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News Archive
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Earful about scooters
News from The Arizona Republic
by Kevin Blocker
Activist knocks machine's noise at demo
Next to the droning whir of an over-accessorized motor, the most noise generated during a scooter demonstration before Chandler's Motorized Vehicle Task Force was from an anti-scooter activist from Gilbert.
"Come on, ride it like they do in the neighborhoods," Bill Wrightson yelled at 14-year-old Joseph Kinyon, a scooter enthusiast and a member of the task force.
As Kinyon rode around the parking lot he gave his machine a little more gas - producing the revving sound Wrightson was looking for.
"It's that blip, blip, blip that drives people crazy," Wrightson said.
Scooter enthusiast Larry Iseli, who works at Meyer Distributing in Tempe, a small business that sells scooters and parts, offered Wrightson a chance to take his own test drive.
"I wouldn't be caught dead on that thing," Wrightson said.
The task force's second meeting was held Tuesday evening in the parking lot of the police and courts building, 250 E. Chicago St., where the public was invited to hear - and ride - a selection of different scooters, both gas and electric.
The task force was appointed by the City Council last month to look at the divisive issue between supporters and opponents of motorized scooters. The council is considering tightening regulations on the scooters, which are popular with teenagers but have been targeted as a nuisance in neighborhood streets and parks.
Read the full article...
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Pequot Museum to Host Energy Symposium
News from Shore Publishing (Madison,CT,USA)
North Stonington -- Remy Chevalier hopes a March 5 "Better Motors, Better Batteries" symposium will jolt environmental activists, Native American tribal leaders and corporate energy giants into action.
Chevalier is the editor of Electrifying Times, a Weston-based magazine dedicated to electric vehicles. Although he drives a "beat-up Subaru wagon because I can't afford an electric vehicle," Chevalier said he hopes the symposium will spark action.
In particular, he hopes it will combine Connecticut's technical brainpower, Indian sovereign nations' funding, and native American's mindset of long-term environmental health into making, you guessed it, better batteries and better motors.
Organizers hope the gathering will underscore the need for "balance between energy technology trade overseas and the need to preserve factory floor hands-on experience in the state," the symposium's news release reads.
The symposium also aims at raising awareness about lighter, faster and cleaner motors and energy storage. To be held at the Pequot Museum's auditorium at 1 p.m., the symposium will be introduced by Ed McGaa, an Oglala Sioux Tribal Leader who wrote "Nature's Way," a collection of native American insights into living in harmony with nature.
"I'm hoping that funding for new energy developments will come from some unexpected direction, possibly from some group or nation that has the guts to stand alone for what it believes is right -- cleaning up Mother Earth's waters, air, soils and whatever else we've polluted," McGaa said.
Chevalier and members of the Connecticut Technology Council will have break-out technology sessions after the introduction.
"Connecticut is referred to in energy circles as the 'fuel cell' state, because for 30 years it was in this state that all fuel cells for space and military applications were being made," Chevalier said. "But once civilian uses of fuel cells became attractive for both economic and environmental reasons, the cutting edge technologies that Connecticut once helped develop quickly began to spread around the world, to Japan and now China."
Participants invited include representatives from Duracell, General Electric and the Connecticut Technology Council. Spokesmen for these organizations were unavailable for comment.
The event is co-sponsored by Weston's Environmental Library Fund and Electrifying Times magazine.
For more information about the March 5 symposium, contact Remy Chevalier, director, at 203-227-2065.
Read the full article...
Saturday, February 26, 2005
It's down to wire for electric car's fans
News from (Los Angeles Daily News)
by Dana Bartholomew
Thursday, February 24, 2005 - BURBANK -- After Chris Reeves first caught a look at the EV1,
he'd do nearly anything to lease the electric sports car of the future. Now he'd do nearly
anything to get one back.
Reeves is one of dozens of electric car buffs to stand vigil for 10 straight days hoping to
save the last of the General Motors fleet -- 77 EV1s in California and roughly twice that
number in New York -- from the crusher.
"If I could get my car back, I would lie in front of a (car) transporter," declared
Reeves, 46, of Burbank, among a handful of protesters gazing at rows of torpedo-shape sports
car beauties on the backlot of the General Motors Training Center in Burbank.
"I would offer $50,000 for one of these cars. I would remortgage my house for one of them.
They're that good."
Mel Gibson once sang the theme from "Batman" in one. Danny DeVito got one on Father's Day
wrapped in a big red bow. And car collector Jay Leno reportedly offered $1 million to own one
-- and GM turned him down.
For the more than 800 former lessees of the pioneering electric vehicle from GM, they're
now a club without a car.
