Green - SlashGear

‘green’ Stories

Suzuki shows off Every electric van in Japan

Shane McGlaun, Jul 19th 2011 Discuss [0]

The number of EVs on the streets around the world will only continue to grow as technology improves and the EV gets more driving range and faster charging. There will come a tipping point eventually when the EV can drive long enough that consumers finally leave the range anxiety that plagues many drivers behind. Suzuki is showing off its first EVs by creating a handful of its small Every vans that are battery powered and handing them out to dealers. Read The Full Story

Orphiro shows off electric motorcycle that looks retro

Shane McGlaun, Jul 18th 2011 Discuss [3]

There are a bunch of green electric cars on the market today and a few electric motorcycles. The thing that most of those electric motorcycles have in common is that they have a very modern and racy look to them. Take the Mission R electric motorcycle we have talked about before, it looks like a racing motorcycle. Some will like that style and some won't. If you are more the cruiser sort that wants a bike with old school style, the new bike from Orphiro may be your ride. Read The Full Story

NYC Police get Volt patrol cars

Shane McGlaun, Jul 15th 2011 Discuss [1]

Green is a big deal in cities and states all around the country with the need to not only reduce the oil we import but to reduce pollution as well. One of the most interesting green vehicles is the Chevy Volt. The cool thing about the Volt is that it uses batteries to propel the car on electricity alone and then when the batteries run out the Volt uses a gasoline engine to charge the batteries for longer driving range. These cars are especially effective at increasing efficiency in town. Read The Full Story

Nissan Leaf production to kick off at new Smyrna, TN factory in late 2012

Shane McGlaun, Jul 14th 2011 Discuss [0]

The players in the pure EV world that normal folk can afford are very few. One of the pure EVs that has proven to be the most popular is the Nissan Leaf. The Leaf hasn’t been without its issues for some owners, but it's an interesting car that Nissan plans to sell a bunch of in the coming years. Some drivers of the Leaf found that they were stranded and out of power when their gauge still showed driving distance. The other major issues was that sometimes the Leaf wasn't starting when the driver hit the go button. Read The Full Story

Element 5 Mini L iPad bag sports solar panel for more power

Shane McGlaun, Jul 11th 2011 Discuss [0]

If you travel a lot with your iPad, you probably have a bag to carry the thing in so that you can keep it safe and secure while you move about. No one wants to crush or scratch their expensive tablet up if that can be avoided. A company called Element 5 has an interesting new bag for your iPad that not only has style and will keep your device safe; it also has a solar panel built-in to allow you to keep your iPad running longer as well. Read The Full Story

FedEx Fleet Up 4,000 Fuel Efficient Vehicles

Chris Burns, Jul 8th 2011 Discuss [0]

The group that brings us our review units (for the most part), Federal Express, has announced today that they'll be adding an additional barrage of fuel-efficient vehicles including electric and hybrid trucks in the very near future to bring themselves into the future on a cloud of wall plugs. With this update also comes a set of new diesel trucks for longer distance driving, a total of 43 completely electric vehicles joining the crew over the next two months in New York, Chicago, and Memphis. Read The Full Story

Switch Lighting LED light bulb is cheap and makes light just like incandescent

Shane McGlaun, Jul 7th 2011 Discuss [11]

I am all for moving away from the normal incandescent bulbs almost all of us use today to a more efficient and longer lasting alternative like CFL or LED lighting. The problem is that the incandescent bulb is dirt cheap; you can buy a box of four for a few dollars. The CLF bulbs are more expensive with one selling for a couple times that price and the LED bulbs today are even more costly with each bulb selling in the $40 to $50 range. Read The Full Story

Vizio hops into LED lighting industry

Shane McGlaun, Jun 27th 2011 Discuss [1]

I would wager most readers are familiar with the Vizio brand. The company has a great line of HDTVs that are the best selling in the US market thanks to the performance and the price of the sets. The company will also soon get into the Android tablet market with a new offering that sounds very nice for the price. Vizio is also now looking to get into a new market to make use of its LED prowess and I hope that it can bring the same low price and quality to this new market. Read The Full Story

Voltaic Spark Tablet Cases uses the sun to charge your iPad and more

Shane McGlaun, Jun 24th 2011 Discuss [0]

If you are going to be outside where there is no outlet for a long time and you are talking a bunch of gadgets with you, you will need a bunch of batteries or a solar charger of some sort. Voltaic has a new and cool solar charger that is made to protect and charge your iPad or similar tablet and a bunch of other devices. The case is called the Spark Tablet Case and it sells for a cool $299. Read The Full Story

Siemens shows off hybrid electric airplane at 2011 Paris Air Show

Shane McGlaun, Jun 24th 2011 Discuss [0]

When we talk about green technology for transportation, we generally think about green cars powered by biofuel, electricity, or hybrids. There is a lot more in the transportation world working towards being greener and the aircraft industry is one of those places. At the 2011 Paris Air Show Siemens unveiled the world's first series hybrid electric aircraft. The airplane is called the DA36 E-Star. Read The Full Story

Japan starts work on new faster 313 MPH maglev train

Shane McGlaun, Jun 21st 2011 Discuss [2]

In most of the US, we make little use of trains as a system of mass transport. In some major cities trains and subways get people to and from the office and home, but with the spread out arrangement of many cities and the lack of a rail infrastructure most of us use personal vehicles or busses for transport. Japan has had the seriously cool and fast maglev train system that we generally call bullet trains for a long time now. The current trains have a top speed of about 150 MPH. Read The Full Story

Artist makes surfboard out of 72 beer cans

Shane McGlaun, Jun 20th 2011 Discuss [0]

DIY art is cool and when it involves the ocean and beer, it may be the perfect DIY project for the summer. Artist Rich Morrison took the sort of trash generated by many summer days at the lake or beach for many folks - beer cans - and used those cans to make something pretty cool. Morrison took 72 different beer cans and used them to create a surfboard for riding the waves that actually works. At least it works for him; the board wouldn't work for me at all unless its purpose was to dump me on my head in the surf. Read The Full Story