By Malcolm Fuller, contributing writer Remember the speculation about what kinds of technology the new millennium would have to offer? Now we haven’t seen a flying car yet, but Saturna Green Systems in Vancouver, B.C., has developed a product that brings wireless communication and networking to two- and three-wheel electric scooter and motorcycle manufacturers. And from an electronics-design standpoint, they’re

SAN FRANCISCO–During the first half of our around-the-country drive in the Chevy Volt, the first conversations started stirring over one of the greatest features of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles: How quiet they are. Problem is, they’re apparently too quiet, at least for the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Last week, NHTSA proposed adding sounds to EV and PHEVs running below

(Odometer: 24, 890 miles) CHULA VISTA, Calif.–You’ve no doubt used Leviton products in wiring or re-wiring your home. The Long Island based company is known primarily for ground-fault circuit interruption technology, and its products sit in 90 million U.S. homes. Out here, on a ridge above the Pacific Ocean, a Leviton unit is taking the concept into a new and

Vision is great until it runs headlong into cold hard reality. That’s my take-away from the news today that Shai Agassi, co-founder of battery-infrastructure company Better Place, was pushed aside as CEO. Agassi and Better Place have benefited from amazing publicity, and, to a great degree, communal hope. His articulate and passionate vision for the future fits nicely with our

Steve Leibson, longtime industry editor and engineer, got a chance this summer to tool around in the Silicon Valley in a Chevy Volt.  It's always good to get a different perspective, but Leibson's over three days tracks ours over 12 months.  He writes: "Quite simply, it drives like a smooth, well-bred car and it’s clear that GM engineers worked really

It's sometimes difficult to restrain oneself, much less one's company. Every innovation is born of a huge measure of optimism and confidence that this is the solution for the market. When the Drive for Innovation rolled into Boston in the fall of 2011, we hadn't heard of XL Hybrids. Today, we did, as the company announced a supplier deal with

(Odometer: 31,109 miles) VANCOUVER, B.C.–On the road, we ran into cool technologies and cool places to work engineering magic. Rarely did we find both at the same spot. But then we pulled into Saturna Green Systems here. Tucked inside a small pedestrian office mall in the trendy Gastown district, Saturna Green is trying to take the anxiety out of driving

7/17/12 By Charles Murray, Senior Technical Editor for Design News If gas prices reached $5, $6, or even $7 a gallon, would you respond by purchasing a hybrid? How about an electric car? Some consumers are already contemplating their responses to those questions. And the news is that alternative fuel vehicles have apparently begun creeping into the mainstream consciousness. A

7/19/12 By Charles Murray, Senior Technical Editor, Design News In the midst of the Tesla Model S rollout at the company's California manufacturing plant recently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a startling prediction: "In 20 years more than half of new cars manufactured will be fully electric," he said, according to a Reuters article. "I actually feel quite safe in