Green - SlashGear

‘green’ Stories

Sim-Lei is simply ugly, proves being green isn’t easy

Shane McGlaun, Jan 17th 2012 Discuss [3]

If you took a big box of ugly and used it to design a green car, the Sim-Lei is exactly what I would picture the final product coming out as. This has to be the ugliest green car in the world. I don’t get why green car designers make the cars so unattractive so frequently. It’s not like ugly and green have to go together, look at the Tesla Roadster or the Fisker Karma to see green cars that look good too. Read The Full Story

California requiring energy-efficient handset chargers in 2013

Rue Liu, Jan 13th 2012 Discuss [21]

The eco-friendly state of California has just passed a unanimous vote requiring device manufacturers to ship energy-efficient handset chargers starting 2013. This new requirement applies to all cellphones, tablets, and hundreds of other electronic devices. The new law was passed by the California Energy Commission with a 3-0 vote despite objections from electronics makers. Read The Full Story

Chevrolet Volt battery upgrade promises less fiery crashes

Chris Burns, Jan 5th 2012 Discuss [12]

After federal safety regulators voiced several concerns over the hybrid vehicle Chevrolet Volt's battery, the folks at General Motors have taken action with both a steel structure and a cooling system to keep the battery from being in danger of catching fire after a crash. Of course those with eyes on the vehicle should know that it would've taking quite a severe crash to start the battery on fire in the first place, but Chevy isn't about to let regulators tell the public that their car isn't all the way safe. The investigation has been going on since November of 2011 and Chevrolet is "optimistic" these most recent changes should placate the feds. Read The Full Story

Volvo XC60 plug-in hybrid concept tipped ahead of North American International Auto Show in Detroit

Shane McGlaun, Jan 5th 2012 Discuss [1]

With the big Auto Show in Detroit coming up in a few days, the car world is starting to tease some of the production vehicles and concept cars that will be at the show. One of the concepts that will be there is the Volvo XC60 plug-in hybrid concept. The car promises to be a performance car and hybrid in one according to Volvo. I'd say it's more an SUV than a car. Read The Full Story

Lexus teases odd LF-LC 2+2 Hybrid Sport Coupe concept

Shane McGlaun, Jan 5th 2012 Discuss [3]

Those wild and crazy guys over at Lexus are teasing a new hybrid sport coupe concept car that has a very strange design. I can see little bits of the LFA in the design. The profile of the car reminds me of the Fisker Karma as well. Lexus is offering up no real detail and is taking the chance to say the car will be at the Detroit Auto Show. Read The Full Story

PumPing Tap may be the most irritating design in history

Shane McGlaun, Dec 28th 2011 Discuss [7]

I think there has been enough talk over the years about vampire power or phantom power that we all know that a bunch of the devices in your home still draw power when you turn them off. This certainly wastes electricity and isn't good for the environment. We have seen a bunch of products that have been designed to draw little power or no power when they don’t need it even when plugged in. Read The Full Story

Christmas Lights recycled into slippers in China

Chris Burns, Dec 27th 2011 Discuss [2]

If you live in North America, chances are you've had a good time purchasing, stringing, taking down and ball wrapping, and next year throwing away Christmas Lights - as the video in this post will show, those lights don't always just go in a landfill, they get turned into nothing less strange than a pair of slippers! The video here shows a Chinese recycling factory that sits in the town of Shijiao, near Guangzhou, and they've got a yearly run-through of 20 million pounds of old Christmas lights per year. They chop them down, mush them up, and flip them out! Read The Full Story

Kia shows off Ray EV

Shane McGlaun, Dec 23rd 2011 Discuss [0]

The Kia Ray may well be the ugliest EV I have seen in a long time. It's boxy and square and makes the Prius look good if you ask me. Aside from the questionable looks of the car, it has some interesting features that make it stand out among the EV crowd. The coolest feature is the optional fast charge system that would charge the battery cells in only 25 minutes. Read The Full Story

2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS breaks cover

Shane McGlaun, Dec 20th 2011 Discuss [1]

Chevy has pulled the wraps of the new Sonic RS sporty small car ahead of the official introduction at the North American International Auto show. The new RS version of the Sonic is aimed at younger drivers looking for a car with style that is still cheap to own and operate. The Sonic RS has a turbocharged engine at 1.4L displacement putting out 138HP and 148 lb-ft of torque. Read The Full Story

Google makes a new $94M investment in US solar energy projects

Shane McGlaun, Dec 20th 2011 Discuss [0]

Google has announced that it has made a new $94 million investment in clean solar energy. The investment will go into four different solar projects that Google is having built by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, California. With the new investment, the total that Google has spent on clean energy so far is $915 million. Read The Full Story

Ford Focus EV expected to grab 100mpg rating

Shane McGlaun, Dec 15th 2011 Discuss [6]

The production of the 2012 Ford Focus EV has kicked off. Ford is stating that it expects the car to be rated at the equivalent 100 mpg. I still don't like that the ratings on EVs that don’t use gas being given in miles per gallon. An EPA rating for true driving distance would make more sense to me and make comparing EVs easier. Read The Full Story

Compleat disposable coffee cup axes the lid, startup set to score big

Chris Burns, Dec 12th 2011 Discuss [7]

Designer Peter Herman has created a concept for the all-paper disposable cup, made for coffee but perfectly viable for other liquids, that is set to blow the lid off of the industry - literally. Currently working for architectural firm Ellenzweig in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and having hacked away at this concept for over two years and a hundred prototypes now, Herman has it down to one single piece of paper. Working with graphic design firm Proverb's Daren Bascome to create the visuals you see printed on the cups here, Herman is prepping his concept for the big time now - speaking with manufacturers and retailers right this minute. Read The Full Story