Texas Archives – The Green Optimistic

Hyperloop Texas Test Track to Get Built by Elon Musk

Guest Contributor — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 17:06:07 +0000

The founder of Tesla Motors and Space X, Elon Musk, is setting his sights back on Earth by ramping up his epic plans to develop what he has called a fourth mode of transportation aside from planes, trains and automobiles. This is apparently one of his hobbies aside from focusing on the challenge of sending […]

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Tesla Motors Still Pushing for Direct Sales in Texas

Benji Jerew — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 19:21:51 +0000

Buying and owning a Tesla in Texas is, lacking better words, far too complicated, of course, because Texas law does not allow automakers to sell directly to the consumer. Owning a Tesla in Texas, however, is even more difficult that you might imagine, because it only starts with buying from Tesla Motors. For example, Tesla […]

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States Competing for Tesla Gigafactory to Build Within Their Borders

Benji Jerew — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 14:15:44 +0000

Economically speaking, the Tesla Gigafactory promises to be a boon to, not only Tesla Motors, but also to whichever state Tesla Motors ends up building the grand industrial complex. The Tesla Gigafactory’s promised economic benefits, aside from being estimated at some $5 billion to construct and supplying lithium-ion battery packs for some 500,000 electric vehicles […]

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Tesla Gigafactory Won’t be Built in California

Benji Jerew — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:16:56 +0000

This may come as a shock, but Tesla Motors, based in Fremont, California, has decided that it won’t be building the Tesla Gigafactory in its own home state. The building of the Tesla Gigafactory was announced just a couple weeks ago, but it has been obvious for some time that Tesla Motors would absolutely have […]

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Nissan Leaf Sales Triple in Texas

Benji Jerew — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 21:24:38 +0000

The rebirth of the electric vehicle, led by the Tesla Model S and the Nissan Leaf, has seen electric vehicle sales numbers in the triple-digit-percentages over previous years. For example, Nissan Leaf is the best-selling electric vehicle in the world, in a field of electric vehicles from a number of other automakers. Closer to home, […]

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And the Three Biggest Carbon Dioxide Footprints Are Made By…

Benji Jerew — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:58:30 +0000

Taking a look at the Nation’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, we can see that we have a long way to go sweeping up our footprints. According to the most recent data, it should really come as no surprise that the two most-populous States generate the most carbon dioxide, but the third might come as […]

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“No Charge to Charge” Nissan Leaf in Texas

Benji Jerew — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 13:56:52 +0000

The offer is ending soon, but if you buy a Nissan Leaf in Texas by March 31, 2014, you can charge for free on the eVgo Texas Freedom Station network of electric vehicle charging stations. Tesla Motors started it, with the deployment of the Tesla Supercharger network, on which Tesla Model S owners can recharge […]

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Tesla Motors to Make a Pickup Truck, Can We Call it the “Model T”?

Benji Jerew — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 22:07:42 +0000

While all the hype has been on the Tesla Model S, a $70,000-$120,000 pure electric performance sedan, one might get the impression that Tesla Motors has forgotten about the rest of the automobile market. You’d be wrong, because Tesla Motors has big plans. If the Tesla Roadster was a test, and the Tesla Model S […]

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Texas Supports Electric Vehicles, Except for Tesla Motors

Benji Jerew — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 18:27:34 +0000

New legislation has passed in Texas to provide incentives for those considering electric vehicle technology, such as that found in Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf. Sorry Tesla Motors fans in Texas, you’re out of luck! It should be noted that Texas, behind California, has the second-greatest number of electric vehicle charging stations, just over five […]

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Dallas Implements Mandatory Green Building Standards, Paves Way for Rest of US

Leigh Hutchens — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 03:05:15 +0000

Dallas, Texas… Who would have thought Dallas would be on its way to becoming one of the greenest cities in the United States? Surprisingly, green buildings aren’t new to Dallas. The city is home to over 140 LEED-certified buildings, including 23 LEED-certified municipal government facilities. Dallas also has 59 million square feet of Energy Star-certified […]

