Tag Archive for: Pollution

Honda E

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We’ve recently had the pleasure of testing out the small city car the Honda E. It’s brand new and it’s a right little city slicker! It’s perfect for whizzing around the city or cruising in the countryside. Furthermore it’s Electric! So, it’s amazing to the environment and even better on your wallet!

It’s a nippy little car too, hitting 0-60 in 8.3 seconds! While it can go up to 137miles without needing a charge and if you are using a superfast 50kw charger it can get from 0-80% battery in just 31mins!

The Honda describes the Honda E as:

The new Honda e is a car designed and shaped by the city and how we live our lives today. A car that seamlessly links all the different aspects of your life with intelligent connectivity. A car created with a sporty character, yet capable of offering remarkable levels of comfort. And of course, a car that produces zero emissions.

We have to say that the design of the Honda E is something to behold, it’s a friendly little car and isn’t mean or bulky looking it’s in fact rather cute! It not only looks good but the design helps to reduce drag! Which in turn will improve efficiency!

Design

The Honda E is designed in a rather genius way as there’s A LOT of tech in one single panel. The front headlights, radar sensor and front facing camera are all located in one panel! How cool is that! What’s even cooler is that two compact high definition cameras replace conventional mirrors! We’re also very impressed by a dramatic black tinted glass roof!

Advanced tech is not limited to the inside either, the front door handles fit flush to the body work. They only extend outwards and illuminate once you approach the car. While on the rear they’re hidden within the window areas. The front/rear headlights also incorporate the indicators and the headlights even welcome you with a cool animation when you unlock the car! The charging point is centrally on the bonet. Therefore allowing you to access it from either side of the vehicle!

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Smart Design

There is some smart design features that Honda have added which make all the difference. For example where you place your smartphone has been created from fabric to secure and protect it. Also, every passenger has their own USB port so everyone can keep their phones charged and connected!

The rear view mirror is dual function as it can be used in a conventional wide angle mirror mode, or in a camera mode. Which will provide you with a clear digital image, even at night. Whilst it also provides anti-dazzle technology to reduce glare from headlights.

The door mirrors have been replaced by HD cameras, which provide clear iamges on screens from within the cabin. The cameras are smaller than regular mirrors and fit well within the width of the car. Reducing drag, wind noise and drag. But are also great for narrow streets and car parks!

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Electricity

As you should know by now electricity is what powers this little beast. Electricity is cheap, efficient and provides zero emissions whilst not letting up on power and performance.

The Honda E has been designed to be electric from the ground up. Power comes from a compact 35.5kWh lithium-ion battery. It drives the rear wheels via an electric powertrain which has been developed for the Honda E. Fully charged it can hit up to 137miles. Perfect for city driving! Whilst performance and range are constantly maximised as there’s a clever system on board which helps keep the E’s battery at their optimum working temperature!

The Honda E has a smooth and instant response to pressing the accelator. It has a power output of 154PS and 315Nm of torque. There is a 50:50 weight distribution on the car and a low center of gravity. Giving it this sporty feel to the drive.

Whilst sport mode will increase the acceleration response even more! Turning on Single Pedal Control will allow you to drive with more ease. As you can accelerate and decelerate by pushig your foot down to go and taking it off to brake! The Honda E has a great turning circle too at only 4.3m you’re incredible manoeuvrable and agile, perfect for city driving! Not only that, furthermore the Honda Parking Pilot assistance will help you get the most out of the city.

Connected

You can connect to your Honda E with the My Honda+ app. It will allow you to schedule charge times, close the car windows and even pre-heat the interior! Use your smartphone as a Digital Key and unlock, lock and start the vehicle. Furthermore the voice activated Honda Personal Assistant can hold a natural conversation with you. AS it will use contextual understanding to learn how to offer you recommendations! Helping you to find nearest charging points, favourite music or restaurants!

The dashboard is incredible as it has five displays to always keep you informed, entertained and connected! Two central 12.3″ touchscreens allow multiple information to be accessed by both the driver and passenger. You can switch screens by simply swiping from one to another. Even personalise them with your favorite pics! Send destinations to the navigation system from your smartphone via the My Honda+ app. Select music and do extra things with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto!

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Interior

The interior is spacious and beautifully designed, especially with the premium sound system providing the entertainment!

The seats in both the front and rear of the vehicle provide great legroom and are very very comfortable. The rear seats can also fold down and provide more boot space! LED Spotlights have been positioned overhead providing passengers with additional lighting!

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Charging

Charging the Honda E is effortless thanks to the charging point in a very easy to reach part of the car, the center of the bonnet! It also features an integrated LED light which will clearly indicate the status of the charge. There is also a safety lock to ensure the power cable cannot be removed whilst in use.

The cable has been designed to be angled away from the car to protect the paintwork when charging. The charging times will vary depending on the type of charger that you use. But if you use the rapid charger charging to 80% will take 31 mins.

