Originally published on Cleantechnica. By Nicholas Brown. Ford recently covered my trip to Detroit, Michigan, so that I could attend some of its events and NAIAS. In this first article from the trip, I’ll focus on my test drive of the 2014 Ford Fusion Energi in Michigan, from Dearborn to Detroit. More articles on the NAIAS events…
I attended the North American International Show (NAIAS)/Detroit Auto Show (my trip was covered by Ford). I photographed a wide variety of vehicles in HD. Click the images to go their attachment pages, then right click them and select ‘Open image in new tab’ to access their wallpaper-sized versions. Click the ‘Photos From My Ford…
Bosch and Evatran are offering discounts to early adopters of their wireless charging technology for electric vehicles, which they call ‘PLUGLESS™’. The first 250 customers can purchase the Chevy Volt system for $1,998, and the Nissan Leaf system for $2,098. This wireless charging system is compatible with all Chevy Volt models, and the 2010–2012 Nissan…
Norway is the greatest electric vehicle market in the world, and their exposure to electric vehicles has not turned them off. Electric vehicle sales have been soaring. You have seen peoples’ exposure to new things that aren’t as good as they were hyped to be. Fortunately, electric vehicles often turn out better than people expect…
Mark Ruffalo is a strong advocate of environmental conservation, and has focused on hydraulic fracturing, which is a relatively recent extraction method for natural gas. Opponents of hydraulic fracturing are concerned that it causes severe water pollution and earthquakes. Their primary focus is earthquakes, as its impact on seismic activity isn’t quite as clear. Hydraulic…
People have long stated that cars cannot be solar-powered (with panels solar panels mounted only on the cars). They were proven wrong by some solar-powered prototype cars. However, those cars were very basic, and had very little cabin room (they seated only one person). Ford developed a plug-in hybrid vehicle, which is based on a…
This was a bit surprising to me too. All new power plants constructed in Australia from now through 2020 are expected to be renewable, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). This might be due to the carbon tax that was instated in 2012. The purpose of a carbon tax is to bill the…
Santa Clara County (in California) has mandated that new homes, and non-residential buildings be pre-wired to accommodate electric vehicle charging stations during their construction. This prevents owners from having to pay up to $2,000 to redo wiring in a building that has already been constructed. Pre-wiring for the chargers only costs up to $200. The…
The world is not yet accustomed to electric cars, therefore, they are still skittish about purchasing them. In response to this, some have been test driving the few electric cars on the market. Many of the tests are intended to show how long their range is in reality, but, they were not very realistic. Some…
Storm Emily is threatening north Ireland and northwest Scotland on the days leading up to Christmas. Donegal, northern Ulster, Hebrides, the western and northern mainland of the Highland region in Scotland are also at risk. Storm Emily is expected to approach with very strong winds to the first two regions mentioned, through tonight and early…
I have been using a Kill A Watt P4480 energy use monitor/timer to monitor energy usage and to do other things, for example, I used it to program the washing machine to start automatically at a specified time. I also used it to program my mobile device chargers to charge for a few hours, then…
Toyota has licensed wireless charging technology for electric vehicles from WiTricity. Wireless charging technology is usually touted because of the fact that owners don’t have to plug their cars in themselves. This is a very minor benefit compared to what these charging stations can offer. Capabilities and Benefits of Wireless Charging Technology Wireless charging stations…