Westfalia Camper Canvas Top

Shaped Bay Window Westfalias are more plentiful in the United States. Other than let's face it... the previous model came out of the German factory a part of a century ago; as a result a few of the specific camper equipment can appear rather scruffy.

Point in case, Westfalia purchased through our good friend previous fall. He placed it in a local newspaper and paid a mere $600 for the non-running but rust-free vehicle. moreover the dents covering the green body, one cosmetic area that needed notice was the pop-top canvas.

Westfalia shaped two types of canvas and pop-top combos. The models are hinged in the front, while presently versions received scissors-style hinges in the support. We placed brand new canvases from Wolfsburg Westfalia a sound company specializing in VW restoration harvest.

Car-Sharing Business Grows Quickly in U.S. Cities

For many city dwellers, owning a car is both a blessing and a curse. Some urbanites get around mostly by public transportation, but occasionally need a car for shopping or for trips out of town. Maintaining a car is expensive, and finding parking on crowded city streets can be a nightmare.

Two women looked at this problem and saw a business opportunity, as well as a way to help the planet. In 1999, they wrote a business plan for Zipcar Inc., and in 2000, incorporated and began service in Boston. Since then, the company has grown rapidly to become the world’s largest car-sharing business.

Traditional car rental companies rent cars by the day. Car-sharing allows drivers to rent by the hour, and without having to wait in line at a car rental counter. Instead, cars are left at reserved places all over urban areas. Many customers have to walk only a few blocks to pick one up.

Zipcar’s founders, Robin Chase and Antje Danielson, got the idea after seeing it in Berlin. “We wanted to take what was a co-op, environmental movement in Europe and brand it as something cool and hip,” Chase told America.gov.

Chase said she knew the business would require a sizable investment to develop wireless technology that could automatically keep track of vehicles. The aim was to make reserving a car online almost effortless for users, and cost-free for the company. After coming up with a business plan in January 2000, she spent countless hours trying to find investors interested in this novel idea.

“The biggest challenge was persuading people to finance it,” she said. “We didn’t fit into an established category. Venture capitalists would always ask me: ‘Are you a technology company or a consumer company?’”

Zipcar opened for business in Boston in June 2000, with the slogan, “Wheels when you want them.” Analysts say the company did many things brilliantly, from creating new wireless technology to marketing that emphasized the environmental benefits of car-sharing.

But the company had chronic difficulties raising cash, and in 2003 its board decided to replace Chase as chief executive. (By then, she had sold her controlling interest.) In her place, the board hired Scott Griffith, a former executive with the aircraft maker Boeing Company.

Griffith attracted more investments and helped solve one of the company’s biggest challenges: the low use of cars during the business day, when many members are at work. He did this by making deals to provide vehicles to companies, universities and even some city offices.

n the fall of 2007, Zipcar acquired its largest American competitor, Flexcar. With the two companies merged, Zipcar now has 5,500 cars in more than 50 cities in the United States, Canada and England. Griffith said the company plans an aggressive expansion into new cities in the United States and Europe.

The merged company does $100 million in annual business. “Our biggest goal,” he said in a recent interview with the Boston Globe, is “to become a billion-dollar company” in about five years.

Unlike the traditional business model for car rental companies, Zipcar’s operations are automated. Its vehicles are equipped with a wireless device that not only tells the company where the car is, but also sends such information as the car’s fuel level and the number of miles driven.

Renting A Car

Many people purchase insurance at the car rental counter without knowing that their existing auto policies or credit card benefits probably already cover their needs. Here are tips from the Insurance Commissioner's Office to find out whether you need the insurance that is offered to you when you rent a car.

Ask your insurance agent or insurance company if there are any situations in which your existing auto policy would not cover a rental car.

If your current auto policy doesn’t offer coverage for a rental car, see if an insurance rider can be added for a small fee.

Ask your credit card company if it provides rental car coverage and, if so, what the limits are. Many credit cards include some level of collision and theft protection. In most cases, these benefits are secondary to your personal auto insurance or the car rental company’s insurance, meaning the credit card company will only pay claims after other insurance coverage has been exhausted.

If you lack personal auto insurance and your credit card does not provide benefits, then it might be wise to purchase the liability insurance and collision damage waiver at the car rental counter.

Keep in mind that if it is a longer-term rental (e.g., a week, a month or more), there might be limitations on the coverage your existing auto insurance policy provides. Check with your insurance company or agent for details.

When traveling on business, a personal auto policy will generally not apply, so check with your employer for guidance.

A national survey of 632 consumers, conducted in September 2007 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, found:

Approximately 42 percent of respondents said they were either thoroughly confused or had only a rough idea about insurance coverage when renting a car.

34 percent of respondents said they purchased the rental company’s insurance just to make sure they were covered.

24 percent of consumers were not sure whether their credit card provided insurance coverage when renting a car.

Vanagon fuel pump

Argonne researchers have developed a new device that could bring electric cars closer to practical use for daily driving.

