GigaOM’s Green Overdrive show has test driven a decent amount of electric cars, but most of them have been around the block or on a closed track. But for the latest episode we wanted to see what it would be like to take an electric car and drive it the whole day, seeing how it performs, charges, feels to drive, and whether can fit all our stuff (and our friends). Check out the video to see our day-long test drive of Mitsubishi’s all-electric i MiEV!

GREEN OVERDRIVE >

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Post tags: all-electric, electric cars, gigaom, green cars, green overdrive, green transportation, i-MIEV, katie fehrenbacher, mitsubishi, range anxiety

For the latest episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive show, we bring you a ride in a Beta version of electric car maker Tesla‘s second car – the Model S. A Beta car is an almost production-ready car, and Tesla plans to launch commercial Model S in mid-2012. The Model S is one of the first electric cars designed from the ground up around the batteries, in contrast to most EVs that are internal combustion engine cars that have been stuffed with batteries. Check out our test ride and our interview with Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen for more!

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Post tags: alternative transportation, electric car, electric vehicle, ev, green design, green overdrive, green transportation, sustainable design, tesla model-s, tesla test drive, test drive, test drive video

An engineer at solar panel maker Solyndra electrified an old Volvo and has been using it for his daily commute to work, where he designs aspects of Solyndra’s tube-shaped solar panels. Even better, he’s been charging it up every night with his own Solyndra panels that he installed on his roof, which represents one of the first times a Solyndra system has been used on a home (Solyndra is mostly selling to commercial and industrial building owners). Talk about the DIY green lifestyle. GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive Show recently took a tour of the electric car and solar system – check it out in this week’s video!

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Post tags: cars with solar panels, electric solar cars, electric Volvo, EVs, Gigaom tv, green driving, green overdrive, green transportation, green volvo, solar powered cars, solar powered volvo, solyndra, Solyndra system, sustainable transportation, sustainable vehicles, test drive videos

For the latest episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive Show, we test drive an electric folding scooter that can carry a large box (or me!). The company that made the cargo scooter is called Lit Motors and they’re based in San Francisco. Lit Motor’s CEO Daniel Kim showed us the scooter’s innovation, as well as the company’s prototype of its next 2-wheel electric car. In about 6 months interested buyers in the U.S. can grab one for between $2,000 to $4,000, but Lit is really focusing on selling these scooters in China and India (at a lower price point). Check out our test drive and interview with Lit Motors below!

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Post tags: daniel kim, electric vehicle, ev, folding electric scooter, Gigaom tv, green overdrive, green transportation, lit motors, sustainable transportation

Tesla has a new inspiration for selling its pioneering electric car: Apple. Last Summer Tesla hired George Blankenship to be in charge of its interactive in-store customer experience. Blankenship is well know in the gadget world for previously leading Apple’s highly successful unique store strategy (Genius Bars, simple design, interactive products). Will Tesla’s “experiential” store strategy work as well for expensive electric cars, as it did for iPods?

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Post tags: apple, electric car, electric vehicle, ev, george blankenship, Gigaom tv, green design, green overdrive, green transportation, sustainable design, tesla

Cutting down on the fuel usage of company trucks and fleets could make a major dent in the oil consumption of the U.S. Silicon Valley-based startup Wrightspeed is led by a co-founder of Tesla Motors, and they’re building a business around extended-range electric trucks. They’ve developed a digital drive system that can be used to retrofit existing trucks or to create a whole new line of vehicles. For this week’s Green Overdrive Show we catch up with Wrightspeed founder Ian Wright during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for his first factory.

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Post tags: electric car, electric truck, electric vehicle, electric vehicle conversion, ev, Gigaom tv, green design, green overdrive, green transportation, sustainable design, Wrightspeed

We’re excited to announce that GigaOm has unveiled their 10 Big Ideas winners that will present their innovations at the third annual Green:Net 2011 event on April 21 in San Francisco. The 10 Big Ideas companies are some of the world’s most innovative businesses that are using information technology — from software to the web to computing to mobile networks — to fight climate change. Each of the selected companies sparks the imagination, has the potential to be a game-changer, and is using IT in a novel way that will lead to energy efficiency, the proliferation of clean power, or greener transportation. The ideas range from developing low-power computers to creating ultra-affordable battery power for the developing world, to using cell phone data to make driving greener. Read on for a look at each of the 10 Big Ideas innovators, and if you’d like to see them speak live, Inhabitat readers receive a $100-off discount ticket — check out details and registration here!

