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Network launched by Young Foundation and others to spread learning and innovation around social enterprises and initiatives. Thanks to Dominic Campbell for spotting.
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Interesting interview with the man tasked with transforming the energy efficiency of the UK's built environment. Posted by Mark.
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Some nice links by James re open source analysis and its benefits.
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Chicago Sun-Times piece from this week on negotiations and underway in Chicago. London's OYBike had a pop too.
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Respected blog Treehugger reports on the TED launch of the Encyclopedia of Life project.
« January 2008 | Main | March 2008 »
Vespa's wicked traffic ad
Had to post this fab Vespa advert I just found - it so neatly encapsulates an idea. And as I'm currently in Italy, it seems appropriate to be writing about the most famous of Italian scooter brands...Gets the message across about the advantage of scooter over car rather neatly - non e' cosi?
Posted by Joseph Simpson on 28th February 2008.
GM - less confident about the Volt than before?
By Joe Simpson.
Reports in the auto press are questioning GM's confidence in the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid car - in response to comments made by Bob Lutz (head product czar at GM), that when production starts only 10,000 units a year (which is small beer in auto terms) would be made - rather than the 60,000-odd as first thought.
So what to make of this? Well, doubtless the doom mongers will point to it being the first signs that GM is slowly going to kill the project off, as they were accused of doing with the EV1 electric car. Rumours have swirled around this car since its unveiling as a concept and have increased since rumours that GM might not hit its own target dates have surfaced. But Lutz has gone on record at length saying that, while GM is now convinced it has the battery tech sorted, the software and tech needed to actually run the car, and make it acceptable to the average Joe is what's giving them headaches. Primarily, this is to do with the fact that although the Volt will come with a petrol motor (in European versions it'll likely be a diesel) that engine isn't directly connected to the wheels - it's just a generator to pump up the battery once you've exhausted its initial burst of juice.
When you think about that in relation to how you normally drive a car, that's going to be interesting. When you stamp on the gas pedal in a normal car, the engine revs rise, and the car moves forward more quickly. But for the Volt to charge effectively, engineers we've talked to have led us to believe that a fairly constant engine speed will be best for charging the batteries. So driving a Volt might actually feel like quite a different experience compared to a normal car. Stamp on the loud pedal, and you'll shoot forward, but if the petrol motor is running, it might not actually change its tone.
This is just one of the things they've to sort out. Lutz also spoke recently of the need to re-examine things like air conditioning units and light and audio power systems, so that they put less drain on the car energy-wise, and admitted the first Volts will run with redundant and outdated forms of technology.
Whether this has anything to do with the decision to reduce the production number doesn't seem clear. It could be that they'll ramp up production once everything is sorted and they're sure it's working reliably, or it could be that their demand forecasts are much lower than first thoughts. Or - and this is a long shot - it could be that GM simply thinks the Volt is a very specific sell, which they're going to only push in certain places (hands up all those in California) and tweak - for market specificity elsewhere...
Original article: Motor Authority - Volt production to start at just 10,000 units per year
Related articles:
The Chevrolet Volt
The Chevrolet Volt (II) - How it works
What Shai Agassi did next
Image: GM Media under a creative commons license
Posted by Joseph Simpson on 25th February 2008
France - the real leader for lower CO2 cars?
By Joe Simpson.
Anyone who's been in London for the last couple of weeks can't have missed the big changes to the congestion charge news, which will see cars that are high-emitters of CO2 (225g/km+) paying £25 a day to enter the zone from October 2008. That and the small matter of Porsche GB announcing it's seeking a judicial review on the issue - which sent the press into a total froth. We'd written a nice, 900-word blog analysing all this - but 'technical difficulties' saw it flushed down a cyber-drain. So while we try to resurrect that for next week, here's a similar - and perhaps equally interesting story that reaches us from France.
On the 1st of January 2008, anyone buying a new car in France had to contend with a changed taxation system for the 'carte grise' - which is sort of like the road tax/car permit. Details are somewhat sketchy - and mostly in French (see the table above for details), but if we understand correctly the new system connects the amount you pay or (the interesting bit) rebate you get at the time of purchase, with the car's CO2 emissions levels.
In the UK, and elsewhere, we have similar, sliding scale levels of road tax connected to the CO2 band your car falls into. This, and the new congestion charge plans all intend to 'incentivise' people into cleaner, low-emissions products.
But the French system goes a step further, and is rather clever, because it really incentivises. Called Eco-pastille, the system sets a 'break-even' point at around 130g/km of CO2. Buy a car the emits this level of CO2 and you pay 0 extra carte-gris charge compared to last year. But buy a car that emits more, and you now pay more - potentially a lot more. 2600 euros to be exact, on a Band G (250g/km+) car. The full table breakdown from Le Figaro is shown above.
The (positive) rub, is that if you buy a car that emits less than 130 g/km of CO2, the French Government actually starts to pay you back. So buy a 'Band A' Smart car and you get a 1000 euros cheque. But buy a 'voiture electrique' (electric car) and they give you a whacking 5000 euros rebate!
