Plug-In Hybrid Electrical Vehicle

Manny Ramirez was just kidding. He is not going to Green Bay and Bret Favre is not going to play for the Boston Red Sox. He is going to Washington DC!

Someone at Dunkin Donuts got a text message from a friend that works up the street at Starbucks that said our country is now going to be in a much better position with Bret Favre as our leader!

Once the stock market gets the news I think we can expect oil to drop and consumer confidence to go way up.

So jump in your Hybrid and go ask Bret to pass some legislation that will help this country reduce its consumption of gasoline. I bet Bret wouldn't talk about drilling for more oil since our focus should be on reducing consumption.

This message was approved and paid for by people that want a new leader.

Labels: bret favre, george bush

Google and Idealab seem to care more about the country than rest of corporate America. Where is GE? Where is Oracle? Where is Yahoo? Where is Microsoft? Where are the hedge fund billionaires that have made way too much money trading oil?

"C'mon fellas, WTF??" Where are the superstars? How come the hollywood millionaires are not stepping up to the plate? Where is Arnold Schwarzenegger? He is supposed to want a cleaner state, so why isn't he involved in this organization, even if it is to simply bring attention to the possibilities Aptera offers? If he has brought attention to the deal please let us know!

Where is Walmart? Where is the Walmart family? What are they doing to help reduce our oil dependency since they have helped create such demand in China? Where is Lowes? Where is Home Depot?

I don't understand why Google seems to be the only company that cares and is actually doing something to make a difference?

Where is Warren Buffett? All he seems to say is that oil demand is real? What is he doing to help? He doesn't need to invest or throw money at a cause to make things happen. Although he should. Regardless of your position about Warren Buffett, I think he needs to help move the country to make changes. Everyone with tremendous power and wealth should be doing everything in their power to make things happen.

Senator McCain spent $16 million dollars last month on advertising! Clearly there is enough cash out there to fund more organizations like Aptera. When are going to cap spending on politicians for political races? How come more people are not pissed off by the money spent to run for office. It is disgusting.

The Google and Idealab info was passed along from www.gas2.org. What a great web site! You must check out gas2.org. You can read the full article here.
http://gas2.org/2008/07/28/aptera-electric-car-closer-to-production-after-cash-infusion/

Who are the green billionaires? What are they doing? Keep us informed and pass along what you know.

Labels: aptera, google.org, green billionaires, idealab

We tend to focus on gas mileage and the costs associated with trading in an SUV for a hybrid and whether or not it makes fiscal sense. What we often forget to talk about is the feel-good aspect of doing something that right.  You are doing something right for the environment and for the economy. Most of the time we are arguing about the myths associated with replacing the batteries or the carbon footprint of the batteries from the people that simply refuse to believe that a hybrid is actually an option to reduce pollution and our dependency on foreign oil.

Most of us driving hybrids were not volunteering to set sail with Green-Peace back in the early 90's but many of us were members and did our small part by becoming a member. Many of you were recycling before recycling was mainstream. Being green is something that felt right. It felt good and still feels good. I don't care if you drive an SUV. I don't care if you love your big diesel truck. Do your part in other ways. Stop using paper towels. Make sure you company turns of their lights and you turn off your lights. Make sure your tire pressure is always correct and everyone around you knows the importance of proper tire pressure. Write to your state reps about the importance of a pickup hybrid that still has power. There are a million things you can do besides drive a hybrid. Do your part to make sure green is really green. A lot of organizations sell green but in all honesty it is very difficult to know for sure if something is 100% green or even better than the existing alternative.

