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Eco Friendly March 8, 2021 posted by Nigel

ZedPods – modular pre built homes designed to be installed above car parks

Zedpods are a clever new take on modular, ready made housing. The blocks are prefabricated in a huge factory warehouse in central England, then shipped on-site for assembly. What makes them extra interesting is the fact that one version is designed to sit on top of car parks, using a stilt type system. This leaves the car par open for use by the public, while offering affordable eco housing above. Very neat. The first installation has already gone up in…

Eco Friendly February 25, 2021 posted by Nigel

Kill The ECT – before it kills the planet

If you haven’t heard of the Energy Charter Treaty, that should be no surprise. It’s a semi-secret international treaty which grants corporations in the energy sector enormous power to sue states at international investment tribunals for billions of dollars, for example, if a government decides to stop new oil or gas pipelines or to phase out coal. And boy are they using it. It was set up in the mid 90s and in the last decade alone there have been…

Hacks & How to February 23, 2021 posted by Nigel

Running out of free Google space? Try this quick tip to save spending money on an upgrade.

Many people with Google accounts are now facing space shortages because of their increased photos, files and email messages. The result is a message in your inbox inviting you to upgrade your account for $X per year to obtain more storage space to cope. But what if you don’t want to spend that extra cash? Well there are a number of things you can do, many of which have been documented before. But we’ve got a super quick, and effective…

Eco Friendly February 15, 2021 posted by Nigel

SQ4D: First robot printed house goes on the open market. Say hello to a new era…?

There’s been no shortage of news about the rise and rise of 3D printed homes over the past few years. But now we have the first commericial real estate sale of one. In New York. no less. The SQ4D 3D printed house has been listed on Zillow.com for a hair under $300,000. Which is apparently less than half the price of its neighbours. Of course we’re wondering whether being in the middle of a mega pandemic could have some effect,…

Electric Cars January 28, 2021 posted by Nigel

Nissan Winter Camper shows how not to launch a new EV

The newly announced Nissan Winter Camper Van is a classic case of marketing over reality. For one thing any EV maker which thinks that 124 miles of range is enough to justify a high price and glossy photos, deserves to be beaten over the head with a wet mackerel. The base NV200 EV is a great short range city van, as we showed in our launch review, but the range of this camper in winter will probably drop to around…

Electric Cars January 18, 2021 posted by Nigel

Electric Frog Max – probably the cheapest electric delivery van in the world

The Electric Frog Max (or ElektroFrosch Max to give its original name) is a tiny city EV delivery van hailing out of Berlin, Germany. What makes it remarkable, apart from the fact that it’s German, is the ultra low price. Yes we’re talking about a mega slow, underpowered, rudimentary form of transportation, but at €4590 inc VAT, who cares?

general January 4, 2021 posted by Nigel

Happy New Year!

So 2020 is over. Thank goodness. Now it’s just that pesky 2021 hangover to deal with. And it looks like it will be a doozy. Pandemics apparently don’t know when it’s time to leave the party and go home, so we’re going to be stuck with it for a while longer. The good news is the start of the vaccine roll-out, which should eventually bring some summer cheer. In the meantime, here’s wishing you all a safe and healthy year,…

Yearly Archives: 2021