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yokohama

Nissan Leaf lights up Yokohama Tower

The Yokohama Marine Tower was lit up Wednesday night courtesy of electricity from the batteries in a Nissan Leaf.

Nissan is lending some battery power to the local 106-meter-tall Japanese landmark in Yokohama, the capital city of the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, which is located about 27 miles south of Tokyo.

In fact, the tower's night twinkle will be powered by a Nissan Leaf channeling electricity to the tower from its batteries via a connected power control system until November 6.

The publicity stunt is part of the Yokohama Marine Tower's 50th Anniversary celebration and Yokohama Port's … Read more

Electric buggy to challenge Pikes Peak

The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is a grueling test for any car, but on June 27 a purpose-built electric car will take the challenge, competing in the Exhibition Division. The car, dubbed the EV Sports Concept HER-02 buggy, uses a motor from AC Propulsion, batteries from Sanyo, and Yokohama's Advan ENV-R2 orange oil tires.

Last year, the predecessor to this electric buggy raced up the 12.5-mile course, which rises 4,721 feet through 156 turns. Piloted by Ikuo Hanawa of Team Geolander, it set a time of 14:50.754 (respectable, as the fastest time for any vehicle … Read more

Will orange tires have appeal?

It sounds bananas, but Yokohama Tire Corp. has figured out a way to use oranges to make a greener tire.

Nearly 20 gallons of petroleum go into a set of tires, meaning that about 5 million barrels of oil annually are consumed by a 10 million-vehicle market. By infusing oil extracted from orange peels into natural rubber, Yokohama has cut the amount of petroleum in its dB Super E-spec tires by 80 percent.

"We've been working on this technology for 20 years," said Mark Chung, Yokohama director of strategic marketing. The tires have been tested in racing … Read more