If Porsche is upset about the congestion charge in London, then doubtless they must be even more scared about the idea of something like this rolling out across Europe (We're not certain but it seems Spain and Ireland have introduced the same thing). But early signs are that it's not the absolute high end, super-expensive car makers that need worry. As a percentage of the purchase price, the tax hits their buyers less. Instead, in figures just released by the Comite des Constructeurs Francais d'Automobiles, comparing January 2008 sales to those of January 2007 - it's Mercedes (down 28.4 %), and Audi (down 30 %) that are the biggest losers. The big winner (and manufacturer with the lowest fleet CO2 average - coincidence?) was Fiat, up 14.4 % - though this might have been skewed by the introduction of the new 500.
What it could prove, is that really incentivising people, and bringing the pay point of a tax out into the open by making it a real issue consumers face head on at the point of car purchase, can have quick, dramatic impacts on consumer behaviour. Certainly, I wouldn't envy the job of a Merc dealer asking Monsieur to stump up "just an extra 2600 euros" now in green tax to complete the purchase of his E-class.
On the other hand, could this system see someone like Reva/G-wiz re-engineering their electric car for left hand drive, tempted by the idea of luring people in to showrooms on the premise of being able to present them with a cheque for 5000 euros as they drive off in a new car? We will watch this one's progression with close interest to see what happens. But it proves that it's not just us Brits who are being 'hit' with 'green' taxes on cars right now.
Graphic: Le Figaro
Posted by Joseph Simpson on 23rd February 2008.
VW about to 'sock it' to the Prius?
By Joe Simpson.
There are pre-reveals-a-plenty happening right now in the run up to early March's Geneva auto salon 2008 - the event of the year for the European car industry. And while I'm not going to try and kid anyone that a diesel-hybrid Golf is much more interesting than a Pininfarina Sintesi, Saab 9-1 or Rinspeed sQuba the fact that VW are going to show a near-production ready 83mpg, 89g/km CO2 Golf (aka mainland Europe's favourite car), perhaps shows that Europe's car makers are finally getting serious about addressing CO2 emissions, and catching up with the Japanese on hybrids.
It'll be interesting to see just how 'hybridised' and what layout this Golf's in (details are sketchy right now) but to trump the current hybrid darling Toyota Prius's CO2 emissions figure of 104g/km by 15g/km is pretty impressive. Quite when it will make production is another matter all together, but if the technology works - and VW has an eye on the way things are going - then the sooner the better.
Image: Golf GTI by Pedrosimoes7 on flickr under a creative commons license.
Posted by Joseph Simpson on 22nd February 2008
Cooler than a Brompton?
By Joe Simpson.
Nice post over at Plenty Magazine about the new Strida 5.0 folding bike. The Strida only ways 20lbs, and apparently folds up in less than 6 seconds. 6 seconds?! If that's true, then this could well be the new Brompton... though I'm not entirely sure how I'd feel about riding a mobile triangle...
Original post at Plenty Magazine.
Posted by Joseph Simpson on 22nd February 2008.
Related reading: MIT's foldable scooter.
Airbus thinking about fuel cells, Easyjet about open rotors
By Joe Simpson.
Interesting to hear - in what are pressured times for the aviation industry on green issues, that airbus is exploring hydrogen fuel cells for use in its next generation of aircraft. According to flightglobal and news on the energy savings trust site, not only is airbus studying techniques for the extraction of hydrogen from kerosene (work that one out) but is also looking at how hydrogen could be used in a fuel cell powering the Auxillary Power Unit (APU) of the aircraft. The company completed the successful first test of a fuel-cell APU at the Singapore airshow yesterday.
Elsewhere - in an interesting week for aviation, Easyjet gave engine manufacturers a prod on future engine technologies, maintaining its desire to see 'open-rotor' engine technology (which it claims is likely to reduce fuel consumption by around 30%) by 2015 saying:
“Do we have to wait for the laggard manufacturer whereas the first manufacturer might be ready by 2015 and the second by 2018?”
It seems that as fuel/oil costs continue to rise, and public awareness about environmental impact is heightened, more and more airlines are looking for environmental and efficiency gains. Easyjet were joined (somewhat surprisingly) earlier in the week by American Airlines in suggesting they're keen on open rotors - according to VP of operations Bob Reding:
'open rotor technology "seems to be really a paradigm shift in fuel consumption”'
He suggested that American would be very interested in the technology on the next generation of narrow-bodied planes it ordered.
All of this happened against the back-drop of headlines in Britain that country residents were going to be disturbed more as flight paths were reorganised to route away from urban areas, and that London Mayor Ken Livingstone - in the build up to mayoral elections in May - has stepped up his opposition to a third runway at Heathrow. I shall not comment on either of these last two, except to say that these are interesting times indeed in the world of aviation - but I'm still keen to know if the debate is as hysterical on the subject anywhere as much as it is here in Britain.
Image: A380 - by jmiguel.rodriguez on flickr under a creative commons license.
Posted by Joseph Simpson on 21st February 2008
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