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ECTunes Pioneers Pedestrian-Safety Sounds for Electric Cars

ECTunes founders Jesper Rasmussen and Thomas Gadegaard (in car): a business opportunity. (Credit: ECTunes)

Isn't it great that electric cars are virtually silent? You won't even hear them coming! Isn't it terrible that electric cars are virtually silent? You won't even hear them coming!

Your perspective on this may vary. The quietness of EVs has been one of their biggest virtues since the 1910 Detroit Electric was a going concern. But the possibility that they'll sneak up on -- and hit -- pedestrians or blind people has activated some special interest groups and will likely lead to legislation (enshrined in the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010) requiring EVs to actually make sounds.

The public loves the idea of personalizing those sounds, which leads inevitably to the idea of ringtones for EVs. But the sounds would actually work best if they were uniform, like the beep-beep backup noise trucks use.

Some coming EVs, including the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and Fisker Karma, will have sounds generated in house (though often using consultants), and they tend to have vaguely techno overtones. Here's a video about the Leaf sound:

An Exclusive First Drive of a Tesla-Powered Electric Mercedes

The very first Tesla/Mercedes Benz electric A-Class, at Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto, California. (Jim Motavalli photo)

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA--I got an unexpected treat during a recent visit to Tesla Motors' headquarters near San Francisco: They let me be the first journalist, ever, to drive the electric version of the Mercedes A-Class.

Let me say up front, I was totally captivated by this car, a product of the growing collaboration between Tesla and Daimler. Some 500 will be built, likely for delivery to "hand raisers," probably mostly in Europe. From behind the wheel, it seemed like an ideal mix of functionality and fun in a battery-powered vehicle. Unlike many of the EVs coming out later this year and early next, it's a four-seater, and approximately the size and utility of one of my favorite cars, the Honda Fit. (I own a 2007 Fit.) If you've never heard of the long-running Mercedes A-Class, it's because it has never been imported into the U.S. But I think America is ready for it. Here's what the car looks like on video:

Perform a Trash Can Autopsy to Save Money and Resources

Archeologists say that digging through a civilization's garbage can reveal more about peoples' lifestyles than just about anything else. Take a minute to look through your trash -- items you're recycling as well as sending to the landfill -- and learn how you can save money and the Earth's resources at the same time.

Dryer Lint
Dryer lint represents the life of your expensive clothing being beaten and cooked out of them by an electric dryer. Save hundreds of dollars a year by drying your clothes on a clothesline instead; they'll last much longer, and you'll save on electricity and appliance costs, too.

Packaging
Too much packaging in your trash can be a sign that you need a smart-shopping intervention. Afterall, packaging costs money, which consumers pay for in the end. Buying in bulk and larger sizes is usually cheaper and saves resources. Sometimes shopping at "big box" stores can even be a greener choice.

Electric Cars Will Have Fewer Gadgets. Here's Why.

Texting while driving: Just the beginning of the distractions. (Flickr/Jason Weaver)

What high-tech feature would you want to see in your car (that's not there now)? Autobytel.com asked that question as part of its "What's Hot Now?" report, and the results indicate that people must get lost a lot-30 percent, by far the largest number, would like to have an in-dash GPS navigation device. Me, I can live without one.

In fact, just as cars are connecting big time, we're electrifying them, and many of the early EVs will be kind of skimpy on personal tech, trying to increase battery life and increase range.

In the old days, the advertised list price of an entry-level car got you a really bare-bones vehicle with a "blanking plate" where the radio would have been. In England, even the heater was optional, which makes no sense in a country with perpetual "pissing down rain." But now everybody wants cars loaded (try to find one without air conditioning) and CD players and iPod Connectivity are nearly standard. And that's why it's interesting that the second-most popular choice in the survey (24 percent) was "I can live without technology..."

14 Creative Homemade Halloween Costumes, for Kids and Adults
From Mr. Potato Head to Ms. Pac-Man, The Daily Green's audience has submitted more than 100 creative homemade Halloween costume ideas. These are just a few of our favorites.

Animal Planet's "Blood Dolphins" Shines Harsh Light on Captive Dolphin Trade

Days ago, I was surrounded by a pod of Spinner dolphins off the coast of Maui, Hawaii. There must've been at least fifty of them, including babies that looked like silver nerf balls skimming the surface as they bounced up and down, budding their small heads.

The dolphins were not in any hurry, so they flipped and dived around us in almost choreographed repetition, some flipping airborne at least three feet above water. Our small eco tour group cheered at each leap and delighted as they swam close enough to our raft to touch them.

After this experience, I couldn't help but think about "Blood Dolphins," an upcoming three-part series on Animal Planet produced by Ric and Lincoln O'Barry, the father/son activists featured in last year's Oscar award-winning documentary The Cove. I recently attended a Television Press Tour Q&A with the filmmakers, where a reporter queried, "Why save dolphins?"

