In China, they have a new bullet train that can hit 311mph. The aerodynamic design is based on, appropriately, an ancient Chinese sword. It’s quite a feat and begs the question, where in the hell is our bullet train in the U.S.?

Yeah, I know this is a car blog. But bullet trains are universally awesome. Nothing else on the ground can take common folk like us to 300+ miles per hour.

What’s that, you say? Trains are boring? I respectfully disagree. Take a ride on France’s TGV or Japan’s Shinkansen. They’re quiet, comfortable, stable. There’s little sense of speed. Until you whiz past something big like a city of 80,000 in just a few seconds. That’s when you realize that bullet trains are truly something special—and something worthy of lust.

Let’s talk tech. This new Chinese train is fast, but it’s not the fastest. That title goes to Japan. There a maglev train hit 361mph on a test track. A hot-rodded version of the TGV hit 357mph in the French country side (or maybe on a test track, but I prefer to think of it tearing through the Loire Valley, rattling the stones of grand chateaus in the distance).

That kind of speed should make any gearhead flip the hell out. These trains can accomodate you and your whole family and they make Bugatti Veyrons look like toys.

So where’s the enthusiasm? Why isn’t there high-speed rail between San Francisco and New York? Or Chicago and Washington, DC? China’s state-run rail system announced that it’ll have high-speed track laid to every major city in the country in just 10 years. They also have a maglev train running in Shanghai.

I say we American gearheads embrace the bullet train. Let’s write our representatives. Let’s unite and demand some truly awesome technology. Building high-speed rail will boost the economy, make travel cheaper and easier, will inspire a new generation of engineers, and should cause gas prices to fall. Plus, we’ll get to go 200+mph on a regular basis.

Ever since I moved out to the West Coast I’ve been noticing a trend amongst those who drive hybrids and electric cars. For one, they’re generally more aggressive behind the wheel and two, they seem to feel that because they drive an economy car that this gives them the right to act like complete assholes on the open road. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been known to fracture an occasional traffic law from time to time, but these hybrid drivers, especially those who pilot the Toyota Prius, are in a class by themselves. On the highway for instance it’s more often than not that I see Prius drivers motoring at 80-85 mph through traffic. I’ve been flashed by them, tailgated by them and even flicked off by a few. I’ve also been chastised by owners while getting coffee for driving what they consider to be gas guzzling automobiles.

Back in NYC the Prius driver used these cars as they were intended – to get great economy. They drove them in a normal fashion and simply enjoyed their little hybrids. Out here in California though it’s almost as if owners used them as a way to be passive aggressive on the open road – “Yes of course I’m speeding and driving erratically, but I drive a Prius, so it’s ok…” Now I suppose I could be imagining this, but I highly doubt it. What I’m curious to know is, has anyone out there experienced a similar occurrence or am I the only one?

Earlier this year I took part in a documentary series in which BMW asked questions about the Future of Mobility. We talked about existing car technology, profiled electric car technology and discussed why our driving habits as a society needed to change if we wanted to move forward. That series was a small introduction to what BMW is doing now with their new i3 & i8 concept electric vehicles. The concept vehicles and the surrounding infrastructure that BMW has planned is nothing short of visionary, which is good, because right now there is a lot of trepidation in the electric car marketplace. By addressing the issues of range anxiety and conveying that electric cars can in fact be fun to drive as well as environmentally conscious, BMW has seemingly moved how we the looked at the electric car into a different, much brighter light.

The Beast rests...

One of the fiercest proponents of harsher gun control laws is New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg. As mayor, he has a protection detail assigned to him for public events, and I’d be willing to bet there are people watching over his shoulder nearly 24/7/365. I’d also be willing to bet that those people are armed, and extremely proficient with the use of those sidearms; in fact, I’d bet good money that Mr. Bloomberg probably has a little unfriendly persuasion of his own in a nightstand drawer. The irony, of course, is that the man who needs to worry least about personal protection is among its staunchest opponents. Based on recent moves by the current administration to convert federal vehicles to alternative fuel by 2015, it looks like there’s some irony here, too.

Excluded from the hybrid, EV or alternative fuel mandate is a vehicle known to insiders as “The Beast”. It’s the president’s limo, loosely based on the union of a stretch Cadillac limousine and an M1 Abrams tank. It’s capabilities are a closely guarded secret, but I’ve seen video of The Beast being hustled around a handling course. Nothing that big and heavy should move that fast, and I’d be the first to give the Secret Service drivers behind the wheel mad props for their talent. If you can toss something that weighs as much as a city bus through a set of autocross cones, you’ve got far more talent than I do.

As you may have guessed, The Beast runs on gasoline (and probably high octane gasoline, at that), so the Secret Service has determined that converting the limo to alternative fuels would pose a danger to the president. Exceptions will also be granted to vehicles used for law enforcement and security roles, so don’t expect to see U.S. Marshals piling out of a Chevy Volt any time soon. I suspect this loophole actually covers quite a large number of vehicles, which makes me wonder if the whole mandate was simply to pacify the green crowd.

Source: Left Lane News

We’ve all been so jacked up lately on the topic of electric cars that we’ve forgotten that battery power can be used in other applications. When I was a kid I used to be heavy into boats and water sports. It was wonderful and I was lucky enough to have been able to enjoy the water in everything from 8-foot kayaks to full-on 50-foot sport yachts. Over the years the boats have changed, but for the most part their propulsion systems have not. Most recreational boats are still powered by standard gasoline engines or for the larger boats, dirty burning diesels. Back then electric boats were unheard of, but every now and again we’d see someone in a little rubber inflatable tooling around the harbor in silence as their battery powered 2hp electric motor putted them around. The thought of having a full sized electric boat was somewhat laughable, but today; let’s just say the times are changing.

