Why and how to joyfully move our butts around town, without mucking the place up.

Clean Energy and Transportation News for 2016

Honda and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo enter discussions on technical collaboration of fully self-driving automibile technology

(December 21, 2016) Waymo, the autonomous vehicle technology company spun off from Alphabet Inc (a.k.a. Google), has begun talks with Honda around Waymo's self-driving vehicle technology. The initial goal is for Honda to provide test vehicles to Waymo. Clearly the longer-term goal is to see if Honda can use Waymo's technology in future Honda vehicles. The discussions are with Honda R&D, an independent subsidiary of Honda Motor.

ABB delivers OppCharge fast charger for electric hybrid buses to Bertrange, Luxembourg

(December 21, 2016) ABB is a large international electrical system manufacturer, and among their extensive product line are several high quality fast charging systems. In this case they've developed a fast charger utilizing overhead wires. Unlike the electric buses fully powered by overhead lines, this unit is installed at specific points in the route. During the time the bus is stopped anyway (to give a break to the driver), the bus is fully recharged at 150 kiloWatts. The installation location is at a train station outside Luxembourg City.

Bolloré awarded City of Los Angeles contract to launch BlueLA, a revolutionary electric car sharing service

(December 19, 2016) Bolloré offers car sharing services, using their own electric car, in Indianapolis, Paris France, and elsewhere. They're now bringing electric car sharing to Los Angeles.

Fremont City Council approves Tesla Motors factory expansion plans

(December 16, 2016) Tesla Motors is preparing their factory for the jump to 500,000 cars per year in order to satisfy Tesla Model 3 sales demand.

GM to start autonomous vehicle manufacturing and testing in Michigan

(December 16, 2016) In preparation for the Robocar future, GM has begun testing fully autonomous Chevy Bolt's in Warren Michigan. In a few years GM and Lyft are to partner in delivering a fleet of on-demand autonomous vehicles across the U.S. This means the days of having a side job with Lyft (and Uber) are numbered.

Study finds biking in Chicago is faster than CTA, Uber

(December 13, 2016)

Chevrolet delivers first Bolt EVs to customers

(December 13, 2016) The long-awaited Chevy Bolt EV is starting to be delivered, with the first three being delivered through a Chevrolet dealership in Fremont. That dealership has a large solar panel system out front with integrated electric car charging, FWIW. Coincidentally it's located within spitting distance of the Tesla Motors factory also in Fremont.

Trump chooses sworn enemy of EPA to lead EPA

(December 8, 2016) President-elect Trump's transition team chooses a rabid climate-change denier to destroy the EPA. Their pattern has been to appoint to certain departments or agencies those who've most viciously attacked those organizations. It's looking like the plan is to destroy certain agencies. Of course Presidents Reagan and Bush43 did the same - for example appointing Bolton to be the UN Ambassador.

BMW Group, Daimler, Ford and Volkswagen Group plan joint venture for ultra-fast charging along major highways in Europe

(November 29, 2016) German car companies, plus Ford Motors, join together to promote a much higher charging rate for DC Fast Charging. So far the highest rate is Tesla's 120+ kiloWatt Supercharger. These companies propose a 350 kiloWatt rate for the Combo Charging System. Doing so would cut charging time to 10 minutes or so for a complete recharge, which would begin to support proper road trips.

"DRIVETHEARC" EV fast charging corridor breaks ground in Northern California

(November 29, 2016) From Monterey to Lake Tahoe, 50 New EV Fast Chargers to be Installed at over 20 Locations

Hydrogen-powered passenger ferry in San Francisco Bay is possible, says Sandia study

(October 6, 2016) Ferry boats, as are used around the world, can be powered by hydrogen fuel cells to dramatically reduce pollution, and the risk of diesel fuel spills. Research by Sandia National Labs show that it's feasible to build and operate a high-speed passenger ferry powered by fuel cells. The study focused on the Red and White fleet operating on the San Francisco Bay that serves commuters every day of the week. The conceptual specification was a ship carrying 150 passengers, with a 50-mile round trip, and at speeds up to 35 knots. Refueling would happen midday while the ships were less busy (outside commute hours). Both the American Bureau of Shipping and the US Coast Guard reviewed the plan and gave a thumbs-up.

Nissan unveils world's first Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell vehicle

(August 4, 2016)