MINI is known for its tiny, adorable cars, but in November 2014 they joined the ranks of companies looking toward greener, even smaller transportation. Their Citysurfer electric scooter was designed to cut down on traffic congestion in busy urban areas by providing a “last mile” solution. With the foldable scooter, motorists can park outside of the city center and then ride the rest of the way to their destination.

The Citysurfer folds up small enough to fit into the back of a MINI, which is very impressive when you consider just how tiny an area that is. Of course, it can be stashed and carried in other car makes, as well. At just 40 pounds, it’s substantial enough to feel like it isn’t going to break when you hit a bump but light enough that almost everyone will be able to easily lift it into the trunk or even onto a bus or train.

The retro-styled little scooter has a top speed of 15 MPH and a 10 to 15-mile range. Its lithium-ion battery can be charged from a normal wall outlet. The motor is located in the rear wheel and acceleration is controlled with the thumb. It’s not activated until the user first pushes off with his or her foot and reaches a minimum speed – a smart way to avoid falls from too-fast motorized starts.

Large wheels let the scooter handle uneven terrain and three separate braking systems keep the ride smooth and safe. Alas, the Citysurfer isn’t yet available for purchase, and MINI isn’t handing out details on when or if it might be produced commercially.

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Whether or not you’ve jumped on the electric cars bandwagon already, the chances are that we will all have to switch to non-fossil fuel cars in the future. Unless they’re being charged with solar power, electric cars are still consuming fossil fuels from the grid, anyway. An entirely new way of thinking about fuel inspired a company called Nanoflowcell to develop a car powered by what appears to be a salt water-powered fuel cell.

The Quant e-Sportlimousine is being touted as the world’s first salt water powered car. The technology is surprisingly simple: two liquids are combined, with metallic salts acting as electrolytes. This creates an electrochemical reaction. The solution is pumped through two separate cells to induce “cold burning,” a process that produces electrical power. The setup is known as a flow cell battery.

Although their feasibility has been questioned by some, flow cell batteries are far superior to the lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries currently used in electric vehicles. They can take a vehicle 20 times farther than a lead-acid battery or five times farther than a lithium ion battery. Unlike conventional batteries which require a long time to recharge, all that is needed to recharge flow cell batteries is an exchange of the spent electrolyte-rich fluid for new, charged fluid.

The e-Sportlimousine is still under development, but it recently got approval for road testing in Germany. It has been in development for 14 years and, besides its impressive technology, is just plain handsome with its gull wing doors and modern streamlined interior. Its makers claim that it can travel up to 600 kilometers (about 373 miles) on a single tank of salty fuel and can reach speeds of over 200 MPH. With the first prototype having been declared safe to roam the German roads, the race is now on for the company to produce and test more prototypes while refining their technology.

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In certain areas of the world, the ground transport infrastructure is so poor (or nonexistent) that getting goods to people who need them is as good as impossible. UK-based company 4X4 Aviation sees a way to correct that problem with the monster of a cargo plane they call the VV-Plane. The VV (or Versatile Vehicle) Plane features 16 tilting electric fans that allow for vertical take-off and landing, eliminating the need for airports and runways.

According to the company, the unusual plane would greatly reduce the costs associated with moving goods, making it possible to deliver food, supplies, and equipment to even the most remote places which are unreachable by roads. The cost to weight ratio would be lower even than that of trucks, making the VV-Plane a viable alternative for areas that do have solid existing road infrastructures.

The plane’s four groups of four electrically-powered fans are powered by an integrated combustion engine generator which sends energy to an on-board storage system. The fans are pointed down during take-off to provide lift, then pointed backward while in flight for forward thrust. While similar tilting fan systems require a lot of energy and heavy equipment, 4X4 Aviation say that they’ve developed a new system to make the entire outfit affordable.

The VV-Plane is equipped to carry up to 33 tons of cargo and can even carry a standard cargo container. This is a crucial point because the plane could pick up the containers at sea ports and move them inland easier and for a lower cost than trucks could. The company is seeking investors to help develop their cost- and energy-efficient technology, so there’s no word yet on when we might start seeing VV-Planes hauling our cargo through the sky.

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The step-scooter is an interesting hybrid mode of transportation that we’ve seen pop up a few times over the last few years. The STP from designer Ben Koros (also known as Benk) is a particularly convenient and stylish version that will not only get you where you need to go – it’ll do it in what may be the coolest possible way.

The STP looks a lot like a souped-up scooter. It sports four big wide-set wheels, a hand brake on the handle, and a heavy-duty deck. The main difference, of course, is that the deck you would normally stand on is replaced by a pair of steps that go down and up with the force of your leg muscles. You move not by kicking (as with a scooter) or by pedaling (as with a bicycle) but by stepping up and down repeatedly.

You get the small size of a scooter but the leg workout of a bike, and the whole thing folds up into a small enough size that you can take it on the bus with you or drag it into your office. The decks are customizable just like skateboard decks, but luckily you can ride the STP to work and still look kind of like a grownup, unlike when you ride a skateboard there.

The post Take the Stairs: Ultra-Hip Step Scooter for Urban Mobility first appeared on Gajitz.

Even in a mid-sized city, delivery vehicles add a significant amount of air pollution to the already-significant emissions of personal vehicles. Even if the world isn’t ready to switch over to electric vehicles for everyone, just getting companies to make their deliveries in electric-powered vans could make a big dent in urban pollution.

The eStar electric van can handle a 4000 pound load and go for up to 100 miles on a single charge. Because it was designed to be electric rather than converted from gasoline, the vehicle is efficient and more effective than converted vehicles.

Designed by Navistar, a green vehicles specialist, the eStar can fully charge in a mere eight hours. That means that if a fleet of vans is plugged in at the end of the workday they can be ready to go again by the time the drivers return to work in the morning. Zero emissions, a top speed of 50 MPH and a small 36-foot turning radius all make the eStar ideal for green inner city deliveries.

The post Hitting the Green Streets: Zero-Emission Urban Delivery Van first appeared on Gajitz.