PDX Transit

Ford Focus Electric Customers can Drive Green for Life

Bailey — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:01:13 +0000

Ford Motor Company and SunPower are offering a rooftop solar system option which will be sold alongside the upcoming Ford Focus EV. The “Drive Green for Life” program, as it’s being called, involves mounting solar panels on a customer’s home.

American made: Building the 2011 Chevrolet Volt

Bailey — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 20:39:13 +0000

if you ever wondered how Chevy volt is assembled, click on the youtube video to see the entire process collapsed into 1 minute and 55 secs.

First Looks at the Honda Fit EV

Bailey — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 03:26:36 +0000

The highly anticipated Honda Fit EV Concept All Electric Car offically unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show today.

Honda Fit

The EV model is a brother to the gas sipping standard Honda Fit but with an “electric motor similar to that it developed for the Clarity fuel cell vehicle and a lithium-ion battery pack”

Quick Facts about the Fit

12hr charge at 120V, 6hr charge at 240V

90MPH top speed

Coaxial electric motor provides ~2.0L performance

~100mi range

Compatible with Honda-branded “charging stand”

Normal, Econ, and Sport drive modes

Smartphone and computer applications for monitoring battery, assistance, etc.

Honda expects the Fit EV to shift into production in starting 2012. More information is available on the official Honda Fit EV Concept Site

Sources
Honda Shows Off Its Fit EV
Honda has an electric Fit

Oregon based Motorcycle Company Brammo Takes Preorders for Enertia Plus Electric Bike

Bailey — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 05:41:24 +0000

The Enertia Plus, is Brammo’s fifth and latest electric motorcylce and is set for delivery in 2011. The Enertia Plus’ suggested retail price is $8,995 and comes stock with a 6.0 kWh Brammo Power Lithium Ion battery pack.

According to the company’s chief executive Craig Bramscher, the Enertia Plus is a zero-emissions motorcycle that will travel 80 miles on one charge, over 60 miles per hour, and should take about 6 hours to fully power up at any electric vehicle (EV) charging station with Level 1 capabilities. By contrast, Brammo’s debut machine, the Enertia, went only 40 miles on a single charge and used 3.2 kWh Valence-branded batteries

RAD Ceiling Mount Bike Hoist

Bailey — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:17:58 +0000

Lift heavy bikes up to 55lbs capacity. Hooks are designed with a rubber coating to protect your bicycle from scratches.

Help Keep Portland Bike-Friendly

Take the dog for a walk

Bailey — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:17:51 +0000

I saw the Walky Dog Hands Free Bicycle Leash on amazon this morning and thought some of you might find it interesting. It should be especially handy if you tend to take your dog along during treks around PDX. It also includes a 5 LED helmet light so that you can go ‘hands free’!.

Read more abou the Bicycle leash here.

National Walk To School Day

Nissan Leaf tops the Chevy Volt with 367 MPG

Bailey — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:53:54 +0000

The Nissan Leaf is a zero emssion, plug-in electric card. It tops the Chevy Volt stagger fuel efficiency with whopping 367 MPG. Business week reports that the Leaf [will] run a 100 miles on a single charge [and] will cost no more to buy and run than a traditional gasoline-powered car. Charging time is estimated at seven hours, however a 30-minute quick charge can get batteries back up to 80% of full power.”

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/15/nissan-says-its-new-electric-car-the-leaf-gets-367-miles-per-g/

2010 will be a privitol year for alternative energy cars. The electric Nissan Leaf will be introduced late next year in the U.S., Europe and Japan plus the much anticipated Chevy volt will charge into showroom.

Read more about the Nissan Leaf and on BusinessWeek.

Amsterdam: Bike Capital of the world

Bailey — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:31:24 +0000

Portland is touting itself as the bike capital of the United States. So how does it compare to the bike capital of the world, Amerstdam?

"Amsterdam is truly a bicycle city, with every road containing bike lines – and even some with traffic lights aimed only at bicycle riders. Amsterdam has become a bike city for a couple of reasons: First, it's almost entirely flat; and second, many of the brick-paved roads and bridges are so narrow that they seem uniquely suited to bike and scooter traffic."

230 MPG!!

pdxwriter — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:27:32 +0000

If the new Chevy Volt actually hits the market next year, there will finally be a car that addresses the majority of driving styles, if not the majority of pocketbooks. With their announcement that the Volt will travel about 40 miles on a charge, many drivers will not have to buy gasoline for months at a time. Then, when you do need to go for a roadtrip, the Volt will deliver up to 230 Miles Per Gallon with a gas powered generator keeping the batteries charged. As U.S.A. Today stated (http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-08-11-chevrolet-volt_N.htm?csp=34), this may be the start of looking at cost per mile of driving rather than miles per gallon.

The O-Train: Ottawa’s Light Rail

pdxwriter — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:46:08 +0000

The O-Train is Ottawa’s first experience with light rail transit. The O-Train travels an 8-km track past five stations, two of which connect to the city’s bus rapid transit system (the “Transitway”), over two bridges and through a tunnel beneath Dow’s Lake. The line serves Carleton University, a major employment centre, and a shopping mall in a densely populated neighbourhood.

The O-Train was initiated to assess the technical feasibility of using an existing rail corridor for rapid transit, to validate expectations about ridership, performance and cost, and to allow proper analysis of possible larger-scale implementation.

Budget:

Capital costs: $21 million
Two-year operating costs: $8 million

Results:

Daily ridership: 9,000+
Car trips removed per day: 3,000+
Wheelchair and bicycle accessible
Annual revenues of $1.6 million, with a revenue/cost ratio of 36% compared to the transit system average of 55%
99% on time, compared to 70% for the overall transit system

O-Train Wikipedia page