It’s about to get easier for Europeans to drive electric vehicles. Automaker giants BMW, Ford, Daimler and Volkswagen are teaming up to create high-powered charging stations across Europe. The charging stations will work with many of today’s electric vehicles. They plan to have twenty stations by the end of this year, and they are aiming to have fifty by the end of 2018. Making it easier for people to take their electric vehicles on longer road trips.
We’ve seen fossil fuel powered vehicles. Steam powered, electric, even solar powered transportation. Now, a 38-year-old man has decided to try helium as his transportation power source. Reminiscent of the movie “Up,” this man, using a lawn chair and a hundred helium-filled balloons, soared for a distance of over fifteen miles while floating eight thousand feet above the ground. The flight took place in South Africa. Although dangerous and not a reliable source of transportation, it certainly makes for a fun story. Even if it’s not recommended or practical for your daily commute.
McDonald’s recently ran a promotion releasing a limited quantity of their Sezchuan sauce which was featured in a popular TV show, Rick and Morty. Fans went crazy for the extremely limited dipping sauce, going to extreme lengths to get their hands on a single packet. One woman from Michigan stood in line for hours to be one of only twenty people lucky enough to get the coveted condiment that day. At first, the effort doesn’t seem worth the reward. That is, until you learn she traded her single packet of Sezchuan sauce for a 2000 Volkswagen GTI! Seriously. One packet! While he was dipping his chicken in that sweet sauce, she was dipping into a much sweeter deal.
California’s Rubicon Trail is one of the most notable off-road trails in the world. It is home to many off-road events and Jeep even uses part of the trail to test its vehicles. Well, this year, for the first time ever, an electric vehicle has completed the Rubicon Trail. The vehicle was a specially built, fully electric Jeep Wrangler, and it took to the Rubicon during this year’s Jeep Jamboree held in August.
With more and more Tesla vehicles on the road, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sees the need for more charging stations. The more charging stations available, the easier the decision to switch to an electric vehicle. Charging an electric vehicle, even with Tesla supercharging stations, will take thirty minutes give or take, depending on how depleted you are. That is why Tesla is planning on building larger supercharging stations that have higher end retail shopping, coffee and food. The idea is to turn the need to charge a vehicle into an experience that can be enjoyed.