http://viewchange.org Videos from ViewChange.org (Filtered by topics: Electric car) en-us Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:24:00 +0000 Copyright 2011 Link Media, Inc. http://www.viewchange.org/videos/element-harsha Auto designer Harsha Ravi won the young designer of the year award for an electric car that was energy efficient yet aesthetically pleasing. His efforts contribute to the movement to reduce carbon emissions and reduce climate change. Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:24:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/element-harsha Electric car, Environment, Australia, Melbourne, Automobile, Automotive design, Climate change, Carbon dioxide, Sustainability, tve >> TITLE: Element>> TITLE: Harsha>> HARSHA RAVI [Auto designer]: Design is a bit like time travel. Designers live in the future. They have to think at least four or five years ahead to make sure that when they plan for their design that it has the most positive impact on society in the future. My profession is car design.>> TITLE: Melbourne, Australia>> HARSHA RAVI: Melbourne Motor Show is very important to car designers to put out their work to get feedback from the public and from the media. There are a number of key players trying to get a sense of where their standing is in society. It?s like a car designer?s birthday, you know. You get your presents. Some things you like, some things you don?t like. A lot of design is about telling the truth. And a lot of it is about lying.>> TITLE: +/- 12 percent of all carbon emissions come from cars>> HARSHA RAVI: Design is a way of looking at the world. And sometimes you see it as it is, and sometimes you see it the way you want to see it. Now we know where we?re going in the future if we continue the way we?ve been continuing thus far. When we see that, we have the power to change the world in a very, very positive way. I don?t see any reason why I would become a car designer and continue designing cars the way they?ve been designed for decades. This is "The Globetrotter" and this car won me Australian Young Designer of the Year. My aim was to get it being greener, but to still retaining the sexy qualities. All of the exterior cladding is made of a corn-based plastic. It doesn?t use petrol directly; it just plugs into the central power grid and recharges the batteries while you are away. That effectively means there?s no negative impact on the environment, if it?s done in the way I?ve prescribed through my sketches and drawings. I?d like to make a change in the world, because I?ve first hand seen how cars can really impact on someone?s life. I was actually hit by a car at 60 kilometers an hour. It was about three o?clock in the afternoon and I had to get to a friend?s house. It was a four-lane road and I bolted, and we collided. The next thing I remember I woke up at hospital with Mom and Dad by my side. The first words I uttered were, "What happened?" I think it really fueled my need to follow a spiritual path. I meditate for about an hour, an hour and a half every day. First, you need to be in control of yourself. You need to know who you are, and who you want to be. Who you want to be is where design comes in. I see inspiration everywhere. There?s a tremendous amount of inspiration in nature. And there are also things such as buildings. And of course, people. They're always moving and they?re always changing and design has to change with them. The Globetrotter was designed for 2017. Right now we?re at an unfortunate position because the infrastructures that we have in place, that have been put into place in the past, are quite rigid. We need to really demand a greener solution. Because that way, design can pin that down and say, "Okay, well this is what they want, so we have nowhere else to go." Design is like a knife. A knife can be used by a surgeon to help; a knife can be used by a killer to harm. I?m a surgeon. >> TITLE: Element. www.element-tv.net. For more information, please visit: http://www.tve.org http://www.viewchange.org/videos/china-reds-go-green <p>Can the world's biggest polluter become the world's biggest producer of plug-in electric cars? That's what Chinese car manufacturer BYD Auto is hoping as it launches its new F3DM model.</p> Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:39:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/china-reds-go-green BYD F3DM, Electric car, BYD Auto, China, Hong Kong, Air pollution, EV1, LinkTV Picks, General Motors, Petrol engine >> TITLE: Reds Go Green>> VOICEOVER: China is savoring the fruits of its economic boom, but it's also counting the costs. Its cars and industry are now the world's biggest emitters of carbon dioxide. But, according to the Chinese, this is the brand-spanking-new answer to their car pollution problem: It's a plug-in electric car, made by a company called BYD, which stands for "build your dream.">> PAUL LIN [Marketing Manager, BYD]: China auto market is racing.>> VOICEOVER: Paul Lin is BYD's marketing manager, and this is their gleaming showroom in the southern city of Shenzhen. BYD started life as a maker of mobile phone batteries just 13 years ago, and has only been producing cars for five.>> PAUL LIN: And we find our battery not only can be used for the mobile phone or some kind of the electronic consumer devices. It can be also used for cars, used for solar panels, used for everything. So, based on that, we acquired a state-owned company in 2003, a car company to enter the auto business.>> TITLE: BYD promotional video>> VOICEOVER: The car they've come up with is the F3. It runs up to 100 kilometers on battery power alone -- enough for the average commute, says the manufacturer. And, when the battery runs low, the petrol engine switches in.