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

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

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

RENTON, Wash.–Earlier this month, Ted Yan, a Boeing systems engineer, won our grand prize in the Drive for Innovation: a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. Ted and his wife, Audrey, who just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, arrived this evening at Good Chevrolet outside Seattle to pick up his brand new ride. Yan has had some luck recently. Just after he learned

(Odometer: 27, 423 miles) PIKES PEAK, Colo.–Since this road trip began in Illinois, July 10, 2011, I've wanted to push the Volt as high and as far as it would go. It is, after all, bleeding-edge electronics technology, and we had a year-long road test in effect. Pikes Peak would be the place to find out. But as we get

A century ago the New York Times reported that electric vehicle technology had arrived. Recall (although you weren't alive, unless I'm missing a fantastic story) that at the time many technologies were competing to power vehicles, from electric batteries to steam to internal combustion engines. A century later, we're driving EVs but they're really expensive. Why? Because battery technology really

TROY, Mich. — Ever seen a car come apart really fast? Check out our time-lapse video of the Chevy Volt teardown we did several weeks ago here. More design resources It took three days, but the video shortens it to a few crazy minutes and makes Munro & Associates Al Steier look like he's working on barrels of coffee! I

PHILADELPHIA–College is so different these days. Can you imagine having the chance, back in the day, to build an electric dragster? That’s what engineering students at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) have done in the past six years. In an earlier segment, we talked to them about the origins of the design, which emerged from a long-popular solar car design