The device, called an "on-board methanol reformer," releases the hydrogen bound up in methanol (methyl alcohol). Because it is more compact than other reformers, it could enable fuel cells to power electric cars.

Fuel cells are like a batteries with fuel tanks. Unlike batteries, they produce electricity as long as they have fuel, and they never need recharging. The Department of Energy is currently investigating them as possible electric-vehicle power sources.

"Fuel cells are much more efficient and much less polluting than internal combustion engines," said Romesh Kumar (CMT). The device was developed by Kumar, Shabbir Ahmed and Michael Krumpelt (all CMT).
A major problem in using fuel cells to power electric cars, Kumar said, is that they are fueled by hydrogen, a very light gas that is difficult to store. Currently available hydrogen-storage technologies are so heavy and bulky that they would limit the driving range of any car that used them.

"But an on-board reformer like ours," he said, "could solve this problem by reforming methanol from the gas tank and feeding the hydrogen into a fuel cell."

The Argonne device takes up less volume than a seven-gallon container, Kumar said. This makes it the first fuel reformer small enough to fit under the hood of a compact car beside a 50-kilowatt polymer-electrolyte-membrane (PEM) fuel cell, DOE's top candidate for an electric-vehicle fuel cell.

Argonne's reformer would combine methanol with oxygen from the air to produce a hydrogen-rich mixture of gases that would be injected into the fuel cell.

Compared to other reformers, Argonne's is light-weight, compact and energy-efficient. In addition, Kumar said, it is flexible enough to respond well to frequent startups and shutdowns and to the rapidly changing engine demands of daily stop-and-go driving.

The design is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, Kumar said. It consists of a cylinder packed with a common and inexpensive catalyst. A nozzle sprays liquid methanol into the cylinder, and an ignition source starts it.

In addition to hydrogen, the reformer produces carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. A small on-board chemical reactor would convert the carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide.

Eurovan propane tank

National offers discounted rates for U.S. Government and Department of Defense travelers cars on official business with authorized travel orders. Benefits include full Loss Damage Waiver, and no fee for additional drivers or underage drivers (the minimum age is 18 on official military business). Special off-duty leisure travel rates are also available, but do not include these benefits.
Package of Benefits

When traveling on official business or tour-of-duty orders, our benefits include:

* No additional driver fees.
* No underage driver fees (The minimum age for on-duty military rental is 18 years old.)
* Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) included.
* Frequent Traveler benefits with National's major airline partners.
* Over 550 participating locations worldwide to accommodate on-duty travel needs.

A government-issued credit card or official travel orders will be required for reservations. A military or government-issued ID may be required at time of pick up. Please request Contract ID: "GOVBIZ" to receive the military business rate.

When traveling on leisure or without official orders, we offer:

* Discounted rates for federal government employees and military personnel.
* Frequent traveler benefits with National's major airline partners.
* Over 550 participating locations worldwide.
* Family members with dependent identification are also eligible for leisure rates.

A military or Government-issued ID may be required at time of pick up. The minimum age for off-duty military rental is 21 years old, but rates may be higher for renters under age 25. To receive the government leisure rate, request Contract ID "GOVRNR" when making your reservation. Discount rate is valid for off-duty travelers and retired military personnel.

vandwellers network eurovan

Benefits of car pooling

Car Pooling

The New South Wales Government is pursuing a range of initiatives to reduce car dependency and improve air quality in accordance with the NSW State Plan. Car pooling or ride sharing, particularly for journeys to work and where public transport is limited, is a great way to reduce single occupant vehicle travel.

Car pooling is the sharing of rides in a private vehicle among two or more individuals. It involves the use of one person's private or company vehicle to carry one or more fellow passengers, either by using one car or rotating cars.

Benefits of car pooling

For individuals:

* Reduced travelling expenses and need for second car.
* Improved travel times through use of transit lanes.

For the community:

* Reductions in vehicle emissions.
* Reductions in traffic volumes and congestion.
* Provides an alternative, cost effective travel choice.
* Improving the environment.

For companies that arrange car pooling:

* Maximising use of employee parking.
* Encouraging sociability between your employees.
* Reducing stress in driving to work.
* Improving company image.
* Can be included in staff benefits package.

Potential options for car pooling

1. With your friends and neighbours.
2. With your work colleagues. Talk to your employer about commencing a car pool scheme for your workplace. Maybe there are other work places around you that may also wish to join your scheme.
3. Through your University of TAFE - Talk to your university administration or student union about commencing a scheme for students.
4. Park and Ride. This has potential for car commuters who travel long distances to their workplace each day within Sydney metropolitan area to park and ride together, ie. Central Coast, Wollongong and Blue Mountains.

Carsharing

Carsharing is a model of car rental where people can rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. The organisation renting the car can be a commercial organisation or a cooperative of individuals and is practiced in over 600 cities worldwide. The RTA recognises that car share parking offers an alternative transport facility that conforms to government transport and environment strategies.

The RTA has produced a technical direction that specifically offers guidance on the provision of on-street car share parking that is located on local roads.