Source: http://www.gizmag.com/shell-fuel-efficiency-record-beaten/15163/

ECOGIZMO

French team smashes five year efficiency record in eco-marathon

By Paul Ridden

10:49 May 20, 2010

A five year Shell Eco Marathon fuel efficiency record has been smashed by a team of French students.

A five year Shell Eco Marathon fuel efficiency record has been smashed by a team of French students. Team Polyjoule broke the record on the first day of the event and then went on to break its own record by a further 482 kilometers. But the students still expect even more from their hydrogen fueled vehicle and are already looking toward next year’s Marathon.

ETH Zurich of Switzerland achieved the equivalent of 3,836 kilometers on just one liter of fuel in 2005, and set a bar that no-one has been able to top - until now. A joint effort by Polytech Nantes and Lycée La Joliverie smashed the record on the very first day of this year’s Eco Marathon, recording 4,414 kilometers on the equivalent of one liter of fuel (10,382 mpg).

Team Polyjoule had a shaky start which threatened to hamper any attempts, after their hydrogen-powered prototype broke down during pre-marathon testing. Once they pooled resources with Lycée La Joliverie, however, they proceeded to stomp all over the Swiss record. The feat is said to have been made possible by enhancing their vehicle’s electronics monitoring system, which minimizes energy loss.

The French students were not quite finished with Shell’s Eco Marathon, though, which saw over 200 teams taking part. On the very last day of the annual event, they added another 482km to their own record, traveling the new official world record of 4,896.1 kilometers per liter of fuel - a distance “roughly the equivalent of driving from the head to toe of Europe, from the North Cape in Norway down to the toe of the Italian peninsula.”

Polytech Nantes team leader Pauline Tranchard praised the team effort, which saw the students not only set a new world record but also take first place in the fuel cell category, which led them to an overall first place victory. “Five years’ research went into getting us to 4,896 kilometers on one liter of fuel,” she said. “Our insight and the wealth of experience that our colleagues from the Lycée de La Joliverie de Nantes brought to the table were both instrumental in helping us reach what many might have considered an unattainable goal.”

Tranchard believes that the team can do even better but will have to wait until next year to prove it.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/shell-fuel-efficiency-record-beaten/15163/

Source: http://gas2.org/2010/05/12/video-electric-beetle-blasts-past-tesla-roadster/

Electric Beetle Blasts Past Tesla Roadster

Written by Christopher DeMorro

Source: http://gas2.org/2010/05/12/video-electric-beetle-blasts-past-tesla-roadster/

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/lexus-hybrid-bicycle-concept/14938/

URBAN TRANSPORT

Lexus details hybrid two wheeler concept

By Gizmag Team

05:39 April 29, 2010

Lexus has announced details of the innovative Hybrid Bicycle Concept we first spied tucked away at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show. Headed for a UK debut at the Great British Bike Ride this weekend, the full-carbon fiber frame hybrid (electric+human) concept includes a 240W electric motor at the front hub, eight-speed transmission, a 25.9V Lithium-ion battery and regenerative braking. Head on through for more images plus our video overview.

The bike weighs 17kg, uses a belt drive instead of a chain and its electric motor charges in around two hours. The 8-speed internal gear and shift levers are from Shimano, while the lightweight, composite frame shares DNA with Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP-winning motorcycle. At this stage Lexus’ foray into two-wheeled transport remains a concept, with no word on any plans for a production release. We can only hope.

• Length (mm) 1,598
• Width (mm) 425
• Seat height (mm) 900
• Wheelbase (mm) 1,080
• Tyre size 20 x 1 3/8
• Weight (kg) 17
• Charge time Approx. 2hrs
• Motor output (W) 240
• Battery type Lithium-ion
• Battery voltage 25.9V/4.0Ah
• Gear system Shimano 8-speed internal gear
• Shift lever Shimano dual control
• Drive train Belt drive

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/lexus-hybrid-bicycle-concept/14938/

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/go/2946/

Shell Eco-Marathon winner averages 9737mpg

By Mike Hanlon

The Shell Eco-Marathon is an annual fuel economy competition held in the UK with competitors ranging from 11 year-old students through to senior university academics and semi professional independent teams.

The rules are simple - build a machine which uses the least fuel possible while averaging averaging more than 15mph around a circuit. Beyond engine efficiency, there are many related design considerations which influence the final fuel economy returned, such as aerodynamics, rolling resistance and driving techniques to achieve the highest.

Last year saw a new world economy record set during the event when Team MicroJoule achieved an average fuel consumption of 10,705 mpg - to put that in perspective, that’s the distance from London to Melbourne, Australia on less than one gallon of fuel!

The French team beat their own previous world fuel consumption record by nearly 500mpg, their previous record having been set during the 2001 Eco-Marathon UK.

