Hasta La Gadget!

Driving an electric car has its fair share of advantages – electricity is a whole lot more affordable than a full tank of gas, not to mention electric cars have no emissions that will clog up the earth’s atmosphere with poisonous gases. The thing is, a gas station is whole lot more common than an electric vehicle charging point, and Nissan intends to encourage the uptake in their Nissan LEAF electric car by expanding on its successful “No Charge to Charge” promotion that will see the automobile manufacturer offer two years of free public charging with the purchase or lease of a new Nissan LEAF.

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Nissan Offers Free And Easy Charging For LEAF Cars original content from Ubergizmo.

Electric vehicles have not really gone mainstream just yet, although you can say that it has certainly picked up steam in the past few years, as more and more people look at electric cars in a different light. The Chevrolet Volt could prove to be a “mainstream” electric vehicle, so to speak, but demand has not been as strong as what its executives anticipated ever since the Volt entered production at the beginning of this decade. General Motors has been touted to be working on a more affordable bank account friendly version of its Chevrolet Volt, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

It seems that GM has sold a mere 58,158 Chevrolet Volts to date, which is far behind the likes of the Nissan Leaf that has already achieved over 80,000 in total sales, and the number is set to continue in an upward trend. The 2016 Chevrolet Volt will arrive in an entry-level version that has been priced “from just over $30,000,” which is cheaper than the existing model’s $35,000 price tag. If this rumor proves to be true, then we are looking at a looking price war which might end up good for the industry if adoption rates of the Chevy Volt increases. Are you looking to purchase an electric vehicle anytime soon?

Cheaper Chevrolet Volt Could Arrive Soon , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Green, Transportation, chevrolet,

I am quite sure that wind turbines do have its advantages and all, but it is not every single day that one is able to fix a wind turbine right there and then. A new study that was shared by the University of Delaware showed that high-altitude wind turbines which were tethered to the ground in the same manner as that of kites might carry the potential of generating adequate clean, renewable electricity for the whole world to use. Researchers did target regions where “wind speed maxima” would enable airborne wind energy (AWE) devices to churn electricity at full capacity.

At the intermediate density of airborne turbines, it is said that the electricity generation could actually surpass the 7.5 terawatts mark, making it triple the current annual electricity demand worldwide. With over 20 companies right now that are in various stages of developing AWE technology, we are also witness to more than 100 patents filed in the United States alone. Google has their prototype which is known as Makani Power, although it must be noted that commercially viable airborne wind farms are a few years away still. Just how high must these turbines be deployed? We are talking of heights of between 656 feet and 1.86 miles.

Airborne Wind Turbines Another Possible Avenue To Harvest Energy , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Green, science,

Kyocera has just installed what they call a “Solar Cycle Station for EV (electric vehicles)” at the headquarters of Shintec Hozumi Co., Ltd. which is located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Kyocera designed and constructed this particular system in order for solar-generated power to juice up electric vehicles, and it also doubles up as an emergency power source in the event of a disaster such as an earthquake, helping contribute to the efficient use of clean energy as well as disaster prevention.

Kyocera’s “Solar Cycle Station” has been touted to be an environmentally friendly solar-powered recharging station, where it was first mooted to help out electric-assisted bicycles at the beginning of this decade. It was in 2012 that the company began to supply the Solar Cycle Station for EV, where it has been modified and improved to power electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Carrying the dual mission of protecting the environment and saving electricity costs, Shintec Hozumi decided to install a 230kW Kyocera solar power generating system on its headquarters’ rooftop, so that the entire building will be able to draw from at least one source of clean energy. We do hope to see such initiatives take place on a mass scale in the future, that is for sure. [Press Release]

Kyocera Installs Solar Cycle Station For Electric Vehicles In Japan , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Green, kyocera, Solar,

The U.S. Navy has certainly made plenty of waves in the previous week, with the intention to deploy a railgun in 2016 as well as working on a laser weapon that will see action in the summer. Having said that, to establish your military might across the seven seas would take plenty of coordination and resources, where chief among them would include fuel issues. Going nuclear might work, but it is far from green, so when word of scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. came about that they have successfully turned seawater into fuel, it is a cause worth celebrating.

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U.S. Navy Turns Seawater Into Fuel For Its Vessels original content from Ubergizmo.