Kia’s ‘Pop’ electric car concept makes our inner urbanite swoon

Kia has largely steered clear of the electric car battlegrounds, focusing instead on smaller, lower-cost options that get good enough gas mileage as-is. It ain’t a bad tactic, but considering that even Rolls Royce is purportedly mulling an EV, the automaker was bound to cave to the peer pressure soon or later. During the upcoming Paris Motor Show, Kia is expected to formally introduce the oddity you see above, which is (for now) only known as the “Pop concept.” The battery-powered whip will emit no emissions whatsoever, measures in at just three meters long and somehow finds enough room for three humans within. Details beyond that are scant (read: nonexistent), but you can head on over to Autoblog Green if you need a few more images to chew on.

Kia’s ‘Pop’ electric car concept makes our inner urbanite swoon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Move-It: the stick-on recyclable cardboard trolley (video)

If you’re rockin’ the suburbs, chances are your Suburban comes in handy when making those weekend jaunts to Home Depot. But if you’re a city dweller, particularly one who has to make his / her way up and down subway stairs, things are just a tad more difficult when it comes to transporting purchases. Enter Move-It, a bloody brilliant concept that has currently been entered into the running for the James Dyson Award in the UK. Put simply, this recyclable, disposal and potential reusable device is crafted from cardboard and fully capable of strapping to any size or shape box. Simply peel and stick the handle to the box’s top, and slap a pair of rollers on the bottom — in about three minutes, you’ve got your very own trolley. Prayers, answered. Hop on past the break for a video demonstration, and hopefully the collective crossing of fingers will enable this thing to actually hit the market someday soon.

Continue reading Move-It: the stick-on recyclable cardboard trolley (video)

Move-It: the stick-on recyclable cardboard trolley (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Volkswagen Beetle converted to run on methane headed for the UK streets

Meet the Bio-Bug, a custom modded Volkswagen Beetle which has been converted to run on biogas — fuel created from human waste. The process of conversion isn’t brand new, but this will be the first automobile fully converted to run on biogas in the United Kingdom without any loss of performance. In fact, the car is so reliable that its makers believe it can “blow away” electric vehicles, and that consumers won’t even notice the difference. The Bio-Bug is a regular old 2 liter VW convertible modified to operate on both gasoline and compressed methane gas: once the methane runs out, the car reverts back to running on gasoline. The cars run on so little methane that just one regular sized sewage plant could run a car (or cars) over 95,000,000 miles per year. Developed by GENeco, a sustainable energy company in the UK, the Bio-Bug is going into a trial period, and the company plans on converting its entire fleet if successful.

Volkswagen Beetle converted to run on methane headed for the UK streets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NEC outs versatile E231W monitor with 1080p resolution and green aspirations

You know that the 16:9 display ratio is here to stay when even NEC’s business monitors — long the bastion of old school sensibilities — start offering it as a standard feature. At least the Japanese company has also had the decency to include a DisplayPort on its latest 23-incher, with a full 1080p resolution and ambient light sensor adding to the feel of modernity. The E231W isn’t moving things along much further than the well-liked EA231W of last year, but it does consume less power (28W) and up-front cash ($299) than its senior sibling. 250 nits of brightness, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 4-way adjustability (height, tilt, swivel, and pivot), and a 3-year warranty round off the energy-efficient package. Availability of this latest MultiSync monitor is scheduled for later this month, and you’ll find the full PR after the break.

Continue reading NEC outs versatile E231W monitor with 1080p resolution and green aspirations

NEC outs versatile E231W monitor with 1080p resolution and green aspirations originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Haier’s heat-exchanging Power Pad promises to make long, hot showers a little more efficient

Haier's heat-exchanging Power Pad promises to make long, hot showers a little more efficient

Major appliances are major energy drains, and if you have a traditional, tank-based hot water heater it can be a major factor in your monthly utilities bills. Haier‘s Power Pad promises to make those things have less of an impact on people’s finances — at least when it comes to showers. It’s a heat exchanger that you stand on whilst washing that man right out of your hair, water running off your toned body and through the vanes in the Pad, warming the cold water that’s pumped through it. That water is then deposited into the hot water tank, which now has a little less work to do. Haier is hoping to get this to market in China within the next two months for ¥4,000 (about $600) and, by that time, boost its efficiency to 30 percent. That’s still 10 percent lower than the EcoDrain we spied last year, but we have a more practical concern: what happens when that thing gets clogged with hair and various bathing products? It doesn’t look particularly easy to clean.