>> PAUL LIN: Which means it can run for more than 100 kilometers by pure electric mode. And, after that, you want to go longer distance, the gasoline engine will start and support.>> VOICEOVER: And, according to the company's promotional video, there are a number of options for refueling. >> VIDEO COMMENTARY: You can choose refueling in gas station, quick recharging in charging station, standard household power outlet, or solar panel recharging creates your convenient life.>> VOICEOVER: While the solar panel is something they're still working on, the makers insist this is more than just another eco-friendly hybrid. They claim no other car has yet been able to travel so far on just battery power.>> PAUL LIN: If you only go for less than 100 kilometers per day, you can go back home and charge the car in your garage. And, in another day, you just go to work by pure electric mode again.>> VOICEOVER: Outside the showroom, I get the chance to try one for myself. >> WOMAN: Turn the key.>> REPORTER: Turn the key?>> WOMAN: Yes. >> VOICEOVER: Inside, everything about the car looks normal: the steering wheel, dashboard. The only difference is how it's powered.>> REPORTER: So the care is now powered by battery?>> WOMAN: Yes. >> REPORTER: Well, it's not going to win any awards for style, this car, but it certainly has a real kick. Quite a powerful acceleration. It's very smooth, in fact; smoother than I thought.>> VOICEOVER: BYD believes its batteries give it a winning edge.>> WOMAN: All our batteries are recycled, the power is recycled so it's environmentally beneficial. So people will like it, not only China. Most Western people will like it very much>> REPORTER: Chairman Mao said the East is red, but maybe the East is green.>> WOMAN: Right.>> VOICEOVER: The batteries can be fully charged in nine hours from a regular electrical outlet, or much faster at BYD's own charging stations, of which there are only seven so far, but the plan is eventually for thousands. Green technology has long been in the slow lane in China. But it now seems to recognize the need to reduce its fast-growing dependence on crude oil and to limit its choking emissions.>> TITLE: Green tech for tomorrow>> VIDEO COMMENTARY: In contemporary society, severe energy deficiency, carbon dioxide emissions of automobile, and air pollution are the three main current environmental issues in the world.>> CHRISTIAN BASSET [Environmental Activist, Clean the Air]: I am totally convinced that, especially concerning roadside pollution in every large Chinese city, China wants to solve it, and using an electric car is a way to drastically reduce roadside air pollution.>> VOICEOVER: Hong Kong environmental activist Christian Basset says electric cars would be a small, but important, milestone.>> REPORTER: Even if 10 percent of China's motorists started driving electric cars in the next 10 years, what impact would that have?>> CHRISTIAN BASSET: The impact would not be ... may not be tremendous on the scale of the country. However, as a green organization, we see it as a sign, we see it as an evolution of the mentalities. And, if more people think about green cars, if more people think about green technology, so much the better.>> VOICEOVER: Ordinary Chinese certainly seem impressed by the idea of a greener car. The visitors today: local customs officers, beaming national pride.>> CUSTOMS OFFICER: I was talking to the engineers about the car. They are very proud of their achievement. I feel really inspired by them. I'm very proud of them.>> VOICEOVER: After recent scandals, the central government is actively trying to rebuild confidence in the "made in China" brand. It's already placing its own orders for the homegrown hybrid, a sort of green nationalism.>> PAUL LIN: And China's government is concentrating day-by-day and time-by-time on letting the public know the new energy car will be the future.>> VOICEOVER: The F3 will cost around AUD$32,000 and, while there are no plans yet to sell it in Australia, BYD hope to have it in US showrooms within two years, and in Europe shortly after. China is positioning itself as a growing power in clean-energy technologies that will one day fuel the world economy, which is probably why Warren Buffett, the shrewd U.S. investor, has just paid USD$230 million for a 9 percent stake in the company. But this isn't the first attempt to mass-produce an electric car. Three years ago, Dateline reported from America on the rise and fall of General Motors' electric car. While many believe it was the victim of big oil interests, GM's head of PR, Dave Barthmuss, told Dateline that consumers just weren't interested.>> DAVID BARTHMUSS [Head of Public Relations, General Motors]: People did not demand EV1 from GM in large enough numbers for us to pursue it. I have not seen an auto company come out with a battery program that has a vehicle that will have the kind of range and quick charge that's needed to appeal to a mass market at a price point where the common man and woman can afford it on a monthly basis.>> VOICEOVER: Ladies and gentleman, that's the sound of a crushed automobile being shredded into a million pieces.>> VOICEOVER: But now the electric car is having its revenge. Having scuppered it once before, General Motors is planning to unveil a new plug-in vehicle next year. But BYD has beaten them to the punch: the F3 goes on sale in China later this year. It's another blow to the US car industry, from a company with its sights set on world domination.>> PAUL LIN: Our ambitions in China is in 2015 to become the China number one, and we hope in 2025 we can become the world number one. Of course it's by our new energy car.>> VOICEOVER: The looming recession offers opportunity to an auto newcomer that has come a long way very quickly.>> TITLE: Dateline>> TITLE: [end credits]