This is the Infinyte i4, a pure electric 5-passenger catamaran that is a great example of things to come. Canada’s Infinyte Marine utilizes creative design and engineering to create small boats that are for now, designed for use as lake boats. They’re silent, comfortable and depending on usage, can provide owners with up to 10 hours of playtime per charge. They’re newest model, the i4, is 14-feet long and powered by twin 24 V motors that propel it to a top speed of 8 mph. While not overly powerful just yet, the company says they have a larger 25-footer that’s currently in development called the i8 which will seat 12, hit 20 mph and thanks to the use of a bio diesel generator and integrated solar panels in the fold-down hardtop, it’s capable of virtually endless run times. I’m not sure how I’d feel about taking a full electric boat out into open water just yet, but I am stoked that companies like Infinyte Marine are working to make it a reality.

If you care about the environment then you’d best look away now because this survey conducted by Carbuzz.co.uk is about to really piss you off. Everyone out there likes to think that they’re environmentally conscious when it comes to automobiles and emissions, but very few people actually do anything about it. In fact according to this study of 1,982 motorists over in the UK, only 1% of drivers actually give a crap about how much C02 they’re spewing into the atmosphere. It’s not a surprise really as most people look to get the best bang for their buck when it comes to automobiles and that usually means sacrificing on things like emissions and safety. The plain truth, whether in the United States or the UK, is that people want a nice cheap car that’s loaded to the hilt with options, it’s just the way it is. Still, the fact that safety and emissions are so far down on the list is quite surprising.

In recent years there has been a very big push to get the American public to buy into new clean diesel technology. Gone are the black smoke belching machines of yesteryear and in their place are beautiful, great performing and more importantly, fuel efficient automobiles. German automakers such as Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have been at the forefront of this technology and because of this are pushing for more diesels on U.S. shores. Diesel vehicle sales have been slowly increasing due not only in part to the new technology, but to advanced marketing efforts as well. 53% of all Audi A3′s sold in the U.S. are TDI models, as well as 43% for their Q7 SUV range. Diesel availability has also increased due to the fact that there are more gas stations carrying diesel fuel then there were just 10 years ago. I’ve driven these diesel models and can safely say that if you’re looking for a suitable traditional gas alternative, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t give the new clean diesels a look.

Source: Autoblog

Oshkosh has been making tactical all-terrain vehicles for the military for years now, ranging from the 72-ton payload hauling Global Het, to their high-speed response and security vehicle, the SandCat. What that means is that Oshkosh is a company that must create, design and innovate to stay current in the ever developing world of advanced military vehicles. One such creation, the Oshkosh Light Concept, recently competed in the 43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 and did so with the mission of showing off their latest serial diesel-electric ProPulse hybrid drive configuration.

A diesel engine provides power to an electric generator, which then sends power directly to the wheels thus eliminating parts like a torque converter, transfer case, automatic transmission and drive shafts. The energy created by the generators is stored in ultracapacitors instead of batteries. There is also a regenerative braking system that can help improve fuel economy by over 20% over a standard power-train. Oshkosh entered two vehicles in the Baja 1000 and unfortunately neither one finished in the allotted time. That doesn’t change the fact though that this is very cool to see this new technology being tested in one of the toughest off road events on the planet.

Source: GreenCarCongress.com

It’s simply amazing what can be accomplished with a little ingenuity, an HD camera and an iPhone. Members of the Brooklyn Space Program wanted to see what it would be like to record the ascent of a weather balloon as it reached the upper edges of the Earths atmosphere. What is also remarkable is how simple a task it actually was for them to gain access to some of the most amazing HD footage that you are likely to see this side of the Discovery Channel. Click play an prepare to be amazed.

Source: Devour.com

My brother in law lives near West Palm Beach, FL, and every summer he does the trek to the family cabin outside of Traverse City, MI. It’s about 1,525 miles each way, and if he owned a VW Passat BlueMotion diesel, he could make the trip without stopping for fuel. If, that is, the Passat BlueMotion diesel were available in the United States.

A 2010 VW Passat BlueMotion diesel, piloted by a journalist from the UK’s Sunday Times, just set a world record by going 1,531 miles on a single 20.4 gallon tank of diesel fuel. If you do the math, that works out to be slightly better than 75 miles per gallon, which is substantially better than real-world highway mileage returned by hybrid vehicles. The record attempt was monitored by officials from Guinness World Records, and the vehicle in question was a standard production Passat BlueMotion. I’m sure the driver did what he could to pad the numbers (draft a few tractor trailers, perhaps?), but there were no other modifications done to the vehicle.

Which raises a good point: why are we having hybrid cars rammed down our throats by virtually every manufacturer, when clean diesels are a viable (and already in production) alternative? It can’t be because of emission standards in the US, since the EU’s latest standards are much more stringent. The only reason I can think of is the misperception that, “Americans don’t like diesels”.

What American’s don’t like is cars that don’t work well. Twenty five or thirty years ago, this included diesels, and Oldsmobile (among others) failed miserably in their attempts to bring diesel to the masses in the early 1980s. Today’s diesels are a whole different breed, and they have none of the problems associated with earlier oil burners. Diesel fuel (including the low sulphur stuff required by modern engines) is more common than it ever has been, and diesel powered cars are a lot more enjoyable to drive (in my opinion, at least) than hybrids. VW has no problem in selling every TDI they import, so when will other manufacturers learn that Americans will embrace diesels, so long as they don’t suck?

Source: Autoevolution