Nissan's all electric Leaf goes into mass production next year.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)Automakers tend to agree that the electrification of the car is inevitable, but Nissan is leading the way by readying a mass-market, affordable electric car for production. The Leaf is a midsize hatchback with a range of a little more than 100 miles, according to Nissan. Although Nissan didn't let us drive it, the company brought the Leaf to CNET's headquarters so we could get a close look at what might be the future of driving.
When Nissan first released pictures of the car, commenters found it ugly, with its bulbous headlights giving it a frog-like appearance. But in person, the length of the car mitigates that criticism. And looking over those headlights, we could see that they are longer, and more fin-shape than bulbous. The lights are LEDs, used because of their low power draw. The shape of the headlight casings has an aerodynamic purpose, splitting airflow around the side mirrors.
A hatch in front of the car conceals two plug-in points, one a standardized socket for electric vehicles and the other a proprietary Nissan design that can charge the batteries to 80 percent in 30 minutes. The Nissan plug, which would only work with very specific charging stations, uses DC power so that the onboard inverter doesn't have to convert external AC power for the DC batteries. The standardized plug will work with more sources, taking AC power from the grid and running it through the inverter, lengthening the time it takes to charge the batteries.
Nissan developed the lithium ion batteries for the Leaf in conjunction with NEC. The batteries are flat slabs that fit in the chassis of the car. Weighing about 500 pounds, the battery placement and distribution helps to lower the Leaf's center of gravity. Beyond charging from a plug, the Leaf also incorporates regenerative braking. Similar to the Tesla, as soon as you lift off the accelerator, regenerative braking kicks in, sending juice to the batteries and slowing the car.
The Nissan Leaf goes on sale in December of 2010 as a 2011 model. Nissan is counting on 20,000 preorders for the car, and will initially build them in Japan. By the third model year, the company expects to start producing them from its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee.
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GoodGuide)
Just in time for the crazed holiday shopping season, San Francisco-based GoodGuide releases the first iPhone app that lets you scan bar codes for what the guide calls "impartial" health, environmental, and social responsibility ratings of not only the products you are scanning but their companies, too.
GoodGuide's free app lets you scan an item's bar code and instantly retrieve info on that product's health, environmental, and social responsibility ratings.
(Credit: GoodGuide)As our Webware staff wrote in August, "GoodGuide is the reason we have awards for tech services and products: it's a small and relatively unknown service that demonstrates real leadership on the Web." And as we report in Health Tech just this week, GoodGuide is an invaluable resource when shopping for toys, as it provides the levels of lead, mercury, chlorine, etc., that might be in the toys.
But GoodGuide's newest app is quite possibly the group's pinnacle achievement thus far. Now, instead of having to be organized enough to do your research online before hitting the stores, or using the app's 2008 iteration, which involves entering a product into a GoodGuide database on your phone, now anyone with an iPhone can literally scan bar codes while shopping.
Seriously, this could become a tick. I kind of want to spend all day scanning bar codes with the same fervor I used to pop package bubbles as a kid. As GoodGuide spokesperson Suzanne Skyvara (mother of two boys, ages 8 and 5) tells me in a delightful English accent that somehow makes everything sound healthy and socially responsible: "It's making it easier to be good. We all want to do this, but god, who's got the time to research it all?"
I envision scoffing with delight at the higher-priced products that don't actually measure up to their less expensive counterparts, a discovery likely as satisfying as catching a poker player mid-bluff. Or, conversely, I can see justifying a slightly more expensive product that is far healthier for my body and environment.
Of course, the value of such a system hinges on how good the information is. GoodGuide licensed Occipital's RedLaser bar code-scanning technology for this app and culled ratings for more than 62,000 food, personal care, household chemical and toy products and companies, and plans to add thousands more every month. Learn more about GoodGuide's rating system here.
Best of all, of course, is that GoodGuide's app is free--a fact that also sounds delightful in an English accent. All you need is the funds to own an iPhone, but that's a different story.
(Credit:
Peking University and Tsinghua University)
That tiny, plastic-looking black cube up there can absorb up to 180 times its own weight in toxic waste without absorbing any water. How? As with just about every amazing and/or inexplicable scientific breakthrough nowadays, the answer is spelled N-A-N-O.
Researchers at Peking and Tsinghua universities, both in Beijing, have adapted carbon nanotubes into a sponge-like material that can be squeezed dry, which sounds like extremely exciting news for the infomercial cleaning product industry. One minor detail:
Since carbon nanotubes are hydrophobic, there's no modification required to make them not absorb water.
