electrical

Detroit Electric launches SP:01: A Tesla rival

Little-known -- but storied-brand -- Detroit Electric has launched its electric alternative to the Tesla.

The SP:01 is a limited-edition, two-seat pure-electric sports car, according to the company's announcement today.

With its Lotus Elise-like design, the SP:01 boasts a top speed of 155 mph and goes from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds.

Other marquee features of the SP:01:

Electric motor: rear-wheel-drive with a mid-mounted 200 bhp electric motor made in the USA. Body: carbon-fiber body, with a total weight of 1,070 kg (2,359 pounds). Driving range: With a power rating of 37 kWh, the … Read more

Nostalgia Electrics dishes out a double scoop of frozen treats

Decisions, decisions; life has enough of them. Sometimes, the best course of action is to opt not to choose. Take a hot summer day, for example. After a long hot day at the beach or the park, there comes a time to choose what the cool-down treat is to be. Naturally, having gone through a long day of decision making regarding which sandwiches to bring to the park or whether to barbecue at the beach, the finishing touch should be an easy one to make.

Just in time for the warm weather months, Nostalgia Electrics has released not one, but … Read more

Woman with shocking shower wins $4M from power company

It's not as if you need one more thing to worry about, but it is the weekend.

You shower at the weekend, don't you?

So here's a tale that might make you look a touch carefully at your shower head.

Simona Wilson, 34, of Redondo Beach, Calif., started to feel ill. She was tired. She felt sick and numb. She had no idea why.

That was until the day she touched her shower head and felt electricity course through her. She had recently remodeled her shower. It had previously been elevated, so she brought it down to … Read more

Detroit Electric set to launch U.S.-made Tesla rival

Storied-brand Detroit Electric is teasing an electric vehicle that will take on the Tesla.

"After an absence of over 70 years, Detroit Electric...has returned to the legendary Motor City, promising job creation and a range of exciting 100% electric vehicles for the mass market," the company said in a press release.

The first model will be "a limited-edition two-seat sports car," the company said.

And it will be assembled in Michigan with production to start in August. "We are proud to become the fourth car manufacturer born out of Detroit," according to the … Read more

Tesla, the Times, and how to drive an electric car

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

Tesla, the Times, and the range war over the electric car

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 Elon Musk lambasts New York Times article

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

Peanut butter on the kitchen countertop

Kitchen gadgets are ultimately designed to do one thing; namely to turn (or help to turn) ingredients into food. That being said, there are levels of complexity involved that depend upon the desired final result. Usually, the more delicious the goal, the more complicated the actions. However, sometimes, with food and with gadgetry, simplicity is key. And fun for the kids, too.

The delicious substance known as peanut butter is surprisingly easy to make. Don't bother reading the label on the average jar found on the supermarket shelf; all that is really needed is peanuts, salt and oil in … Read more

Phantom fighter: MeterPlug reports electric use in dollars

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