That new Ford Fiesta is wonderful, 30 MPG city 40 highway, and I've heard people that've gotten 37 city and 44 highway. :nice: What a car.

A Fiesta :sunny:

That's pretty good mileage, although I already get around 37 with my Chevy Cavalier - Pontiac J2000 familiar Oldsmobuick. I think we need to think leapfrog when it comes to mileage. Aim for 120 city, 100 highway - we need to get to this level pretty quickly to keep our planet from really overheating, and it's feasible today.

But on the other side of the equation, 37 / 44 MPG is pretty good, if you bike most places whenever possible, walk, take the train, or even carpool. (If one thinks of it, 3 passengers per car is like each person getting 100 MPG+ per trip).

So many convenience trips, if we redesigned things for ease of cycling and walking, save lives with healthy exercise and save oodles of fuel..:escaping3:

Managed to get my running average to 61.5 MPG :)

Managed to get my running average to 61.5 MPG :)

Pretty Cool David!:cool:

You must have a relatively hassle-free drive in then I gather? Here, it would be tourists on my tail all the way (never mind that they're going a short hop to the lake).. Hypermiling is really great though! Hypermiling :: Even without a hybrid car, no more need to compare gas prices

I am going to start hypermiling, to heck with the heavy pedal types! :sunny:

Hassle-free, as in annoying roadworks :P

 

I did a trip to Stevenage from here (100 miles on dual-carriageway & motorways) and managed a good 66mpg (that's including stop-start slow moving traffic on the M25 car-park). I try and make my car's fuel last longer.

Hassle-free, as in annoying roadworks :P

 

I did a trip to Stevenage from here (100 miles on dual-carriageway & motorways) and managed a good 66mpg (that's including stop-start slow moving traffic on the M25 car-park). I try and make my car's fuel last longer.

> Well, tis the season!:laugh3:

Excellent mileage, considering the traffic situation!! Hm, car-park, I had to look that one up. Ahh, so that's a car-park!:laugh3: What sort of scenery is there in this car-park place called the M25, btw?

Here, you would have to cruise on down to the Marquette Interchange, where the French explorers still are stuck there, waiting for someone to right the overturned canoe. Generally, traffic flows pretty well though, except when there's a game. Or a busy holiday week-end!:stunned:

@66mpg, the world would breath a lot easier.

 

I just wish we could get a bike path here, given the growing numbers in our neck of the woods.. maybe the town board would be more amenable to the idea, now that there's new management on-board??..:thinking:

 

 

 

 

 

The perspective I see things in is both in the immediate, and in the long term. Imagine an island where you generally can't leave, but it has everything you need if you use it wisely. And what you do affects not only yourself, but all the other inhabitants on the island, as well as future generations of humans.

Our world today is built upon the past, and with that past are the remains of things that came before, and what we modify will be here for those that come after us.

So, cars need to encompass the whole enchilada, so the materials work in harmony with nature and our health for now and for the future. So that there is enough for everyone, mostly be built of commonly available materials and elements, that do the least overall harm. Work efficiently so there is less need for energy, as this too affects the climate of the island, and the number of scars upon the land's surface.

What survives are our ideas and methods, the forever spiral of human progress into the future.

Front Page - The Long Now

The problem with bike paths is that some idiotic cyclists refuse to use them.

The problem with bike paths is that some idiotic cyclists refuse to use them.

:cyclist::cyclist::cyclist:

The Darwin Awards then?

:laugh3:

 

Here in the land of the automobile, it's getting quite hazardous to take a bike on the roadways, even if you skirt the very edge near the gravel and grass. But of course, we have tons of overweight citizens who would, once they got going at it, enjoy a safe bike path.. but the old guard on the boards generally regard such measures as either (1) not a revenue generator, or (2) too progressive. It might cost something (never mind the lives saved from less heart attacks and strokes, cancers, etc. when people get in shape)..

a David vs. Goliath problem of sorts..;)

That new Ford Fiesta is wonderful, 30 MPG city 40 highway, and I've heard people that've gotten 37 city and 44 highway. :nice: What a car.

Fjord, that sounds vaguely Norwegian!:hair2: Did the Norwegians team up with the Spanish:sombrero: to establish the Fjord Fiesta? :P

(sorry, I just had to try this dixie cup / jolly good joke!:laugh3:)

I just found out that my next door neighbour has built himself an electric sports car.

 

And i was wondering what all those strange parcels we got delivered at home as he was out from "performance electric" and other companies were about

I just found out that my next door neighbour has built himself an electric sports car.

 

And i was wondering what all those strange parcels we got delivered at home as he was out from "performance electric" and other companies were about

In today's world, building your own car is really a big achievement! And an electric nonetheless - cool:cool:.

