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There's no reason saving the planet can't be fun.

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One very unusual electric car has debuted in Brussels. The Hiriko EV uses a hub-mounted electric motor at each wheel, though that's not the most interesting aspect of the vehicle. According to The Telegraph, the Hiriko uses an interesting rear suspension design that allows the vehicle to fold up, rotating the cabin vertically, to take up less space while parking. The partnership behind the vehicle say the car consumes approximately

A group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students may have come up with the perfect solution to our electric vehicle charging woes. Instead of relying on lithium or nickel, the new battery design stores its electrons in semi-solid flow cells. Charged particles are suspended in an electrolyte solution and pumped between compartments used for storing or releasing energy. The tech supposedly makes the batteries up to ten times more efficient th

2010 Mercedes-Benz Bicycles – Click above for high-res image gallery

Once upon a time, in a history not that far removed from present day, automakers descended into design madness by equipping all of their vehicles with federally-mandated rubber bumpers wide enough for a Boeing to land. It was a dark time that eventually saw the svelte chrome bumpers of old banished for good. Now it looks like one MIT graduate would like to see similar technology come to small cars i

The jury is still out on whether hydrogen-fueled cars will be a competitive alternative in the future. BMW still seems to think it will be. Honda hasn't given up on its FCX Clarity hydrogen car ei

A group of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been focusing their efforts on advanced technology batteries for electric vehicles. Their work on lithium-air batteries has led to several recent discoveries, and gives "riding on air" a whole new meaning.

In Episode 1.1 of TRANSLOGIC, we introduced you to the HumanCar Imagine_PS, something that looks like a modern-day railroad car. What makes the Imagine_PS go is good old elbow grease (and a lot of it -- think of the vehicle as a four-man rowing machine), running on calories as opposed to carbons. The vehicle's two electric motors in the wheels generate about four horsepower (about the power of a weed whacker), creating what inventor Charles S. Greenwood calls a "bionic human hybrid." Drivers can

One of the biggest weaknesses of today's battery technologies are their power-to-weight ratio. If you want to go fast or far, you need to carry a lot of heavy batteries with you. But a team of scientists from MIT have made a discovery that could signal the beginning of an entirely new age of energy storage technology. We want to say just one word to you... just one word. Are you listening? Nanotubes.

Popular Mechanics has done a bit of a follow up on a little scooter from the labs of MIT we originally told you about back in the beginning of January. In a good news/bad news story with enough new detail to make it worth the read, we learn, among other things, that the the scooter is "going to make it" b

Ford is looking for ways to pack their automobiles with innovative technology that achieves the seemingly impossible goal of using smaller, more efficient engines while still delivering the performance wallop customers are demanding. Not only is the Blue Oval seeking more involvement from their suppliers to push new technology and techniques forward, but the automaker's also looking outside the typical realm of automotive OEMs.

Science often looks to nature for inspiration on how to improve a concept which is already used. Just as flippers help a swimmer or diver to move through the water, the same principle could replace the propeller that is normally used in submersibles. Specifically, the bluegill sunfish is being studied by researchers from MIT as a way to make better unmanned submersibles. Apparently, Jeremy Korzeniewski

Three decades before Porsche and Volkswagen collaborated on the Cayenne/Touareg, they got together to create a little mid-engined sports car called the 914. Now a group of engineering students has taken a 914 provided one of their professors and created their answer to the Tesla Roadster. Mechanical engineering Professor Yang Shao-Horn and her husband, Quinn Horn bought a 914 on eBay and made it available for the students to do the c