Regardless of your political beliefs or your position on oil and gasoline. I think it is safe to argue that the hybrid movement is something we can now all get behind and make a legitimate argue for as the best approach to reduce consumer vehicle pollution and to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. With gas prices at this level even the most hard core gas lover cannot drive by a hybrid and not think to themselves... "Damn I wish they made that thing with an 8 foot bed and a 4 inch lift kit"

This post is all about the good feeling that comes along with driving a hybrid. So many people want to know if the car really does get 40+ miles per gallon. So many people want to know if the car is expensive to maintain. So many people want to know how the hybrid drives. Nothing feels better than walking out of the store and to see someone looking at a hybrid wondering to themselves "is this a car I could drive, does this car really get ..... , does this car cost $$$$ to maintain" and you get to walk up to them and answer all their questions. I don't even bother to ask them what they are doing unless I see them with a slim jim trying to get in the car! I just walk up and tell them "It is a great car. I average 47 miles per gallon. It handles like any other 4 cylinder toyota or honda. It does not cost anything to maintain beyond what you pay for a normal car" and they just stand back and shake their head and say "thanks" or "no kidding"

Now the real secret to the hybrid and PHEV success is getting some companies that are more interested in doing good than making a profit. Well I think we need a nice balance of both in order to make it successful. We need Patagonia to build hybrid PHEV technology.

Imagine a hybrid that wicks away sweat! LOL

Anyway.... Got get a hybrid and feel good about doing your part today.

A message from your children and their children to come!!!!

"STOP BUYING BOTTLED WATER" Get a water filter and a reusable water bottle. Drink water before you go to work and when you get home. There is no reason to buy so much damn bottled water. Stop putting bottled water in the cooler at barbecues. Put out a pitcher of ice water from your filtered water.

When you go to a restaurant and get a soda, where do you think that water comes from? That is tap water that is mixed with the carbonation and syrup? "THE TAP!!!!!" You drink more of that than you will ever drink of bottled water.

So do your part today and tell all your friends to stop buying bottled water!

Labels: feel good, hybrid phev, patagonia

Keep your eye on Raser Technologies. The Utah based company put out this press release yesterday.

Raser Developing 100 MPG Plug-In Hybrid Light Truck For Initial Release To Utility And Government Fleets

PROVO, Utah – July 22, 2008 – Raser Technologies today announced it is developing a 100 mile per gallon (mpg) light truck in addition to a 100 mpg SUV. Raser’s plug-in electric drive system is designed to allow light trucks such as the Chevy Silverado, Ford F-150, or Dodge Ram to achieve over 100 mpg in typical local daily driving with near zero emissions, by using electricity instead of petroleum as the primary fuel. The announcement comes as Raser nears completion of a 100 mpg SUV demonstration vehicle, built in cooperation with a leading global OEM, using the same drive system. Unlike most hybrid or even plug-in hybrid vehicles that still rely mainly on a combustion engine, an extended range electric truck (E-REV) using Raser’s drive system is propelled entirely by a powerful 200 kW peak electric motor using lithium ion batteries. The truck is being developed in cooperation with the Plug-In Hybrid Consortium Development (www.HybridConsortium.org) and is designed to operate with zero direct emissions during typical local daily driving.

Here is a link to the full article: MORE

Here is a link to a very interesting brochure on their plug in hybrid electric truck. It is a very detailed PDF that describes the system with great photos and descriptions. CLICK

Labels: 100 mpg phev, pickup phev, suv phev

I was checking out my PHEV Google alerts this morning and read a great article on Greenbiz.com The article mentions a company out of Utah that I think you all need to watch. The name of the company is Raser Technologies and they have developed a PHEV motor that is powerful enough for light duty trucks and will get 100+ miles per gallon.

Next Generation Hybrid Motor

As hybrid vehicles become “electric motor dominant” they require a motor that can deliver more power and more torque at a lower cost with more reliability. Raser’s Symetron™ technology is available for license for “hub” style motors to meet the needs of the next generation of hybrid vehicle motors. Symetron™ technology offers PM motor performance with the economy of an AC induction pancake motor. The technology is ideal for many applications including integrated hybrid motors, intergraded starter generators, and is scaleable for a wide range of sizes from small scooters to the large heavy vehicles and generators.

