Trains, buses, maglev?
July 23, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : Transportation , 6 comments
Before we had children, my husband and I traveled quite a bit – passports? Check. Plane tickets? Check. Backpacks? Check. Yes, it was that simple.
After the children arrived, we had to reset expectations of travel. We retooled our on-the-go style and slowed down the pace. Still, we vowed to continue seeing the world in our own way. Last year, we took the kids to Italy, devouring a whole lot of pasta and walking a whole lot of miles in the Dolomites.
This year, stars aligned and pointed us to China. My retired parents are spending a summer there. Our friends are interested in joining in our jaunt.
I’ve always been intrigued with the famous Silk Road, 5,000 miles of ancient trade routes that connected China and Europe through central Asia.
(image courtesy of www.easytourchina.com)
A large section of the routes closely hug hundreds of miles of harsh desert and extend over snow capped passes. Camel-led caravans carried with them silk, satins, rubies, spices, diamonds, and rhubarb. Merchants, soldiers, pilgrims, nomads, monks, adventurers, and robbers left their footprints for thousands of years.
Cultures were formed and exchanged along the routes. Various religions spread and influenced each other. Ethnicities interacted and mixed. Can history get any more romantic than that?
It also seemed that on rare occasions when I found and posted any news about what China was doing in the environmental area, controversial and passionate comments ensued. So what is really going on in the world factory? Rather than relying on various news channels, I want to find out on my own.
With bags packed, off we went.
I will start with the transportation we took. Since travel is an eco-sin I repeatedly and willingly commit, the least we can do is to take as much public transportation as possible. Aside from the flights to and from, here are the various public transit vehicles we used:
Maglev - short for Magnetic Levitation train. Though it is a public transit line, I suspect that it is probably not particularly green to operate a Maglev train.
But it reached 220 mph in 2 minutes and hit 268 mph at top speed. I have the picture to prove that. Well, even a non-technophile like me was impressed.
Not so fancy were the buses we took almost daily, most were air-conditioned and many had TV that blast advertisement at us.
Then there is the train where we spent 36 hours. A severe storm wash off a few sections of the train tracks and destablized others built on the desert sand. What else could one do other than reading books and chatting with strangers? While the tracks were being repaired, we met a South African couple who had been volunteering in the remote villages in Kazakhstan for the past 10 years. I stuttered in my head, “but, but, I, I, recycle regularly. Really. Equally virtuous, no?”
More exotic are the 3 wheeled taxis that drop you off a few miles away for 10 cents.
My favorite is when I got to be a driver for a few minutes on a water taxi.
My overall impression of the transportation greenness:
An overwhelming majority of Chinese people ride public transit to go places, whether it is buses, subways or trains.
There are very few SUVs on the road.
Private cars are seen as a status symbol. Chinese people are striving to become car owners. Ironically the traffic is so horrifying virtually 24 hours a day, driving your own car is more of a torture than pleasure. Whether one rides a bicycle, a bus or a BMW Z3, it take 30 minutes to go 5 miles.
This has nothing to do with greenness. Traffic rules seem utterly discretionary. Red light, what red light?
CindyW at Organicpicks
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Oil Change Myth Debunked
February 13, 2008
Posted by CindyC in : Transportation , 6 comments
I always thought to properly maintain my car, I should change my motor oil every 3,000 miles or so. However, a friend recently sent me a link that debunks this conventional wisdom. Depending on driving habits and road conditions, many car makers now recommend routine oil changes at longer intervals: 5,000 miles, 7,000 miles or more.
According to research conducted by California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB), almost 75% of California drivers change their motor oil more often than manufacturer recommendation. Approximately 150 million gallons are used every year in California and only 59% of that oil has been recycled. Used motor oil is not soluble and contains metals and toxic chemicals. Improperly disposed motor oil can pollute our waters and threaten aquatic life.
After reading these facts, I flipped through my car owner’s manual and found unless I drive frequently in extreme conditions or tow heavy objects , I actually only need to change my oil every 7,500 miles! All that wasted oil, time and money. Sigh.
So if you want to save time, money and the environment, check out 3000 Mile Myth and your owner’s manual before your next “routine” oil change.
CindyC at Organicpicks
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First PRODUCTION Tesla Delivered!
February 7, 2008
Posted by CindyC in : Transportation , 2 comments
Yes, it’s true. The first working production (not prototype) Tesla, fondly dubbed P1, was delivered to the San Carlos site, last Friday February 1st. The long awaited P1 belongs to Elon Musk, Chariman of Tesla Motors. 2007 was a difficult year for this much hyped electric car company, plagued by engineering issues and delay in production and delivery. The P1 is not only a media draw but a moral victory for those at Tesla Motors. Of course, there was a bit of wait during the Big Day as the ESS (Energy Storage System) or battery had to be installed before a victory lap in Palo Alto could start.