For the record, that includes mysteriously blue infomercial demo water, so there goes that. If not absorbing 20 times as much water as its leading competitor, what exactly is this new type of sponge good for? Environmental cleanup, evidently. See, instead of just dropping dispersants into the middle of an oil or chemical spill--which forces the spill to simply absorb into the water--these light and porous nanosponges could float in water and be used to sop up the spill, after which they could theoretically be wrung dry and reused, like so:
The scientists detail their findings in Advanced Materials. It's an amazing idea, but I get the feeling that carbon nanotube sponges, riskily abbreviated as CNT sponges, won't exactly be cheap.
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
This radio-controlled model car is powered by a battery that can be refilled with an electrolytic fluid.
(Credit: Fraunhofer Institute)Imagine that you're driving your future electric car down the road, and it gives you a low battery warning. What do you do? Instead of spending a few hours at a recharging station, new battery technology being developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany would let you pull into a service station and refill the battery with an electrolytic liquid.
The Fraunhofer Institute is using a redox flow battery, a type of cell that uses two electrolytic fluids exchanging protons through a membrane. This process generates electricity. Although this type of battery isn't new, the Fraunhofer Institute improved the energy density, making it equivalent to that of a lithium ion battery.
In production cars such as the Tesla Roadster, the lithium ion battery pack requires almost four hours from a quick charger to go about 200 miles. A redox flow battery service station would pump out the discharged electrolytic fluid from your car's battery, replacing it with charged fluid, most likely in a matter of minutes. Instead of getting new shipments of charged fluid, similar to how current service stations rely on tankers full of gasoline, the station could merely recharge the fluid on its premises, even using solar cells or a wind turbine.
Other companies are working on redox flow battery technology for stationary energy storage.
For 2010, Tesla updates its electric Roadster with a Sport version, featuring faster acceleration.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Tesla often emphasizes that it works more like a Silicon Valley technology company than a traditional car company. And the company just proved it by delivering a model update to the Tesla Roadster for 2010. Remember, the Roadster has only been in production for one year, but in that time Tesla completely redesigned the interior, while at the same time adding new materials to reduce cabin noise. Model updates from other automakers often take five years.
We spent a day with the 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport, enjoying its unique driving experience and finding these updates made the previous generation car seem like something hacked together in a garage. Where the previous car had a fussy little lever for putting it in drive, the new car uses push buttons. To check battery statistics and change the drive mode, you had to use a touch screen by your left knee. That touch screen has been moved to the center of the dashboard. And in a real step toward convenience, the Tesla Roadster now comes with a glove box.
The rear air intakes get clear coat carbon fiber inserts.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)Externally, the casual observer won't see much difference. The Tesla Roadster uses the same Lotus-sourced body clad in carbon fiber. But the carbon fiber stands out more, as clear-coat panels make up the hood, spoiler, and even the insets in the rear air intakes. The suspension is now adjustable for comfort or sport, and the all-new Sport version of the Roadster uses an upgraded power train that rockets it to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, faster than the standard Roadster's 3.9 second time.
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How did U.S. power plugs fare in the smackdown? Read on.
(Credit: Crave UK)Here at Crave UK, we might be British, but that doesn't mean we're generally swelling with national pride. After all, there's much about the U.K. that's simply broken and highly annoying (Hello, trains! Take a bow, Royal Mail!). We do have some things going for us though. Our health system means that if we get ill, we get treated--and our power plugs are excellent.
Yes, you read correctly. We said power plugs.
So, let's take a 100 percent objective* look at the plugs and plug sockets of the world--who will rise to be global victor in this crucial battle between the power interconnects of the planet? We welcome you to a no-prongs barred fight that will eventually decide what sort of sockets they use on Mars.
*Objectivity in this sentence has a one-off, government-approved change in definition. Its meaning here, and only here, is the exact opposite of what it usually means.
Read more of "Plug versus plug" at Crave UK.
(Credit:
Michigan State University)
Michigan State University researchers are spawning robot fish to monitor the quality of lake water and the effect of harmful algae.
The prototype fish resemble other robot fish, such as those being developed at MIT to check for pollutants in water.
An electric charge in the 9-inch MSU prototype causes its polymer fins to bend so the robotic perch can maneuver. Designs call for onboard sensors to record temperature, oxygen, pollutant, and algae data, which would be relayed to a docking station when the fish surfaces. GPS systems and infrared sensors could be developed to aid navigation.