Labels: phev motor, phev truck, raser technologies

A friend of a friend said that she heard from a friend of a friend that got a text message from his neighbors grandma that works at the library that Barack Obama was going to kick McCain's ass for that bullshit gas price television commercial that was aired by Senator McCain.

A friend of a friend also said that he heard someone say that most people that are worried about our economy and oil prices think that McCains new commercial makes him look like a douche bag.

Others have reported that McCain has been spending his money to look cool and funny in order to avoid real issues and real questions about his parties inability to get anything right over the past 8 years.

Oh this just in... Hot of the text message alert system here at PHEV. A bunch of high schoolers that no longer can afford their gas to go out on the weekends call McCain a real idiot. One youngster, a senior in highschool, said "WTF I am LMAO right now McCain, you think that drilling now is going to help us reduce pollution and find alternative energy sources. The problem is oil jerk off, not because we don't have more oil wells in the US. Don't you read McCain? If demand is going up, then all that is going to happen is prices are going to go up. The solution is alternative energy and creating incentives for businesses to use alternative energy sources as well as make it more attractive to entrepreneurs to come up with new technology... But what do I know, I am just 18."

We are so pissed off that McCain would run such a dumb ass aggressive advertisement.

I am a former republican and veteran of the Gulf Storm. The republicans can thank Bush and Rumsfeld for forcing me to switch teams.

We need change and we need change fast. We need new approaches that have real thought and concern behind each decision. Not, I am right and you are wrong.

Labels: campaign commercials, politics, presidential campaign

Andy Frank should be given a Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing plugin in hybride electric vehicle technology.

Detroit automakers and their engine designers should be given pink slips. If you are an engineer or executive with one of the big automakers, your kids should be ashamed of your efforts and lack of concern for the planet and geo political issues. The same way union negotiators should be ashamed of pushing manufacturing jobs to other countries.

Many of our engineers only had concerns for profits and the most of the union side negotiators had no concern for profits.

Alright.. No more soap box blogging. I want you to learn more about Andy Frank.

Take a look at this great article written about Andy Frank on csmonitor.com. Most people have never even heard of this genius.

Check him out.

http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/07/18/can-plug-in-hybrids-ride-to-america%E2%80%99s-rescue/

Labels: andy frank, detroit automakers, nobel peace prize

34 years ago we had an oil crisis and today we are talking about similar legislation to help solve our current economic crisis with respect to oil demand. Does it get anymore frustrating than this?

At what point do we start learning from our past experience? At what point does a warning from Alan Greenspan become legitimate? We all held on to his words but for some reason thought he was a crazy old man when he warned us about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. At what point do we start taking this problem seriously as a nation? I think too many people see our problems in the same light as the trash and boarded up buildings in a bad neighborhood on the other side of town. Most think that if I ignore it long enough the problem will simply go away. Hell most people probably thought.. "If real estate prices continue to climb some savvy developer is going to buy up that bad neighborhood in put in luxury condos or OOH maybe that developer can put in another Home Depot and Walmart.

We have so many indicators and factors that have been in our face for decades and yet we have done nothing. Our economic situation did not hit us like a freak earth quake without warning. We have had all the information necessary to know that many indicators were real and that if not addressed could cause a deep recession.

Houses are not worth that much! WTF WTF WTF Everyone knew deep down inside that housing prices were completely ridiculous. It does not take a derivatives trader to figure out that houses were over valued. How in the *&^% did so many financial analysts and risk managers just look the other way just to make more money? I mean talk about the perfect storm....

Auto manufacturers that have not given a rats ass about fuel economy for over 90 years.

Greenspan warning us about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae crisis years ago.

2004 - Franklin Raines, CEO of Fannie Mae was fired for engaging in accounting improprieties that hid earnings volatility. Better known as accounting irregularities to the spin doctors.