This year the event was held over two days of intense competition at the Rockingham Motor Speedway, Corby, Northants, and the French Microjoule, team from St Sebastien, again took the top step on the podium with an average fuel consumption of 9737 mpg.

The team won despite many problems over the weekend, suffering a broken chain and then mechanical problems which necessitated an overnight engine rebuild, but they still managed to beat their nearest rival by over 2000mpg.

While the best competitors in the Shell Eco-Marathon continually push the limits of the internal combustion engine, there are many classes and categories which encourage students to put theirknowledge into practice.

Overall results:1st - Microjoule (France): 9737mpg2nd - Team Callo (France): 6952mpg3rd - BSMM (Finland): 5667mpg

Class Awards:Best University - Eco Veiculo (Portugal): 4699mpgBest School - Newland House School (UK): 1645mpgBest UK - Team Green (Bath, UK): 5296mpgBest LPG - Team Green (Bath, UK): 3683mpgBest Hydrogen - PAC Car (Switzerland): 5718mpg

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/go/2946/

Source: http://gas2.org/2010/03/29/student-built-car-gets-2487-5-mpg-in-shell-eco-marathon/#more-6387

Student-Built Car Gets 2,487.5 MPG in Shell Eco-Marathon

Written by Nick Chambers

Source: http://gas2.org/2010/03/29/student-built-car-gets-2487-5-mpg-in-shell-eco-marathon/#more-6387

Source: http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1043593_biodiesel-bamboo-cabs-philippines-town-turns-taxis-green

Biodiesel Bamboo Cabs: Philippines Town Turns Taxis Green

By John Voelcker Senior Editor March 19th, 2010

March 19th, 2010 It’s not a particularly new story, these days, but hey, it’s also Friday. So we thought we’d revisit one of the more unusual attempts at green cars we’ve seen. This morning, a friend sent us an e-mail with photos of two taxis commissioned by the Philippine town of Tabontabon, in the province of Leyte, whose bodies are made of indigenous bamboo. More than that, they burn biodiesel fuel made from locally available nut oils. The ECO taxis built by Tabontabon Organic Transport Industry [TOTI] come in two sizes: ECO1 seats 20, whereas ECO2 carries eight passengers. Each is said to run for eight hours on a gallon of biodiesel, which in this case is derived from coconut oil. The bamboo-taxi story first surfaced last summer; it’s one of numerous attempts around the world to turn taxis more green. In the States, for instance, many fleets are now using Ford Escape Hybrid taxis, including some that have now been retired after 300,000-plus miles. Tabontabon mayor Rustico Balderian is the inspiration behind the unusual vehicles, which are fully 90 percent bamboo. They provide employment opportunities for local youth, and safer transport for families who otherwise ride four or five together on a single motorcycle. ECO1 is covered in the woven Filipino mat called banig, making it almost as colorful as the Jeepneys in use elsewhere in the Philippines. As the TOTI Eco site expains, though, Jeepneys didn’t work as public transit in Tabontabon. Drivers often waited for a full load of people before starting. In a town of 10,000, that often didn’t happen. Instead, passengers hopped on their motorcycles, known as habal habals. The hope is that locally made vehicles may be less costly, providing cheaper and safer transport for residents. A third vehicle, ECO3, is now under construction, this one with a frame made of bamboo too. [TOTI Eco Via Inhabitat via Fast Company via Autoblog; hat tip: Rick Feibusch]

TOTI bamboo ECO taxis in Tabontabon, Philippines

Enlarge Photo

It’s not a particularly new story, these days, but hey, it’s also Friday. So we thought we’d revisit one of the more unusual attempts at green cars we’ve seen.

This morning, a friend sent us an e-mail with photos of two taxis commissioned by the Philippine town of Tabontabon, in the province of Leyte, whose bodies are made of indigenous bamboo. More than that, they burn biodiesel fuel made from locally available nut oils.

TOTI bamboo ECO1 20-passenger taxi in Tabontabon, PhilippinesGallery

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The ECO taxis built by Tabontabon Organic Transport Industry [TOTI] come in two sizes: ECO1 seats 20, whereas ECO2 carries eight passengers. Each is said to run for eight hours on a gallon of biodiesel, which in this case is derived from coconut oil.

The bamboo-taxi story first surfaced last summer; it’s one of numerous attempts around the world to turn taxis more green. In the States, for instance, many fleets are now using Ford Escape Hybrid taxis, including some that have now been retired after 300,000-plus miles.

Tabontabon mayor Rustico Balderian is the inspiration behind the unusual vehicles, which are fully 90 percent bamboo. They provide employment opportunities for local youth, and safer transport for families who otherwise ride four or five together on a single motorcycle.

ECO1 is covered in the woven Filipino mat called banig, making it almost as colorful as the Jeepneys in use elsewhere in the Philippines.

