But now for the Good News!
A zero-emission car that does the equivalent of 250 miles to the gallon is set to roll off the production line this summer, its manufacturers have said. Stevens Vehicles say their electric cars and vans will cost under 2p a mile to run.

The start-up company, which has its headquarters in Port Talbot, south Wales, boasts its vehicles will not produce toxins, pollutants, particulates, carbon derivatives or greenhouses gases - and do not require road tax. They can also be charged overnight from any standard 13 amp electric socket.

Their top speed, however, will be confined to 56mph and they have a maximum range of 50 miles before they have to be re-charged.

The Zecar, a family-sized vehicle capable of carrying five adults, and the Zevan, which has a square side load bay large enough to take standard pallets, were designed and developed by Professor Tony Stevens. His son Peter, a former city banker, set up Stevens Vehicles Ltd to manufacture the vehicles for the UK market.

They are currently able to produce one vehicle a day with the ability to scale up to 1,000 models a year. The company was supported by the Welsh Assembly Government to set up production in Wales.

Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Welsh Assembly Government Minister for the Economy and Transport, said: “The Assembly Government has been actively supporting the automotive sector in the development of niche vehicles and alternative fuels and supply chains.

“The zero emissions from these new vehicles support the Assembly Government’s clean energy policy and we welcome the investment by innovative businesses like Stevens Vehicles.”

Peter Stevens said the design and development work was carried out by his father from a workshop in Kent and their dream was to go into production and manufacturing.

“I chose Wales as the base for production and manufacture because of the help, support and enthusiasm we found here and are now taking that dream forward,” he said. “It is very hard to set up a car manufacturing plant - it’s not just the question of raising the finance, it’s about getting the right support and the Assembly Government has been hugely helpful.”

Well, once they tell me what a vehicle is likely to cost, then I???ll be more than interested. I???ll be watching out for more information on this interesting Welsh project.

a

1 Cents or 2 Pence A Mile ZeCar Designed in Wales

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But now for the Good News!
A zero-emission car that does the equivalent of 250 miles to the gallon is set to roll off the production line this summer, its manufacturers have said. Stevens Vehicles say their electric cars and vans will cost under 2p a mile to run.

The start-up company, which has its headquarters in Port Talbot, south Wales, boasts its vehicles will not produce toxins, pollutants, particulates, carbon derivatives or greenhouses gases - and do not require road tax. They can also be charged overnight from any standard 13 amp electric socket.

Their top speed, however, will be confined to 56mph and they have a maximum range of 50 miles before they have to be re-charged.

The Zecar, a family-sized vehicle capable of carrying five adults, and the Zevan, which has a square side load bay large enough to take standard pallets, were designed and developed by Professor Tony Stevens. His son Peter, a former city banker, set up Stevens Vehicles Ltd to manufacture the vehicles for the UK market.

They are currently able to produce one vehicle a day with the ability to scale up to 1,000 models a year. The company was supported by the Welsh Assembly Government to set up production in Wales.

Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Welsh Assembly Government Minister for the Economy and Transport, said: “The Assembly Government has been actively supporting the automotive sector in the development of niche vehicles and alternative fuels and supply chains.

“The zero emissions from these new vehicles support the Assembly Government’s clean energy policy and we welcome the investment by innovative businesses like Stevens Vehicles.”

Peter Stevens said the design and development work was carried out by his father from a workshop in Kent and their dream was to go into production and manufacturing.

“I chose Wales as the base for production and manufacture because of the help, support and enthusiasm we found here and are now taking that dream forward,” he said. “It is very hard to set up a car manufacturing plant - it’s not just the question of raising the finance, it’s about getting the right support and the Assembly Government has been hugely helpful.”

Well, once they tell me what a vehicle is likely to cost, then I’ll be more than interested. I’ll be watching out for more information on this interesting Welsh project.

a

1 Cents or 2 Pence A Mile ZeCar Designed in Wales

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• Toyota Winglet set to take on Segway (1)

This portable greenhouse that folds flat for storage is such a great idea, and I would love to see it go into production and so would the designer! If you can help him with this, contact him at daniel@danielschipper.nl. In the meantime, check it out. I am a gardening buff and even though I have plenty of space, I could easily use something like this with my short growing season here in Upstate New York. Permanent greenhouses in my area are so expensive and they need maintenance.

This easy to set up greenhouse is made from recyclable plastics, is very light weight and can be folded flat. Kudos to Daniel Schipper for this design and good luck with finding a manufacturer.

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It's actually 7 gigantic interconnected greenhouses, and they'll have a relatively small carbon footprint for their size. They'll help the environment by allowing Brits to enjoy locally-grown vegetables even when they aren't in season, keeping them from needing to ship them in from elsewhere. It'll also create over 500 jobs, which is something you can't argue with.

Guardian UK, via io9

Designer: Daniel Schipper

We’ve had a little love affair going on with storage vendor Mtron ever since we saw that “battleship” SSD RAID array, and it looks like the company is after our hearts once again, this time with the Pro 7500 series of SSDs, which it says are the fastest around. That’s really only half-true — while the 120MB/s write speed is definitely the fastest we’ve seen, the 130MB/s read speed is the same those Greenhouse’s DH-SSDGD drives we just saw a couple days ago. Still, that’s mighty fast — too bad these are probably going to be priced into the stratosphere like Mtron’s other SSDs.

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Only 154 of about 230 farmers in the former coal-mine town of Yubari have the right to plant the melon seeds.

When you hear about robots coming out of Japan, a few thoughts probably come to mind. Security for the future. Jaw-droppingly advanced. Absolutely everywhere. Yet here's one robot strawberry picker from the Land of the Rising Sun that's doesn't feel too pressured to perform its task.

This 'bot by Japanese robotics firm Romobility Youto is being put to work in greenhouses in Utsunomiya of Tochigi Prefecture. It's equipped with a color-sensitive camera that can not only identify berries amidst the foliage, but also determine how ripe a strawberry is. Then it reaches out and delicately snips the berry, placing it on a tray. The downside: it averages only one berry every 10 seconds, but perhaps that's the cost of precision.

Still, the farmer observing the robot was excited, and told news site Nikkei Net: "Strawberry harvesting requires a great deal of both time and labor … If it is reasonably priced, I will consider buying one."

Romobility Youto, via Loving the Machine.

Guess what’s going to happen when you bolt Greenhouse’s 8x optical zoom onto your pathetic little cameraphone lens? Right, 8 times the slop. Nevertheless, we’re curious to try the kit — which includes the tripod and universal lens mount — ourselves. Just not ¥8,800 (about $88) curious.

[Via Akihabara News]

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