I know that I am rambling.... It is just so frustrating that this time our bubble was not just some internet valuation game being controlled by the nations richest and most powerful traders and market makers. This time, WallStreets superpowers were playing with paper that has ##@@ed us like no other financial game in our countries history.

It is the perfect storm set in place by financial traders and risk managers. Greed at its best.

What is amazing is that we are still sitting in the bleachers watching WallStreet's super heros do it all over again with Oil.

WallStreet is no different than any other institution. Just like Madison avenue does it with styles and colors. WallStreet has a hot commodity or industry that everyone manages to convince is beautiful and real. No matter how ugly or uncomfortable it might be when broken down in a spreadsheet or with logic. Just as they where uncomfortable suits and ties all day because Madison Avenue tells them what to wear. A very select few super traders get to tell the world what is going to go up and create artificial markets and valuations with no substance or logic.

Oil speculators trade on such bullshit data. Hurricane possibilities drive up oil prices. Reported attacks on oil refineries without pictures or video footage drive up oil prices. Two guys miss work on an offshore oil drilling platform and oil prices go up.

These speculators are on the golf course laughing their asses off. Just like the internet bubble players were doing in 1999 outside the coffee shops in Palo Alto. They had nothing but potential to trade on and the oil traders have nothing but made up stories that enable them to move the markets.

Powereful players just go from one game to the next. Some win and some lose. But nothing changes except for the game. Junk bonds, Internet Companies, Mortgages, and Now oil. All they did is figure out how to do it in another category and make more money doing it.......

How beautiful is it when you can walk in the office and look at a weather report send out a few emails and make millions. It's beautiful. Login to your email and check out your Google alerts and find the perfect little link and pass it long to CNBC. Shazaam! Oil prices have gone up.

Or just get on CNBC and tell the world that global demand is driving the prices and we might run out of oil. Imagine that. They found a game that allows them to use fear to drive up prices.

Was the gauge that measures the amount of oil underneath the earths surface broken until recently? Was it stuck? Oh I bet it was probably just dirty and one of the traders took the time to clean it off and then looked at it and said holy shit! "We don't have that much oil left. I better call CNBC and let them know"

I am not denying the fact that oil demand is up and going up based on global growth. There were some aspects of the internet bubble that were real. However, after thousands of companies were started and stopped and billions were lost we were left with Google, Yahoo, Ebay and a handful of others.

The problem with oil is that you can't walk over to the middle east pull out the dip stick to see how much oil is actually in the ground or quickly find an alternative source of energy to slow down the speculation.

This oil game is brilliant. They figured out how to trade the perfect commodity and we have no real way to stop it from my perspective.

So the next time an oil trader comes in your shop, charge him 300 times the suggest retail price and tell him there was a threat of a hurricane off the Gulf so I had to raise my prices to cover the possibility that demand is going up and supply could be slowed down for the next few weeks.

Oh and always charge more in hot months and cold months. People like to use stuff when its hot and when its cold. I have always loved that one.....

Just make up some story about some neighborhood thieves that have been stealing stuff from local businesses. Use that as an excuse to charge your oil speculators 500% above suggested retail.

The bottom line is I don't have enough information to truly understand the oil game but on the surface it just pisses me off because it doesn't make much sense based on the data that drives prices up and down.

Top 10 Misconceptions about the Toyota Prius

1.   Its better for local city driving.  WRONG:  It only gets 2 - 3 miles less per gallon per mile based on EPA estimates.  Our tests show it gets the same or better gas mileage on 3 different 2008 Toyota Prius' when driving long distances on the open highway in New York.

2.   Chics dig the Prius.  WRONG:  Only if  you live in certain areas and/or you are a huge celebrity.  Even then, it is still highly unlikely that chics will be turned on by your Prius.

