Fill it up... with electricity please

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

Idaho Power Settlement

Idaho Power Settlement Could Close Coal Plant, Raise Rates

IDAHO - State regulators have set a May 25 deadline for public comment on a proposed settlement related to the early closure of a coal-fired plant co-owned by Idaho Power.

The settlement calls for shuttering Unit 1 of the North Valmy Power Plant in Nevada in 2019, with Unit 2 closing in 2025. The units had been slated for closure in 2031 and 2035, respectively.

If approved by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, the settlement would increase base rates by approximately $13.3 million, or 1.17 percent, in order to allow the company to recover its investment in the plant on an accelerated basis.

That equates to an additional $1.20 on the monthly…

READ MORE
justin trudeau

Ottawa hands N.L. $5.2 billion for troubled Muskrat Falls hydro project

READ MORE

iran electricity protests

Electricity blackouts spark protests in Iranian cities

READ MORE

Hydro One CEO Mayo Schmidt

Hydro One’s takeover of U.S. utility sparks customer backlash: ‘This is an incredibly bad idea’

READ MORE

canadian oil rig

Cheap oil contagion is clear and present danger to Canada

READ MORE