Green Tech

This week's Tesla versus The New York Times flap came to a climax yesterday when Tesla released the logs it promised on its Web site, and the newspaper responded with a point-by-point refutation.

Tesla's post says that New York Times environmental reporter John Broder misrepresented the Model S' performance. Broder argues that he was simply following advice from Tesla personnel during the drive.

The original New York Times story painted the Model S with a negative brush, but as I wrote Wednesday, a close reading of the article shows that the Model S operated exactly as you'd … Read more

This week saw a war of words between Tesla's supporters, lead by CEO Elon Musk, and New York Times' environmental reporter John M. Broder. The issue in contention was the range of the Model S electric car during a typical East Coast winter, as detailed by Broder in the article "Stalled Out on Tesla's Electric Highway."

Broder's article could be taken as an indictment against the practicality of the Model S, but reading his account closely, I did not see anything that went outside of how I would expect an electric car to behave.

Finding … Read more

Tesla's CEO Elon Musk has become incensed over a news article critical of the all-electric car that was published in The New York Times last week.

"I do not think this is a he said, she said situation," Musk told Bloomberg West in an interview today. "It is really black and white. The facts are the facts."

The tussle got started after New York Times reporter John Broder wrote an article about taking the Tesla Model S out on a test drive in the East Coast's freezing weather. He claimed that the car couldn'… Read more

Drivers of Ford's new plug-in hybrid vehicles, the Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi, will not only get to view their vehicles' state of charge and other information from their smartphones, but also get to see the nearest available charging station. Ford partnered with Plugshare.com, which shows the location and gives real-time information for electric vehicle charging stations.

The MyFord Mobile app currently works with the Focus Electric, letting owners schedule remote charging and preheat the car. Ford's two new hybrid plug-in vehicles will also get the benefits of the MyFord Mobile app.

The addition of Plugshare.com'… Read more

When we reviewed the Tesla Model S, we came away very impressed by the driving character and the cabin electronics, but some features, common on other high-end or electric cars, were missing. Tesla made up for one of those features by making a smartphone app available that will let Model S owners view their battery levels.

These types of apps have become common for electric cars; Ford offers MyFord Mobile for the Focus Electric and Honda has its HondaLink EV for the Fit EV. The electric car includes a mobile data connection, which owners can use to view everything from … Read more

The days of bragging about a car stereo's wattage may be coming to an end. Bose has developed a new audio system for the Nissan Leaf that focuses on reduced electricity usage. The new system will be available as an option on 2013 models.

As current battery technology limits electric-vehicle range, automakers look for savings in auxiliary systems, and get rid of niceties such as power-adjustable seats. Bose's proposition for the Leaf is that you can still have good sound quality without a hugely powerful amp.

Six speakers and a subwoofer make up the loudspeaker part of the … Read more

It must be a new season of sharing as major automakers sign agreements to co-develop fuel cell technology. Last week Toyota and BMW said they would work together on a fuel cell system, while today Ford, Daimler, and Renault-Nissan announced they would pool research into fuel cell technology. In their joint press release, Ford, Daimler, and Renault-Nissan said they would produce fuel cell vehicles in 2017.

All of these companies have been working on the technology, and some have demonstrated prototype vehicles. Mercedes-Benz, part of Daimler, has been testing multiple generations of its F-Cell fuel cell vehicle, and currently runs … Read more

It's cold. I'm sitting here with a heating pad on my desk chair. I use it all the time, but I have no idea what its real impact on my electric bill is. The same goes for my LED Christmas tree and the glowing smartphone charger I leave plugged in all the time. The big mystery around the cost of electrical appliances could soon be cleared up if a little device called MeterPlug hits its fundraising goal on Indiegogo.

MeterPlug plugs into an outlet. You then plug your appliance directly into the MeterPlug. The gadget reports energy usage over Bluetooth to an app that translates the draw into actual dollars. You can manually enter your local electricity prices or use the app's average for your country.… Read more

It's easy to take our electric lights for granted. Many people in developing counties don't have the luxury of electric grids and have to rely on kerosene lamps to brighten the night. Kerosene costs money and breathing the fumes is dangerous. A new light powered by gravity could be a superior solution to lighting needs.

GravityLight doesn't need to be recharged through solar cells. It doesn't use batteries at all. It's powered by the same force that keeps our feet on the ground. A weight attached to the light takes 3 seconds to lift up, but provides 30 minutes of light as it descends. … Read more