Being interested in all things geeky, I have followed the Chevy Volt since it was first seen at the Detroit Auto show in 2007. During this time many new details have been shown and revisions made. This is the first time I have actually become truly excited about a car.

To me a car has always been a transportation device that got me from point A to point B and all the money you spent on gas just flew out the window. Sure, a fast car is fun but, the fun only lasts for a little while and until recently I viewed a car as a big chunk of metal on four wheels. I mean really, very little has changed in the past 50 years… until now. Ever since the Volt was revealed I have had hundreds of ideas about all of the cool new things that will now be possible.  And I am not just talking about the advantages for you and me but also for the car manufacturers.

With the Volt, GM is using technology to their advantage, it does not take long for electronics to shrink, become cheaper and more powerful. Just for comparisons sake take an iPod Touch and do anything on it. Now try to do that same thing on a computer from 1988. You may notice that you really don’t even want to try. Not only is that task a world of difference but the size and price delta is unbelievable. Now do the same thing with two cars that are 20 years apart. You should be able to fill up on gas, go to the grocery store, use your power windows, and adjust your seat no matter which car you are in. Technology will be a great advantage to the Volt and cars like it. Soon these cars will drop in price, electronics will shrink, and cars will become much more affordable and possibly come in form factors we can not yet imagine.

Technology really excites me but, the problem is as time has gone by and new details have been released there has been price creep. During development new issues that crop up and contribute to the additional cost of the Volt. Originally the Volt was to be priced around $30k but it will probably launch at $40k or more. Whenever GM is asked what the major contributing factor for the price the answer is always the battery which has been estimated to be about half the cost of the car. This technology affects the ability to drive gas free. When the Volt was first shown, MPG estimates were as high as 55 MPG after the initial 40 miles on pure electric. Current estimates suggest that the Volt will go 50 MPG. This statistic alone would make the Volt the most fuel efficient car on the road today and that is without any battery at all. This is where my suggestion begins.

My suggestions to GM:

The Volt is the basis for many new cars coming from GM so make sure Volt battery is easily replaced with one plug and the bolts to hold it in place. Make sure that there are not a bunch of pipes and hoses that need to be attached. The Volt battery should be a self sustaining part. With this architecture there is no end to the possibilities for the Volt.

Release longer range batteries when size and price go down. This will allow you to upgrade the car lineup to support 60 or 100 miles on a charge.

Release the Volt in 3 different flavors with the option to upgrade with the above suggestion.

1. The first option will be just enough battery to allow the car to run in a hybrid mode. This will allow the car to run on its 50-55 MPG without charging. As time goes by the owner can choose to purchase the “Battery Option” and just have it installed for the price of the battery and a minimal installation fee. This version should be price competitive with the Prius. This will help drive the Volt name and also help make people want a bigger better Volt when they can afford it. This will drive an iPod like appeal.
2. The second option will be the first “Plug-in Capable.” This version will allow you to drive 20 miles on a charge and then the extra 50-55 MPG after. This should be the mid-priced Volt.
3. The third option will be the real full blown Volt with 40 miles on a charge followed by 50-55 MPG. This will be the full priced Volt.

Good luck GM and Chevy. There high expectations but they should be attainable.

The greatest advancements in technology are when you create a product previously though impossible at a price that seems impossible all while making a profit not thought possible. These things don’t come around too often but when they do, they stick out like a sore thumb… well a happy sore thumb. 

An example of this is the Wii which allows the player to experience a game as if they are part of it, while selling at a low price point compared to its competitors and making a profit in the process. There are many of these cases that change how the game is played in that market, making it difficult for traditional companies to catch up to the new innovative ideas. 

Another example is Nanosolar. Although Nanosolar has not started to ship their product yet, they seem to be on the right track. They have just completed their manufacturing facility and are preparing for production of their new solar panels. What makes them different you ask? Well they have gone and changed the game. They figured out a way to make solar panels cost effectively. These new solar panels are created using a similar technique to a computer printer. You start with a roll of foil and some ink and end up with a super large rolled up solar panel. 

The beauty of this new design is that it makes the creation of solar panels much much cheaper, which in turn makes them cheaper for the consumer. Also these new solar panels do not require silicon that is increasingly hard to find. This new solar panel is also so thin that it will create a new market for solar energy that never existed before. This could create markets such as solar shingles or a solar panel that could be built into the roof of your car. 