> Hm, very very interesting.. so there seems to be companies in the business of supplying parts for home-built electric cars then. Hm, well kit cars are not all that unusual, as well as build-it-yourself cars with common central components.

I suppose, just get the right basic components, assemble it the way you want it - three phase motor, battery racks, drive trains, etc.

I thought about it for an electric as well, some of the ones that I like are very expensive and only available in California - maybe just redesign the basic shape of the body, change things up to suit one's own desires, and make your own! :wideeyed:

So what does this electric car look like? Perform like (since it's made from "performance electric" components)?

Green Cars make for a Greener world !

As important to the fuel consumption is the material construction, can we make interiors that are healthy for us, healthy for the planet, and healthy for the workers up and down the supply chain?

 

I seem to be running into a logjam on finding eco-friendly car interiors.. anyone know of some?

 

But I did run across this interesting auto, Nissan's Denki Cube, and with Nissan's philosophy - Symbiosis of people, vehicle, and nature - sounds like they're on the right track!:)

Nissan's Denki Cube Electric Car | GreenCar.com

An article from the Danish free newspaper "URBAN" on Friday, 15 July 2011

 

 

ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING STANDS ARE TOO UGLY FOR FREDERIKSBERG MUNICIPALITY

 

Frederiksberg Municipality will only allow charging stands for electric cars if they are green. That means that many citizens must give up buying an electric car!!

 

By David Tarp

 

In Frederiksberg Municipality (situated inside Copenhagen) they like the colour green - even so much that - for ethical reasons - the Municipality does not allow so-called "city equipment" in other colours than green!

 

But it also means that citizens in Frederiksberg Municipality are not allowed to mount / install charging stands for their electric cars in any area belonging to the municipality unless they are green. And Denmark's largest provider of electric cars - Better Place - cannot handle that. The about one-meter-high charging stand is only available in one colour - GREY.

 

 

 

In Frederiksberg Municipality they claim to like electric cars. The Municipality itself has a large fleet of them. But when it comes to the Municipality's own citizens, most of them can only dream of having an electric car, unless they have room for the banned charging stand on their own private property.

 

Sidewalk/Pavement Paintbox

 

"We demand this when it comes to city equipment - whether it is bicycle stands/racks or charging stands - this in order to avoid that the City becomes one big paintbox mix", says Jan E. Joergensen who is chairman of the City and Environment Committee.

 

He understands the disappointment experienced by the citizens. But he thinks that Better Place as the largest provider of electric cars in Denmark is responsible for this.

 

"Better Place will not offer the customers green charging stands because it is not profitable for the company. They want to make os look like silly bureaucrats. But we really do like electric cars. But the company must follow the same guidelines as everybody else in the Municipality," Jan E Joergensen explains.

 

The company "Better Place" is sorry that their customers in Frederiksberg Municipality can only dream of having electric cars if the charging stand is to be placed in an area belonging to the Municipality. "But you must treat the municipalities in the same way".

 

"We are in contact with many Frederiksberg citizens who would like to be owners of electric cars. So we think that it is a pity if a technical requirement is the reason why the citizens cannot charge their electric cars in Frederiksberg Municipality, says Better Place's Communications Director, Susanne Tolstrup.

 

"Charging stands are being mass-produced for sale all over the world. Because this must be profitable - also with a view to security and charging methods we have to use the same standard everywhere.

 

It would not be profitable if we had to make an exception for each municipality," says Susanne Tolstrup.

 

There is, however, a glimmer of hope. In connection with the Fashion Week, the Municipality has allowed the installation / mounting of 3 grey charging stands at Forum (where the Fashion Week is held). Later it will be decided if an exemption can be granted for the grey charging stands.

 

[email protected]

 

 

I have 2 comments:

 

1) Being possible to allow the mounting of 3 grey charging stands at Forum during Fashion Week, then it must also be possible to grant an exemption for grey charging stands.

 

2) I would not mind if the charging stand colour had been GREEN - that would have been a nice signal for a GREEN FUTURE.

Simply amazing - our future depends on the color of a charging station?..:dozey: And there are things like that here which prevent progress from happening as well. Like people getting upset because windmills block their view of the lake..

Oh sure, there's probably some way to paint the charging stations, even if the cases are made out of a slippery plastic, simply by fusing a rough material to the plastic first, then painting it, but hey, I'm just sayin'..:thinking:

The planet is in peril, oceans will rise, oil may spill, beaches got covered with thick black goo, refinery explosions happen, resource wars go on and on, CO2 levels rise acidifying oceans and rainwater, forests are dying as climates change and insects devour drought-stressed trees, sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a deadly drought,

But hey, just don't site a wind turbine in my back yard, or put up a gray charging station in my city - that's just unacceptable! :laugh3: Everyone else must obey the rules, except the municipality!