3.   It is really slow and has no power.  WRONG:  It has plenty of power.  You will be pleasantly surprised.

4.   It requires special gas.  NOPE.

5.   It costs a lot to maintain.  NOPE.  WRONG again.

6.   It has to be plugged in.  NOPE and unfortunately this time you are WRONG again.  We wish you could plug them in.

7.   You have to do city driving before it makes sense to buy one.  NOPE.  You and about 200 million others are wrong again.

8.   You have to take a class to learn how to drive one.  NOPE.  But you will need to get used to spending less time at the gas station.

9.   People will make fun of me.  NOPE  Actually people will often ask you for a test drive and ask you how much you like driving the Prius.

10. Al Gore invented the Prius.  NOPE.  But he did generate over 100 million entries in top 10 lists all across the internet and has been at the butt end of millions of invention jokes.  

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is obviously not a Prius but check this stuff out after you read about the Prius.

Nothing has been confirmed by Toyota but news is spreading that the 2009 Toyota Prius might have a solar panel sunroof. A few sources have called this a PR stunt. I have no idea why this would be considered a PR stunt considering RVs have been using solar panels for years.

White Horse RV Center was kind enough to transfer me to their service department. Pete was kind enough to spend a few minutes on the phone with me going over the solar panels on RVs. He told me that they have been using solar panels on RVs since the early 90's. Pete said that they have were designed to keep the batteries charged while your RV or Motor Home is in storage.

Obviously the batteries that help power your Prius are a bit different than the batteries that start up your RV or Motor Home. However, anything that can help generate power without the use of fossil fuels or mineral fuels is what we need. Maybe just maybe, Toyota figured it out during a killer brainstorming session during a corporate retreat. You never know.

Before this discussion with a co-worker I had no idea RVs had solar panels and after a little browsing I found some impressive solar panels you can buy for your RV. Now we just need to figure out how to get two 50 ft panels mounted on a PRIUS.

Check out these solar panels and what they provide for green RV owners. If you or anyone you know have anything like this installed on their RV we would love to hear how well they actually work.

THE SUNRISE

The Sunrise mobile solar kit is compact and simple to install. Provide basic DC power for lighting, laptop computer and water pumping. It can provide up to 325 watts in 5 hours of sunshine.

1 Kyocera KC85 watt solar panel
1 Set of flush mount panel mounts for roof
1 Sunsaver SS-6-L-12
50' 10/2 flat wire 50' roll

All for just $575, plus shipping!

THE SUNDANCER

The Sundancer is a powerful solar kit that can provide over 600 watts DC per day* from a powerful mitsubishi 120 watt panel and is expandable to double the amount of power.

1 Mitsubishi 120 solar panel
1 Set of flush mount panel mounts for roof
1 Morningstar PS15M charge controller
50' 10/2 flat wire 50' roll

Pay only $860, plus shipping. Add a second 120 watt panel and mounting for $600

THE TWO SUNS

The two suns solar kit can provide over 650 watts per day* from powerful Kyocera Solar panels and run up to 1,500 watts of AC equipment on-board for all the comforts of home on the road.

2 Kyocera KC85 watt solar panels
2 Sets of flush mount panel mounts for roof
1 Morningstar PS15M charge controller
50' 10/2 flat wire 50' roll
1 Magnum ME-2012 & remote control
1 Set of 15' x 4/0 inverter cables
1 300 amp battery / inverter fuse block

A great sale price of $2,545, plus shipping.

You can see the panels here: http://www.wholesalesolar.com/RV.html

You must take a few minutes and check out www.wojack.net. Once you get there go to the left menu and click on Our Solar System.

It is an interesting site that talks about solar panels and RVs.

Wojack.net also talks about "Boondockers". I think this means RV travelers that travel without the need to park inside a full hook up RV park. They manage with just their solar energy systems. Take a look at this site. I think you will find it interesting considering this has been going on for years.

http://www.wojack.net/Our%20Solar%20System/OUR_SOLAR_SYSTEM.HTM

Labels: 2009 prius, boondockers, solar panel sunroof, solar panels

Labels: hybrid misconceptions, prius rumors