General Motors unveiled a trio of new Global Cars at the New York International Auto Show. Designed as urban commuter vehicles, these minicars originate from GM’s Korean design studios. Released under the Chevy brand, these three concept vehicles, Beat, Groove [See the full post…]

Tom Winkleman is head of business development for the Good Earth Electric Vehicle Company out of Fayetteville, Ark. Good Earth uses a battery similar to a deep cycle marine battery that is so efficient, it’s capable of powering their vehicles [See the full post…]

Nick Banks is general manager of Dynasty Electric Car Corporation, a Canadian company near Vancouver, building all electric, zero-emission LSVs. The company has four models to choose from and produces 100 cars per year and is looking to expand production. [See the full post…]

Global warming is happening, and one of the culprits is likely increased emission levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as a result of our energy usage. Lynn Orr is director of the Global Climate and Energy Project and [See the full post…]

Alternatives can help create a sustainable energy future. The most promising long-term alternative energy sources are wind and solar: there is plenty of it, greenhouse gas emissions are low, and the required surface area is relatively small — especially when [See the full post…]

In Iceland and a few other countries, geothermal energy delivers a large part of the energy used for heating or cooling, through geothermal heat pumps. You may be surprised to hear that there are hundreds of thousands of buildings in [See the full post…]

There’s a lot of enthusiasm right now around ethanol as a potential solution to our oil addiction. Not everyone shares that enthusiasm, though. Margot Gerritsen speaks with UC Berkeley Professor Tad Patzek for a different perspective. Patzek is certain that [See the full post…]

Mark Jacobson is a world expert in wind energy and air pollution. He sees wind and solar power — not biomass — as the most optimal energy sources. He says that the increased use of ethanol will not improve the [See the full post…]

Mark Jacobson is a leading expert in wind energy and the atmosphere. He hears some of the claims being made on behalf of E85 — that it’s supposed to be cleaner, that it will reduce ozone-forming pollution and the release [See the full post…]

Wind energy is a very attractive energy source with very low emissions and low space requirements (especially when compared to biomass crops). My colleague, Mark Jacobson, has done extensive research into available wind resources in the U.S. and abroad. He’s [See the full post…]

Tony Martindale is head of Connaught, a British car company developing a new high-performance hybrid sports coupe called the Type-D H GT. The Type-D H features the world’s first V10 hybrid power train, which aims to combine high performance and [See the full post…]

One of my favorite programs was the Future Car series on Discovery. In the show, one of the companies featured was the Narrow Car company, maker of the Naro, two-seat, four-wheel vehicle with the banking action of a motorbike (to [See the full post…]

Kurt Bauerly is general manager of Princeton, Minn.-based e-ride Industries, a manufacturer of low-speed Neighborhood Electric Vehicles. On today’s show, Kurt introduces us to the exv4 electric transportation vehicle and the exv2 electric utility vehicle, two environmentally friendly, reliable, zero-emissions [See the full post…]

Kevin Keling, Marketing Strategy Manager for Ford, talks about Ford’s embrace of audio technology and its hope that downloads will drive buyers to it’s showrooms. The company has partnered with Microsoft to offer Sync, a voice-activated in-car communications and entertainment [See the full post…]

How well do your bumpers protect your car in a low-speed collision, like the kind that happen in commuter traffic or parking lots? Acording to Russ Rader of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, for 17 mid-size cars in a [See the full post…]

“Plug In. Charge up. Drive On.” That’s the slogan of Carl Lawrence and his team at Hybrids Plus, a Boulder, Colo.-based group dedicated to converting Hybrid Electric Vehicles into Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicles and minimizing the impact of transportation [See the full post…]

One of my newest heroes is John Q. McMillan, a gentleman from Tennessee, who, along with his business partner Xander Carey and a group of Canadian investors, has designed a “purpose-built” electric car, the Predator, an efficient, three passenger, electric [See the full post…]

At the recent Clean Tech Venture Network Conference in San Francisco, Nora McDevitt interviewed Dave Jones of Live Fuels, Inc. This start-up is developing biofuel technologies using algae. Algae multiplies so quickly and produces so much oxygen that it could [See the full post…]

Developing more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly highway transportation technologies that enable Americans to use less petroleum is the mission of the FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program, which supports the mission of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency [See the full post…]

At the recent Clean Tech Venture Network Conference in San Francisco, Nora McDevitt interviewed Peter Fusaro, chairman of Global Change Associates, Dan Kammen, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Maurice Gunerderson, venture partner with CMEA Ventures on [See the full post…]

As host of The Next Gear, I get to meet people who are trying to bring about postitive changes in the automotive industry. Many of the people I meet are entrepreneurs whose inventions have the potential to change the world, [See the full post…]

Size matters — especially when you put it in the context of an urban area with traffic congestion and parking capacity. That’s the thinking behind Spokane, Wash.-based Commuter Cars Corp. The company has unvelied an ultra-narrow, high performance zero-emissions vehicle, [See the full post…]

In the race to bring to market the first scalable PHEV, it all comes down to developing the best battery that delivers the furthest range, longest life and lowest cost. And one company may have it figured out. Altairnano, a [See the full post…]

One of the new technologies that has me very excited is the promise of V2G, or Vehicle to Grid, technology, where PHEV’s plug into the electric grid to help handle periods of peak energy demand. In this second of a [See the full post…]

In the first in a two-part series, I examine the emerging “Vehicle to Grid,” or V2G technology, where Plug-in Electric Vehicles use their excess battery power to recharge the electrical grid during periods of peak demand. Several energy utilities are [See the full post…]