Read the rest of Announcing GigaOM’s 10 Big Ideas Startups for Green:Net 2011

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Post tags: 10 big ideas, Climate Change, environmental design, gigaom, green design, green software, green technology, green technology event, green:net 2011, sustainable design, sustainable technology

For this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive show, we bring you a behind-the-scenes look at the testing program for Tesla’s next-generation all-electric sedan, the Model S. The vehicle will have a 300-mile battery range (the first of its kind), and Tesla has built 20 alpha Model S prototypes and is testing them around safety, durability, steering capability and electronics. Check out the video for a sneak peek into their alpha program!

GREEN OVERDRIVE >

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On this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s video show Green Overdrive (where if it’s green we drive it), I take Brammo‘s all-electric motorcycle the Enertia out for a spin. It’s so much fun to drive, and I did my best impression of Top Gun as I rode around the base and past the (fake) jet in Alameda, Calif. The e-bike’s got a top speed of 60 mph, a range of 40 miles, will cost you about $8,000 (but less with subsidies) and uses a lithium iron phophate battery. Watch our test drive – enjoy!

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Post tags: brammo inertia, earth2tech, electric motorcycle, green design, green overdrive, katie fehrenbacher, sustainable design

For this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive show, we take you to the offices of GreenRoad, a startup that has developed a technology to help company drivers reduce crashes and cut fuel use. It’s kind of like a backseat driver, convincing drivers to slow down (lead foot!), and stop extreme braking, which can lead to a significant cut in company fuel consumption. GreenRoad is backed by Al Gore and Richard Branson’s investment funds.

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Post tags: alternative transportation, energy efficient transportation, Gigaom tv, green cars, green design, green overdrive, green transportation system, GreenRoad, sustainable design

Introducing the all-electric VW bug! No, you can’t buy it out on the showroom floor — DIY-er and entrepreneur Al Bullock electrified his VW bug and has been driving around Livermore, Calif. for the past three years. It cost him around $18,000 to turn the classic car into an EV, and you might think that’s expensive, but it’s a lot less than a Nissan LEAF, and it’s more stylin’. Check out this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive show!

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Post tags: al bullock, all-electric vehicle, alternative transportation, electric car conversion, green design, green overdrive, sustainable design, volkswagen electric bug, vw bug

Turning the Bay Area’s restaurant cooking oil into fuel is the goal of the folks at Got Grease. And on this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive Show, we go on a grease run and factory tour of their operations! While things do admittedly get a little dirty, Got Grease shows us all the ins and outs of how to siphon fuel straight from the fryer and pump it right into your fuel tank. Check out this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive show here!

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Post tags: alternative fuels, clean fuels, clean oil, cooking oil for fuel, eco-friendly transportation, fryer fuel tank, got grease, grease cars, grease fuel, green automotive, green cars, green overdrive, green transportation

Here comes the next generation of car sharing: neighbor-to-neighbor, or car sharing 2.0! RelayRides is a young startup that connects people who want to loan out their car to people that want to rent local cars on demand. The car owner sets the price and makes money off the deal and the car borrower pays for driving per hour. It’s a much more efficient way to use transportation resources. Check out our interview in this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive show:

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Post tags: alternative transportation, Car Sharing, Gigaom tv, green design, green overdrive show, green transportation, relayrides test drive, shared car service, sustainable design

BMW doesn’t have plans to commercially sell its electric Minis, but boy is the car fun to drive. For this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive Show, we drove an electric Mini around LA, and tested out its pick up and regen. Check it out!

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Post tags: electric car, electric mini cooper, electric mini test drive, electric vehicle, ev, Gigaom tv, green car, green design, green overdrive, green transportation, sustainable design

Porsche’s Cayenne S Hybrid might not be the greenest car on the road (it gets about 25 MPG), but it can drive on electric power at under 40 MPH and also has a fun no-power coasting mode at higher speeds. For this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive Show we take the Cayenne S Hybrid to the streets and see how it feels.

GREEN OVERDRIVE >

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Post tags: alternative transportation, cayenne s hybrid, gigaom tv green overdrive, green car, green design, hybrid vehicle test drive, porsche hybrid, sustainable design

]]> http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-video-porsche-hybrid-test-drive/feed/ 0 http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-video-the-rav4-ev-via-tesla-toyota/ http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-video-the-rav4-ev-via-tesla-toyota/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:00:45 +0000 Katie Fehrenbacher http://inhabitat.com/?p=207957
In one of the most interesting electric vehicle partnerships of 2010, Tesla and Toyota announced last year that they would jointly build an electric RAV4, combining Toyota's SUV with Tesla's battery and EV tech. For this week's episode of GigaOM TV's Green]]>

In one of the most interesting electric vehicle partnerships of 2010, Tesla and Toyota announced last year that they would jointly build an electric RAV4, combining Toyota’s SUV with Tesla’s battery and EV tech. For this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive Show, we grab some time with the RAV4 EV’s chief engineer, learn about the partner’s future plans and check out the inaugural car!

