Sleek, sexy & eco-chic the Fisker Karma is the first Luxury Plug-in Hybrid.  Did I mention it’s screamin’ fast?  Not quite as quick as the Tesla Roadster, but it still boasts an impressive 0-60 in 5.8 seconds and a top speed of 125mph.  Not all power and asthetics, the Karma has some impressive eco-amenities.  According to Fisker the Karma can travel 50 miles on a single charge, without tapping into it’s gas reserve.  For longer trips the gas tank switches on and increases the range up to 650 miles.  No word on the size of the tank or the actual MPG, but another site speculates that it will get about 40mpg, which is pretty good for a sports car. 

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Dubbed the Uno, this crazy Segway / crotch rocket hybrid is the result of teen, Ben Gulak’s preternatural engineering skills combined with his desire to help the environment.  This “motorUnicycle” actually has two wheels, side by side, and is reportedly easy to ride.  Pictured above is an actual working prototype that weights about 120 lbs and runs for about 2.5 hours on an electric motor.  The bike really has no controls other than the handle bars and the drivers ability to shift his/her weight.  Similar to the Segway, the Uno uses two Gyros to keep itself upright and to operate.  Simply lean in the direction you want to go… forward to accelerate, backwards to go back, and to either side…

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  The long awaited Tesla Roadster is finally out with the opening of the Tesla showroom in Hollywood, but don’t get too excited, all the 2008 models have been sold and there’s already a long line for the 2009 models.  Here’s a quick breakdown for those of you who are not already familiar with this environmental dream machine… 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds… 125mph top speed… 220mile range… 135 mpg equivalent… 0 emissions… and a $109,000 base price!

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Park the car and start hoofin it!  Walking is not only better for the environment but it is better for you.  While you’re sitting there head on over to Walk Score and see what your home’s walk score is.  Walk Score takes your address and finds local businesses, and determines how “walkable” they are.  This is a great resource for people that are in the market for a new house or apartment and want to quickly determine how pedestrian friendly a neighborhood is.  It can also be useful for people who plan on staying put but giving you a reminder of how easy it would be to do some of your local travel by the way god intended.

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When I am surfing the Green sites of the interweb (including our own) I see a lot of very thoughtful and inspiring conversation, and I see a lot of misleading generalizations.  One of the most abundant of the ladder is the comment “that car is not Green because when you plug it in it is using fossil fuels and contributing to global warming!” Here’s an example from our post on the Aptera.  The issue of the indirect carbon emissions from plugging a hybrid into the “Grid” is an important one that needs to be scrutinized, however, those snap criticisms are misleading and hardly productive. 

Such a statement implies that because of the fossil fuels being burned to provide the electricity to these cars, there is no net reduction in emissions or the reduction is somehow insignificant.  That is just not the case. 

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The Zero X is an all electric dirt bike sans emissions and noise.  With a top speed of 60 mph and the ability to go 0-30 in under 2 seconds, this is no wimpy bike.  It is driven by  a permanent magnet electric motor that is powered by a special high powered Lithium Ion battery.  The battery along with it’s power grid ensure up to 2 hours of riding without any performance lag.  Once it’s spent it only takes 2 hours to recharge plugged into a standard home outlet.  These batteries contain no cobalt, nickel, lead or mercury, and are 100% recyclable and rated landfill safe, which is nice. 

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What becomes of all those disposable chopsticks after they pinch their last egg roll? They end up floating Shuhei Ogawara in Lake Inawahiro, at least that is how 7382 of them ended up. Ogawara, a former city employee in the Fukushima prefecture town of Koriyama got fed up watching chopsticks, perfectly good wood, go to waste after just one use. He spent the next two years collecting the used utensils at his City Hall cafeteria and then 3 months gluing them together to make a 13 foot canoe. Ogawara, who’s job had him working with the local forestry industry, is an experienced canoe builder. His chopstick canoe weighs 66 lbs, a little more than the average cedar canoe, but he is confident that it is seaworthy and plans to launch this may in Lake Inawahiro.

7382 chopsticks, that is a lot, however not when compared to the 15 million popsicle sticks that went into making this bad boy…

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This bike may look a little odd, but it is a killer commuting machine with some serious hardware and serious compatibility.  The STRiDA 5.0 sports a rustproof powder-coated aluminum frame, disc brakes, and a luggage rack that can hold 30 lbs.  It folds up in 5 seconds for storage in a closet or so you can take it on the subway.  It uses a greaseless kevlar belt instead of a conventional bike chain so you won’t get grease all over you when you carry it around, which is nice. 

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Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM, the US arm of MDI) is going to begin taking US pre-orders for their ZERO emissions Air Car.  The orders will be filled in 2010.  This announcement came shortly after news of a contract between MDI and India’s largest auto maker, TATA Group, to start producing the Air Car to be released in India later this year. 

About the Air Car…

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From Aptera comes a new wave in electric and hybrid vehicles. Aptera is a new company that designed the Typ-1E from the get-go as an electric vehicle with long range capabilities. The three wheeled phenomenon will most likely be classified as a motorcycle. But, with its three-wheel base and fully enclosed cabin most will opine that this is more of a car. The hybrid version will also include a small combustion engine that will extend the cars range after the batteries have been thoroughly taxed. With intermittent combustion periods this wingless car purportedly will get close to 320mpg, albeit under a max speed of 70mph. When it’s time to put her away simply plug into any 110-volt outlet and let her refuel.

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