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Sure, you could recharge your Nissan Leaf the earth-friendly way (feeding it electricity from a coal-burning power plant), but what fun is that? There’s a better way: holding down the brakes lightly while being towed. Because of the regenerative braking feature of the Leaf design, this will charge the car’s batteries. Just make sure that your tow truck gets no more than 15 miles per gallon.
You can watch a video of this technique at the link. It’s in Dutch, but English subtitles are available by clicking on the Closed Caption button. There’s also a little bit of profane language.
Link via Jalopnik | Photo by Flickr user cliff1066 used under Creative Commons license
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Who killed the hybrid car? It seems that 100 years before the Prius was mass produced Porsche sold what was the first hybrid gas electric car. The vehicle used a gas engine to run an electric generator which powered the motor, allowing a battery to run the car if it ran out of fuel. Built in 1900, none of the original cars exist so it was painstakingly recreated to be put on display at this year’s New York Auto Show. Link
Students at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany designed and built an electric vehicle and the track that it runs on. The car can recharge using electrical conduits built into the surface of the track. It doesn’t have to stop in order to recharge:
All the individual components of the car including its steering, breaks and chassis are designed by the students from high-tech materials. Apart from these, e-Quickie’s shell that plays a central role in the vehicle’s weight and aerodynamics is made from the carbon fiber to ensure the optimal mobility. The total weight of the car is 60kg, which, as per the project director, can be reduced to 40kg. The car is powered by a 2kw motor but achieves a top speed of 50 km/h. The batteries serve as a buffer, therefore they are much smaller than by electric cars, from which they draw energy exclusively.
Link via DVICE | Photo: Solar Driver
Half a century ago Henry Ford built a car out of hemp and resin but the idea didn’t catch on. Now Canadian company, Motive Industries, is building the Kestrel, a prototype electric car made from cannabis fiber.
The compact car, which will hold a driver and up to three passengers, will have a top speed of 90 kilometres per hour and a range of 40 to 160 kilometres before needing to be recharged, depending on the type of battery.It will be powered by a motor made by Boucherville, Que.-based TM4 Electrodynamic Systems. The car’s body will be made of an impact-resistant composite material produced from mats of hemp, a plant from the cannabis family. The material is being supplied by Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures, a provincial Crown corporation that provides technical services and funding to help commercialize new technologies. The hemp is being grown in Vegreville, Alta.
From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by 
Beauty is very subjective, and what someone will find beautiful someone else will find ugly, or just “meh”. There’s nothing scientific about it, or even very serious, but here are some eco-cars that we might like in some way or another, but that look like they fell off the ugly tree. Why does this matter? To some it doesn’t, but to a mainstream audience, it does more often than not, and if we want greener alternatives to replace dirty ones, they need to be at least as attractive (if not more!).
Then again, I wouldn’t mind driving around in this car if George Clooney were an accessory! Link -Thanks, chris tackett!