Haier’s heat-exchanging Power Pad promises to make long, hot showers a little more efficient originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nissan Leaf gets early review: you might just forget its an eccentric electric car

It still won’t be widely available until 2012, but Nissan’s Leaf is already leaking out to a few select media outlets. Our comrades over at Autoblog managed to get behind the wheel of the all-electric whip down in San Jose, and while they didn’t find anything that changed the admittedly developing game, what they did find was a solid, refined EV that’s “ready for primetime.” They were quick to praise the design, which doesn’t scream “oddball” like some of the earlier electric automobiles. As for the ride? That was deemed “suitably smooth,” while the interior was found to be “a few degrees better than what you’d find in an economy car of similar size.” In fact, the overriding tone of the review was one of unsurprised satisfaction, with critics noting that the “gadgetry is impressive, but no more so than some of the hybrid options available from Nissan’s competitors,” and in the end, the Leaf doesn’t aim to “change the driving experience, just change the method of motivation.” Hit the source link for the full skinny.

Nissan Leaf gets early review: you might just forget its an eccentric electric car originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Terra-Gen lands major funding, expects to complete America’s largest wind farm next year

And you thought that 1,000 megawatt wind farm planned for Lake Erie was going to be huge. Terra-Gen Power recently secured a staggering $1.2 billion in construction financing, which it fully intends to use on 3D projectors, PlayStation 3 consoles and parts necessary to build America’s largest wind farm. Granted, only one of those points is actually true, but we suspect you’re hanging with us. The latest round of cash will help build four wind power projects with a total of 570 megawatts of capacity at the company’s Alta Wind Energy Center in Kern County, California. But when you put that with projects already in motion, you’re left with a 3,000MW wind power initiative, which should be completed and operational “in the first and second quarters of 2011.” So, anyone feeling up to topping this?

Continue reading Terra-Gen lands major funding, expects to complete America’s largest wind farm next year

Terra-Gen lands major funding, expects to complete America’s largest wind farm next year originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla Roadster goes continent-hopping, expands markets to include Canada and Japan

Seems like reports of the Roadster’s demise were indeed exaggerated. Tesla has announced it’s bringing its iconic electric automobile to five new nations. Canada and Japan are accompanied by Hong Kong, Poland and Turkey in being able to now take deliveries of freshly charged Roadsters. Of course, sufficiently motivated buyers could have imported theirs by now, but it’s always good to have local support on an official basis and this does seem to signal a more ambitious outlook on the part of Tesla. Also included in the press release — yours to peruse after the break — is word that the company has shifted 1,200 Roadsters since inception. That might not be a lot but you have to start somewhere, let’s hope the next 1,200 don’t take nearly as long to hit the road.

Continue reading Tesla Roadster goes continent-hopping, expands markets to include Canada and Japan

Tesla Roadster goes continent-hopping, expands markets to include Canada and Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yves Behar-designed GE WattStation electric vehicle charger spruces streets, juices cars

We’ve dug deep within the mind of Yves Béhar, and when that man designs something, we take notice. Particularly when the object of reference is an all-new electric vehicle charger that looks good enough for the sparkling streets of Minneapolis. Introduced today, the GE WattStation is a beautifully engineered EV charger designed to “accelerate the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles,” and furthermore, allow “utility companies to manage the impact of electric vehicles on the local and regional grids.” We’re also told that it’s capable of handling Level 2 (240V) charging, and if all goes to plan, it’ll be available globally next year. Oh, and if you’re considering a move to the inner city just to be near one, hold your horses — a specialized home version will be available later in 2010. Hop on past the break for a little showboating from Yves himself.

Continue reading Yves Behar-designed GE WattStation electric vehicle charger spruces streets, juices cars

Yves Behar-designed GE WattStation electric vehicle charger spruces streets, juices cars originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Universal USB controlled ‘Power USB’ strip turns on when your PC says it can

Needlessly annoyed by how much energy is being wasted in your home thanks to vampire draw? Regrettably, it looks as if you’ll have to just tough it out for the remainder of summer (or winter, depending on hemisphere), as the device you’re peering at above won’t be on sale until August. The USB controlled “Power USB” power strip is a rather unique device, housing a grand total of four universal power sockets (hello, travelers!) and a single USB port; as you may expect, the USB port links the strip to your computer, giving it the power to turn a given socket on or off. Two of the plugs are actually on at all times (a good thing — trust us), while the other two can be turned on automatically when triggered by a software program or a print job, for example. There’s no mention of a price just yet, but even more alarming is the omission of a 12 socket version for the hardcore users among us.

Universal USB controlled ‘Power USB’ strip turns on when your PC says it can originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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