuel-Cell E-Flex could get badged as a Cadillac, maybe

[Source: GM]

Cadillac To Showcase Future Design And Performance Technology

DETROIT - Cadillac extends its ongoing design and technology momentum with tomorrow’s debut of the Provoq Concept, a vision for a petroleum-free future of luxury transportation. GM CEO Rick Wagoner will present the Cadillac Provoq concept vehicle January 8 at the influential Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, beginning a showcase of Cadillac’s future performance technology and design that will continue at next week’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.

The Provoq Concept continues Cadillac’s remarkable heritage of landmark concept vehicles, this time in a vehicle free from petroleum fuel and emissions, the ultimate luxury. Provoq will make its world premiere at one of the world’s leading technology showcases at CES, appearing again at one of the foremost automotive stages in Detroit on Jan. 14.

Cadillac accelerates into Detroit with another dramatic demonstration of its design and performance technology, the world premiere of the 2009 CTS-V. Cadillac’s high performance V-Series represents the ultimate expression of the brand’s performance and luxury, and the much-anticipated new CTS-V will include many significant technical and design enhancements aimed at placing it within the elite group of the world’s most capable cars.

The 2009 CTS-V extends the momentum created by Cadillac’s 2008 CTS Sport Sedan, which is earning wide acclaim from critics and consumers alike. Since September, CTS sales are up 59.5% in the U.S. CTS was recently named 2008 Motor Trend Car of the Year, headlining a long list of accolades that also includes positions on Car and Driver magazine’s 10Best list and as a finalist for 2008 North American Car of the Year.

Also appearing in Detroit next week will be the Escalade Hybrid, featuring a fuel-saving Two Mode Hybrid system combining a gas engine with electric battery power. The Escalade Hybrid, beginning production in mid-2008, extends the desirability of the leading large luxury SUV.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: On Two Wheels, Green Daily

I’ve been a biker ever since my college days. I’ve used a bike to commute through Michigan (and northern Japanese) winters, hot times in Georgia and up steep residential streets in Hawai’i. But I’ve never biked in a place as bike-friendly as Portland, Oregon. I’ve only spent a few days there, but damn if that city doesn’t put a premium on encouraging two-wheeled, human-powered transportation.

Still, whenever bikes and cars share the road, accidents are likely - and bikers almost always suffer for it. Following six bicycle deaths on city roads last year, new “bike boxes” will be added to 14 busy Portland intersections, according to The Oregonian. These boxes are common in Europe, but Portland is likely to be the first place in the U.S. to use them. The blue-painted areas are intended to give bikers a place to rest in front of automobiles at traffic lights and prevent accidents due to “right hooks” (where cars turning right hit a biker using the right side of the road). Cars will also be prevented from making right turns on red. The boxes make a lot of sense when bike are able to get to the bike box when the light is red, but they’ll still need to be extra careful once traffic is moving.

[Source: Andy Dworkin / The Oregonian via Worldchanging]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Transportation Alternatives, Green Daily

The team from the MIT Media lab that brought us the stackable electric city cars has struck again. This time around, they have partnered with Sanyang Motors and Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to create a folding electric scooter for getting around cities. The folding design allows it to be stored in a charging dock when not in use. The scooter is designed to be built up from only 150 individual parts including a hub motor in each wheel. Like the stacking city car and bike sharing programs, the RoboScooter is designed for rental programs. People would be borrow one from stations around a city, make their trip and drop of the scooter at any other station.

[Source: MIT Media Lab, via Winding Road]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Hybrid, MPG, Ford, Green Daily, Lightweight

In the video above, Ford talks about the new “cornerstone” of their green plans, the Ecoboost GTDI engine technology. Three minutes into the video, Ford also lists other things they plan to do in the short term (in the next five years, 2007-2012), to green up their cars. The 10-minute video starts with Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president of Global Product Development, explaining that cars are a big contributer to CO₂ emissions but not the biggest. Derrick continues by saying Ford thinks the best solution is developing technology that is “affordable” and will be used, not in “hundreds” or “thousands” of cars but in “millions” of cars. So, what are Ford’s plans?

Along with Ecoboost, in the next five years, Ford plans to “leverage existing technology” with expanded use of six-speed transmissions and the introduction of a “direct clutch transmission” that will get the “fuel economy of a manual with the shift quality of an automatic.” Ford will also increase electric assist steering, battery management, aerodynamics, introduce two hybrids in 2008 (Fusion and Milan) and a F150 diesel. In the mid-term (2012-2020), Ford plans, along with other things, weight reductions and “low volume introduction of plug-in hybrids.”

Ecoboost and new transmissions are great but you forgot something, Ford! I wrote a story November about Ford moving in the direction of fuel injection and turbo charging which is essentially the basis of Ecoboost. The story included air intakes, Ford! Where is a Mad Max-like car with a giant air scoop? I think you should just make a concept with an air scoop in order to showcase Ecoboost because it’s not a very visible concept. A modern, green muscle car could be your Prius.

Related:

• Video: Ford Junior talks about sustainability (leaks first carbon neutral NFL game)
• Ford CEO says plug-in hybrids are 5-10 years away
• Detroit 2008 Preview: 2009 Ford F-150 could add hydraulic launch assist

[Source: YouTube]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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