Back in May, Niotnet brought us news that Hawaii was in talks with Better Place to set up a network of electric car recharging and batter swapping stations across the islands. Fortune now says that the state has inked a deal with Better Place to put their system in place by 2012.
The agreement is for Better Place to sell electric Nissan Rogues to consumers and, basically, rent the vehicles' batteries by the mile. The company hopes that by taking out the up-front cost of the battery, consumers will be more likely to buy an electric vehicle.
You may remember Better Place from a recent announcement that it will set up a similar network in the Bay Area. That system is also planned for a 2012 launch, which is also the date Better Place plans to flip the switch in Australia, Denmark and Israel. Sounds like somebody's gonna be busy.
Hawaii has some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation. This is one of the steps that the state is taking to reduce its dependence on oil. There's also the chance that beach-seeking tourists will take an island spin in one of the electrified Nissans, go back home and spread the green word.
In addition to its epic supercars and growing roster of motorsport victories, Ferrari has emerged as a branding and merchandising powerhouse. But with its range of licensed paraphernalia ever increasing, the company's largest market has until now only had two retail outlets out of 20 worldwide Ferrari Stores. To that end, Ferrari has opened two more locations of its merchandising outlets in the United States: one in Miami and another in Hawaii.
The Miami location at the upscale Aventura Mall has 2150 square feet of retail space, while the Honolulu location has 3230 square feet of floor space on two levels at the Royal Hawaiia Center. They join the previous locations in Beverly Hills and Las Vegas, along with eight Italian stores and ten more around the world. Having recently strolled into a Ferrari Store at the Milan Malpensa airport, we can tell you the stores are packed full of Prancing Horse-emblazoned merchandise. Just don't stop in there expecting to book a test drive.
With the cost of gasoline skyrocketing, thieves in Hawaii -- where the average price easily exceeds $4 per gallon -- have taken extraordinary measures to steal fuel. Only mildly deterred by locking gas caps, bandits have been cutting fuel lines to circumvent the common preventatives. With nothing more than a straight edge blade, a piece of garden hose, and a bucket, the lawless make easy work of the plastic fuel lines under cars as they cut them to gain simple access to the tank and its flammable yet valuable liquid contents.
So far, most of the victims have been businesses or commercial ventures with several large trucks in their fleet. Parked unattended in lots overnight, their 20-30 gallon fuel tanks and raised ride height make them easy targets with larger yields than the average passenger vehicle. To deter the theft, business owners have installed sophisticated video surveillance cameras on their property and outfitted some vehicles with steel gas lines. "If they're crazy enough to go cut a steel line to steal the gas, they should be welcome to it," says George Nitta, owner of Nitta Auto Repair. "All they need is one spark from that saw and that's it, you're done."
