Is This the Most Eco-Friendly Car Innovation Since the Hybrid?

[roninblade]

from: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008...vice-blade.php

Is This the Most Eco-Friendly Car Innovation Since the Hybrid?

Forget hydrogen. The most eco-friendly thing to happen to cars since the hybrid might just be an after-market device that attaches to your tail pipe and costs a mere $199.

If you don’t bike to work or at least drive a hybrid, chances are you feel a little guilty about your contribution to global warming when you log up the fossil-fueled miles you travel each day.

But Blade, a new device that can attach to the tail pipe of pretty much every car on the freeway, might change all that.

The device filters particulate matter as well as other solid inorganic emissions that would otherwise end up in your lungs. It improves the efficiency of your catalytic converter to lower emissions. And it increases the volumetric efficiency of the engine, helping your engine to burn more efficiently so that it increases fuel economy and reduces CO2.

According to Sabertec, which developed Blade, the gadget can reduce vehicle air pollution up to 57 percent and greenhouse gases up to 34 percent while increasing fuel economy up to five miles per gallon in lab testing. Here’s the direct quote: “If every car and light truck in American had a Blade, drivers would save over $42 billion per year, and the nation’s total greenhouse gas reduction would be equivalent to removing roughly 50 million cars from the road.”

And here’s the kicker: It costs just $199 for the device and filters to last for two years (plus installation), and will cost you only $20 per year to replace the filters after that. Cars built before 1996 will need one very 3,000 miles, while late-model autos every 10,000.

Sound unbelievable?

The California Air Resources Board is a believer—they licensed the device earlier this year. Blade was also accepted by the Environmental Protection Agency. And because it increases fuel efficiency, thus cutting down on fueling costs, Sabertec's CEO Bill O’Brien thinks Blade has the potential to convert even the non-environmentally minded—which means big dividends in terms of environmental benefits.

“In order to really have an impact on air pollution and environmental issues it has to cross over, it can’t just [appeal to] environmentally minded people,” O’Brien said in an interview on Monday. “The big benefit of Blade is that it crosses over, it gives a benefit to the environmentalist, certainly, but it also gives a financial benefit to folks who might not have the disposable income or a real understanding of environmental issues.”

For environmentally minded folks, Blade also works with hybrids, and a diesel (veggie or otherwise) version is in the works.

[ghosthunter]

The device looks like a particulate matter trap/filter. If you use such a device, you will probably increase the back pressure in the exhaust system.

[actor21]

i'll wait until you fit you car with one TS, kindly post here if it really worked, and i'll buy one for my car after that.

[roninblade]

i'll wait until you fit you car with one TS, kindly post here if it really worked, and i'll buy one for my car after that.

hahaha. di ako bibili nito until madami na favorable reviews.

[roninblade]

dude, it is a particulate matter trap/filter.

The device filters particulate matter as well as other solid inorganic emissions that would otherwise end up in your lungs.

i wonder how extensive ang test na ginawa nila dito.

[niky]

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) does not certify fuel savers.

They merely certify that a device, when attached to a motor vehicle, will not cause it to exceed California's strict emissions limits.

In other words, it's not an endorsement of any kind. Just a certification that the Blade will not destroy your engine or cause more pollution. (heck, that's more than Khaos can claim.

And the writer is sorely mistaken if he thinks the EPA "accepts" the device. The EPA policy is to NOT endorse fuel saving gadgets, because none of them work. In fact, what Sabertec claims is that the device showed fuel-savings in testing following EPA guidelines... not that the EPA themselves tested it and found savings.

For supposedly meeting EPA 511 standards, the Sabertec Blade is not mentioned on the EPA website at all.

Extra particulate filters in the tailpipe WILL decrease toxic emissions. But an increase in MPG is highly unlikely, as any exhaust restriction tends to increase backpressure, which reduces power, thermal efficiency, and often, fuel economy, as the engine is choked and not able to breathe properly.

The proper placement for particulate filters is around where the cats are, or after them. By giving enough tailpipe after the filters to ensure good scavenging, the decrease of power and efficiency is minimal. By putting them at the tailpipe, you'll have the engine working at shoving a 20 foot column of air that's trapped behind the filters.

[wildthing]

The device looks like a particulate matter trap/filter. If you use such a device, you will probably increase the back pressure in the exhaust system.

[SIZE="7"]Ano ito KHAOS version 2?[/SIZE]

[webmiester]

from: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008...vice-blade.php

WOW! Itry ko nga iyan! Ang mura lang ng Blade dito sa Philippines! I remember my girlfriend giving me one 2 years ago when I was still courting her. She attached it to the exhaust of my airconditioner and it made the car smell fruity It can work wonders pala when attached to the tailpipe

[roninblade]

hmmmm available pala sa manila 'to?