Since they are in the business of selling gasoline-powered automobiles, the manufacturers understandably are reluctant to come out and publicly announce the obvious solution to air-poisoning by the gasoline engine: Get rid of the gasoline engine.
On the other hand, every member of the industry is actively engaged in trying to do just that.
–W.E. Butterworth, Wheels [...]
A couple months ago I wrote about the four phase traffic signals I saw in Sweden and Denmark. These are better than the three phase lights we use in the United States. The improved lights help smooth the flow of traffic, improve safety, and save gas. Today I saw a post about a fancier version. [...]
I was able to spend some time in Sweden and Denmark a while ago. Other than the fun of traveling, the trip was to look at the differences between Scandinavian countries and the United States. One of the first differences I noticed is that they use four phase traffic lights instead of the three phase [...]
This is from a month ago, but I think it needs to be fresh in everyone’s minds.
New York Times: China Is Said to Plan Strict Gas Mileage Rules
You should also read Thomas L. Friedman’s latest editorial. It is past time for Americans to get serious about energy efficiency.
The Fiat-Chrysler deal went through. I think this has the potential to improve the car selection available in the US. I was impressed by many of Fiat’s designs I saw last summer. I haven’t had a chance to drive or work on one yet, so I can’t be sure, but many Fiats look practical for [...]
In an unsurprising move, GM announced that they are killing Pontiac. I think it is amazing that Pontiac has survived this long. They produced very few good cars since the end of the muscle car era. For the past several decades, they have been known for poor designs that are ugly and hard to work [...]
One important issue not receiving enough attention is efficiency increases forced by population growth. The Earth is a finite system: resources do not grow as population does. This means that to maintain the same results (standard of living, &c.) as population grows, efficiency must increase. This is important for issues such as land use, food [...]
This week David Pogue did a good story for CBS about Better Place, a company trying to do what I have been talking about for years. This is a modernized version of the old Edison-Ford electric car plan of the 1910s. I hope more car companies join Nissan and Renault in this project. Now [...]
I finally fixed the electrical problems in the tailgate of my Subaru Impreza. Four wires were broken where they pass from the frame of the car to the frame of the tailgate. I tried to fix the problem a while ago, but couldn’t locate the source. My multimeter gave correct readings, but nothing worked. The [...]
I’ve been doing some research into car fuel economy and how easy it would be to increase the efficiency of cars. Two things I needed to find were how long cars last and how many miles they are driven. I found an interesting Department of Transportation study with equations for this information. Car lifetimes are [...]