Well, will you look at this. A 300 mpg car and congress didn't mandate it! This is free enterprise at it's best.
Aptera: The 'Wingless Bird'
A California startup says its airplane-inspired vehicle can deliver 300 mpg for under $30,000.
Slated for initial production in late 2008, the Aptera will come in all-electric and plug-in hybrid models. Its name means "wingless" in Greek, and the Aptera's body materials and aerodynamics are borrowed from light aircraft.
When Steve Fambro got bored building robots at a San Diego genetics company, he figured he could help keep his brain busy by building a kit airplane in his spare time. But his wife deemed the hobby too dangerous, so Fambro decided to build a car instead, one with low emissions and absurdly high mileage. Called the Aptera (Greek for "wingless"), the machine now exists as a working prototype. It has 2.5 seats, three wheels, weighs a feathery 1,500 pounds, and Fambro says his company will put the Aptera into production next October.
Specs may change between now and autumn 2008, but the current numbers look like this: 300 mpg, a price tag below $30,000, and 0-60 acceleration of 11 seconds (about a second slower than the Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid).See the rest at http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=444375&topart=passenger.
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Labels: science
¶ 8:30 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Another great energy story:
Green Tech
THE MICROWAVE MAGICIAN
Frank Pringle has found a way to squeeze oil and gas from just about anything
I’m not sure if I’m watching a magic trick, or an invention that will make the cigar-chomping 64-year-old next to me the richest man on the planet. Everything that goes into Frank Pringle’s recycling machine—a piece of tire, a rock, a plastic cup—turns to oil and natural gas seconds later. “I’ve been told the oil companies might try to assassinate me,” Pringle says without sarcasm.
This is amazing! You need to read the rest here at http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/innovator_2.html.
Richard's main page ¶ 7:58 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
