Hasta La Gadget!

Regardless of whether the internal combustion engine gets snuffed out this century, EV chargers aren’t going to replace gas pumps at the rate they’re presently rolling out, so it’s quite likely new Leaf and Prius PHEV owners will need to charge at home. How might that affect one’s electricity bill? It’ll probably go up, but a Virginia utility says that a full tank of juice might not cost all that much. Dominion Virginia Power is volunteering to cut its rates by more than half for off-peak charging as part of a proposed pilot program, whereby 750 lucky EV owners will get enough electricity for a 40-mile commute for just 35 cents so long as they charge overnight. The utility’s not talking kilowatt-hours here, but it says it typically gets $0.86 for the same amount. The deal requires the installation of a specially-approved charging station, but Virginia’s looking at a second scheme too — if those 750 agree to pay a flexible off-peak rate of between $0.33 and $0.41 per 40-mile dose, they can power the rest of their house using the budget volts as well. PR after the break.

Continue reading Virginia pilot program halves electricity bill for charging EVs overnight

Virginia pilot program halves electricity bill for charging EVs overnight originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 07:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Street Flyer is a hang-glider for the streets. It’s like an oversized tricycle, but instead of sitting on top to pilot it, you hang beneath. To propel the vehicle, you run and then just drop into the harness and cruise. This obviously works better on a downhill stretch, and uphill runs are probably best avoided altogether, unless M.C. Escher designed your city’s streets.

The design comes from an old Gadget Lab friend, Dr. Carsten Mehring, last seen here on video with his wearable computer. Mehring has several prototypes for the Street Flyer. The one seen here is steered with a pair of handgrips connected to the two front wheels, but other designs could let you steer by moving your body in the cradle, hang-glider-style. Dr. Mehring also suggests that his invention could be used by the injured to walk suspended from its frame without any pressure on the legs. Think of it as a baby-walker for cripples.

Mehring’s Street Flyer is clearly not meant for daily transportation, but as a weekend leisure toy, it could be awesome. Imagine bombing down steep hills and slaloming just three-feet from the ground. That has to be a rush.

Street Flyer project page (Warning: Flash and auto-play music) [Streetflyer via UberGizmo]

See Also:

• Swiss Pilot Uses Jet-Engine-Powered Wings for Crazy One-Man …
• Landspeeder-Like Flying Car On Sale Soon

Imagine a fire hose in full, glass-smashing flow. Now imagine that it has gotten loose, and is whipping and snapping like a spastic cobra, at such terrifying speed that it is almost impossible to see its flailing tip.

Now imagine that you are strapped to the end. Congratulations. You are riding the JetLev Flyer.

Unlike “ordinary” jetpacks, the JetLev is actually two vehicles, tethered by a hose the thickness of your thigh. On the water is a small speedboat-like unit which contains a 250 horsepower motor and a pump. This is connected to the pack — into which you strap your frail body –- by the 10-meter [33-foot] hose. The water is pumped from the sea or lake below, up to the nozzles on the jetpack, giving a 1,900-Newton [430-pounds-of-force] thrust, enough to lift even a fat human of up to 150 kilos [330 pounds].

Because of that hose, you are effectively tethered to the water, meaning your maximum altitude tops out at 8.5 meters [28 feet]. Your horizontal distance is only limited by flight time, however, and you can scoot around at 35 mph for up to two hours. Control is fly-by-wire, so the thrust handles are easy to twist, kept away from the intense pressure of the water.

I love it. All the fun of a jetpack with almost none of the dangers. Falling 30 feet onto water might not be pleasant, but neither is is going kill you. And two hours of flight time is way more than what you’ll get from a “traditional” jetpack.

The rub is that this costs $100,000 to buy. At this price, it is aimed more at water-sports–rental businesses than at the private user, although I’m sure plenty of luxury yachts will be adding them as essential equipment. Expect to see this in a James Bond movie soon.

JetLev Flyer product page [JetLev Flyer]

See Also:

• Safe and Affordable Jetpack: Just $90000
• Video: A Jetpack in Flight
• Wearable Motorbike Makes Batman's Toys Look Pedestrian
• New Zealander to Launch $100K Jetpack
• Video: The Safe Way to Jetpack

If you live in a relatively flat city, a single-speed bike is a fantastic idea. But if you live in any modern city, dropping $1,200 on aluminum-framed fashion-bike probably isn’t so smart.

The bike is a “collabo” between the clothing company Diesel and the bicycle company Pinarello. Somewhat ironically, given its lightweight steal-ability, it is called the “Only the Brave Bicycle”. Or perhaps the word “brave” refers to anyone courageous enough to take this monstrosity out on the streets. It inherits one of the worst habits of fixed-gear fashion: odd-colored wheels. I always assumed that mis-matched wheels existed because the owner was saving up for the garish second half of a set, but perhaps not.

That frame, too, is ugly. With its crooked top-tube and bent seat-stays it looks like it has been pre-crashed. Perhaps this style-point came from Diesel, the bicycle equivalent of distressed, pre-worn jeans?

Thankfully, you can opt for an all-black version, but it still suffers from the misshapen frame. It may still be best to avoid this model in favor of a cheap DIY model based on an old steel frame from Craigslist: When a press release ends like this…

[Diesel] make[s] people feel comfortable and we make people feel tired…but we share the typical Italian creativity and the constant desire to astonish and surprise our clients!

… and fails to mention a single spec of a bike that costs over a grand, your alarm bells should start a-ringin’.

Diesel/ Pinarello urban bike [Bicycle Design]

Pinarello for Diesel: Only the Brave Bicycle [Prolly]

See Also:

• 5 Inexplicable Fixie Fashions
• Hands Off! With the Kryptonite Evolution Mini
• The Stemie: Bike-Pad Protects Your Family's Future
• Create Bikes v2.0: The Cheap Fixed-Gear Grows Up

Just think about this the next time a FedEx van comes speeding past you — that four-wheeled transporter could be carrying containers equipped with liquid nitrogen cooling that keeps its innards at a chilly -150 degrees Celsius. Don’t worry, though, says FedEx, the use of dry vapor is actually safer than the currently used dry ice and classifies this new methodology as non-hazardous. While we may like to poke fun, it sounds like a pretty legitimate boon for healthcare and biotechnology shipments, which can now be maintained at a deeply frozen temperature for up to 10 days at a time. FedEx will provide the self-sufficient container and collects it upon delivery of the goods, while also monitoring its condition during transit. No word on whether or when DiGiorno will be signing up for the service.

[Thanks, Pavel]

Continue reading Federal Excess: FedEx introduces liquid nitrogen-cooled biotech shipping, we can envision other uses

Federal Excess: FedEx introduces liquid nitrogen-cooled biotech shipping, we can envision other uses originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 04:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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