The elder O'Barry responded with the thoughtful passion that bears out his five-plus decades of marine work: "[Throughout history] dolphins have saved the lives of humans. That's special. That's altruism. That's communication." He believes they are highly intelligent, self-aware and complex creatures. The surreal experience of these seemingly foreign creatures practically performing, and interacting with my raft group, made me appreciate their supreme nature all the more.

Witnessing dolphins swimming free in their habitat first-hand is one thing, but O'Barry is vehemently opposed to captive environments. "We've been brainwashed into thinking that dolphins belong in a concrete tank doing tricks for us, and somehow that translates into conservation," says the activist who once trained Flipper, America's favorite dolphin. "Flipper was a blood dolphin. Shamu is a blood dolphin. That is the reality of it. My hope is that with 'Blood Dolphins,' viewers will think twice about seeing a captive dolphin show."

"One of the dirty little secrets is, where did these animals come from?" offers the younger O'Barry. "They didn't just magically appear in these aquariums. In countries where they allow the slaughter of dolphins, typically they're also allowing the export of dolphins."

In Hawaii, the Sun Shines on Green Cars

Hawaii's Bio Beetles offer more than 35 mpg. (Jim Motavalli photo)

Hawaii is green, or so its boosters tell you incessantly. Of course, you have to ignore the thick smoke from the sugarcane-field-burning operations and the runoff chemicals used to control roadside plants, mountains of tourism-generated waste, plus a huge complement of invasive species.

An encouraging sign is the 30-megawatt wind farm visible from most parts of Maui, providing 10% of the island's electricity. Unfortunately, most of the rest is from diesel oil. But during a recent stay, I saw some evidence that the islands are starting to really go green, especially when it comes to transportation.

There's not much public transit in Hawaii (a light rail system is still stuck in the planning stage) but there is the Bio Beetle company, which rents a fleet of 20 biodiesel VWs and other cars in Maui. Also on Hawaii's second biggest island, the rapidly growing Maui EVs converts trucks and cars to batteries -- and has a backlog of orders.

The Korean EV company CT&T recently met with Governor Linda Lingle about opening a battery car assembly plant in Hawaii that could put 10,000 cars on the road annually, for local use and export. It's not clear where that plant would be located.

Since August 1, Hawaiian residents have been able to tap into a $4 million state-administered pot of stimulus funds for buying EVs ($4,500 maximum) or installing an EV charging station ($500). Bio Beetle is one of the applicants, hoping to add cars such as the Nissan Leaf to its fleet as soon as that car is available (expected to be at the end of this year).

In my week here, I visited David Noon at Maui EVs, took a ride in his Gem neighborhood vehicle, and saw a Ford Ranger XLT he was converting to run on 23 Optima marine batteries. Another is waiting for conversion, and there's a customer backlog that includes a Hummer H2, Mini and 1950s Studebaker.

Noon also operates Internet-based TV and radio businesses, but he thinks EV conversions are likely to be more lucrative.

6 Ways Oatmeal Can Improve Your Skin
Try these simple recipes for good health and good skin from a surprising, if familiar, grain.

Meet the Coda Electric Car, Soon Available in California

The ever-evolving Coda sedan in Santa Monica. (Jim Motavalli photo)

LOS ANGELES--I spent four days in California running back and forth between green car companies, including Coda, Tesla, Fisker and AC Propulsion. This state is becoming the epicenter of EV development for several reasons: environmental inclinations, weather, and governments (both state and local) increasingly willing to subsidize both EV purchases and the charging stations they'll need to plug into.

Among the charging projects targeting California are ChargePoint America, the EV Project and a new $5 million effort by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Many of the charging companies are located in California, too, including Coulomb Technologies. Given all that charging synergy, it's not surprising that Santa Monica-based Coda's early production will go to California only. I visited Coda and found a beehive of activity, as the company tries to get a car ready for the market by the end of the year.

Hyundai and Its Bold 50 MPG Gas Mileage Goal Vs. Resurgent Consumer Demand for SUVs

The Ford Expedition: The big SUVs are baaaack.

Just when you think you have the trends figured out, something happens that's completely counter to your thinking. No wonder people are tying themselves in knots trying to figure out the size of the EV market next year. On the one hand, automakers are going green with a vengeance. I give special props to Korean success story Hyundai, which recently pledged – completely on its own – to achieve incredible 50 mpg fleet averages by 2025. (Hyundai, along with the rest of the U.S. market, will have to achieve 34 mpg by 2016.) But on the other hand, the Big Three are adding shifts to keep up with the renewed demand for huge SUVs. I'm talking about the very largest ones, the Tahoes, the Expeditions, the Infiniti QX56s, the Durangos.

