Update to the Future

In The Future of the Future I indulged in fanciful speculation about who was behind Faraday Future. In the meantime, the facts have become known and widely publicized. “We will build the best electric cars to solve the problems of air pollution and traffic jams in China.” – Jia Yueting Jia is a billionaire. From […]

Why The GiGAFactory Won’t Be a GiGAFlop

If you’re waiting for breakthrough battery technology before you buy an EV, you probably won’t be driving an electric vehicle anytime soon. Aluminum air. Flow cell. Carbon nanotube. Not that these don’t hold promise. What Tesla is doing with current lithium-ion technology is the right step. Tesla is building a better battery by building a […]

The Future of the Future?

UPDATE In the article Faraday Future I wrote about a company that at the time was shrouded in mystery. Now it’s even more so. Based in California, Faraday Future boasts it will create vehicles with “four wheels” and “re-envision everything else.” Thanks to FF’s recent announcement that they’ll be building a billion-dollar factory somewhere, maybe […]

(not) the Sparrow Reborn

The twisted tale of the Electra Meccanica SOLO begins in a motorcycle seat maker’s shop in Hollister, California circa 1996. How does Canadian-based Electra Meccanica share history with one of America’s EV pioneers? It starts with a custom motorcycle saddle. If you’ve ever owned a motorcycle, you might have heard of Mike Corbin. Mike’s been […]

The Arcimoto Paradox

For years, I’ve been following the progress of a company out of Eugene, Oregon that has been developing innovative, affordable, all-electric transportation. That company, Arcimoto, is now taking reservations on their generation 8 SRK vehicle, with an initial price of $11,900. For $100, you can reserve your very own 3-wheeled all-electric vehicle with an open […]

moto eléctrica

VOLTA MOTORBIKES of Barcelona, Spain is offering two electric motorcycles with an average range of 43.4 miles (70 km) and a top speed of 74.5 mph (120 km/h). The bikes are targeted directly at urban riders, described as “the right formula to allow you to have fun in the city.” With 70 km of range, […]

Test Drive of a Petrol Car

I don’t usually pass along a story without “interpreting” it, but there is a first time for everything. Instead of boring you with my blather, I’m simply sending you to an article by Tesla Club of Sweden member Tibor Blomhäll. It’s a fun, if not long, read. Thanks to John Ripper for bringing it to […]

Barton Park Adventure

To test the real-world range of AC/DC (my 2012 Nissan Leaf), I decided to drive it from my home in Beaverton, Oregon to Barton Park on the Clackamas River, where my company was shooting a commercial. According to Google Maps, this was 31.5 miles one way, requiring at least 63 miles of range to complete […]

Hydrogen (Bomb?)

Creating electricity with a hydrogen fuel cell is a beautiful concept. Hydrogen and oxygen react in an electrochemical process to produce a flow of electrons, and the only byproduct is a small amount of the combined element: dihydrogen oxide (H2O). It’s very clean. The engineers at Toyota believe this is the future of electric vehicles, […]