Hybrid News

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Transportation Alternatives, Toyota

Toyota is most likely the world’s largest maker of “door to door″ automobiles. Could they possibly become a maker of “bed to bed″ robots too?

Considering that Honda is building robots already, it’s not hard to imagine Toyota starting to do so as well. In addition to the electric-wheelchair-with-a-brain known as Mobility Robot (MR), they’ve also created one that plays the violin.

The idea behind the MR is that elderly or infirmed individuals could be taken from their bed, up and down stairs, to their cars and back to bed… pretty much anything that a person would need, mobility-wise. And all on battery power. Of course, Toyota backed off when asked if their robot was better than Honda’s.

[Source: International Herald Tribune via The Truth About Cars]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Volvo

The video above is an 8-minute interview with Ichiro Sugioka of Volvo talking about Volvo’s Recharge concept. Ichiro also talks about the many interesting advantages of battery-powered cars like the power company paying you $2,000 or $3,000 a year to use your car battery while it’s parked and using recycled hybrid batteries to store energy from wind turbines. These kinds of things, Ichiro admits, won’t be done by a car company. Car companies have developed home charging units for cars and Ichiro hints at a very interesting technology that might be coming from Volvo, robot pluggers. I will let Ichiro explain or you can watch 6:40 into the video interview above:

We would also like to have an automated plug-in system. Which is why we put the plug in the nose of the car. So that you could easily position yourself relative a robotic system, lets say. So that you don’t have to plug it in yourself.

Please, please, please, make this electric-car-plugging-robot Ichiro! Also, if you can, make the robot wash the windows and mow the lawn.

Related:

• Frankfurt Preview: Volvo ReCharge - The Swedes go series hybrid
• Electric cars could earn owner $500 a month
• Video: iMiEV has wind turbine in the grill, solar panel on the roof
• Volvo introducing a new flexifuel engine

[Source: YouTube]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Lascelles Linton