Every automaker, including the big ones making those gas guzzlers, is wrapping itself in green. But big SUVs are still where the profit is, and their sales are up 19 percent compared to the same period a year ago (small cars are up, too, but only 14 percent). Infiniti even increased production on its massive QX56 because of off-the-charts demand....

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Pop Musician Ditches the Van for a Bicycle-Based Tour

Ben Sollee (on the bike, with cello) gets ready to hit the road. (Photo courtesy of Ben Sollee)

You could say singer-songwriter Ben Sollee likes a slower pace of life. Sollee's music on two recent albums is modern pop, but it's spare, melodic and played on acoustic instruments--with his expressive cello up front. And if the show you happened to catch started late, it's not because the band's van broke down on the highway--Sollee and his percussionist travel by bicycle. Call it the Ditching the Van tour, because they do.

"Going green" for many bands means fueling the vehicles with biodiesel and playing on solar stages. Sollee is from Kentucky, where producing energy often means the environmental disaster known as mountaintop removal mining (a theme that runs through his second album, Dear Companion). That would be reason enough to park the gas-guzzling van, but the bicycle-based tour that begins August 18 is more about thinking and acting locally than it is about reducing carbon footprints.

"‘Green' has become a verb," Sollee says. "It's a marketing and selling point that has become a byproduct of musicians' lifestyle on the road. There are a lot of expectations put on you, and it leads to this crazy pace of life-three-month periods where you're driving long distances from one venue to the next, loading and unloading the van, then staying in a cheap hotel. You don't even remember most of the shows when you're doing that."

And that's why so many songs are about motel rooms, or why the road life sucks. Sollee thinks he's found a better way. "We do regional tours, playing only at places that are within bicycle range," Sollee said. "And that means we look to play in places with bike shops (and sometimes in bike shops), strong local communities that maybe don't see a lot of touring music."

Why I Prefer the Cheapest, Sleaziest Hotels

I'm a connoisseur of cheap hotels. And I'm not just talking about the inexpensive kind. In fact, nowadays I don't mind paying a little extra to get that cheap feeling in my overnight accommodations. It's the ambiance of sleaziness that I crave.

In my younger days, a fleabag hotel was an upgrade in my travels, particularly during cross-country bicycle trips, when sleeping under bridges or stealthily setting up my pup tent after dark in a city park was the norm. At that point in my life, finding free -- or at least dirt cheap -- lodging was a necessity.

But somewhere along the line I developed a true passion for seedy hotels, to the point where now, when I could afford something nicer, I find myself seeking out those places that make a Motel 6 look like the Waldorf Astoria. You know, the kind of hotels where you need to put down a $20 deposit to get the free porno movies turned off in your room.

Holiday Inn, I believe, used to use the marketing slogan "Expect no surprises." Well, when I travel I want some surprises. I want to get to meet people and see things I wouldn't otherwise experience. I want to have some adventures -- even some misadventures. I want to have some good stories to tell when I'm an old man. That's why I gravitate toward lowbrow lodgings and away from national chains. And if I save money because of it, I can travel even more.

Just two weeks ago I stayed at a particularly slovenly hotel (actually a "motor lodge," which is a sure sign that you're in for a treat) during one of my book-tours-by-bicycle in the Pacific Northwest. It was so rundown and derelict that I was shocked to find a mint on my pillow in the evening. When I asked about it the next morning at the front desk, they assured me that it had probably just fallen out of the mouth of the guy who slept there the night before.

GM Finally Has a "Bright Idea"

The Bright Idea: Now backed with GM cash. (Credit: Bright Automotive)

General Motors recently launched a $100 million fund named GM Ventures LLC to get the once-staid company into some innovative technologies, and its president, Jon Lauckner, had been in office barely a month when the first $5 million was handed out -- to Bright Automotive.

The most common reaction was probably "Bright what?" Despite a somewhat glamorous launch as a spinoff of Amory Lovins' fast-paced Rocky Mountain Institute (with investment from Google, Alcoa, Johnson Controls and the Turner Foundation), the company with plans to built a very green plug-in hybrid commercial van languished for want of further investment. Like many other startups, it was left hoping for the Department of Energy funding that was going mainly to established players.

GM's investment "validates" Bright, said Chairman and CEO Reuben Munger. "We're delighted to be in a partnership with Reuben and the Bright team," said Lauckner. It was a mutual admiration society.

And it makes strategic sense. "This is a great first pick for Jon Lauckner and GM Ventures," said EV strategist and consultant Chelsea Sexton (one of the stars of Who Killed the Electric Car?). "The Bright team has a crucial mix of deep automotive and EV experience and innovative spirit, but is refreshingly lacking in arrogance. I've long thought that partnerships between large and small automakers hold great potential for both sides, and it was only a matter of time for a major OEM to see the potential in Bright."