Are you ready to switch your automobile to electric? Lots of people are because the price at the pump keeps going up. There is no doubt that many would rather drive 100 miles on a dollar’s worth of electricity than twenty of thirty dollars worth of gas.

Here is the perfect question to debate among your friends: How soon will the cost of a gallon of gasoline reach the $7 mark?

Uncertainty all over the Middle East fuels speculators to bid up the cost of crude oil. While this is good news for the oil companies, it truly is shocking news to most families. And all the speculation is causing the cost of a gallon of gasoline to keep rising.

If you are trying to decide if you ought to convert your car to electric, there are several details you ought to be acquainted with.

The first thing to understand will be the limitations of an all electric vehicle. A gas powered car can go almost anywhere and obtain gas to go even farther. Depending on the vehicle and the battery complement, an all electric vehicle can go around forty to a hundred miles on each charge. And, the best place to get a charge is at home.

This means that an all electric vehicle will be used primarily for every day transportation to and from work or the store. It just isn’t intended for long trips.

Should you plan to take long trips in a car, your family should have two cars. One car can remain gas powered for extended distance driving whereas another vehicle may be converted and used for local commuting.

The next thing you should understand is that parts for the conversion will not be bargain basement priced. The actual components required for the conversion depend on the type of car and could range from around $7,500 to $14,000. Batteries are additional and depend on the type of batteries as well as the number of batteries you want to use.

And, third, you will need to decide if you want to perform the conversion yourself or you are going to have a conversion shop do the effort. Converting a car yourself will take some time and it helps to have a friend to help you. It would help to know a little about cars should you take on the job yourself. As with any task, the initial conversion you perform is going to be the most difficult .

If you’ve got more money than time, you may want a conversion shop to perform the task. This likely will cost several thousand dollars, in addition to the cost of required parts. Since electric conversions are not yet highly sought after, conversion shops are scattered all over the nation. You could be required to pay to have you vehicle shipped back to you when the conversion has been completed.

In conclusion, it would be prudent for you to understand the conversion process in its entity. The more you know, the better able you’ll be to understand the many tasks required for a top quality result.

To get a good idea of what a gasoline to electric conversion entails you ought to obtain at least one conversion handbook. Not only will the guides make it easier to grasp the tasks, but you will get some tips about where to purchase conversion parts or kits at the cheapest prices.

Best wishes with your new electric car. Just remember to grin at all the cars purchasing gasoline stations you drive by.

We can all stop innovating now. It’s here. The double patty breakfast sandwich. If you’re an inventor, you can lock up your workshop and go home. There’s officially nothing left to improve upon as a society. Unless someone comes out with a triple patty version, that is.

Hardee’s new “Double Sausage, Egg ‘N’ Cheese Biscuit” promises to increase the productivity of your morning food intake by allowing you to eat just one sandwich instead of two.

Let’s hear more from a company executive:

“Our Sausage and Egg Biscuit has been a staple item on the breakfast menu for years,” said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Hardee’s Food Systems, Inc. “The only way to improve a classic was to make it twice as meaty, and therefore, twice as delicious. It won’t take two of these to fill you up in the morning.”

See that? “The only way to improve a classic was to make it twice as meaty, and therefore, twice as delicious.” He’s right, you know. The same rule can be applied to just about everything else. Desktop monitor? Not as good as two desktop monitors. Car? You should have two cars. Bypass surgery? I’ll take double bypass surgery, please.

The Double Sausage, Egg ‘N’ Cheese Biscuit is available for $2.39 or in a combo meal with “crispy Has Rounds and a beverage” for $4.09. It has nothing to do with gadgets. Good day.

Hardee’s Beefs Up Breakfast Menu With Bigger Biscuit Sandwich [Press Release]

Solar energy is being used in a number of applications already, but carports are something new. Japan-based Sankyo Tateyama Aluminium has begun selling carports [JP] with solar power generation systems installed on their tops. The main idea is to attract both customers who aren’t able to install solar panels in their homes and those who need to boost the amount of solar energy in their houses.