This new technology promises many things including some of our favorites. These solar panels should be cheep and allow people to get them easily while also making your electric bill go down. As with all new cool technology that has not actually gotten to the market yet, there is a possibility that it will not be all that it is said to be. This new solar technology is said to be launching late 2007 to early 2008. So lets keep our eyes pealed for this awesome new advancement. 

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Nanosolar

What would happen if there was a car that could take you to work and back without ever going to the gas station. Or if you could drive the distance of Michigan’s Lower Pennisula from Ohio to the Mackinac Bridge… and then all the way west to Wisconsin on one tank of gas. Or even better, drive from Detroit, Michigan to Daytona Beach, Florida on less than two fill-ups.

Well it sounds like a good plan to me. According to the latest information this car may be available in the year 2010 –2012. But according to the way that every product gets delayed these days it will probably be around 2013. This car is called the Chevy Volt. 

The Volt has the potential to turn the car industry around with its unique way of getting power from electricity, biodiesel, gas and E85. This will give consumers a ton of choices for alternative fuel and make everyone less dependent on fossil fuels. 

The car looks rather sporty too, so you will not stick out like a sore thumb. You will be forced to brag to your friends so that they know how much money you are saving because you are using the electricity that you have at your house. 

As much as the outlook for this new form of car looks there are still some things that will be hard to predict. The car looks nice and it promises quite a bit but will it be able to deliver? Will they still be able to hit their goals of 40 miles on pure electricity and 640 miles on one tank of gas? Will Chevy be able to make the car ready for production by 2010? Currently Chevy has not given a price but says that it will be “Priced Competitively,” but competitive to what still remains to be seen. 

As long as Chevy can deliver on most of the goals they have set out for the Volt and keep the price low the car will turn out a huge hit. I am starting a savings account for 2010, I am ready to put the regular gas station visits in my past. 

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Chevy Volt

Usually, when you think about consumer-grade batteries either a copper top or fuzzy, pink bunny come to mind, but there may soon be other major competitors coming to the shelves. While looking into fuel cells I stumbled across a category of batteries known as bio batteries. They run on all natural ingredients and their popularity seems to picking up quite a bit of speed in the science communities. 

Sony is one company who seems to be taking a lead in this sector. Sony is actually one of the world’s largest makers of batteries and have now developed one which runs on sugar (carbohydrates)! This is pretty interesting, and so far the test batteries have shown the ability to produce 50 milliwatts (the world’s current record for level of power production for passive-type bio batteries). This seems impressive because it is a record-setter, but what about powering products consumers buy on the shelves? Combining four power units together is sufficient enough to operate most MP3 players and cell phones. 

Another interesting bio battery appeals to both energy conservators and bar-folk alike. That’s correct, a battery which runs on gin and vodka. Scientists from the St. Louis University in Missouri have created a battery that uses enzymes as a catalyst to break down ethanol fuel. So far it seems enzyme-based batteries like these have the more serious potential to be cheaper than their direct competitors because the other fuel cells rely on expensive platinum or ruthenium catalysts. Though, because enzyme-using batteries are sensitive to slight changes in pH and temperature they still need to overcome the hurdle of quickly degrading and become inactive. 

Both of these technologies seemed to stand out to me while researching bio batteries, but there are others out there. Who knows who will end up taking the lead in the mass-production market. Whoever it is, the company will surly be aiming to create an effective energy source which will be suitable for practical applications such as the cell phone and the like. 

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copper top 
pink bunny 
Sony 
vodka 
gin

Introduction 

The iPod has gone through many changes and the most recent change is no different. I undertook the most vicious process of anyone here at Greener Thinking. I had to use a brand new iPod to test its relevance in environmental talks. Dang new and cool gadgets that need to be used! Well some one had to sacrifice for the good of Greener Thinking. 

Testing Process 

During the testing phase, I sank the iPod with my computer to transfer songs and T.V. shows to do the eventual testing of the battery and compare it to my old trusty iPod Photo. 

Review 

Battery Testing: I ran the battery to nothing while listening to music to see how long it would hold up. What is amazing is that the battery actually exceeded the Apple estimate of 40 hours. 40 hours is quite a bit longer than I have ever listened to my iPod Photo, which was lucky to push eight hours. I had to keep myself from getting side tracked, I mean think about it, you need sleep some time between there! I believe that Apple is really heading in the right direction with the battery in music. My video battery test resulted in the same, Apples estimate proved accurate. I still think that 7 hours for any device is still a little on the weak side, but it is much better than their previous attempt at 3 hours. 

