CARazed

This is crazy, but true. The FAA has approved this contraption with a special exception. I imagine there are just a few more hurdles left to cross, and as long as ample capital continues to be available and the economy is able to support such an expensive thing ($200,000), flying cars may in fact be in our future.

I never thought of a flying car as an economical or environmental option but after reading this post from Ryo at Laptop and a Rifle, I must admit the numbers do show that it covers a lot more ground, as the bird flys, than many conventional vehicles. To learn more visit the Terrafugia website.

Gordon Murray, the renowned automobile designer, has finally released news of the T.25 and T.27. This project started with a blank sheet of paper and took several years to complete behind closed doors. These are tiny 3-passenger vehicles designed to be ultra-low cost and low impact. Great effort was made to make these cars easy to build and use few parts. They are also extremely safe to ride in even though they are extremely small. Full lifecycle CO2 impact is estimated to be 42% less than an average UK car.

The T.27 is an all-electric version of the T.25. It should have a range of 80 to 100 miles from it’s lithium ion batteries. I suspect this little car will help re-write the future of automobile manufacturing as others mimic the innovations Murray created with this project. I also suspect these little cars will become a very popular option as soon as they hit the market because I’m certain Murray made it a fun car to drive.

For the latest Gordon Murray news gordonmurraydesign.com.

I’ve been saying for a long time that we should all hold off buying a new vehicle until the automakers produce a vehicle worth buying. By this I mean a vehicle that can be plugged-in and charged on normal household current.

The reason is simple. There is a high probability that energy prices, specifically fossil fuel energy prices, will not always be so low and consistant. It is easy to imagine that at some point we could see gasoline prices jump. The more of us that have less of a dependency on fossil fuels, the less impact an energy crisis will have on society overall.

The 2011 Jeep EV seems like a perfect vehicle for me and would be an obvious contender for my next new vehicle. It’s not 100% electric but can travel 40 miles on a charge, and when the electricity in the batteries runs low a small gasoline motor kicks in to drive the electric motors that turn the wheels.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing this particular SUV hit the market and will watch closely how it performs in the real world. I also hope the towing capacity is at least 5000 pounds so I can tow a lightweight tiny housebehind it from time to time.

The drivers of this solar and wind powered high-tech car will cross 30 countries as it travels around the globe. The journey should begin in the Spring of 2010. Learn more about the ICARE Project.

Several electric ATV manufactures have begun to pop-up, but this is still a small and growing market segment. Barefoot Motors in Ashland, Oregon is preparing to build a powerful full-size electric ATV. Electric ATVs are not just for play but can provide a very useful set of off-road wheels to homesteaders and farmers alike. They are quiet, have low emissions, and could theoretically be recharged by solar panels.

Barefoot Motors

The Green Speed air-powered motorcycle started as a student project and may now show up as an entry at Bonneville to set the speed record of an air powered bike. It was designed to be a high speed bike, not a useful road bike and is capable of speeds over 100 MPG. But never the less it’s exciting to see more exploration into compressed air powered vehicles. I first spotted this on Core77.

Air Powered Motorcycle

Th!nk, the Norwegian electric car company, is coming to America and will setup shop in Elkhart, Indiana. This is great news for Th!nk and American car buyers because it will add another viable small electric car to our market in the coming years. Learn more about Th!nk.

Th!nk is coming to America

It’s always makes me laugh to read the arguments some people make about the sudden surge in automakers moving to produce electric cars. Here’s a good example of it in the Wall Street Journal that points out that electric cars may not be all that green.

If there’s one thing large corporations are good at doing it’s making money and positioning themselves for the future… to make more money. After all what is a corporation but an aggregation of a bunch of really smart business people all working for one primary goal… to make more and more money.

So just for a second consider what a major automaker would do if they believed the fuel source that powers their product might be running low or likely to increase dramatically in price. Would they build vehicles that use more of it? No heck no… they would adjust their product line to be better positioned to use the fuels they expect to be available.

Sadly, America’s massive switch over to coal fired electric power plants is also a good sign that someone else is thinking that our stability depends on the availability of energy and that it’s not going to be petroleum.

So are strategic corporate moves and government policies good indicators of things to come? I’m thinking my next new car is going to be electric and my bike is going to be getting a work-out.

Photo credit Wikipedia.

Finally a hybrid worth buying. The 2011 Toyota Prius will be a plug-in hybrid which will get you around town at normal speeds on electric power. When the batteries run low the gasoline motor will kick-in taking you where ever you need to go. It’s expected to get over 100 mpg.

So don’t waste your money on a new hybrid.  If you need an efficient car today don’t get saddled with payments; buy a simple used high efficiency car and wait for cars like this upcoming Prius.

I’m mean please… Honda… WTF are you people thinking!? I’ve been a happy Honda owner and driver since 1988 and this has got to be the worst looking concept to come out from Honda in years. Its powertrain is yet to be decided but will be an internal-combustion engine, hybrid-electric or battery-electric. So in other words this concept is a styling concept only. Also please note that blasters and storm trooper helmets will be sold separately.

Photo credit Jalopnik.