Cars running on hydrogen fuel cells might not be getting as much attention as they deserve compared to battery electric cousins, but it does not mean that Honda stopped working on their FCX Clarity. Roughly four years after it was unveiled, the carmaker modified the FCX Clarity to have a box of outlets that allows the car to be a 9 kilowatt generator.

Honda also built a hydrogen fueling station in Saitama, Japan which makes hyrdogen from water and the sun’s energy. It is a test facility which if it yields good results will allow the FCX Clarity to drive with zero emissions or serve as a generator.

While hydrogen fueling stations commonly depend on hydrogen that has been reformed as natural gas somewhere, the one in Saitama makes use of water electrolysis in a high pressure system to make hydrogen. The electricity being used by the system comes from a mix of solar power and electricity drawn from the grid which in combo can make 1.5 kilos of hydrogen in 24 hours. The produced hydrogen per day can give the FCX Clarity a range of 90 miles.

After the tsunami devastation last year and the resulting nuclear accident at Fukushima, a good number of Japanese car manufacturers have been using their electric vehicles as portable generators. The FCX Clarity might be the first car running on hydrogen to serve as a generator but it just follows the Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi MiEV which was earlier turned into a turn to power box on wheels.

Honda did not release a lot of details about the project which started its test run last month. At the moment, the FCX Clarity only acts as an emergency power supply but it should not be surprising if we will see it linked to a setup of smart grid where the plug in vehicles will act as back up power supplies during moments of high power demand.

Now another beautiful classic, the 2000GT coupe of Japanese carmaker Toyota was reborn thru what is called the Crazy Car Project turning the the 1967 ride into a solar powered electric vehicle.

Like its Jaguar counterpart, the 2000GT’s engine bay was dissected to take out its 2.0L inline six engine and replace it with a 35 kWh battery pack of lithium ion powering a 161 bhp or 120kW electric motor that transfers all its power to the rear wheels.

To prevent the battery pack’s juices running out, the bonnet of a car now houses a really big solar panel while solar cells have also been integrated to the windscreen at the rear of the car.

The sound of the original GT2000 engine is sent to the cabin of the vehicle to keep as much possible that character of the car. It’s top speed goes up to around 200 kilometers per hour.

The cabin of the ride was also improved with the original instruments supplemented with the battery gauge, bio-fiber carpets, and a rear view mirror that also serves as your digital info screen.

The project was done by an auto fan club which has some engineers from Toyota itself. Did they get paid for the work, we do not know.

The Solar EV 2000GT was shocased during the Toyota Auto Salon which is the biggest show for customized cars.

You can enjoy a video of the 2000GT Solar EV below , see how the car runs and learn what the makers went thru in producing it:

Webasto produces roof systems for automobiles and is among the movers in providing innovative roofs for vehicles. The company has been doing functional solar roofs over the last two decades. With the growing demand for hybrid vehicles and eventually electric cars, the work of Webasto is becoming more important as they plan to integrate the solar panels from Konarka to their car roofing.

The goal of the collaboration is to make the solar panels more efficient so they will be suitable to be used on vehicles.

Organic solar cells are made of flexible, non-toxic, unbreakable, and recyclable materials. Today the efficiency of the organic solar cells are at 8.4% and holding weak light better compared with other available technologies. The solar cells can be printed to produce various widths and lengths for different applications.

The Power Plastic of Konarka is available in different colors and sizes giving end users the design freedom like integrating other applications and other technologies.

The company started testing their product last year and officially launched the retail version of the charging station last month.

The SP-300 Plug n Go can charge two electric vehicles parked side by side and can also sell the excess energy it stores to utility companies.

Sunpods boasts that it is a pioneering product introduced to the market with potential consumers not having to source out different components to build a charging station.

With the growing interest for plug in hybrids and EVs, the company expects to provide consumers options when they are not home and without access to home-based chargers.

Sunpods is looking to market their EV charging stations to governments and retailers who want to focus on developing green transportation options in their communities.

The company is looking to produce about 5,000 units of the SP-300s per year. Each unit is expected to have sticker price of about $17,000.

Solar powered cars would have many advantages over those that run on fossil fuels. These advantages are directly the result of the alternative source of energy. Cars that are solar powered basically run on energy collected from the sun’s rays and that means that there is an unlimited supply of the source energy. This gives solar powered vehicles an edge over those that use up the limited supplies of oil reserves.

Another advantage of solar energy is that it is also free of future costs for the supply and requires very little maintenance and upkeep. This would make solar powered cars cheap to drive. Since solar power doesn’t have any emissions, the cars would also be considered clean or “green” and not have a negative impact on the environment.

