Sometimes the trouble with alternative fuel is availability, despite the efforts of many organizations you cannot always find that one station you’re in dire need of. For us biodiesel drivers we find this even more frequently because of variability in biodiesel prices. When the price of biodiesel goes up (as is the case at the time of writing) retailers blend in low levels of biodiesel (B2-B20ish) and the opposite is true when biodiesel prices are...

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Lately we've been smacked with another wave of flying car news, cars that can drive on the road and fly in the sky do grab headlines. But what about flying on water? The Rinspeed Splash was a prototype car made in 2004 that can fly on water.  This prototype may be a few years old, but one look will tell you it's still ahead of the times. The Splash flies on water by utilizing a...

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending FarmFest in Morgan, MN. The event is much like a state fair with the obvious focus on farming. I went to talk to people about using our app to find E85/Biodiesel and I ran into a Ford dealer from southern MN. He was showing off the new Ford F350, B20 badging and all!     Here's a close up of the B20 badging   Ford's all new 6.7...

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Fresh off the news of the Chevy Volt's price ($41,000 but 31,500 after Fed. Tax Rebate) is one of the most anticipated car commercials of the year. So anticipated GM just announced increasing 2012 Volt production by 50% (30,000 to 45,000 units).  Enjoy the first Volt ad!  

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For those of you who didn't attend I wanted to share some of the great exhibits at the Green Drive Expo last week.  It was an awesome show... get ready to see some green cars in action- Obviously I have to start with our own booth... here it is just after setup the morning after a long drive in.   My booth neighbor was a very cool guy, Ron Hansen, president of Hybrid Battery Repair. ...

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DriveAlternatives Lite has hit iTunes and is ready for download on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The app is free and will allow you to find, retrieve directions, and update fuels/prices to the most comphrensive fuel station database on the internet. The Line did a story about the app which you can read here. This is just the begining, we are hard at work on a fully featured version of the app. Again it...

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Headquartered in the frozen tundra of Minnesota this new app find isn't targeted at us, but that doesn't matter because it's a cool idea!  If you're in NYC check out the WEEELS app, it allows you to share a taxi with others using the app. If you're near someone else grabbing a taxi and heading in the same direction WEEELS let's you know. Save some green in multiple ways. We here at DriveAlternatives are big...

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PickupTrucks.com is reporting that Global Vehicles, the US distributor for the upcoming TR20 &TR40 pickups, has filed suit against Mahindra. Global Vehicles has signed up over 350 dealers across the US and spent nearly $35 million preparing to launch the mighty Mahindra’s.  The problem is the continual delays, the TR20 & TR40 have been scheduled to launch in the fall of 2009, February 2010, and May of 2010. Every time the media has been told...

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Check out this video of Senator John Kerry calling the US the Saudi Arabia of Natural Gas.  Take if from a major Washington power broker, the Gulf Oil Disaster has silenced the "Drill Baby Drill" rhetoric for sometime. The US has the world's largest reserves of Natural Gas and Senator Kerry believes it could help cure our addiction to foreign oil. This too is coming from an all but likely source. T. Boone Pickens and...

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The New York Times has reported Hertz will be renting the Nissan Leaf to consumers in 2011.  For people in the market or who are considering getting into the market for a fully electric car Hertz is providing the ultimate test drive. Renting a Nissan Leaf and giving consumers the ability to test how an electric car can work for them is an amazing opportunity to expand the market for electric cars. However, I warn...

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The newest dilemma in the Gulf Oil disaster is Methane Hydrates are blocking a giant dome that was to be placed over the leak. What are Methane Hydrates you ask? Also known as “Fire Ice” Methane hydrates are deposits of frozen methane gas found at the bottom of the ocean. Here is what a Dept. of Energy Study had to say about methane hydrates- If methane hydrate is either warmed or depressurized, it will revert...

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As nearly everyone knows, twelve days ago the oil rig Deepwater Horizon caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico and sank.  The tragedy resulted in a loss of eleven lives and is leading to one of the worst environmental disasters in history.  When the rig first sank two days after it had caught fire, there was faint optimism the rigs link to the oil reserve was shutoff.  There was also hope blowout prevention devices would...

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DriveAlternatives.com will soon be attending the Living Green Expo.  Admission is FREE. When:               Saturday, May 1, 2010 – 10am to 6pm                        Sunday, May 2, 2010 – 10am to 5pm Where:             Minnesota State Fairgrounds Grand Stand                       1265 Snelling Avenue, Saint Paul   Here is some information about the Living Green Expo taken from http://www.livinggreenexpo.mn/EventInfo.asp For more than 100,000 Minnesotans over the last eight years, the Living Green Expo has become an annual...

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Combining the business models of a carshare firm (like HOURCAR) and vacation home rental service (like Idaho Cabin Keepers) and what do you get? TransportCHAIN, a business plan competition winning start-up that is launching the first person-to-person car sharing service. For many urban dwellers that own a car and commute using mass transit the concept is great. Rent my car while I’m gone at work. Reserve it online when I need to on the weekends....

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Tech.mn has done a write-up and podcast on DriveAlternatives. Click over to here learn more about alternative fuels, green cars, and technology that can marry the two. http://tech.mn/news/2010/03/20/minnesota-local-startup-spotlight-16-drive-alternatives/ It's an exciting time for us as we prepare to launch our iPhone app (other products soon to follow). If you are in Minneapolis May 1st & 2nd stop by and visit us at the MN Living Green Expo  at the State Fair Grounds!

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The Chevy Volt is one upcoming green car where optimists and pessimists can find common ground. The tank should be kept half full or half empty, both are right! What you ask? Chevy is recommending the average driver only fill the Volt's tank half full (I'm an optimist). Why? Because 80% of Americans commute less than 40 miles per day and the Volt has a 40 mile range. With these numbers most people won't be...

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Our two favorite billionaires with major interests in green cars, Warren Buffet and T. Boone Pickens, have made headlines recently. First up: Warren BuffetIn 2008 Buffet made a $230 million investment for 10% of the Chinese automaker BYD (Build Your Dreams).  Fast forward two years and in a letter to shareholders Buffet has valued that investment at $1.99 billion. Quite the return on investment! Last year Buffet told a group of business student that he...

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Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show Chevy released a dummy iPhone application to give consumers a taste of what owning a Volt will be like. After downloading and taking a peek, this app leaves us drooling... The Volt’s OnStar app will allow drivers to: Check Electric Range Check Gasoline Range Unlock/Lock Vehicle Start Vehicle (including climate control) Set Charge Complete/Interrupt Messaging Set Delayed Charging (to take advantage of off peak rates) Honk Horn (to...

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To kick-off 2010 with a bang we put together a list of upcoming green cars that rev our engines (or motors). This new breed of cars includes everything from the much hyped electrics to seldom mentioned propane vehicles. These new cars are taking green and tech to new levels; and here at DriveAlternatives we are working hard to support their launch- 2011 ApteraGoogle invested in a car company? Well yes, the philanthropic arm. The Aptera...

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                            For the past twenty years we've witnessed GM, Ford, and Chrysler are being left in the dust by Japanese automakers like Toyota.  In recent years it is best exemplified by the big three’s lack of building a bestselling hybrid that could compete with the Prius. The Prius debuted in the US market in 2001 and in the years soon after left...

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