Enter... the Velomobile

Elliot has been talking for a while about wanting to invent a 'bike car' when he grows up. This afternoon, I had to break it to him: someone has beaten him to it. 

I first heard about the velomobile over at resilience.org - Post Carbon Institute just posted their top ten most popular articles, and this was one of the more uplifiting. Kris de Kecker's exhaustive exploration of the velomobile lays it all out: what the velomobile is, how it works, how the electric version is 80x more efficient than an EV, why and how it's illegal in some places, and what needs to change to bring more of these fabulous machines to the world.

Evonik wind explorer

A little digging also took me to this article, about the benefits of cycling and velomobiles, and the cost - to society, to your checkbook, and even to your sex life - of driving.

Flykly smart wheel

This all makes me wonder about what might be possible if and when someone decides to combine a Velomobile with a Flykly smart wheel? (Flykly, by the way, just blew past their third stretch goal on Kickstarter, raising 5x their initial goal of $100k.) Maybe it's just me, but this all gives me hope, and makes me feel like we are a little bit closer to a poop-free future!

Kickstarter Shoot!

After months of planning, we shot our Kickstarter video today. Elliot was truly amazing, surpassing everyone's expectations. (Vicente Franco, our Academy Award-nominated DP, declared "the kid's got talent"!) And I got my first real dose of being in front of the camera, instead of behind it. (To be honest, I think acting is easier.)

Unfortunately I was not only an actor (and blogger and writer and producer and director), but also the film's editor (and assistant editor)... And Vicente's camera is so new and so fancy that my little old MacBook can't read the video files he created. So with Nik and Elliot happily enjoying some well-earned sleep, I'm borrowing a friend's computer and hoping to be able to transfer the files into a format I can edit (or even just see!) before Vicente has to wipe the camera card. Ah, technology...

An all-EV Weekend

Vanessa and Elliot attended a screening on Friday of Chris Paine's epic film Revenge of the Electric Car. Elliot's goal now is to become like Gadget, and help his dad rebuild our 1995 Honda Civic as an all-electric car.

Elliot and his pal David Gershon at a recent screening of Revenge of the Electric Car

Elliot (aka Robin Hood) gets a ride on an electric tricycle.

On Sunday, we participated in EV Day at our church, to celebrate a new EV charger (and Halloween - a few days early). Elliot ditched his Robin Hood bow in order to catch a ride on an electric tricycle. 

We also got to ride in a brand-new Fiat 500e (with eyelashes!)

Vanessa with Richard and his brand-new all-electric Fiat 500e (photo by Elliot)

Climate Access Featured Member: Vanessa!

We're honored that Elliot's mom, Vanessa, was chosen as the "featured member" this week by Climate Access - an awesome community of people who work on communicating about climate change.

What About Pooping Airplanes?

Elliot and I have talked about whether or not to include "pooping airplanes" in Worse Than Poop! - and the idea of all that CO2 poop free-falling from 30k feet does conjure some potential hilarity.

But right now, there isn't much in the way of an alternative for long-distance travel (how many times has Elliot asked me if they've developed an electric airplane yet?). For those of us here in North America without decent rail service, our only choices are either to offset all that carbon, or simply to not fly.

So for anyone grappling with this dilemma, Mother Jones just published an article on a great new study that helps you determine the least-pooping airline for your particular route. Not exactly a long-term solution - but hey, the less poop, the better.

Solar House Tour - with an Electronaut

Vanessa with Electronaut Muriel and her amazing BMW Active E Electric Vehicle.

Our family participated in a solar homes tour today, ending at Sven Thesen's beyond platinum LEED house. (This is where I filmed his neighbors two weeks ago, waxing poetic about his curbside EV charger.) 

 Today, to Elliot's delight, Sven had taken advantage of the house tour to create a mini EV rally. There were several EV drivers there - including my buddy Joe and his adorable Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and a real-life BMW "Electronaut" named Muriel, who let me drive her Active E. I didn't realize it at the time, but there are only 700 of these BMW concept cars in the US - and like the doomed EV1, they will be recalled after their 3-year leases are up, never to be sold. But unlike GM (which promptly crushed their EV1s back in the 90s), BMW plans to distribute the Active E's for study, and to release a revised version of the Active E - the i3,  a 4-door hatchback - sometime in the next six months.

Joe and his Mitsubishi i-MiEV in front of Project Green Home

 Driving the Active E was totally different than driving a gas car, or driving other EVs. It has a powerful regen function that feeds power to the battery and makes it kind of the car equivalent of riding a fixie: step on the accelerator and you go - let up, and you stop. As Muriel kept saying, it's totally controlled driving. Plus it gets a range of 80-90 miles (the i3 is supposed to get 100).

I want one.

And I don't even like cars.

So how much is this awesome driving machine? The i3 will sell for $40k, but when you take off the rebates, it's about $30k. Plus - oh yeah - you never have to buy gas again.  And the planet is that much closer to having a chance at supporting human civilization.

 But if you buy one you don't get to claim Electronaut status. That, evidently, is reserved just for those first 700 special people who leased the Active E.

What Makes a "Safe" car?

Elliot has become obsessed with electric vehicles. I need to remember to start recording our conversations, because some of the things he says are so funny. ("Mommy, I think we need to buy the electric Honda Fit. I mean, I'm just not too keen on the look of the Leaf, and Daddy isn't either. With those bulgy eyes & everything.")

But yesterday Elliot said something that I thought was particularly prescient for an 8-year-old. He was asking about Volvo's. He wanted to know what was more polluting - a Volvo or a Subaru.

Me: "They're probably about the same. Subarus have all-wheel drive, which reduces their mileage. Volvos are generally considered to be the safest cars, so they're heavier. And most of them are pretty big. But people buy them because they're really safe."

Elliot: "But I mean, how can a car be SAFE, if it's polluting all that CO2 and wrecking the planet? I think an EV is much safer." 

Gotta love it. 

Biking with Prof. Elliot

Elliot and I did more filming this weekend (thanks to a surprise loan from the awesome Jenni Nelson of her EX1R camera, and the also-awesome Christian Jensen of his tripod). Didn't manage to get anyone to take our photo while filming, but here we are at the end of the day, exhausted but happy! 

Vanessa and Elliot, after a long day of filming

EV charging petition

Elliot decided to help a local initiative that would require all new construction to be wired for EV charging. Today's total (so far): 14 signatures. It probably helped that he was collecting signatures at a local 350.org event!

Praxinoscope

Elliot and I visited the Musée Mecanique in San Francisco this summer - and Elliot was particularly enthralled with the Praxinoscope, one of the earliest forms of animation. 

Elliot at the Musée Mecanique in San Francisco

Elliot to Obama: Drive a Tesla!

Elliot and I participated in a Keystone XL protest near our neighborhood this summer, when Obama came to Palo Alto for a fundraiser. Elliot was struck by how many pooping cars were in Obama's motorcade, and he had this advice for the President: 

Elliot is the star of a new movie for kids about CO2, called Worse Than Poop. After attending a 350.org protest outside a Palo Alto Fundraiser for the President, Elliot noticed that Mr. Obama's motorcade was full of pooping cars. This was his response.

Elliot waiting patiently for President Obama to see our NO KXL protest.

Peor Que Caca?

We are trying to decide if we should launch the Spanish language version - Peor Que Caca - along with the English version, or do it later. What do you think?  

Uploaded by Vanessa Warheit on 2013-07-30.

Introducing Elliot!

I shot and edited this little clip on my iPhone - so forgive the lo-res shaky camera! I just wanted everyone to meet Elliot and get excited about our project.

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