The so-called M.Shade carports can accommodate two cars maximum and come with extra-strong pillars that support the weight of the solar panels on top of them. Home owners get total of twelve solar panels (5.6×5.4m) that provide 2,235kW per year. Sankyo says this is enough to cover about 50% of what a typical household needs on a yearly basis.

The M.Shade sounds definitely like a good idea but comes at a pretty high price ($40,000 excluding installation costs). Sankyo does sell products internationally but hasn’t said anything yet about bringing its green carport to markets outside Japan.

It is very exciting to plan for wedding. One of the most fun things to select for your wedding is the type of transportation. When you choose a luxury car for wedding transportation you await for a feeling of luxury, elegance and importance during the event. Hiring a wedding transportation keeps you free from the stress connected to making it to the ceremony and reception on time and you have no problems with looking for the parking space.

The only problem with choosing the wedding transportation is to select the right vehicle among the wide choice available in the luxury cars rental companies. The choice of fabulous cars is so big and it is hard to make up your mind about one or two cars. These very popular luxury car models can help you in this hard task.

Your wedding theme might require a vintage wedding car. If you wish to hire a vintage car you should consider hiring Rolls Royce limousine. Many limo rental companies’ clients consider this limo to be the ultimate car for elegance and style. This classic vehicle is perfect if you want to arrive to your wedding in style and impress your guests with your arrival. A full red carpet service is offered by some limo rental companies. Every bride wants to feel like a queen when coming out of this elegant limo.

There are also American style limos that offer a great quality service for the whole bridal or wedding party. Limousines offer a great way to keep everyone together especially if you go to take pictures after ceremony and before reception. You will also make sure that the bride and the bridesmaids arrive to the chapel at the same time. Hiring a limo will definitely save you time and stress especially if everyone gets ready in a different location. Most limos can accommodate form 7 to 12 passengers and they will provide an organized transfer for everybody in your wedding.

The above choices are only a couple of options for your wedding ceremony transportation. Most limo services have up to twenty cars in their fleets for you to choose from. If you plan to hire multiple cars you might ask for matching limos. You can also ask for the possibility of getting good deals, discounts or some freebies from the limo rental companies. Some of them offer complimentary champagne or car decoration. Your cars can be similarly decorated to match each other and your wedding theme. Take it seriously and look around for a good limo rental company that will be able to provide quality service and offer you a perfect car for your wedding. This way you make sure that your wedding party will be the way you want it to be.

Right now, this very second, you have a great chance to buy super elite car at great price. Visit this limo sale web site and get everything you need: from limousine sale to limousine sale.

By Chris Scott Barr

I can’t honestly count the number of times I’ve dealt with a dead car battery. Most occasions were when I was younger, since my first car didn’t make a noise if you left the light on. However, it’s something that happens to everyone at some time or another. It’s not a hard problem to fix, you can just get a jump from another car, or from one of those cool portable batteries. Either way, you’re going to have to lift the hood and hook up a pair of jumper cables.

There are some people out there who are deathly afraid of doing anything under the hood of a car. For those people, there is the Easy Quick Jumper. This works off of the same idea as a set of jumper cables, only you plug each end into the cigarette adapter of the two cars. Turn on the car with a good battery, wait 5-10 minutes and you should be set. Honestly, this would be a lot easier to store than bulky jumper cables, and quicker to get into place. If you’ve ever had a car battery die in the dead of winter, you’ll appreciate it. Just $26 gets you this handy gadget. (An extra $20 gets you a better version that eliminates the need for another car.)

[ VAT19 ] VIA [ RedFerret ]

I have the wrong job. After spending the day at Ford’s Product Development Center, I’m ready to start training to be a test driver. That is as long as it comes with good chiropractic coverage ’cause I’m feeling the pain after riding shotgun in only a few tests.