As the TOTI Eco site expains, though, Jeepneys didn’t work as public transit in Tabontabon. Drivers often waited for a full load of people before starting. In a town of 10,000, that often didn’t happen. Instead, passengers hopped on their motorcycles, known as habal habals.

The hope is that locally made vehicles may be less costly, providing cheaper and safer transport for residents. A third vehicle, ECO3, is now under construction, this one with a frame made of bamboo too.

[TOTI Eco Via Inhabitat via Fast Company via Autoblog; hat tip: Rick Feibusch]

Source: http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1043593_biodiesel-bamboo-cabs-philippines-town-turns-taxis-green

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/calfee-design-bamboo-bikes/14378/

Calfee Design building bamboo bikes for the first and third worlds

By Ben Coxworth

15:09 March 2, 2010

We’ve seen bikes with frames made out of aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, and even IsoTruss tubes, but bamboo? Well yes, actually, we saw some here in Gizmag just last May. Back then, we were looking at some fairly basic city bikes built by Brazilian designer Flavio Deslandes. This time around the bamboo bikes are decidedly higher-end creations, built by Californian designer Craig Calfee, of Calfee Design. Although these bikes are definitely high-end, he’s also working on using bamboo to provide employment and cheap transportation for the people of Ghana.

Calfee started out building carbon fiber frames in 1987. In 1995, as a publicity stunt, he built a bamboo-framed errand bike. It spawned 11 others, built for staff, family and friends, who commented on how smooth the ride was. By 2005, he decided to go into production. He now offers road racing, triathlon, cyclocross and mountain models.

Bamboo is used for all the main tubes, although you can choose carbon chainstays for extra stiffness. The bamboo is smoked and heat treated before construction, to prevent splitting. The tubes are joined together using hemp fiber lugs, then everything gets coated with polyurethane.

The finished frames weigh four to six pounds, and are said to offer excellent vibration damping, while also providing good stiffness. Calfee claims that the bamboo is very crash-resistant, to the point where he doesn’t even offer carbon mountain bike frames anymore. Bamboo also, of course, has a much lower carbon footprint than traditional frame materials - only water and sun are required to produce it.

While Craig’s bikes are definitely aimed at the affluent buyer, he’s also trying to get inexpensive bamboo bikes into the hands of villagers in Ghana. In 1984, he came up with the idea of a bamboo bike program while visiting Africa. He noticed that there was a lot of bamboo, but not enough cargo bikes, and not enough jobs. Since that time, he has been working on teaching local entrepreneurs how to build their own bamboo bikes, and looking for sponsors to provide funding and supplies. He plans to extend the project to other developing nations.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/calfee-design-bamboo-bikes/14378/

Source: http://www.dnronline.com/news_details.php?AID=42535&CHID=1 a subscription may be required

Pickup Gets A Makeover Posted 2009-11-20

EMHS Students Turning Clunker Into All-Electric Marvel

By Jenny Jones

Stuart Bell (left) and Ashton Pease, seniors at Eastern Mennonite High School, paint the brackets Tuesday that will hold the batteries for the 1986 Mazda pickup they are converting into an electric vehicle. Photos by Pete Marovich MORE PHOTOS HARRISONBURG - A group of students at Eastern Mennonite High School is getting charged up, literally. Three senior students are turning a beat-up 1986 Mazda pickup truck into a modern marvel, swapping its fuel-powered internal combustion engine with an electric-powered motor. The students - Drew Veenis, Ashton Pease and Stuart Bell - are working under the direction of technology teacher Dennis Brubaker. They say they took on the task to learn new skills and show others that electric vehicles aren’t just science fiction. “I just really think it’s important …  that we start looking at ways to move away from fossil fuels,” said Veenis, 18. “Electric cars are definitely one of those ways.” A Little Community Help The idea for the project came after someone offered to donate an electric car to the school. While EMHS passed up the offer, the students and Brubaker began talking about how neat it would be to build their own electric vehicle. The guys started out by doing Internet research about what it would take to construct such a vehicle. Then, they began looking for a cheap ride. They found the Mazda in Staunton for $300. It had a thrown piston and a bit of rust, but that didn’t matter because the students wouldn’t need the engine and they planned to rework the body to make it more lightweight. From there, the students started contacting area businesses for donations. They need $2,400 for the 12 batteries it will take to power the vehicle, alone. Several companies have pledged materials and funds, including one that will donate environmentally friendly water-based paint for the exterior finish. “It’s become a big community kind of project,” Brubaker said. A School Showpiece For more than a month, the guys have worked on the truck practically every day. They’ve removed the old engine, taken off the bed and stripped the interior. And soon, they’ll drop a 150-pound electric engine under the hood. The batteries to power the engine will be secured to a bracket under the truck’s bed, which was shortened a foot to take weight off the truck. The vehicle will be 100 percent electric, Brubaker said. Once all the mechanical elements are in place, the guys will put an old-style flatbed on the truck, using wood Brubaker salvaged from his deck. They hope to enlist help to paint lightning bolts and possibly flames on the truck’s exterior in honor of the school’s mascot. They also dream of attaching solar panels to the truck, which would help provide additional energy to the engine. “There’s just lots of ideas going around,” Pease said. “Not a lot of people get a chance to build a car, let alone an electric car. … [It's] awesome.” When the truck is finished, it will likely be used to run errands for the school and, perhaps, be displayed at fairs and such to showcase the students’ work, Brubaker said. Paul Leaman, the school’s principal, said the project is teaching the students valuable skills, and he would like to see it continue for years to come. “We hope it can become kind of an icon for the school,” he said. Contact Jenny Jones at 574-6286 or jjones@dnronline.com