Well, I think they're just bluffing for show, I hope you get the charging stations and electric vehicles there in Denmark Nancy! Here, we're just lucky to see electric cars on the road. The local body shop threw a fit when an Insight arrived to be fixed after an accident. They didn't know how to fix the door and get the electrical wiring fixed as well.. but they must have figured it out - so there's a learning curve. Onward, westward ho! :lol:

 

All things come from nature, all things return to nature. What happens in-between must be in sync with natural cycles, with life itself.

Behold the dragonfly, nature's helicopter - it assembles itself from the bits of other life it consumes, it flies around busying itself in nature's garden, and then it returns to the land to be recycled and born anew, as a reed, a water strider, or strands of blue-green algae. And from this, the bacteria feed, which feeds the tiny rotifer, or the mosquito larvae, which feeds the newborn dragonfly, a copy of the original with little modification. So the cycle of nature we are immutably bound to, it is our destiny to become one again with nature's cycles, and live in harmony with the natural world, for in doing so we will achieve longevity approaching immortality, and humanity's highest aspirations can be achieved.

From the strength of life comes our strength; when the gears of life and the gears of progress mesh, we may be propelled to heights yet unseen.

We can do better; we have the capacity, the intellect, and the ethical dimensions necessary.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/couple-runs-electric-car-on-solar-power.html

 

Couple Runs Electric Car on Solar Power

 

posted by Jake Richardson Jul 16, 2011 7:01 am

 

A couple living north of Seattle in a very small town called Carlsborg recently purchased a Nissan Leaf–since they already had a home solar power system to charge the all-electric Leaf, they don’t pay for in a monthly bill. They are putting electricity back into the grid system to the utility company, so they are actually getting paid and say they make eight dollars every time they drive 100 miles. The sticker price on the Leaf was $36,000 but state and federal incentives reduced that number to $27,500.

 

Critics of solar power say it won’t ever become mainstream because it is too expensive.

 

They are incorrect though, as solar technology prices will not stay where they are now due to the general shift away from conventional energy such as coal and renewables, because of climate change, geopolitics, and pollution issues.

 

For example, Italy's solar power capacity is set to grow nearly four times just in the next nine years. Also, increasing solar efficiency due to better engineering and research will make them produce more power.

 

The transition period, like many large societal shifts, will be a time of confusion and even resistance, but eventually it will happen.

 

The Carlsborg couple is doing it, and their area does not have that many clear sunny days. In nearby Seattle that number is 71 per year. Phoenix and Las Vegas have over 210 clear sunny days each year, on average. San Francisco has 160, and Sacramento is slightly higher with 180. Phoenix has a very large population and a smog problem, so replacing gasoline cars there with electric ones would be a welcome change, and they clearly have much sunlight to do it.

 

A couple from Sausalito (near San Francisco) is also powering their electric Nissan Leaf from their home solar system, though a portion may also come from the grid. As home solar costs come down gradually, it may become more and more common for households to have the capacity for charging on their own electric vehicles.

Very Interesting Read Nancy!

The payback time for solar photovoltaic panels is between 1.8 and 3.3 years, according to Knapp and Jester, though this may be a low end estimate. This varies of course, depending on the current and future rate for electricity, which here is around $.11 per KWh. I was hearing something about serious efforts to lower the costs of solar panels, and the prediction was that in a few years, the cost of solar panel electricity would be down in the $.08 per KWh range; good news, and none too soon!

Solar Power

Makes perfect sense for homes & homeowners in the desert cities first, not only do they get more sunny days, but being farther south (closer to the equator), they receive more direct solar rays, which helps quite a bit too. But it's possible even in cloudy Seattle! YAY!!:)

The thing least talked about that is most effective is solar hot water panels. They generally have a shorter payback time than photovoltaic panels, and in the tropics pay back in just a couple of years. Homes in Phoenix would be ideal candidates for these as well! (or San Francisco, or Sausalito, climb on board!;))

I'm most impressed with China's embrace of solar hot water systems, this is truly well ahead of the rest of the world.

Solar water heating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One thing we do need to address, which is that while solar is great in the summer temperate regions and excellent in the sunny tropics, in winter it's pretty hard to get enough sun to keep things running smoothly. Home power systems therefore must either rely on grid power backup, or wind turbine power generation, or some other form of green energy.

I was seriously considering a home co-generation system, where combined heat and lighting would provide the hot water, home warmth, and electricity during the dark, medieval months of December, January, and February. Cities are beginning to warm up to this European concept here, offering steam or hot water heat to residences, plus electricity, made from biomass waste combustion in plants.