GREEN OVERDRIVE >

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Post tags: alternative transportation, electric car, electric rav4, ev rav4 test drive, gigaom, green car, green design, green overdrive, green transportation, sustainable design, tesla, Toyota

]]> http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-video-the-rav4-ev-via-tesla-toyota/feed/ 0 http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-vws-electric-blue-e-motion-golf/ http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-vws-electric-blue-e-motion-golf/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:45:31 +0000 Katie Fehrenbacher http://inhabitat.com/?p=205663
Volkswagen's got close to two years before it will launch its all-electric Blue-e-motion Golf car, but GigaOM TV's Green Overdrive show got a chance to take the car to the streets recently in Los Angeles, California. VW electrified the Golf line because the]]>

Volkswagen’s got close to two years before it will launch its all-electric Blue-e-motion Golf car, but GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive show got a chance to take the car to the streets recently in Los Angeles, California. VW electrified the Golf line because the vehicle is one of its most popular brands. Watch our test drive below, where we check out each of the car’s four regenerative braking modes.

GREEN OVERDRIVE >

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Post tags: alternative transportation, electric car, Gigaom tv, green design, green overdrive, green transportation, sustainable design, volkswagen blue-e-motion golf, vw electric golf

]]> http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-vws-electric-blue-e-motion-golf/feed/ 0 http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-shows-2010-year-in-review/ http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-shows-2010-year-in-review/#comments Fri, 31 Dec 2010 18:30:38 +0000 Katie Fehrenbacher http://inhabitat.com/?p=203580
After 6 months and close to 30 shows, GigaOM TV's Green Overdrive show is celebrating the coming of 2011 with a year-end wrap. Here's our year in review for electric vehicles in 2010, including some of my favorite -- and some of my not-so-favorite -- test]]>

After 6 months and close to 30 shows, GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive show is celebrating the coming of 2011 with a year-end wrap. Here’s our year in review for electric vehicles in 2010, including some of my favorite — and some of my not-so-favorite — test drives in 2010:

GREEN OVERDRIVE >

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Post tags: 2011 green transportation predictions, alternative transportation, electric vehicles, ev, Gigaom tv, green autos, green design, green overdrive, sustainable design

]]> http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-shows-2010-year-in-review/feed/ 1 http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-video-mercedes-f-cell-fuel-cell-car/ http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-video-mercedes-f-cell-fuel-cell-car/#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:00:01 +0000 Katie Fehrenbacher http://inhabitat.com/?p=201251
For this week's episode of GigaOM TV's Green Overdrive Show, we got a chance to test drive Mercedes fuel cell car, the F-Cell. Mercedes only made 200 of these vehicles and is renting them out to drivers for around $850 per month, including the cost of the]]>

For this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive Show, we got a chance to test drive Mercedes fuel cell car, the F-Cell. Mercedes only made 200 of these vehicles and is renting them out to drivers for around $850 per month, including the cost of the hydrogen. There’s a couple cool things about the F-Cell: it drives just like a regular car, it refuels in just minutes, and it’s, of course, a zero emissions vehicle. Want one? Well, they likely won’t be coming in any kind of volume to a car dealer near you, so watching this video might be the closest you’re gonna get!

GREEN OVERDRIVE >

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Post tags: emissions-free vehicle, fuel cell vehicle, Gigaom tv, green car, green design, green overdrive, green transportation, mercedes f-cell, sustainable design

]]> http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-video-mercedes-f-cell-fuel-cell-car/feed/ 2 http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-video-the-ev-honda-fit/ http://inhabitat.com/green-overdrive-video-the-ev-honda-fit/#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:58:31 +0000 Katie Fehrenbacher http://inhabitat.com/?p=198615
About a decade ago Honda developed one of the earliest electric cars, but like many big auto manufacturers it decided to ditch those plans. Now with the return to popularity of the electric car this year Honda has now announced its first all-electric car in]]>

About a decade ago Honda developed one of the earliest electric cars, but like many big auto manufacturers it decided to ditch those plans. Now with the return to popularity of the electric car this year Honda has now announced its first all-electric car in a decade: the Honda Fit EV! For this week’s episode of GigaOM TV’s Green Overdrive show, we check out the Fit EV after its launch at the LA Auto Show, and ask Honda if it will take the EV market seriously this time around.

GREEN OVERDRIVE >

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Post tags: alternative transportation, ev test drive video, gigaom, green design, green overdrive, green transportation, honda fit ev, sustainable design

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