Transportation & Energy
Daewoo Rocks the Minicar World August 25th, 2009
Whenever I think of Daewoo, I think of the “Mad TV” skit with Bobby Lee as Tank, the wannbe tuner boy with the yellow Daewoo. GM, Daewoo’s parent company, is hoping I’ll take another look...more
Cash for Clunkers Gone for Good August 24th, 2009
The federal CARS rebate program — better known as Cash for Clunkers — came to an early end today, for the second time. The program, which started July 1 despite having no set guidelines for...more
Enginer Converts Cars to Fuels of the Future — and the Past August 20th, 2009
Enginer, a company based in Troy, Michigan, has given itself a mission: to make 100 mpg technology affordable. To this end, Team Enginer, as they like to call themselves, has developed two systems. One is...more
Tesla to Add Sedan, SUV, to Its Lineup August 19th, 2009
I wish I were a bookie, or knew how to put odds on events. Starting a betting pool on Tesla chairman Elon Musk’s plans for the company’s future would be fun. The company is seemingly...more
Chicken Feathers to Become Biodiesel August 18th, 2009
Vegetarians and vegans and PETA activists and other sensitive animal-loving souls beware: this post is about plucked, post-industrial chicken feathers. And it’s a bit gross. But it becomes cheap, domestic, high-energy-density biodiesel in the end,...more
230-MPH Electric Supercar Spawns … a Bus? August 17th, 2009
Researchers at Keio University in Japan have built an eight-wheeled electric vehicle that can go 230 mph. It looks weird, kind of like the crazed cat-bus in “My Neighbor Totoro,” for all you anime fans,...more
Car Sharing Via U-Haul August 14th, 2009
Did you know U-Haul had a car-sharing program, similar to ZipCar, called U Car Share? Neither did I. Apparently, U-Haul is not cool with this, as they’ve recently added greener cars to the fleet and...more
Dreams Do Come True: Volvo C30 Electric Car Confirmed August 13th, 2009
A couple of years ago, Volvo introduced the ReCharge hybrid electric concept; now, it’s taking the idea a step further by giving the little Volvo C30 hatchback an electric motor with a 130-mile range. A plug-in...more
Chevy Volt Will Get 230 MPG … Maybe. On a Good Day August 12th, 2009
It’s been a while since we’ve heard any real news about the Chevy Volt, and now GM has captured our green imaginations by claiming that the extended-range electric car will get 230 mpg. Now the...more
Cash for Clunkers Cleans the Air August 10th, 2009
The Economic Policy Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C., has crunched the numbers and declared Cash for Clunkers an economic and ecological success. The Department of Transportation has calculated that the average fuel economy of...more
