World Solar Racing Champs Roll Out New Competition Car Posted on July 25th, 2009
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The Dutch Nuon Solar Team from Delft University has taken the trophy at the World Solar Challenge four times in a row now. They’ve unveiled the car that they think will make it five in a row – the Nuna 5.
Read more about it at Zoomilife.com!
Pervious Concrete Pavement – Lets Water Soak Into the Ground Posted on July 22nd, 2009
Pavement has a major down side when it comes to ground water: it forces the water to run off, usually by channeling, and thus doesn’t let a lot of it soak into the ground. Most water coming off of pavement will run in rivulets into streams, sewers, and so forth. This deprives groundwater sources of some of their renewal sources.
Well, Pervious Concrete has a solution for that. They’ve developed a Pervious Pavement that allows water to soak through into the ground beneath it. This porous concrete meets EPA stormwater regulations and is even recommended by the EPA as a Best Management Practice.
For most uses, such as parking lots, the concrete is actually cheaper because installation can forego the usual runoff designs and stormwater management devices like retention ponds or spillways. The down side, of course, is that this concrete is not as strong as normal, solid concrete, but it is strong enough to be used for low speed and light load applications like standard car parking lots and pedestrian walkways.
The way it works is deceptively simple: the concrete is mixed with a high aggregate content (gravel) and less sand than usual. This creates a mortar bond between the gravel pieces, but does not make a solid sheet of concrete. This allows for the formation of a 15-25% void ratio in the finished concrete.
This will be pervious (porous) and typically allows a 5/gallon per foot per minute
water flow through the concrete and into the ground beneath.
If installed correctly, the concrete is resistant to freeze-thaw cracking, oil seepage from leaking vehicles, and is easily cleaned by pressure washing or brushed sweepers. It’s only real down side is that strength issue, which can be somewhat overcome to accommodate vehicles up to tractor-trailer size, just not at speed.
Pretty cool!
Bosch Says Electric Vehicles Won’t Become Pervasive for at Least 20 Years Posted on July 21st, 2009
Full electric power trains like battery electrics, hydrogen fuel cells, and so forth are coming, but slowly. Let’s face it: most of those on the market so far are nothing more than curiosities. The Tesla Roadster and the Aptera 2e, while they look really good and are desirable vehicles, aren’t exactly mainstream.
Whether it’s the price tag, the limited occupancy, or just the limited numbers available, full electric cars aren’t here yet. While the next five years promise to see many new models from several manufacturers hitting the streets of the world, it will be a long time before these vehicles are totally accepted and are available to everyone.
Read the rest of this at Zoomilife.com.
The ZEM – Not Sure What It Is, But It’s Cool Posted on July 18th, 2009
The Zero Emissions Machine (ZEM) is made by a Swiss company of the same name. It’s not quite a bicycle, not quite a go-cart, and not quite a car. It’s got four wheels, you pedal it to make it go, it has handlebars that are quasi-bicycle/car, and it seats two.
Whatever you want to label it, it’s frikkin awesome. I mean, look at the thing. Just look at it. How cool is that?
There is even a four-person version of the thing. It was originally designed that way, actually, with the two-seater as an afterthought. The idea was to give an easy, realistic, and sustainable way for a family to get around without a car. If I had the 4-seater, I’d convert the back seat into a dog carrier. Shove all three of them in there and go!
Better yet…maybe hitch the dogs to the front and make them do the work so I don’t have to pedal. Wait…that would point their butts in my direction. Nix that.
Anyway, the ZEM is a pretty cool machine and has another feature that you won’t find on similar multi-pedal machines made by others: pedal equalization gearing.
That’s a complicated way of saying that the pedals work independently to ad power to a central gear shaft that powers the machine forward. That way, the pace isn’t set by the slowest pedaler, but by the average of al those pedaling. Pretty cool!
The ZEM also has lighting (brakes, signals, etc.) and a luggage rack (behind/under the seats) and all four wheels are equipped with shock absorption springs. Oh, and brakes and stuff too.
These things aren’t cheap and are currently only in Europe, but I can still dream. Right?
Find out more about them at ZEM.
Eva Håkansson’s ElectroCat Gets Licensed in Colorado! Posted on July 16th, 2009
Someone I follow in the electric vehicle world is the Swedish Biker Babe Eva, whom I’ve covered a few times over on Zoomilife.com. While she’s famously affiliated with the electric dragster motorcycle KillaCycle (fastest in the world), she has also built her own street bike called ElectroCat.
Eva lives in Colorado for part of the year and has struggled to get her motorcycle, with its electric drive, licensed as a motor vehicle for street used there. She finally got it done, thanks to several people in Jefferson County and her insurance carrier, and is now street legal!
I hope that one day she’ll bring her bike up my way to the Cheyenne, Wyoming area so I can finally meet her and check out her sweet, electric machine.
Congratulations, Eva!
