Category Archives: Transport
One of the reasons cars begin sipping on fuel quicker is air-conditioner use. PolyU’s Department of Electrical Engineering collaborated with Green Power Industrial Ltd. recently and has developed a solar-powered air-conditioning system for cars. Termed as the SAV (solar-powered air-conditioning system for vehicles), the
system allows parked cars to have their air-conditioners turned on, without having to waste petrol. This particularly helps cab and bus drivers who spend substantial amounts of time waiting for their passengers, allowing them to stay cool inside their vehicles without having to waste fuel. The system uses solar photovoltaic panels on the rooftop of the vehicle and stores the juice in the battery for seamless standalone air-Conditioning.
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Urban areas today are slowly being choked to death with smog and pollution, as people pull out their gas-guzzlers to travel around, without paying too much heed to run-down mass transit systems. Designer Phil Pauley however envisions cities with advanced mass transit systems, both green as well as reliable. Called the Eco Drive Monorail (EDM), the project could work as a sustainable means to get people around without stamping dark carbon footprints on the eco-system. Also, this one’s economical to, given that it can simply be built on existing rail networks, without having to break ground for the new network.
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Paris has played home to a bike-sharing program since quite a while now, and the city recently pulled the veil off its first electric car-sharing scheme. Called the Autolib’ project, this one was breathed life into by Vincent Bollore, a prominent businessman with ties to President Nicolas Sarkozy. Currently on a two-month testing phase, the program hosts 60 electric cars with10 stations and will soon use about 250 vehicles by December. The scheme could further spread out to using 2,000 of the small four-seaters over 46 municipalities around the French capital come June 2012, with the Bollore group expecting at least 80,000 users for a fee of 12 Euros a month to make it all successful.
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Rockets and space-bound vehicles today as we know them tend to blow up gallons of fuel on take-off and land or rather fall smoothly back down to earth with the help of parachutes. SpaceX, a private rocket-building company however, has different plans for the future. the company plans to have its Dragon spaceship land with rocket power too, instead of traditional parachutes, for a more precise landing, and is also busy cooking up further plans to use a two-stage launch system that’s completely reusable! This could be the first to ever have been used in the history of mankind and is sure to significantly reduce the carbon footprint stamped out by space expeditions.
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We’ve heard of two-wheeled modes of transport being powered by alternative sources of energy, including hydrogen, electricity, air and solar energy. What we can’t seem to digest all that easily though is a poo-powered bike! Renowned Japanese toilet manufacturer Toto recently pulled the veil off a motorized tricycle that works on poop. With the seat functioning as a fully-usable toilet, all you need to do is sit bare-backside on this bike, answer natures call, and power it up! The thought might seem disgusting at first, given that not a lot of us would muster up the courage to ride on a contraption like this. And the fumes are sure to be equally atrocious too!
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Latvian manufacturer of armored vehicles, Dartz, has decided to go easy on its vehicle designs, shedding the armor and the bulk, as well as the gas-guzzling habits its cars are all too used to, for a cleaner, greener and eco-friendly automobile. Called the Mojo, this pretty vehicle runs on electric insides powered by solar energy and was sculpted by Leo Yankelovich. Christened the Dartz Mojo 4 ST.Tropez – 4 Wheeled Sexappeal, this two-seat roadster sports a fully-exposed engine placed on the rear axle. The gear-box lies behind the engine and the back-engined platform used for this one is reminiscent of the Lotus.
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This sure as hell is the greenest car around. After all, what could get greener than a set of four wheels with no engine whatsoever to power it up! Somewhat like an upscaled Flintstone-mobile, this pedal-powered Hyundai Azera was developed by the Hyundai China team and was sculpted out of a tube-steel frame, sheets of plastic, Styrofoam and a vinyl wrap. The car was then “Driven” around town with a load of bystanders standing jaw-dropped in astonishment and amusement.
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After Renault successfully having the world shock-dropped from its chair with the lovable electric compact car, the Twizy, yet another French manufacturer joined in the ranks of micro-electrics. Peugeot recently unveiled its own rendition of a micro-electric, the VéLV, an acronym for Véhicule électrique Léger de Ville, French for light city electric vehicle. This four wheeler has its rear wheel track narrower than the front, making it seem like a trike at first. With enough space for two average sized adult passengers, the VéLV sports a 20 kilowatt electric motor with a 62 miles range on a full belly, sprinting up to 70 miles per hour with its pedal pushed to the ground.
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Alternative fuels are an answer to a greener tomorrow, that’s if these fuels really are that efficient and easy on the pocket. In what seems to be a complete waste of caffeine, the Teesdale Conservation Volunteers of Durham, England, developed the Coffee Car. Basically a caffeine-obsessed set of wheels that uses coffee to power up instead of gasoline, the car touched 66.5mph setting a Guinness World Record. Using a fuel called Syngas made up of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane created by introducing steam to coffee beans with temperatures at 700C (1292F), the car seems to be a nasty waste of steaming brew to us.
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Electric bikes seem to be the answer to solitary mobility these days, and we’ve seen quite a few pass by including the Ev-o RR. Here’s an electric bike that prefers to keep those jaw-dropping sporty looks at bay, instead choosing to look like an invisible box on wheels! A concept by designer Joey Ruiter, this bike christened the Moto Undone gives the appearance of the rider floating around in mid-air, given that it uses a mirror-finished body that simply reflects the rider’s image. With an electric engine nestled inside, the bike keeps the environment clean without stepping around the gas-guzzler way. Also, this one sends information regarding the bike’s speed, distance travelled and the likes to the user’s smart phone.
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