emergency
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Three months later, the May 7 death of a Model S driver in Florida continues to generate headlines and spark debate on the merits of electronic driver-assistance technologies. But a recent story points out at least one of the potential future advantages to self-driving cars: their ability to transport incapable occupants to their destinations. Or, in the case of one Tesla electric-car owner suffering an acute pulmonary embolism, to the nearest emergency room. DON'T MISS: NHTSA to investigate Tesla Model S Autopilot crash that killed driver The story appeared a few days ago in a broader...
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2016 Toyota Mirai Power-Out Jack Could Run Your Home In Emergencies
It may be hidden behind a fuzzy grey triangular panel in the trunk, but the 2016 Toyota Mirai fuel-cell car offers a novel and innovative feature that could let it power your home for a day or two in the event of an emergency. Toyota executives say they haven't decided whether to offer the...
John Voelcker -
Rhode Island Launches Hybrid-Electric License Plates For EMT Safety
New license plates will mark plug-in cars for first responders.
Stephen Edelstein -
Lithium-Ion Batteries For Lighter, Compact Jump-Starting Pack
The Juno Power Jumpr uses lithium-ion batteries for a more-compact power source.
Stephen Edelstein -
Electric-Car Concept From Japan Floats Like A Boat In Emergencies
The Fomm Concept One is an electric car designed to take on a tsunami.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota Prius Becomes Emergency Generator With Special Kit
Last year's East Coast power outages caused by Hurricane Sandy illustrated just how much we rely on electricity in our daily lives. Virtually everything we rely on day to day requires power. No power means no hot water for washing, no refrigerated food, and often, no way of cooking. After the...
Antony Ingram -
Picture the scene: There's a power cut. It goes dark. Your TV, refrigerator and computer all shut down. How long will it last? Who knows? Power outages are normally brief affairs, but in disasters like 2012's Superstorm Sandy, people could be left without power for days. A potential solution, increasingly coming to light, is that of using electric vehicles as a backup energy source. And now, the Department of Defense is taking the idea seriously too. The DoD's interest is twofold, explains the Federal Times. Firstly, the department is looking to cut money, and electric vehicles are looking...
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Using A Hybrid For Emergency Power: Tough Choice
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, there are still thousands without power--and even shelter--along the Northeast coast. It makes most of our issues look rather trivial, but admidst the chaos we've seen examples of great solidarity and ingenuity from those affected. The power losses have also...
Antony Ingram -
Assessing Sandy: Are Electric Cars A Better Bet In Emergencies?
For many of us, lines at gas stations and homes without power are no more than news, but millions on the U.S. East Coast are still coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Many areas are still without power, and gasoline is a worryingly rare commodity for a transport system utterly dependent...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan Leaf-To-Home Power Station: Will It Make It To U.S.?
Eighteen months after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of Japan, electric cars are viewed there in a whole new light—as portable sources of emergency energy. Now Nissan has taken that usage to a new level, with the Leaf-To-Home energy station that it announced in May and put...
John Voelcker -
NHTSA To Treat Crashed Electric Cars With More Respect After Volt Blaze
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering adopting a new set of procedures for tow trucks and wrecking yards to follow when dealing with severely crashed electric cars. The new guidelines may be implemented after an incident in which a 2011 Chevrolet Volt caught fire...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Your Electric Car Out Of Juice? AAA Tests Roadside Recharging
Everyone makes mistakes once in a while, and we’re sure most drivers have run out of gasoline at least once in their life. But as the saying goes, it's hard to carry a gallon of electricity back to your plug-in car if the battery is completely out of charge. Which is why AAA is now testing...
John Voelcker -
Ask most people which car would be best to have in a disaster and they’re likely to name something like a Humvee. While the now deceased gas-guzzling Humvee be good for navigating through deserted streets and clearing obstacles in the road it can’t help you cook a meal. But it turns out plug in cars can. Spurred on by the desire to provide Japanese citizens with a portable power station to help keep themselves fed and their homes warm, in a disaster, Mitsubishi announced back in June that it was planning on developing an accessory for the 2012 Mitsubishi i which would turn it into...
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Feeling Flat? The AAA Will Soon Be Able To Charge You Up
What happens when your electric car runs out of charge? It’s a question we regularly get asked by readers and its one that for a while, there’s only been one real solution. Just like a gasoline car, you need to make sure you have enough fuel to make your trip. But everyone makes...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Roving Recharge Truck from Nissan to Aid Dead Electric Cars
Japanese electric car owners in eastern Prefecture of Kanagawa can now drive easy without the fear of being stranded with a flat battery pack thanks to a new pilot project being run between Nissan Japan and the Japan Automobile Federation - the Japanese equivalent of the AAA. Stranded owners of...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Mitsubishi Turns 2012 ‘i’ into Portable Emergency Power Station
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) isn’t a new concept, and is the name given to technology which gives plug-in vehicles the ability to feed power stored in their battery packs back to the utility company at points of peak electrical demand. But we’ve yet to see the technology being implemented in...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Mobile EV Charger: Cure For Range Anxiety Or Unnecessary Extra?
Earlier this week Swiss-based Nation-E announced the Angel Car, a vehicle which the company says will aide stranded electric cars with flat battery packs. Designed to help alleviate the range anxiety many commentators cite as the major hurdle to widespread EV success, the Angel Car is only a phone...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
How Do First Responders Act Around a Crashed Hybrid or EV?
Once more, a reader question prompts us to share the answer with our entire green car audience. In this case, it's about how first responders should approach accidents that involve vehicles with high-voltage battery packs, whether they're conventional hybrids (e.g. Toyota Prius) or upcoming...
John Voelcker