News Archive Article

Fill it up... with electricity please

TOKYO, JAPAN - Your car may become just another household appliance if a Japanese vehicle developer and former rally driver gets his way.

Yoshio Takaoka, in collaboration with Italy's Start Lab SAP, has created the Girasole, a fully functional electric car that can be fueled from a home power outlet.

The highway-worthy two seater reaches speeds of 65 km per hour (41 mp/h) and travels distances of up to a 120 km on a full battery, which costs about $1.

"Previously I was a polluter but as I grew older I felt I had to do penance for this and do something good in return," Takaoka, 63, told Fuji TV, referring to his rally driving heydays.

The Girasole, which means sunflower in Italian, retails for about $2.2 million but drivers can claim a $6,600 subsidy from the government under an environmental protection clause.

Japanese consumers who test drove the car were impressed by its quietness. But the car comes equipped with the clip-clop sound of horse hooves hitting the pavement to alert pedestrians and other drivers.

Related News

Drax Power Station

How the dirtiest power station in western Europe switched to renewable energy

LONDON - A power station that used to be the biggest polluter in western Europe has made a near-complete switch to renewable energy.

The Drax Power Station in Yorkshire, England, used to spew out millions of tons of carbon dioxide a year by burning coal. But over the past eight years, it has overhauled its operations by converting four of its six coal-fired units to biomass. The plant's owners say it now generates 15% of the country's renewable power.

The change means that just 6% of the utility's power now comes from coal. The ultimate goal is to stop using coal altogether.

"We've…

READ MORE
wind power

UK must start construction of large-scale storage or fail to meet net zero targets.

READ MORE

Bruce Power cranking out more electricity after upgrade

READ MORE

powerline worker

Kenya Power on the spot over inflated electricity bills

READ MORE

limestone station

External investigators looking into alleged assaults by Manitoba Hydro workers

READ MORE