This elegant sports car with a top speed of just under 100mph is about to take centre stage at the Geneva Motor Show. Sound a little sluggish for a sports car? What if I told you it produces hardly any noise and only water vapour - zero carbon emissions - from its exhaust?
The lightweight hydrogen car is packing advanced fuel cells and the energy storage system promises 250 miles per tank of the cleaner, greener fuel. The British-designed car is predicted to achieve 0-60mph acceleration in seven seconds, but the first official test drive is yet to be done. The result of a £1.9m collaborative project, partly funded by the UK government, the Lifecar also has wooden seats and interiors, an aluminium chassis and pretty much no extras in order to keep the weight as efficiency-friendly as possible. Sounds great - except that you won't be able to hear the traditional sports car roar.
Ecomodder is no usual petrolhead site: it's a gathering place for those who want to pimp their rides the green way.
Everything on this site is about tweaks you can do yourself to make you car sleeker and more fuel-efficient, with some amusingly far-out results (see picture). On the discussion forums, enthusiasts enthuse about aerodynamics, fossil fuel-free options and more, with tips on where to find components to turn your ordinary car a lean, green mean machine. And for those who don't want to get welding, there's a good discussion on fuel-efficient driving, too.
You'd expect the Aussies to know a thing or two about harnessing the power of the sun, and sure enough Adelaide in Australia has become the first city to introduce an entirely solar-powered bus to its fleet. Looking much like a normal bus, the 'Tindo' (from the Kaurna name for 'sun') will carry passengers for free around the city centre, and will re-charge as it goes.
Unlike most 'solar' vehicles, the bus has no conventional engine, so it's 100% solar, not hybrid. This makes it a very quiet and smooth ride and doesn't belch out smoke for any passing pedestrians or cyclists. If only we had enough daylight in London, I'd love to see the buses over here sometime soon! [Via EcoFriend]
I'm not even going to pretend that it's in any way green to own a supercar - even if I had the $2.3 million this one costs. Still, it's hard to believe that a car a little more powerful than the average Bugatti Veyron (if not, reportedly, as well engineered) would run purely on E85 ethanol fuel. Yet here it is. Leaving aside the long-term concerns about biofuels, that's a move in a sustainable direction that is still unusual for a supercar.
The 4.7 litre V8 engine cranks out a buttock-prodding 1018 horsepower that means this carbon fibre beauty can rattle through the gears from 0 - 62 in 2.9 seconds with a top speed of 250 mph. There is a pimped version of the Veyron doing the rounds that pumps out 1200bhp, but at these levels, why quibble over 100 horses here or there? Green? Not quite. Gorgeous? 'Fraid so.
MIT has been showing off its latest futuristic concept: an electric two-passenger vehicle called the City Car, which can 'stack' together with other City Cars to form a more socially responsible way of getting around town.
It involves 'stacks' which are placed around a city, receive incoming City Cars, and charge them up again. Then commuters simply hop in the fully charged vehicle at the front of the stack and drive off: MIT says the idea is similar to airport luggage trolleys, although they're keen to stress it's not a straight replacement for cars, taxis, buses or trucks.
My colleagues over at Shiny Shiny dropped in on the giant toy-box of a show that is the Stuff exhibition in London earlier today. Among the wonders of technology they got to play with, was the sexy, eco-friendly Vectrix electric scooter. See it in all its glory in the video, below!
During the Tokyo Motor Show of 2007, car-giant Toyota showed off their eco-friendly hybrid concept car.
Dubbed 'RiN', it not only promotes environmental sustainability, but also looks after its users, with heated seats, an oxygen-level conditioner, pinpoint humidifier and green grass to reduce ultraviolet rays from reaching its passengers. It also does wonderful things to the people outside of the car too, in the form of headlights with light distribution. We want. So bad :( [Via Tech Digest]
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You'd expect the Aussies to know a thing or two about harnessing the power of the sun, and sure enough Adelaide in Australia has become the first city to introduce an entirely solar-powered bus to its fleet. Looking much like a normal bus, the 'Tindo' (from the 
During the Tokyo Motor Show of 2007, car-giant Toyota showed off their eco-friendly hybrid concept car.
