Green Tech

Silver Spring seeks new profits from smart-city infrastructure

Wish your hometown had network-enabled streetlights? A company called Silver Spring Networks does, and Tuesday it unveiled a service designed to make the technology and other networked infrastructure more affordable.

Municipalities that want to network things like traffic lights, parking meters, natural-gas pipe monitors, water-main flow gauges, and public transit status boards now can subscribe to a service under which Silver Spring Networks installs and maintains the network. The option expands the company's business from selling technology to selling a service; that means cities can buy the service with steady payments, rather than a large investment up front to … Read more

Microsoft experiments with fuel cell-powered data center

There are cord cutters -- and then there are cord cutters.

Microsoft is considering data centers that use fuel cells to generate power right next to the servers they house rather than transmitting it from electrical power plants far away. The move could double efficiency compared with traditional data center design, which loses energy through transmission and conversion, Sean James, a Microsoft senior research program manager, said in a blog post Tuesday.

The cleanest fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into heat and electrical current, releasing water as exhaust. Microsoft, though, used more convenient methane-powered fuel cells, which release more … Read more

Nissan's don't-call-it-a-concept BladeGlider

There must be something a little strange in the water at Nissan design headquarters. Over the last few years it's produced such funky models as the Juke and the Murano CrossCabriolet. And proving the point further, the company just released photos and video of the BladeGlider, a vehicle it insists is not a concept.

The BladeGlider is a three-seater vehicle with an electric drivetrain. In Nissan's press materials, it points out the BladeGlider shares engineering principles with the Leaf.

While both use lithium ion batteries, the BladeGlider gets two in-wheel motors on the rear wheels, as opposed to … Read more

Tesla tours West Coast to celebrate Supercharger network

Tesla owners, rabid as Apple fans, showed up in droves at an event in San Francisco to celebrate the completion of the company's West Coast Supercharger network. The stars of the event were two Model Ses in the midst of a road trip from San Diego to Vancouver.

The new Supercharger network lets Model S owners drive along the network completely free of charge.

The two cars making the journey had started out in San Diego the previous morning, making the 550-mile trip along Highway 101. Although the route planning called for four charging stops along the way, Tesla … Read more

The Renault Twizy is great, but it's not going to solve any congestion issues

A quadricycle is not a car. It's still got four wheels, in some cases a roof, and can be propelled down the road under its own steam. But it is not a car. The Renault Twizy is a quadricycle, a really good one, and I think it's ace.

Y'see, the little Twizy is an incredibly clever idea. It's cheap to buy (starting from £6,690 in the UK) and you needn't worry about batteries driving the price up because you lease them from Renault -- keeping the cost of the car down. It's … Read more

No electrics among Green Car of the Year finalists

Every year at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Green Car Journal announces the winner of its Green Car of the Year award. As a teaser to this year's announcement on November 21, the publication released its list of five finalists for the prize.

This year's finalists are:

Audi A6 TDI BMW 328d Honda Accord Mazda3 Toyota Corolla

The Audi A6 and the BMW 328d represent diesel-fueled cars, a technology that has improved quite a bit in cleaner emissions and general drivability. Green Car Journal includes the Honda Accord for its new direct injection engine and hybrid variant. The … Read more

Tesla puts Model S fire into perspective

This week's YouTube video of a burning Model S prompted the upstart electric carmaker to post an in-depth explanation of the accident that lead to the fire, along with statistics about fires in internal combustion engine cars.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk noted in the post that "you are five times more likely to experience a fire in a conventional gasoline car than a Tesla!"

According to Musk, a large piece of curved metal fell off a tractor-trailer rig. The Model S overran the object, causing it to lever up into the bottom of the car with a … Read more

Tesla Model S fire stokes electric car fears

Despite not having a tank full of gasoline to burn, the Tesla Model S can catch on fire, as evidenced by a video posted online.

The video, taken from a passing car, initially shows an unidentified distant car in flames, with firefighters on the scene. As the videographer passes closer, it is clear that the car is a Model S.

Incidents in the past where a Chevrolet Volt and a Fisker Karma caught fire caused some to question whether the high-capacity batteries in electric cars were safe. The Model S fire seems to have raised those fears again, as a … Read more

Slow, fast, and faster: Where to charge electric cars

Editor's note: This article has been edited to reflect updated information on the Nissan Leaf.

One advantage of electric cars comes from the huge available infrastructure: We have electric plugs just about everywhere. There are many more electric plugs than even gasoline stations.

So charging an electric car should be easy; just plug it into the nearest outlet.

And it is that easy, almost. Your standard home outlet in the US offers 120 volts of alternating current (AC), with a circuit breaker rated at 15 or 20 amps. Most electric cars I have seen come with a cable adapter … Read more