Autopia on zinc-powered shuttles, burning SUVs, and more
The Autopia blog from Wired has a bunch of interesting little pieces right now, ranging from the top story on how China will be using zinc-powered shuttles to move athletes about during the 2008 Olympics to notes on a short documentary titled Who Killed the Electric Car, on the GM EV1, to developments in plug-in hybridization technology for conventional automobiles. But my favourite is from a few days ago, on how how SUV owners are trying to make money from their gas guzzlers.
Apparently there's been a spate of SUV owners - well, if two plus one caught in the act can be called a spate - who are so tired of paying usurious rates for gasoline that they're just torching the vehicles so they can collect on the insurance and pick up something smaller. While we would never support such nefarious activity, I do admit to a sneaking admiration for the motivation. (Although god knows how many VOCs were released from those flaming carcasses, no pun intended.) [GT]