An electric vehicle designed by General Motors years ahead of a California mandate to
produce zero-emission cars, the EV1 turned heads. By 1999, GM built more than 1,000 EV1s, of
which it leased 800 for between $300 and $600 a month before finally pulling the plug on its
electric car program in 2003.
All Reeves and other EV1 enthusiasts say they want is a chance to buy their former wheels
back for $25,000 each -- free of strings from the factory. And for GM to recharge its electric
car program.
On Saturday, the group will hold a Burbank rally to include such celebrities as Ed Begley
Jr. of "Six Feet Under," Alexandra Paul of "Baywatch" and Ted Danson of "Cheers."
"This is Death Row," said Chelsea Sexton, a former EV1 specialist, marketer and customer
service rep for GM, staring through a chain-link fence at the "incarcerated" fleet as storm
clouds raced over the horizon. "These cars are just sitting, waiting to be crushed -- to make
EV pancakes out of them.
"GM is not just crushing a car, but a symbol of what's possible."
Read the full article...
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Russia Japan Sakhalin Adventures
News from RIA (Russian Information Agency) Novosti - Moscow,Russia:
by: Pyotr Tsyrendorzhiyev
Japan travelers want to reach south pole on electric vehicles
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, February 18 - On Friday the first group of the Japanese travelers went to Sakhalin's north-west to get ready for the unique expedition. They are to cross the Nevelsky strait on ice on electric vehicles.
Four Japanese citizens headed from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to the Cape Pogibi, informed sources told RIA Novosti. On February 27 they will go to the continent on a homemade electric vehicle on a Suzuki runabout frame. Next day the Japanese travelers will return to the island. All in all, 13 Japanese travelers will participate in the expedition.
The expedition is led by Suzuki Kazushi from Kyoto. He gathered a group of supporters dreaming of reaching the South Pole on electric vehicles.
Read the full article...
Monday, February 07, 2005
University employs electric truck to aid recyclers
News from Oregon Daily Emerald - Eugene, OR, USA:
by: Anthony Lucero
The University is the proud owner of a Tiger Truck -- a vehicle that runs completely on electricity. The truck, which was paid for by student fees, will help the University's Facilities Services in gathering recycling and compost material on campus and at events.
The Tiger Truck, smaller than the traditional step van that Facilities Services uses, is able to carry 1,200 pounds on its truck bed and will be used mainly for handling recycled cans, bottles and newspapers It will also be used instead of bicycles during winter term and during events such as the ASUO Street Faire and Folk Festival, Karyn Kaplan, the environmental resource and recycling manager, said.
"We just got it last fall and it took us a while -- got it painted, licensed, insured -- all that happened (during) the first term and ended in December," Kaplan said. "We are just starting to break it out. The first route is four hours. We have to get our staff trained to use it."
Read the full article...
Monday, February 07, 2005
Electrifying deal
News from Whittier Daily News - Whittier,CA,USA
Bill Korthof is seemingly the ideal Ford customer.
He loves his 1999 Ford Ranger EV, which he began leasing in December 2000.
In fact, the 26-year-old Pomona resident has driven about 60,000 miles in the electric vehicle, which can go about 80 miles on one charge of its battery.
But despite being a satisfied customer, Korthof battled until last week with the company over his Ranger. Ford Motor Co., which is scrapping its electric vehicle fleet, wanted to reclaim the vehicle.
Korthof refused and, with another Ford EV owner, held a week-long sit-in outside a Sacramento Ford dealership.
"Somebody's got to step up and make the commitment to help move this technology forward,' he said.
Ford officials finally relented after the sit-in and offered to sell the car to Korthof for $1, he said.
Read the full article...
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Hybrids? Some opt to go all-electric
News from The Christian Science Monitor:
by: Mark Clayton
Not long after Dan Kroushl got his new 2004 Toyota Prius, he began to wonder about the mysterious button on the dash. It didn't seem to have any function. Didn't boost the turbo or engage an ejector seat. In online discussions with other Prius enthusiasts, Mr. Kroushl soon discovered the button did have a hidden function: It could turn the gasoline-electric hybrid into an all-electric car - for a mile or so on limited battery power.
This "stealth mode" button works fine in Japan and Europe where it's handy for drivers to roll politely about densely packed subdivisions in the early morning and late evening. But the button has been disconnected for North America's Priuses.
Now, scores of Prius owners in the United States are activating the button on their own - despite company warnings that altering the car will void its warranty.
Some drivers, including Kroushl, are going even further: adding battery capacity - and a plug. The hoped for result: a high-tech commuting car that plugs into a socket at night and gets amazing gas mileage the next day.
Read the full article...
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