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Safety

The Honda E has a lot of safety features to keep you safe whilst driving around. There is an advanced safety system including Honda SENSING. Which are designed to help you when you drive:

Collision Mitigation Brake System: If there is a possibility of a collision, with either a pedestrian or a cyclist. The safety system will alert you whilst simultaneously reducing speed. Helping to minimise the severity of an impact.

Road Departure Mitigation System: A camera will detect road boundaries. Therefore if the car begins to stray the system will provide a lane departure warning. The car will then automatically apply subtle corrections to the streeting to keep it in lane.

Traffic Sign Recognition System: Identifies traffic signs and relays the information to you via a visual display.

Lane Keeping Assist System: Provides a less stressful driving experience especially on motorways, by keeping the car in the middle of the lane. This can be overridden when the indicator is used.

Intelligent Speed Limiter: Automatically controls your vehicle’s speed to a speed pre-set by you or at the speed limit indicated by a traffic sign.

Adaptive Cruise Control with Low Speed Follow: This will maintain a safe distance to the vehicle in front. While if a vehicle in an adjacent lane cuts in front of you, the Honda E will predict this and adjust the speed accordingly automatically. While it only will resume to a set speed when the danger has passed. Furthermore the low speed follow tech will detect if the vehicle in front comes to a stop. It will automatically decelerate and stop if the brakes aren’t applied.

Auto High-Beam Headlights: Detects a vehicle in front, including oncoming vehicles and automatically switches between high beam and low beam.

City Features

The Honda E has specific features that help the car adapt to the city too:

Lead Car Departure Notification System: Alerts the driver when the car in front has moved ahead from a standstill and you are still stationary.

Low Speed Braking Control: This system is a combination of the following functions:

Low Speed Brake Function: If you are close to an object that you may not have noticed whilst driving at low speed, the Honda e will decelerate and give an audio and visible warning before applying emergency braking.

Collision Mitigation Throttle System: This system will warn you if you press down on the accelerator pedal while there is an obstacle, such as a wall, in front of you.

So what do you think of the Honda E? Let us know via our socials @howtokillanhour across all platforms!

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The E Scooter, is your city ready for them?

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The Department for Transport (DfT) has published the nation’s first official framework for e-scooter rentals, which enabled trials to start from 4th July. As you may be aware e-scooters were fully banned on UK’s roads.

However, pilot trials have been fast tracked into place. The aim is to discourage workers from using their cars as they return to work following the easing of lockdown in the UK.

E Scooter trials were originally meant to take place in just four transport zones. However, they’ll now be in place across the nation. With 50 councils so far expressing an interest in hosting an E Scooter rental scheme. So which of the UK’s biggest cities are ready?

The E Scooter ability Index

The team at USwitch have taken 40 of the UK’s most populous cities and analysed the ‘e-scooterbaility’ of each city. This is based on air quality, potholes, bike thefts and planned cycle lanes, giving them a rating out of 70.

So, scoring 50 out of 70, Newcastle is the city that is most prepared for E Scooters. With over 13km of planned cycle lanes and just 9 pothole complaints in the last year.

Mapping the UK cities ready for e scooters!

It seems as though the North is the home of the most suitable cities for E Scooters. Seven out of the top 10 are located in the north of England; Newcastle, Carlisle, Hull, Salford, Preston, Manchester and Sunderland all score high on the e-scootability index.

Scoring 42/70 overall, Manchester has the highest number of pop-up cycle lanes and over 24km of planned cycle lanes where e-scooter users can get from A to B safely.

Smooth scooting

While when it comes to road quality, USwitch scored each city based on the number of pothole complaints that are made via FixMyStreet. Leeds had the smoothest roads for scootering, followed by Exeter and Cambridge.

Though with over 400 complaints combined both the roads in London and Manchester will need some work done before they’re ready for E Scooters.

A breath of fresh air

An air pollution index was taken from Numbeo**, where USwitch scored each city on the potential pollution levels that riders would face. Preston (16.79) and Carlisle (19.89) topped the list as the cities with the best air quality, making them a great candidate for e-scooter trials. Arguably, cities with very poor air quality such as Wolverhampton (63.22) and Wakefield (62.07) could also benefit from an emission-free option such as e-scooters.

Planned cycle lanes

This index is scored on each city based on the length of planned cycle lands from the  Cycling Infrastructure Prioritisation Toolkit (CyIPT).

These lanes can be used by E Scooters, whilst keeping riders safe and away from traffic. London Westminster topped the list with the most (97km) of cycleways planned in and around the combined city area. Closely followed by Salford and Manchester with 25km of routes planned.

