Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Rhode Island and anywhere else the Singularity may take him. His muse is Charles Kuralt -- "I see the road ahead is turning. I wonder what's around the bend?" You can follow him on Google + and on Twitter.
August 14th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Starting this month, certain employees of Valley Metro in Phoenix, Arizona, will be able to use an autonomous shuttle from Waymo to get back and forth to work. It is part of an experiment to figure out how self-driving cars and public transportation can work together.
August 13th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
A report entitled Clean Jobs Midwest shows that renewable energy and clean tech are adding more good paying jobs in Trump country than any other industry.
August 13th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Laura Ingraham has become wealthy by peddling her hate-filled spew on Fox News. Sometimes you have to wonder if the cast of characters that network features really believe the awful things they say or whether they are just highly paid actors who have perfected the art of purveying their toxic stew of venom and bile on screen, only to return to being normal human beings when the camera is off
August 13th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
The German engineered iEV X electric car is a minuscule 31 inches wide and 62 inches long. Best of all, you can order yours now on Kickstarter for a bargain basement $2,150.
August 12th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Some people seem to thrive on turbulent times. Others prefer tranquility. Elon Musk is definitely in the first group. He seems to be happiest when things around him are in chaos — or at least, that's where he shines. If so, he must be ecstatic and glowing brightly at the moment. After tweeting last week that he might take Tesla private, the news media has been awash with guesses, wild ass guesses, and far-fetched speculation about who might be interested in walking Tesla and Elon down the aisle in a financial marriage that could have international implications
August 12th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
After 10 days with a used Nissan LEAF, I am pleased to say the car has exceeded my expectations in every way. I am now firmly committed to the electric car lifestyle.
August 11th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
A solar-powered airplane from Airbus has set the world record for longest sustained flight — just 3 minutes shy of 26 days. When fully developed, it is expect to remain airborne for months at a time
August 10th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Doug Field, the engineer who helped get the Tesla Model 3 into production, has rejoined the Project Titan team at Apple. Does that mean Apple is back in the race to develop cars that drive themselves?
August 9th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Cities are finding ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft increase congestion rather than decrease it. New York City has placed a cap on new licenses while it studies the effect of ride hailing on the city and its residents.
August 9th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Jeep says it is working on a plug-in hybrid powertrain for its Wrangler lineup. It could be here by 2020, or 2021, or maybe never if Trump gets re-elected.
August 9th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Tesla owners who did not purchase the Enhanced Auto Pilot system when the bought their cars will now get a 14 day free trial. If they like it, they can buy it just by touching a button on their touchscreen.
August 9th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
August 10th is the day the Turnbull government has set for a new National Energy Guarantee to be agreed to by all of Australia's states. Things aren't going well. In the lead-up to Friday's meeting, officials for the state of Queensland are saying they will reject the plan if their target of 50% renewables by 2030 is threatened by the NEG.
August 8th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
In real-world driving tests conducted by IIHS, the Tesla Model 3 and Model S were the only cars in the group that failed to slow enough during automatic emergency braking to avoid hitting a stationary car in the road. But in other tests, they outperformed the competition.
August 8th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Pellion Technologies of Woburn, Massachusetts is the first company to sell lithium metal batteries to commercial customers. They aren't ready for electric cars or grid storage yet, but may be precursors to the batteries of the future.
August 8th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
The latest round of bids for utility scale solar projects in Egypt have come in at less than 3 cents per kWh. Are we approaching the point where renewable energy will be too cheap to meter?
August 8th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Shell and Centrica have made major investments in EV charging startups Ample and Driivz. As the number of electric cars increase, the demand for chargers will increase as well.
August 7th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Climate change is accelerating, but most people fail to take the threat seriously. How to explain such nonchalance in the face of certain destruction?
August 6th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
German reinsurance company Munich Re has joined other large insurance companies in announcing it will limit the number of investments in companies that rely on burning coal for their income, further ratcheting up the economic pressure on coal.
August 6th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
More than a half million Cummins diesel engines have been recalled by the EPA and CARB to replace a catalytic converter than wore out sooner than expected.
August 6th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Jost Capito, head of Volkswagen's R division, says his company will build high performance electric cars that are worthy of the R designation. But will they be able to compete with the performance versions available from Tesla?
August 6th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
GTM Research predicts by 2023, 90% of all rooftop solar systems will include a battery storage component as homeowners opt to take control of the solar energy systems.
August 5th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Over 5.500 churches in the UK have switched to 100% renewable energy, saying fighting climate change is a moral imperative.
August 4th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
Researches at Michigan Technological University have created a process to recycle lithium ion batteries using 100 year old basic mining techniques. The process is inexpensive and uses little energy.
August 4th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
The latest study by GTM Research finds there will be as many as 40,000,000 public and private EV chargers globally by the year 2030. Its assessment is based on a belief that EVs will represent 11% of the cars on the road by that date, according to coverage in PV Magazine
