Bike to Work Day

Today it is Bike to Work Day in Denver. The League of American Bicyclists promotes this all across USA every year in may. May is Bike Month, last week of may is Bike Week and Bike to Work Day is Friday in Bike Week. Denver choose June instead of May, and 17904 persons took their bikes to work in Denver today.

Anyone can arrange a bike to work day together with their company or organization. If you email about your event to the League they will post it on their website to promote it and to encourage others to join in.

Some of the major cities that arranges this event have refreshment stations, they give out t-shirts and maps and arrange competitions. People ride bicycles with their kids to school and teach them about safety on the road at the same time. Races are arranged to see if you get to your destination the quickest by bus, car or bicycle during the rush hours.

Such a cool way to do something for your health, for the environment and together with the people of your company or community at the same time.

Read more on Bikeleague.

Electro Luxury

I watched CBS 60 minutes this weekend about Elon Musk who's the CEO and co-founder of Tesla Motors. This is the guy that founded PayPal and he is also the CEO of SpaceX; a forward thinking company working with private and commercial space transport. It was a good portrait, and I always find people that has the guts to take a big step out of their comfort-zone really interesting.

Tesla Motors is a young company (founded in 2003) that works on bringing us electrical cars without compromising with design and performance. They have produced three models so far and from what I've read on the internet most reviewers really likes what they see and experience.

As a gadget maniac, cool features like a really large touchscreen for information and entertainment in the front and a prepared slot to put you iPod in is really appealing.













As long as you choose where you buy your electricity from (sun, wind, water etc.) there are no emissions whatsoever with theese cars.



Model X

Model X is the SUV and will go into production in late 2013. It accelerates from 0-60 mph (96km/h) in under 5 seconds. On the homepage you can have a close look at it from a 360-degree angle.








Model S



This car is under production and deliveries will begin in the autumn of 2012. It's topspeed is 125 mph (200km/h). Accelerates 0-60mph (96km/h) in 4,4 sec. Estimated range (85 kWh) is 300 miles (480km) if you drive at 60mhp.






Roadster


On the website you can design your own and see exactly what it would look like with different colours, wheels, interior etc.  Accelerates 0-60 mph (96km/h) in 3,7 sec. The range is 245 miles (390km) per charge and top-speed is 125 mph (200km/h).

Diesel and Dust

Today WHO made a statement that diesel exhaust is a cause of lung cancer and maybe also bladder cancer. Diesel is now considered to be as dangerous as asbestos, arsenic and mustard gas and has been upgraded to the highest risk category, Group 1, which means there is sufficient evidence that it causes cancer.

Diesel exhaust is an important factor to the rising amount of particles in the air, particularly in cities. The scientists behind this decision advises governments to lower the limit value of exhausts to protect people from the danger of those particles. Even though there have been more filters and better cleaning methods of diesel recently this is not enough. According to WHO,even cleaner diesel is still considered a health hazard.

Diesel submits less carbon dioxid than petrol (about 20 percent less) but diesel-cars submits more nitrogen oxide that acidifies soil and water and other particles that are dangerous for your lungs.

This puts a lot of pressure on the car-industry. In Sweden there are more and more regular cars that runs on diesel sold every year, and since 2010 more diesel fuel is sold than petrol. The car industry has been working hard to get diesel downgraded from Group 2A, so this is a big blow for them.

It's going to be interesting to see how the petrol- and car industry rises to this challenge.

Read more here http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/721892

Electric cars in Norway

There are actually quite a few electric cars in Norway (well, at least in Oslo).
It's funny because you can tell by the registration plates that it's an electric car.
In Sweden, Norway and Denmark electricity is shortend to el in everyday language, and all the registration plates on electric cars here in Norways starts with EL.

Read more at elbil.no