So far to go yet, hope we get there soon!!:sunny:

Incidentally, it's good to know they can produce enough surplus electricity from rooftop panels to feed those hungry car batteries! Zoom! Lithium batteries can be true green, as the basic elements are both relatively common (Lithium, Iron, Phosphorous, etc.), and fairly benign in the environment. Silicon as photovoltaic cells I still prefer over those designed with rare elements, simply because of the resource availability and less detrimental mining requirements.

I think we need to rethink the car. Look back to move forward. The car began as a bicycle maker's dream, a light-weight, efficient, affordable transportation alternative, to free us from dependencies on carriages and horses. It was in the beginning quadricycles, tricycles, and bicycles with engines.

For local commutes, this makes much more sense - going to the grocery store or just tooling around, why not something simple and light weight?

I think what we want is a sense of freedom, and it's a lot more fun to get the exercise on a bicycle, to feel the fresh breeze, sense the wonder all about us...

 

From Flower Power:daisy::hippy: to Pedal Power !;)

Quadricycle Manufacturer, the definitive listing.

Car Kids must refer to something, eh?!:smart::sunny:

In the UK you can get a company to put solar panels on your roof for free. You get the free electricity but the company gets the governement money from the "feed-in" scheme [which covers their costs]. It's a good idea, but the contract is 25 years.

 

I've had a bad week in my car, due to the weather my average has dropped to 61.4 mpg (from 61.7), I need a nice long trip again soon, to clear the system.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-latest-in-alternative-fuel-electric-cars.html

 

 

Listen, laugh & learn with the Green Divas (and Green Dude Scott) anytime – Podcast here!

 

A hot time in the ol’ studio this week – literally! We were a bit punchy, but we managed to get through a lot of information. Green Diva Correspondent Nomi Lyonns called in from Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada and talked about the health controversy surrounding new Smart Meters.

 

Our Guest Green Diva Co-Host, Regan Caton, talked about her new job with a local biodiesel company. Green Dude Scotty started an ongoing dialog about world population and the many implications on growth. World population is estimated to be over 9 billion by 2050!

 

Our feature interview was with our favorite green car dude, John Voelcker, Sr. editor of High Gear Media / GreenCarReports.com. Get the latest news on plug-in technology, fuel cell test cars in California and biodiesel and trends as all the major car companies are gearing up for full production of electric cars by 2015. Hear John’s prediction about the top two fuels of the future.

 

As always, too much information – find a list of resources and links related to this info-packed show at the Green Divas website.

 

Hope you’ll listen to the show!

 

Listen to the show here:

 

Links at:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-latest-in-alternative-fuel-electric-cars.html

 

Host, Green Diva Meg (aka low-stress, green lifestyle doyen, Megan McWilliams), her sidekick Green Dude Scott (aka Scotty Rousseau) and a variety of Green Diva Correspondents throughout the US offer information on green or sustainable living from a guilt-free, low-stress perspective on their weekly, one-hour internet-based radio broadcast. Regular features include interviews with high-profile celebrities and green living experts on topics relating to healthier, more sustainable living. Find out more about The Green Divas, join the Facebook fan page, or subscribe to the Green Divas podcast on iTunes.

 

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-latest-in-alternative-fuel-electric-cars.html#ixzz1T374nomI

In the UK you can get a company to put solar panels on your roof for free. You get the free electricity but the company gets the governement money from the "feed-in" scheme [which covers their costs]. It's a good idea, but the contract is 25 years.

 

I've had a bad week in my car, due to the weather my average has dropped to 61.4 mpg (from 61.7), I need a nice long trip again soon, to clear the system.

> A great deal then!! But yes, time-wise, 25 years?.. what if you sell your home?

Wish we had something like that as well. Here, our local utility company offered to install and maintain the panels, but I need to refresh my mind on the details.. wish they still had that offer going!

>Really great mileage either way David! One can't argue with that small a drop in mileage from weather-related effects. Perhaps long trips will do that, that's an interesting thought - I seem to get my best mileage from long trips as well.. :thinking:

Keep on rolling down that highway ;)

 

 

> Thanks Nancy for the Green Divas / Green Scotts links and entertaining info! ;--))

 

 

 

I believe if you sell your home, the new householder has to keep the contract.

I believe if you sell your home, the new householder has to keep the contract.

What?!!:stunned:

Seems a bit odd, but I suppose they want to ensure a good payback over time. Even so, 25 years - that's quite a long span of time.

Who does the maintenance if something goes wrong in that time period? All sorts of problems may arise in 25 years, such as the soldered connections coming loose, or storm damage, tree limbs clobbering the panels, or gradual power loss. What if, let's say, the output goes down so that in 22 years, it would make more sense to replace the panels?