City driving is often a hassle, but recent developments in compact car design could make navigating urban gridlock significantly more tolerable. The next wave of electric vehicles will be sleek, energy-efficient, and small enough to make the Smart Car look like a gas-guzzling giant.

The Hiriko is a 100% electric vehicle that has the ability to fold itself up and squeeze into the tiniest parking spaces. Based on the City Car, a design developed a few years back at MIT (with the help of eGFI trailblazer Will Lark Jr.), the Hiriko has about a 60-mile range, four-wheel drive, and a nifty windshield that swings upward to allow passengers to enter and exit.

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Tags: Cars, Green Technology, Green Transportation, Transportation

Like our new magazine cover? Snatch up the 44″ x 25″ poster

What do the blockbuster movie Avatar, high-performance sports gear, the Angry Birds phone app, and pollution-eating bacteria have in common? They are among a host of fascinating innovations developed by engineers and featured in the newest edition of the American Society for Engineering Education’s (ASEE) Engineering, Go For It magazine.

The publication is now available in our online store. You can find a free preview of the magazine here.

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Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pa.

Electrical Engineering

“After my father taught me the mechanical ins and outs of my first car, I took it upon myself to study the electrical system. I developed an interest in car stereos, and before I knew it, I was designing speaker boxes and upgrading my vehicle’s electrical backbone. The fact that I could use my car’s engine to spin a pulley on an alternator and generate current really pushed me towards the study of electrical power.”

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Tags: Cars, Electrical, SMART

For the past three years, students from all over the country have been competing to design the ultimate vehicle that balances performance, safety and consumer appeal with fuel efficiency and emissions-reduction.

The 16 university teams participating in EcoCar: The NeXt Challenge recently tested their cars in Ann Arbor, MI, as they geared up for the Competition Finals.

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Tags: Cars, Environmental, Green Transportation, Mechanical, Transportation

While this spacey-looking disk will not allow your car to time-travel, it might replace its internal combustion engine

Here’s a new approach to decreasing the environmental impact of cars: a new auto motor could make them 20 percent lighter and reduce emissions by 90 percent.

Michigan researchers have built a prototype of a disk-shaped shock wave generator that could replace the current internal combustion engine in cars. The generator is about the size of a saucepan and does not need a transmission, cooling system, or emissions regulation fluid, which would reduce the weight of a vehicle by 1,000 pounds.

Filed under: Chemical, e-News, Environmental, Mechanical, Transportation | 12 Comments »

Tags: Cars, Chemical, Environmental, Green Technology, Green Transportation, Mechanical, Transportation