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Tesla Model S Direct Sales in Texas, Reminds me of Prohibition

Benji Jerew — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 21:11:42 +0000

In many states, the automobile dealer associations [ADA] have been fighting to keep Tesla Motors from selling the Tesla Model S directly to clients. There have been some successes and failures, the most recent of which in Texas, where Tesla Motors’ appeal to sell directly to clients didn’t even make it to the floor before […]

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“Big” Surprise: Big Money Kept Tesla Motors Out of Texas

Benji Jerew — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 18:21:13 +0000

The Tesla Motors direct-sales model is working well, and the automobile dealer associations are running scared. What makes Tesla Motors so different? First, the Tesla Model S is a ground-breaking and cutting-edge automobile, but that’s not the problem. Second, like Apple, Tesla Motors is sold only through Tesla Stores, which is where the situation gets […]

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Texas Governor and Climate Change Denier Rick Perry Fails to See Drought Declaration Irony

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 02:40:52 +0000

Texas Governor Rick Perry, one of the most outspoken deniers of climate change in the United States, has declared a drought emergency for over 200 counties in his state. Failing to admit, or even acknowledge, that the extreme weather that Texas is currently experiencing may be linked to climate change, Rick Perry has instead suspended […]

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Consumers Want Tesla Motors, Texas Legislature Turns a Deaf Ear

Benji Jerew — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:25:12 +0000

In spite of a strong effort on the part of Tesla Motors and others, a bill to allow direct sales, that is, outside of the dealer network, never even made it to the floor of the Texas Legislature. Ostensibly, we live under a government “for the people” and “by the people” and yet time and […]

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Texas Considers Taxing Electric Cars, Follows Washington Model

Benji Jerew — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:30:49 +0000

Part of the price we pay for every gallon of gas we put in our cars is tax, Texas charges 38.4¢/gal, which goes toward transportation infrastructure, including road maintenance and running traffic lights, among other things. While Texas hasn’t raised this tax in twenty years, vehicle fuel efficiency has almost doubled, meaning that vehicles are […]

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Wind Power in Texas Breaks Output and Subsidy Records

Janina Lazo-Cruz — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 06:17:52 +0000

On November 10 at 10:21 am., Texas’ wind energy has hit yet another record generating an 8,521-megawatt power, which is about thrice its average output in 2011. This means greater taxpayer subsidy, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF). The wind energy peak accounted for about 29.5% of the state’s electricity demand (36,423 megawatts), according […]

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Texas Wind Turbine Research Center to Open in October

Guest Contributor — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:59:54 +0000

The Scales Wind Farm Technology Facility (SWIFT), a state-of-the-art wind turbine research facility in the Texas Panhandle, is expected to become fully operational starting October. Stephanie Holinka, a Sandia National Laboratories’ spokesperson, said that the first phase of this project is being constructed by collaboration with Sandia’s academic and private partners. The other collaborators involved […]

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Plug-In EVs and Hybrids Could Help Reduce Health-Damaging Ozone, Study Says

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:39:36 +0000

A recent study performed by University of Texas researchers shows the advantages of using plug-in hybrid vehicles such as the upcoming Prius over the ozone. The scenario in which the ozone layer is badly affected by pollution is already well documented, but the basics fact is that the gas is formed when hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides react with sunlight. For humans, though, breathing ozone in high quantities can be damaging for health by causing respiratory problems.

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Todd Ditmire’s Petawatt Laser: One Step Closer to Nuclear Fusion

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:53:27 +0000

Todd Ditmire, from the University of Texas, has invented a laser device that can produce petawatt power through a process of chirping, that takes a short light pulse (150 femtoseconds) and stretches it out in time, amplifies it to higher energy and then recompresses it to about 100 femtoseconds in time, obtaining 190 joules of energy.

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