Tag Archive

Driving the Spira 3-wheel prototype

The Spira three-wheeler is a unique vehicle. It’s one of the finalists in the Automotive X-Prize but its frugal fuel consumption and low emissions are only part of the vision of making it a car for the people. The Spira starts with a scooter, uses everything but the frame, and all those parts bolt into [...]

Boat Tail Reduces Truck Fuel Consumption By 7.5 Percent

A boat tail, a tapering protrusion mounted on the rear of a truck, leads to fuel savings of 7.5 percent. This is due to dramatically-improved aerodynamics, as shown by road tests conducted by the Dutch PART (Platform for Aerodynamic Road Transport) public-private partnership platform.
Public highways
A boat tail is a tapering protrusion about two metres in [...]

Indian researcher’s slimy-skinned design to cut ships’ fuel consumption 20pct

Image via Wikipedia

LONDON: A ship’s fuel consumption can be reduced by about 20 per cent by designing it in such a manner that it exudes slime from its hull, says an Indian-origin researcher.
Rahul Ganguli of Teledyne Scientific in Thousand Oaks, California, says that the slime would form a gelatinous skin that continually sloughs off, taking [...]

VW shows 170 mpg tandem diesel hybrid two-seater

Volkswagen rocked the automotive world at a lunchtime press conference on the first day of the Frankfurt Motor Show

Sticker shock

Ignore the 230 miles-per-gallon claims being touted for GM’s plug-in hybrid