First there was the headache-inducing ride in a 2010 Ford Taurus that demonstrated the AdvanceTrak stability system and then the water cannon Volvo test, which involved being blasted sideways at 2 Gs. The day wasn’t over though until we hit a curb going 35MPH in a F-150 and it was harsher than I expected. The testing finished up with a pleasant drive in the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO – I think SHO stands for SOOOO HOT!

Click through for pics and videos of all the tests including a Taurus vs 110 lb. shopping cart battle.

Side impact test

A good number of personal vehicles are now equipped with side airbags. The trick is to ensure that they do not deploy unless they are needed. This test simulates a runaway 110-pound shopping cart traveling at 10MPH – a case when the airbags are not needed. However, if a runaway truck smashes into the door, the airbags would hopefully deploy thanks to pressure-based sensors that can better sense the type of impact than the previous generation of acceleration-based sensors. 

Volvo Water Cannon

It doesn’t make a lot of financial sense to destroy two cars in the name of science just to test the drift of a rear side impact collision. So Ford engineers stuffed an air-powered water cannon in the back of a Volvo V70R that was laying around. The result is a very accurate test and a hell of a super soaker.

The cannon is bolted directly to the Volvo’s frame and for good reason. Once charged to a 130 psi, it fires about nine gallons of water in less than one-half second. When this is done while performing a turn at 50MPH, it blasts the car nearly 2 Gs which is just like getting slammed by another vehicle.

The air-cannon, which is generally used in mining or the great sport of pumpkin throwing, was chosen as the best option due to its relatively low price and use of water. Other solutions that can send a car sideways often employ explosions that can harm the calibrated test track.

Automotive engineering types eat up all the data that is collected by the on-board sensors and set out to improve the electronic stability control. Us? We just wish it didn’t take 20 minutes to re-fill the air cannon and water tube so we could take another ride. 

AdvanceTrac

Oh boy, thank the car gods that this test was before lunch ’cause it was a doozy. The test driver whipped the 2010 Ford Taurus around cones at 55MPH to simulate two, very quick lane changes. I don’t know if I have ever changed lanes that quick before though. Then the AdvanceTrac was turned on.

The result was a ride that was much less nauseating. Ford’s stability system uses sensors that detect and also measure oversteer and yaw to better predict traction loss and assist the driver. It works. Or our test driver really knew how to handle a car and fooled us completely.

Curb Test

Ever jump a curb in a parking lot? Yeah, it can be bad. Ever hit one head on going 35MPH? I wish I hadn’t.

There is nothing new about this real world test, but now it is also used to test air bag sensors, as well as suspension and seat support. We hear that this test is also preformed at 55MPH, but that requires the vehicle being outfitted with a five-point safety harness and helmets for the occupants because the jolt is so severe.

We hit the curb in an F-150 Platinum edition and it sent us flying. But the airbags didn’t deploy and the tires were fine, so the truck passed the test.

Balloon Car Bump

Finally at the last test of the day, Ford let us get behind the wheel of a 2010 Taurus SHO. We’re not suppose to talk about our driving impressions that are outside of the test parameters, but let me say that this car is amazing. The SHO is back, baby.

Anyway, the Taurus is equipped with front-facing radar that is part of the Adaptive Cruise Control and Collision Warning with Brake Support. All that Ford-speak means is that the car pays attention to traffic and readies the breaks if necessary.

The balloon simulates another car and the system can adjust the cruise control if the other car slows down. That’s really nothing new in the automotive world.

What is new in this Taurus is the radar is now tied to the breaking system. If the car in front is stopping and the car senses it isn’t because the drive hasn’t responded for some reason, it will charge the breaking system up for a quick stop and warn via an audible alarm and a row of flashing red LEDS that a collision is about to happen unless the driver does something. The car doesn’t stop for you, but it does everything it can to prevent having to spend some time in a body shop.