Style: It’s an iPod. The layout is starting to look a little dated, but there is still nothing that can come close. The new aluminum faceplate is extremely nice especially for its scratch resistance. The new GUI is pretty nice, but doesn’t really add to the experience until you get all the cover art for your music. Apple does have a feature that allows you to download all the cover art it can match to your music collection for free. The only drawback is that you need to create an Apple account and give them your credit card information. One very large drawback to the interface on this revision is more about the expectations I had for this new iPod. I had expected the large 160 GB iPod to come with the new iPhone like control interface and WiFi capability which is a little bit of a downer. 

Quality: It’s an iPod. All iPods seem to have a certain expensive feel to them. iPod quality has actually stepped up with this release and the new aluminum face. 

Packaging: The quality of the packaging and size are a huge improvement to the old iPod Photo in size, quality, and security of the iPod in the box. Its smaller size should help the transport of more iPods with fewer emissions. There seems to be all the same accessories in the box that came with my iPod Photo, in the iPod Classic box, except the power brick. So now the only way to charge your iPod without your computer is to buy the power brick separately. 

Overall: The iPod Classic is a decent upgrade to the iPod line. There are only two reasons for iPod with video users to consider the upgrade: longer battery life and the larger storage. If neither of these applies to you I would recommend sticking with what you currently have. If you are currently using an older iPod then I would have you consider getting either the iPod Classic or look into the new iPod Touch based on your needs. If you need lots of space for all your T.V. shows, Movies and Music then choose the iPod Classic. If you would like a bigger screen to watch your T.V. shows and movies on, and you don’t have that many plus you would like to surf the net at any hotspot I would recommend looking into the iPod Touch. 

Rating: 7.5 out of 10 

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I have just received the new iPod Classic 160 GB. I have had little time to run experiments on battery life and I am currently converting video to run the video tests. As I stated before I will be comparing a little differently. I will be comparing a 60 GB iPod Photo to the new 160 GB iPod Classic to help those who have not gotten a new iPod in a while whether it is worth the upgrade. Today I am going to go over the quality of the packaging and the interface. 

One area that Apple really succeeds in that no one ever realizes is the packaging. They have continuously made the packaging smaller and use less material. Many people are not like me and they throw away the box the second they get their iPod, so it is good to know that there will be less packaging going into landfills. You could fit about three iPod Classic boxes into one of the iPod Photo boxes. This means that when iPods are shipped from the factory they take up less space and they can ship more iPods with fewer emissions. Really even the shipping box that the iPod Classic shipped in barely compares to the iPod Photos retail box. 

The iPod has always strived to be the most easily controlled media player on the market. With the iPod Photo it intuitively began to skip between the letters of the alphabet while scrolling fast, but it was hard to see where you had ended up and when you stopped and started, it would go song by song again. A new feature I found with the iPod Classic is that when it starts to skip through the letters of the alphabet it shows which letter it is on. As long as you are still touching the wheel and you have gotten to the letter switching speed it will stay in that mode. For example you start in the letter A but you need to go to the letter S for “Smashing Pumpkins” you would scroll fast until it begins showing the letter that you are on, on the screen. Then you can slow down and go letter by letter until you get to the letter S and if you accidentally go to the letter T then you can easily just back up. 

Another thing that the new iPod does is show you animated images of what menu option you currently have selected, so if you are over music it will start to show album art that is in your music collection on the right pane of the interface. Also when in the album view it shows a picture of the album and tells you how many songs are in the album, which can be helpful. I have also noticed that the new iPod Classic is much thinner than the iPod Photo. One last obvious thing, the new iPod Classic has a much bigger screen made for playing video. Many people already know some of these things from the last iPod refresh. 

Here are some pictures comparing the boxes to each other along with the shipping box compared to the old iPod Photo retail box. 

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In the world of iPods, battery conspiracy theories run rampant. Another conspiracy theory is sure to brew with the newly launched iPod Touch and Classic. Today I would like to take a minute to tell you about our future test of the new iPod Classic. There have been substantial changes, but not quite what everyone expected. With rumors of an iPhone without a phone many expected an iPod Touch with a 160 GB hard drive. But as much as it is not what was expected 160 GB is going to give the video market enough space for all the movies they can handle. 

