It was exactly one year ago that I installed the Blade on my car. From the beginning I have logged my fuel economy per tank on my Blade Mileage Tracker. Excluding some individual mileage tests (mostly short highway runs of about 100 miles) I have used 40 tanks of gas, and driven over 10,000 miles. My average mileage per tank during this whole time was 31.7 MPG. The EPA fuel economy rating for my car is 30 combined. My best tank was 38.9 and the worst came in at 26.6. I did notice a decrease in mileage over the winter, as any car would. Also, it could be that since my cartridge needs to be replaced now, that it lost some of its effectiveness in the last few weeks. This could explain the slightly lower results for spring of this year compared to last.

Now, what everyone wants to see is similar mileage tracking on the car with NO Blade. Well, now you shall have it! Much to my reluctance (since I am not one to consciously increase pollution), I will remove the Blade from my car and keep track of the mileage just as I did before. Let’s see what happens!

Though I am a fan of auto design first and foremost, I also love to think about architecture and home design. Elegant lines, form, efficiency, and livability are hallmarks of both mediums. Truth be told, I consider staring at the skyline of Chicago an activity. When walking, I routinely run into people because my eye is fixed on some grand facade above. And I have been known to attend open houses just for fun. I am excited to tell you that there is one open house that everyone Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks ago an interesting opportunity arose for me. Sabertec’s CEO Bill O’Brien and Engineer Skip Hansen were in Chicago to discuss their Blade product with NBC 5’s Ginger Zee. In addition to promoting the benefits of the device, they installed a Blade on Ginger’s car so that she can report the results in a future segment. I was contacted to participate in the interviews since I am one of the few people who have a self-installed Blade. Unfortunately, all of my interview segment ended up on the cutting room floor! It is hard to fit much substance in a 1:30s spot. However, they did film my car in various Read the rest of this entry »

I am the type of person who will specifically NOT purchase something that was advertised to me in a way I find offensive.  Call it a foolish stubbornness if you will, at least it helps me identify what bothers me. Mobile Billboards (MBs) are an example of one such offensive delivery.  We should do away them for several reasons.   Read the rest of this entry »

I am very pleased to announce that this site is now hosted with 100% renewable green energy credits at HostPapa.  You can read about their green policies here.  After much research, I chose them for being the most affordable green hosting solution while having the comprehensive set of service and software one has come to expect from non-green rivals.  After a few exchanges with their support team, I can highly recommend them!

A few weeks ago at the Chicago Green Festival I bought a device for $110 (regularly $199) which is designed to cut emissions on your car exhaust and as a side benefit improve gas mileage in many vehicles. It is called The Blade and is made by Read the rest of this entry »

I am so excited to have this site up and running! I will be posting about environmental, automotive, and other transportation issues here. All aboard the Green Ride!