Right off the delivery truck
Installing the ESS
Cruising on the Road
For the insider story and more photos, check out the Tesla Blog
CindyC at Organicpicks
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Tesla Delays Delivery of Electric Roadster
September 27, 2007
Posted by CindyC in : Transportation , add a comment
Earlier this week, Tesla Motors delivered some mixed news for green car enthusiasts: a delay in shipment but improved mileage per charge for its highly anticipated electric Roadster.
According to Tesla’s letter to customers, full production of the Roadster has been delayed to first quarter of 2008. The company hopes to build a small production batch (about 50) this year and deliver them early 2008.
Earlier testing on the prototypes found the distance range had dropped from the original 250 miles estimate to about 200 miles per charge. The company has since addressed some design and efficiency issues and in recent tests, the Roadster went 245 miles on a single charge (235 for highway and 255 for city driving).
The Tesla is currently priced at $98,000 with a wait list. If you had plunk down a $50,000 reservation, you became a Premium Club Member and have priority claim on production cars. If you could only afford $35,000, you have to be patient and wait behind the Premium Members. Just to get on a waiting list now (with no guarantee of delivery) will cost you $5,000.
Although the Tesla is a testament that electric cars can be beautiful, sporty and in-demand, for an average family like mine, it’s still just something to gawk at in the showroom. By the way, for those gawkers living in the Bay Area, Tesla will be opening a new showroom in Menlo Park in 2008. I think that’s as close as I am ever going to get to a Tesla….
CindyC atOrganicpicks
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Smart Car Road Show Continues to Roll
August 29, 2007
Posted by CindyC in : Transportation , add a comment
A while back, we started following the unveiling of the 2008 Fortwo, after observing the popularity of smart cars in Europe. To prepare the size-does-matter US consumers, Smart USA has been showing off these tiny wonders on the road.
If you are one of the $99 reservation holders, not only can you preview the cars and ask questions til your heart’s content, you can take these (european) models for a spin. You must be at least 18 to drive and 14 to ride. The tour runs until November and has 3 routes: Western, Central and Eastern.
The western tour recently rolled through the Bay Area. Our friend Tim at Neontology took a closer look and drove some of the Fortwo’s at the Silicon Valley stop. According to Tim:
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“Reports of 40+ mpg are nice, but what appealed to me even more was the simplicity and ease of getting around in something so small, and the safety features engineered into the car eased some of my concerns about its vulnerability. It’s low price didn’t hurt either. Still, it’s not a car that I’d drive everywhere, but for local use as a second or third car, it looked ideal.”
Despite his mixed review, it sounds like we might see Tim parking a new Fortwo between Hummers and Suburbans real soon.
CindyC at Organicpicks
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Infinite Miles Per Gallon
August 10, 2007
Posted by Charles in : Transportation , 1 comment so far
Actually my math may be a little rusty. Upon futher reflection, I think the denominator in the MPG calculation is ‘0′, so actually MPG would be undefined. Either way, that’s great news for fuel economy. How you ask? Well, Toyota recently announced that it was testing plug-in Prius hybrids in Japan and the U.S. (specifically at UC Berkeley and UC Irvine). You can read more about the plug-in Prius hybrid here. Tuesday’s (8/7/07) Wall Street Journal also had a story on the plug-in Prius as well as some converters who will modify your Prius (or Hybrid Escape) now for $10-15,000. Check out Calcars and A123 Systems. Plug-in hybrids use your home’s electric current to recharge the batteries powering the electric motor. Depending on the output of the electric motor, it can exclusively power the car up to freeway speeds for a useable distance– say 5 to as much as 40 miles. When the battery gets low, the gas engine kicks in as a generator to recharge the battery and you continue on electric power. Make it home before the gas engine kicks in and your gas consumption is 0. Sounds great you say? Well, there is a catch. The nickel metal hydride batteries currently used in hybrids can’t take the extreme cycling that a plug-in requires (fully charging and depleting on a daily, or more frequent, basis). Nor can they store the energy needed to power the stronger electric engine used by the plug-in. Lithium ion batteries are much more compact, store more energy and can be cycled repeatedly, but they tend to produce a lot of heat– remember the flaming laptops that were banned from planes last summer? No one wants to see a Prius “pulling a Pinto”– read flaming– so more work remains to be done. I wouldn’t run down to your Toyota dealer just yet. In an interesting twist, GM is indicating that they may have their own plug-in hybrid, the Chevy Volt available by 2010 . Wow, it actually looks cool and if the interior is not like other GM products (that is, cheap and ugly), they might just have a winner. Perhaps there’s hope for GM yet.
Charles the Car Guy
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