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Recharge Wrap-up: Elon Musk in Reddit AMA; Honda releases annual environmental report

Elon Musk will answer questions in a Reddit AMA tonight. The "Ask Me Anything" event will begin at 9:00 pm EST, and will last one hour. Musk will answer as many reader questions as he can in the allotted amount of time. Reddit's /r/TeslaMotors board is selecting official questions from users to pose to Musk as well. If you have any aching inquiries for the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, you probably don't want to miss this. Read more at Clean Technica, or at Reddit. Powertree Services plans to build solar-powered EV charging at San Francisco apartment buildings. The group will rent parking spaces at apartment buildings and put solar panels on the roof. Tenants with EVs can pay a monthly fee to charge their cars at their own apartments and Powertree Services parking spots around town. It takes the responsibility of building and maintaining the chargers off the building owners, but provides them with some revenue from renting the space to Powertree. Read more at Treehugger. The market for environmentally friendly cars will remain strong despite cheap oil prices, according to IHS Automotive Advisory Services. James Chao, director of the company's Asia-Pacific region, says his clients are still very focused on fuel economy. IHS has predicted green car production to triple by 2020 from 2014 figures. Hyundai and Kia, who are clients of Chao, have new EVs, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles on the way - a seemingly "unfocused" plan that Chao defends. "Especially at times when uncertainty is dominant, it could well be referred to as being prudent," he says. Read more at The Korea Herald. Honda has released its annual North American Environmental Report. In the report, Honda notes environmental progress it has made over the last year in a number of areas. It points out the introduction of the 2014 Accord Hybrid and the FCV Concept. It enumerates reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in transportation, use of its products and even from Honda's suppliers (however, there was a 0.7 percent rise in CO2 emissions during manufacturing due to, or rather "despite a significant increase in production"). Honda is using less water, and producing less waste - only 0.8 kilograms are sent to the landfill per car manufactured. Honda also worked with SolarCity to get solar panels on 1,650 rooftops in the US. Read more on Honda's website. Marco Andretti will race in the Formula E Buenos Aires ePrix.

1964 Honda SM600 roadster gets elemental in Jay Leno's Garage

Honda has made a handful of sports cars in the past, with examples like the Acura NSX and Honda S2000 standing as noteworthy examples. But before either of them came along, there was the Honda S600. And Jay Leno has a beautiful example from 1964 in his garage for this latest video installment. The inspiration for the new JDM S660, the original S600 came out in 1964 – which just happened to be the same year that Honda broke into Formula One. And you can hear that relationship when the dual-chain-drive 600cc inline-four revs up to its 9,500-rpm redline. It may not have had the power of contemporary British roadsters from MG and Triumph, but it had plenty of character. When Leno got a hold of this one – a top spec SM model – he and his team took it apart nut and bolt, powder-coated the chassis, resprayed the body and put it all back together better than new. But you'll want to hear Jay tell the story himself in this fifteen-minute video clip. News Source: Jay Leno's Garage via YouTube Celebrities Honda Convertible Classics Videos Jay Lenos Garage

Weird Honda patent shows robot arm to charge an EV while driving

Despite big leaps in electric car range and charging times, EVs still haven't reached the point of being as convenient as gas-powered cars. A recently published patent from Honda seems to offer a possible, if questionable, solution to electric charging and range. The patent shows and describes a strange system in which a car would be equipped with a deployable arm with an electrical contact on the end. When extended, the arm would ride in a grooved rail along the side of the road. This rail would be connected to the electrical grid, and would allow the car to charge as it drives along. The idea is similar to old electric trolleys and buses that connected to overhead power lines. While novel, we're not sure that this would be a better solution than wireless charging systems that have also been proposed. Honda's idea would likely be easier and cheaper to build and maintain than a wireless system with electromagnetic coils embedded in the pavement. However, there are many potential issues. For one, that arm is just begging to be broken off. At some point, someone will forget it was deployed, or the retracting mechanism will break, and that driver will snap it off on a something like a street light. And while the charging rails would be easier to reach for maintenance, they might need more of it. In heavy snow, the rails may have to be cleared to be usable, and since the contacts will be rubbing against the rails all the time, people will have to inspect them to make sure they still work. We still have to give Honda some credit though. This is an interesting idea for solving the issues of range and charging. We just think there are other technologies that would work better long term. Related Video: Image Credit: United States Patent and Trademark Office Green Weird Car News Honda Technology Electric Future Vehicles patent