The fish are designed to be low-cost for applications such as monitoring aquafarms and water reservoirs. Compared with water sampling by humans, the robo-fish would provide a more regular data feed by communicating with each other and their docking station.
The MSU researchers hope to make the robot more robust so it can swim through currents. Currently it can only move through calm water.
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ClearLite)
Florida-based lighting company ClearLite is introducing a new CFL bulb with an unbreakable safety shell that prevents mercury from escaping, a feature that addresses some health concerns with CFLs.
The SX-4000 silicone skin remains intact even if the ArmorLite bulb inside shatters, according to ClearLite, which is rolling out its bulb in December and January.
Not everyone is aware of the danger of broken CFLs. Because of the small amount of mercury in them, current EPA guidelines call for evacuating people and pets from the area where a bulb has shattered.
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ClearLite)
They also call for the room to be aired out for 15 minutes and the air conditioning to be shut off.
The 9-watt (40-watt equivalent) and 14-watt (60-watt equivalent) ArmorLite bulbs look somewhat like incandescents and can be used for 10,000 hours, according to ClearLite. They contain amalgam, an alloy of mercury, in solid form.
CFLs can usually be recycled at retailers or municipal hazardous waste programs, though the silicone skin in ArmorLite bulbs will require extra steps or a special program to process.
The 800-lumen bulbs are Energy Star-rated and will be available in "natural soft white" and "natural brite white" varieties, with a suggested retail price of $7.99.
The silicone skin may have some effect on the perceived color of the light. There's limited color temperature information on this page, and a bit more information about ClearLite bulbs in this video.
ClearLite plans to produce other varieties of ArmorLite bulbs such as a bathroom-use vanity globe. Samples of the A-shape bulb are already available.
Appliance manufacturer Whirlpool has received $19.3 million in U.S. Department of Energy funding as part of its Smart Grid Investment Grant program, the company announced Thursday.
Whirlpool, which markets appliances under the brand names Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Consul, and Bauknecht, joins General Electric in what seems to be a quest for designing the most well-behaved appliances.
The Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer is part of the company's 2009 line of eco-efficient laundry appliances. With Department of Energy funds, it plans to have a million smart-grid-compliant dryers ready for sale by 2011.
(Credit: Whirlpool)Similar to GE's smart-appliance ambitions, Whirlpool plans to develop home appliances that can connect and communicate with municipal smart grids. The machines will be able to receive signals from a smart grid, letting it know of off-peak hours, a good time to turn on and run.
Whirlpool, which will get its funding over a two-year period, plans to match the funds in order to have a million smart-grid-compatible dryers available for public purchase by 2011. The smart dryers will be manufactured in the United States, and the company estimates that the dryers could save consumers $20 to $40 per year in energy savings.
In addition to the smart dryers, Whirlpool has pledged that by 2015, it will discontinue making appliances sans the ability to communicate with smart grids. It will no longer make "dumb" appliances at all.
That promise, however, is dependent on a few things happening.
"This commitment is dependent on two important public-private partnerships: the development by the end of 2010 of an open, global standard for transmitting signals to, and receiving signals from, a home appliance; and appropriate policies that reward consumers, manufacturers, and utilities for using and adding these new peak-demand reduction capabilities," Whirlpool said in a statement.
Whirlpool's announcement follows President Obama's release this week of plans to overhaul the country's electrical grid to turn it into a smart-grid system. An estimated $8.1 billion is planned to be spent on 100 smart-grid projects in 49 states. Utilities themselves will kick in $4.7 billion, while the remaining $3.4 billion will come from the U.S. government as stimulus money.
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TerraCycle)
A New Jersey-based environmental firm has developed audio player speakers made from recycled chips and candy bar packages.
TerraCycle is using its large waste-collection program to turn Doritos and Cheetos bags, as wells as Mars candy wrappers, into funky, foldable speakers.
The Frito-Lay Speakers have a 3.5 mm universal plug and don't require batteries. They sell at Radio Shack and on the TerraCycle Website, where they're listed for $19.99.
Founded by Princeton dropout Tom Szaky, TerraCycle "upcycles" waste into over 100 useful products, such as backpacks made from Capri Sun drink pouches, pencil cases made from Chips Ahoy wrappers, and kites made from Oreo cookie bags.
The company collects waste from groups across the country and donates money to charities for each item received. It aims to save thousands of tons of packaging from entering landfills each year.