However, as of now there are no standard solar powered car models on the market. This may change in the near future, though, since many of the major manufacturers are also looking into this alternative source of energy and have ideas, such as adding solar panels to the car roof or to use solar energy as a power source to charge electric cars.

Click here to view the embedded video.

One need not be a hardcore Physics geek to understand the basic concepts of vehicle aerodynamics. In fact some of these basic concepts may even help you understand better how your car works and how you increase your fuel economy. Drag, lift, air density, drag coefficient – these are just some of the things you need to know if you want to get a better understanding of how vehicles are affected by aerodynamic forces.

Drag and lift are the the two aerodynamic forces that act on bodies traveling through the air – whether it be a truck, car, jet, or plane. For vehicles, drag is more important than lift, unless you like to drive fast in a race or exotic cars. Vehicles should avoid lift, which is why you have spoilers, wings, and air dams which all function to provide downward force and keep your car pressed down on the pavement.

Drag is the force that has the most impact on fuel economy and usage because this is the force that opposes the vehicle’s forward movement. It requires a lot of power to overcome drag. Sometimes, it even requires more power than engine and powertrain friction, rolling resistance, and other power consumers. As mentioned, if you want to lessen drag (and thus decrease fuel usage and consumption), don’t drive at speeds that are faster than necessary.

If you want to improve your car’s aerodynamics, you should avoid using wider wheels because these increase drag. Also, roll your windows up when speeding down the highway. Most of the vehicles today are designed for aerodynamic efficiency when the windows are rolled up.

The carts will collect the energy from the sun’s rays via photovoltaic panels attached to its roof. The solar power will charge the battery that will run the cart. The collected energy from the panels will add around 4 to 7 miles to the range of the cart.

When the battery is fully charged, the golf cart will be able to take people 40 to 60 miles on average.

The manufacturers of the carts explained that the carts can be made legal in most parts of the United States where the speed limit is less than 35 mph or lower.

The Universal Studios are considering the Solar Electric Hybrid carts from Cruise Car Inc. for use in their 415 acre lot. The manufacturer produces around 50 variants of the carts.

Environmentalists and media experts commended the Universal Studios for its commitment and prompt action to be more earth friendly.

No deals have been signed yet but soon top caliber actresses and actors, executives, and staff will be roaming around the big sets using the solar charged and plug in vehicle. This will phase out the gasoline powered golf carts that have been on the service for several years.

This is not the first time Universal Studios took a step to be lighter on the carbon foot print. They were recently rewarded the Environmental Media Associations Green Seal Award as one of the most earth friendly amusement parks in the US.

Interestingly, while they do seem a bit comical, these kit cars can be issued VINs (vehicle identification numbers) and when registered as Low Speed Vehicles or Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, may be insured by several vehicle insurance companies. Much like motorized golf carts in gated communities, the SUNN solar powered electric car will save on gas and the wear and tear of taking the car out to make short jaunts to visit the neighbors or trips to the pool.

A choice between pickup truck and car, the kits include everything except the batteries, which are too expensive to ship. Both are one hundred percent rechargeable by the sun, run about twelve miles in total distance before requiring a charge, seat two people, and are waterproof.

At just under six thousand dollars, the SUNN vehicle is really a step in the right direction in doing one’s part to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and transitioning to alternative car fuels.

Here’s a video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Willie Nelson, the famous country singer, co-founded a company in 2005 called Willie Nelson’s Biodiesel. Under the name BioWillie, the vegetable oil fuel is sold through an exclusive license granted to Earth Biofuels, a biofuel company in Mississippi. Funding was secured for the reconstruction of a truck stop that would dispense both ethanol and BioWillie. Willie Nelson has long been a vocal opponent of wars feeling that the countries should be not be dependent on oil producing nations. He also wanted to help the average farmer so he started this eco-friendly bio fuel partnership.
Bill Gates, Microsoft founder, invested in Pacific Ethanol in 2006 to the tune of approximately eighty-four million US dollars. Although as recently as June 2008, he had divested of a large sum reducing his investment company’s stake in the firm by seven percent, he still holds many shares. In addition, sources claim that he will further reduce his stake to about half of the original investment. On the surface, it seems to be a negative for bio fuels but considering forty-two million is half of the initial investment, there still must be some interest in the new energy.

Sheryl Crow, another well known singer, toured campuses in 2007 to talk about global warming. Called the “Stop Global Warming College Tour”, the bus in which they traveled was fueled with biodiesel produced from vegetable oil.