That New-New?

Apparently, everyone's getting into the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and all-electric (BEV) vehicle game. It seems as if Lotus Engineering, of Esprit, Elise, Elan and Exige fame, has teamed with ZAP motor company to create an all-electric, 155mph/640 horsepower version of the Lotux concept APX. Nice. Yes, that's 640 horsepower, achieved through in-wheel motors. This should the Tesla Roadster a run for its money, should the APX reach production, and battery technology improves in the next couple of years. More information via LeftLaneNews. More photos, including the interior, are viewable at AutoBlog. :: Lotus

PSK Energy News - January 18, 2007

Here's a stab at a new column, which I'm positive I won't keep up everyday. Maybe I'll do it once a week. I compiled the list for work today; we sometimes have these brown-bag luncheon discussions so everyone can share what they've just learned in the latest issue of Fast Company. We like to think of ourselves as "The Future." Has a nice ring to it, all that optimism and stuff.

•USB powered LED Lights My QWERTY: Goodbye CFL – “The D’light Retro USB Lamp designed by Boynq is a revolutionary USB light that connects to your notebook. It provides you with a warm and cozy light that will enlighten those long and lonely nights you spend in front of your laptop PC or Mac.” :: Treehugger via Cube Me

•EEStor Announces Two Key Production Milestones; 15 kWh EESU on Track for 2007- EEStor, the developer of a new high-power-density ceramic ultracapacitor (the Energy Storage Unit—EESU), has broken a long public silence and announced reaching two key production milestones [regarding energy storage systems for all-electric cars. EESU and other "ultracapacitors" could soon replace heavier Lithium-Ion batteries.] :: Green Car Congress

•Marks & Spencer launches £200 Million “eco-plan”; B50 Biodiesel a Component - The UK-based global retailer has announced “Plan A”—a business-wide £200 million (US$394 million) “eco-plan” which will have an impact on every part of M&S’ operations over the next five years. :: Green Car Congress

•Boutique Carmarkers [including Tesla Motors, pictured above] Provide Personal Luxury – “San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla Motors is a good example. Its cutting-edge, two-seater electric [sports] car, priced at $100,000, can hit 60 miles per hour in about four second -- as fast as a Ferrari, but with zero emissions. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently took a test drive, calling the battery-powered roadster "hot." Perhaps too hot to meet demand. Tesla has already pre-sold all 220 vehicles it's capable of producing this year, and won't be accepting orders for 2008 until November.” :: Yahoo Finance via Inc

•Jim Rogers Says Oil Will Rise to $100 After `Correction' (Update6) – “Oil will resume its march toward $100 a barrel after a ``correction,'' said Jim Rogers, who predicted the start of the commodities rally in 1999.” :: Bloomberg News

•Energizer Money- Enviros delighted with House Democrats' energy bill - "I can't find anything wrong with it. Really, there is no catch. It's all good." Let the record show that these contented words were spoken by an environmentalist -- Jim Presswood, a top lobbyist for the Natural Resources Defense Council to be exact. He's talking about the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007, introduced on Friday, which would repeal billions in tax breaks for the oil and gas industry and steer the resulting funds toward energy efficiency and renewable energy.” :: Grist

Compiled by Emil King, 8:15am EST

Uhm...uhhh, yeah

Well, it's the new year and with that comes change. I'll share my first piece of newosity today, with a declaration of sorts. Apple is official, like legitimate paperwork at a Turkeminstan border crossing official. Can't really stand these geniuses and their clever minds, not to mention the hordes of cultlike followers; "Mac FanBoyGirls," or "MF's" because I'm lazy. The aforementioned MF's had reason to rejoice this afternoon, and this most recent announcement at that temple of tech that is Macworld was enough to set fingers ablaze.

This new iphone gadget, well I gotta admit it's pretty fly. Read up on it at all the fanboy sites, or check the apple page directly for interesting flash movies. I hate that this post is clear evidence of my bandwagonny technophilishness, but I mean come on, it's got maps! I'm most impressed by the myriad of nice little details, stuff like autorotate from landscape to portrait views, autosync with your computer's browser bookmarks, and the ability to skip voicemails, visually. (Even tells you how many seconds are left in the rambling.) That last feature alone is enough to run out and drop, no slam a wad of cash ($600, to be exact) on a Cingular sales counter in June. One thing that's missing, and I'm sure will be available later is text editing software, oh and maybe it's own solar trickle charger. Leave it to some enterprising chaps or chappettes to come up with something by July 4th, just in time to blog live from "Independence Day on the Mall," co-osted by Lionel Richie and Phyllis Diller.