Predicting the popularity of E Scooters

The popularity score was based on the number of people who are already using two wheel sto get to work. Cambridge topped the list with 15.34% of the population already cycling, followed by Westminster (12.42%), Oxford (8.75%) and York (5.29%). This suggests that these cities would be open to this new, green form of transportation.

Will Owen, energy expert from Uswitch, comments on the results of the e-scootability index:

“Cities all over the UK have been working hard to stop the spread of COVID-19 and with lockdown finally easing, we’re seeing a welcome push towards climate-friendly transport options such as e-scooters. 

“Later this year, the UK will join several European countries including Spain, France and Italy following the release of the DfT’s e-scooter rental framework. 50 city councils have already applied to be part of the trial.

“But the research behind the e-scootability index revealed that some cities were more ‘geared’ up for their arrival than others, with cities in the North making up 70% of the top 10 list.  

“Rental e-scooters will be banned from footpaths to protect pedestrians so road safety is another factor that needs to be considered. Alongside the obvious environmental benefits of e-scooter rental schemes, there are many other factors for regulators to consider.”

Will e-scooters make a difference to the UK’s daily commute?

E Scooters may revolutionise the way the UK public travels to work, so Will Owen the energy expert at USwitch gave his thoughts. He believed that we should follow the US and Europe’s lead when it comes to implementing our own scooter schemes.

As the UK slowly unlocks, e-scooter rental companies look set to revolutionise the way we travel to and from the office.

It’ll reduce the amount we spend on our daily commute

We spend an estimated £146 per month to commute, that’s around £7.30 per day based on 20 working days in a month. Whilst in Germany E Scooter rental brand Grover launched GroverGo. A subscription based model which allows customers to rent the Xiaomi e-scooter Mijia M365 for €49.90 (£44.83) per month or €2.50 (£2.24) per day. So, if a similar model was implemented here in the UK, it would reduce costs by 69%!

We’ll reduce the amount of CO2 in our cities, reducing air pollution overall

It is concerning that there may be sudden spike in air pollution as people are advised on avoiding public transport.

Global e-scooter rental brand Lime announced that they have just passed 150 million rides globally. They have calculated just how environmentally friendly e-scooters are. Lime says that these rides have saved:

  • 32 million miles of car travel

  • 1,300,000 gallons of petrol (about 100,000 full tanks for your average car).

While Lime also states in 2018, E Scooter users had saved 540,000 lbs (244,939 kg) of CO2 in just three months, which is equivalent to roughly 28,000 gallons (127,290 litres) of fuel that wasn’t burned in car engines, or the absorption capacity of an additional 46,000 trees.

Usage needs to be safe and regulated

However, there has been debate in the press about safety. With many European countries reporting problems. Such as illegal parking and accidents. France for example have set speed limits and prohibits parking anywhere but in designated spaces.

Though, figures from a recent study confirm that E Scooter riders do not face a a higher risk of road traffic accidents than cyclists do.

To ensure the safety of rental e scooter users, pedestrians, cyclists and others, The Department of Transport has already provided safety regulations and guidance.

  • Speed limit of 15.5mph(25km/h)

  • Driving licence required for use

  • Private scooters remain illegal

  • Not permitted on sidewalks and cycle lanes

When it comes to enforcing the regulations, the UK could follow the example from France. Any e-scooter riders found to be breaking the laws could be fined up to €135 (£121).

References: 

*https://beta.salford.ac.uk/news/are-you-e-scooter-ready

**Pothole complaints, taken from Fixmystreet.com

***Air Quality Score, taken from Numbeo

The E-Scootability Index data can be explored in full here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LM_kSHG4VFC2wtSj-_lxZObva3RI9YX5DXarwBCFflM/edit?usp=sharing  

Methodology:

Uswitch analysed data from 40 UK cities with a population over 100,000 and analysed seven different data sets that related to the infrastructure of each city and their suitability for e-scooter uptake. 

These metrics were: 

Each city could score a maximum of 10 points for each element, and we used a weighted ranking system to achieve the final score out of 70. 

Find out more about the impact of electric vehicles on your energy bills.

(USwitch)

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Sky Pollution is no more??

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Pigeon Patrol

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Credit: HuffingtonPost

Credit: HuffingtonPost

Those flying rats are coming in useful for once, rather that sh****ng all over the place!

Air-monitoring company Plume Labs has strapped air-quality sensors to Flying Rats aka Pigeons to monitor the pollution in the air which me and you breathe on a daily basis to then send back data on just how much damage is done.

“Pigeon Air Patrol” will be interactive, just tweet to @PigeonAir (Marcus tried) and request an air pollution update on their area.

“Air pollution is a huge environmental health issue, killing 10,000 people every year in London alone,” said Romain Lacombe, Plume Labs CEO.

“Putting air sensors on the back of pigeons goes beyond raising awareness of this problem and helps Londoners understand the impact of pollution in an accessible, tangible and immediate way”