Source: http://www.dnronline.com/news_details.php?AID=42535&CHID=1 a subscription may be required

To see this article, go to http://gas2.org/2009/10/16/kansas-students-run-retro-vw-beetle-on-batteries-and-biodiesel/

To view the students report on the project, go to http://groups.ku.edu/~ecohawks/IMECE2009-10247.pdf
(JMU AFV Lab students should take notice of this file and consider it when they report on their own projects.)

Kansas Students Run Retro VW Beetle on Batteries and Biodiesel

Written by Andrew Williams

A group of University of Kansas students have rigged up a 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle to run on a mix of biodiesel and battery power.

The team, calling themselves the Ecohawks, claim the quirky hybrid is capable of getting 50 MPG from a series of 10 lead-acid batteries and a biodiesel generator.

Performance-wise, although quite cool looking in a retro kind of way, the car isn’t exactly what you’d call a speedster, topping out as it does at a leisurely 30 mph.

That doesn’t seem to bother team-leader Prof. Chris Depcik though, who told reporters, “We have driven it around and reached approximately 30 mph, but this was more of a proof-of-concept drive without pushing the boundaries. We are currently getting the vehicle into road-ready shape to be driven safely in order to determine these values.” (More pics after the jump).

• » See also: Update: Breakthrough Biodiesel Process Now Running At Commercial Scale
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Depcik says that given the mass availability of Beetle parts, (VW built 21.5 million of them before ceasing production in 2003), the choice of car was a no-brainer and estimates that it will be ready to pass a Kansas state inspection “with flying colors” by May 2010.

Teenage-Built Diesel Hybrid Does 0-60 in 4 Seconds, Soon to Break 100 MPG

Written by Jerry James Stone

Published on October 5th, 2009

2 Comments

Posted in Diesels, Hybrid-electric EVs

Students from West Philadelphia High School have built a diesel-hybrid race car that goes from 0-60 in four seconds. While the car currently gets 60+ mpg, they hope to soon break 100 mpg.

Why? They are competing for $10 million in the Automotive X-Prize .

Called the Hybrid Attack, the car was built by kids from West Philly’s Academy of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering. And if that alone doesn’t make them cool, they are the only high school team competing out of 90 different teams from the U.S. and overseas.

• » See also: Hyundai Enters The Green Auto Market With a Bang | IAA Frankfurt Auto Show
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The students were inspired by the gasoline-electric Prius they saw at the 2003 competition. But their car had to meet the proverbial requirements of a teenager: fast and cool-looking! “The Prius, it’s OK,” said Chris Millsip, a 17-year-old in his third year with the academy. “But it needs to go faster.”

Kids believe they can do anything. And I have to say I believe these kids can. According to Autoblog Green they are a top 10 contender for the prize.

“We didn’t design the car to win but to break the stereotype of what a hybrid car could be,” said Simon Hauger, the academy’s director since its inception in 1998.

In order to make the cut they must get the Hybrid Attack up to 100 mpg, make it road safe and easily mass produced.

In 2002, 2005 and 2006, the team won the Tour de Sol, a competition for alternative vehicles to drive at least 150 miles while getting 100 mpg or better. In fact, in their first attempt they beat out 40 other teams including one from MIT.

“I know we’re going to win,” said 15-year-old student Stefon Gonzalez. “We’ve got a good history of winning competitions and we’ve got the engineering background and the experience.”

Though, this time their competition includes a team from Cornell University, engineers from Ottawa and Silicon Valley, and a group led by an inventor created the voice-recognition software for the BlackBerry.

Stiff competition aside, these kids aren’t just holding their own against the likes of MIT… they are doing what the auto industry can’t (or won’t).

For me, that’s the real win.

Source: http://gas2.org/2009/10/05/teenage-built-diesel-hybrid-does-0-60-in-4-seconds-soon-to-break-100-mpg/