The iPod has always taken a bad rap for the way that the battery is placed in the device. Some say that they battery dies quickly prompting replacement. The problem is that the iPod is a very compact device and can only be opened with special tools. The funny thing about these arguments is that they always start about 2-3 days after the launch of the new iPod. People start to argue that some day they may have a problem. These arguments are still continuing for the newly launched iPhone. My iPod Photo has not had any problems for almost 3 years without any sign of my battery struggling while used almost everyday. 

With the launch of these new iPods, Apple has set forth some lofty goals for battery life and I will be testing one to see if it lives up to its claims. My current iPod Photo has the great battery life of about 8 to 10 hours. The 5th generation (Video iPod) was estimated at 17 to 20 hours of audio playback and two and a half to three hours of video playback. The new 6th generation or iPod Classic is boasting 30 to 40 hours of audio playback and five to seven hours of video playback. This is an extremely large jump and will definitely be good for all of those campers out there. Lets just hope the next one will last a month without charging. 

I have taken on the challenge to test out the new iPod Classic and see if it is everything and a bag of chips. I have ordered the test subject, iPod Classic 160 GB. Apple says that it should arrive in the next week or so. At that time I will be running the iPod through the paces and holding the stopwatch… at 40 hours of audio playback… I will be there for a while… my arm may get tired… but I WILL bring you the results. With the added battery life, if it is to be believed, you will need to use less electricity to charge and you will be able to do more music listening. I will also be doing some research to see if Apples claim that their new iPods are more environmentally friendly., another big topic for debate these days. Come back soon to see the continuation! 

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PC Mag
Apple iPod Classic
Apple Environment

As many know the florescent light bulb is not the only alternative for incandescent bulbs. The up and coming challenger is the LED light bulb. LED’s started their life as a feedback mechanism for early electronics. They were dim indicators that showed that something was on or that something was happening. Until recently they were never considered a serious challenger to the current incandescent bulb. They have plenty of energy savings but also were not very bright and had issues with natural color light. 

Once upon a time LED was the ugly duckling. Sure it gave off light and used little electricity but not enough for everyday use. Recent research had determined ways to make LED’s much brighter and increase the possibility for home use. Another issue was the ability to give off white light, this issue too has found a solution. Still there are issues that keep them from homes. One of these issues is the price to purchase a LED bulb. Currently due to the complexity of LED bulbs because they use so many LED’s for one light bulb it is expensive to manufacture and that is passed down to the consumer. Currently to buy an LED bulb it costs anywhere from $20 – $80 to get a normal 30 – 60 Watt replacement bulb. Another issue is the angle of the light. LED lights have a very narrow path of light so it makes it difficult to get bulbs to have the wide angle lighting that normal incandescent bulbs. For instance, I have an LED flashlight, and its bright but, it only show the things you point it at so when you point it at the key hole on your car door the light does not show on your door handle. 

On the bright side, pun intended, there are advantages. LED Light bulbs have very low power requirements, and usually use less than half of the power of a comparable brightness Florescent bulb which is four times less than a comparable incandescent bulb. Also due to this efficiency there is very little heat produced. Finally LED lights are expected to last 10 times longer than a compact florescent bulb and 100 times longer than and incandescent bulb. That is quite a bit longer if I do say so myself. 

The future is so bright you gotta wear shades. OLED is the latest popular derivative. Some of the interesting ideas for OLED is to make a thin layer of the OLED material and put it all the way across you celling and give your whole house light or wrap it around a pillar. Some other ideas would be to make a clear version of OLED canvas and place it on your window, so at night you could turn on your window lights and it would light the room similar to daylight. For more news on this you should definitely check out Google News. 

Advantages:
- Low power usage
- Runs cool
- Lasts a very long time

Disadvantages:
- Angle of light
- Price to purchase

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Google News – OLED Lighting

Ever been out and have your cell phone or iPod go dead when you’re nowhere near a place to plug it in? Of course you have… everyone has. Well, Zegna Sport andInteractive Wear AG want to make that a thing of the past, like the Megalodon. Designer Ermenegildo Zegna recently showed off the Solar JKT at a Florence fashion show. The jacket, using solar cells and a battery will allow you to charge many different personal electronic devices. What’s really cool as well is that since there is a built-in battery, it can store the charge when you are in the sun and then save it so you don’t necessarily have to be in the sunlight when you charge the device. You can look for the Solar JKT in Zegna Sport’s 2008 collection. 

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Zegna Sport 
Interactive Wear AG 
Megalodon 
Ermenegildo Zegna