Product Review: Freeloader PRO

Part of me is still amazed by the fact that what seems like a simple panel, left sitting in the sun, can store enough power to charge an ipod or a phone. There is something almost supernatural about using this kind of free energy, a feeling I really like!

A little while ago we decided to look for the ultimate personal solar charger, a unit that would do it all and do it in style. Our research took us to Freeloader, arguably the forerunner in personal solar technology. Their solar chargers are well known in the outdoor/adventure community and their new Freeloader Pro is regarded as the top expression of the art of personal solar technology. We decided to put it to the test.

It should be pointed out at this point that we carry a lot of technology on some of our trips. The nature of what we do and the areas we do it in means that we need a whole array of gear from portable GPS devices to the humble ipod and of course phones, laptops and cameras.

The Freeloader Pro is a welcome addition to our traveling gadget shop as it really is very portable; the shell is well designed and folded up takes no more room than a first generation mobile phone or PDA. We were rather worried at first, our research brought up a whole array of negative reviews on the first generation Freeloader model, people were getting varied results, especially in the UK and part of me felt the Freeloader Pro would have the same shortfalls, on the other hand it is the PRO version so expectations were high. That being said I packed it along with the all important camera battery charger, the AA battery charger (an optional extra) and finally the right connections for my iphone, now to find some sun!

This test was carried out in the middle of July in Europe so it probably won’t compare to what you would expect on a typical winter’s day in England, on the other hand it is designed for travel usage so some lucky people will end up using it on the move on some lovely tropical island. I allowed the charger its first full charge via USB (as specified in the instructions) then used it to power-up my camera battery which it did very well. The next charge was going to be fully solar. On a remote beach in France I set the panels for the first proper solar test (a little red double LED shows you the correct charging status) and sat the unit on my towel whilst I went about the typical tourist thing… I gave the unit a whole 6 hours of charge in direct light after which I checked the battery status: 2 out 4 bars on the light ‘halo’ (a neat charge indicator). Not a huge amount but it felt like it would be enough to power my iphone. At the end of a busy beach day I connected it all up and, hey presto, the phone lit up, in a few minutes I was able to charge the phone from half battery to full, for free. Very exciting for a solar newbie!

The next 4 days the solar charger was charged in a similar way, never really ever getting close to full charge, it powered my iphone (notoriously power hungry), my camera once and a portable usb speaker that was always fully charged in a matter of minutes. For my type of usage it turned out to be a nifty little gadget and well worth the investment. The price is a little on the high side when you compare it to the Freeloader and the AA/AAA battery charger as an optional extra seemed a little much but overall you do get the feeling the products are well designed and they don’t feel cheap in anyway.
I think that all in all it can make for an excellent addition to anyone’s travel packing list, it works extremely well as a backup charger and will give you that extra safety net when you are in a remote location. It would not be something I would rely on as my only means of power though, the AA charger never really worked for me, the charge was always minimal and never enough to keep the GPS unit’s high capacity batteries running. On the other hand, I will most definitely be packing it on my next trip, let’s hope it’s to a lovely Caribbean island!

Available from www.solartechnology.co.uk for £69.99 inc VAT

Technical Specification:
Technical Specs Freeloader Pro
• 200mA premium quality crystalline solar cells
• 1600mAh environmentally friendly Li-ion battery – typical battery life is 2 years.
• Freeloader’s solar panels can charge its internal battery in as little as 8 hours or 3 hours when using the supplied USB charging cable
• Supplied with a Master Cable for connecting to a device or CamCaddy and for charging Freeloader Pro from a computers USB
• Supplied with ten adaptors to fit the following:
1) iPod, iPhone, iPhone 3g, iPhone 3gs iTouch, Nano etc
2) Nokia phones using both standard and mini adaptors (2 supplied)
3) All current Samsung phones (2 supplied)
4) All current LG phones
5) All current Sony Ericsson phones
6) Nintendo DS Lite / DSi
7) Mini USB adaptor for Motorola phones, Blackberry and most smartphones, Garmin /
SatMap and most GPS, Bluetooth headsets, PDA’s
8) 4mm tip for Sony PSP, Archos and most MP4 players, 2 way radios, portable DVD players, e-books, digital cameras and PDA’s
• Impact resistant, rust free aluminium body.
• Freeloader holds its battery charge for up to 3 months
• Supplied with detailed user manual

Size – 150 x 63 x 20mm
Weight – 174g

CamCaddy (Included with FreeloaderPro)
• Max operating voltage – 9.5v
• Max battery depth – 67mm

Size – 130 x 71 x 30mm
Weight – 68g

The Perfect Eco Car Wash?

Yes, from time to time I am forced to drive to places. I choose to do so in a very low-emission car and only drive when there is no other option… I would rather use a bike or walk any day! That being said, sometimes there is no option. A few days ago I drove to the mountains to see a friend and on my return I noticed the car looked a total mess. There was dry mud from my friend’s driveway, there were countless bugs from going along the rural roads plus a weird film left behind from the drizzle of rain I caught on the way back. Safe to say it needed a wash!

So I decided to approach this in the most environmentally responsible way possible, in the hope others will do the same. I used rainwater collected in my garden cistern and I bought a Green Earth Technologies ‘5-Pack Car Care Kit’.

The care kit came complete with: 4oz. G-Wash Heavy-Duty Hydrophobic Car Wash, 4oz. G-Glass Organic Glass Cleaner, 4oz. G-Wheel Brake Dust Removing Wheel Cleaner, 4oz. G-Tire Ultimate Tire Shine, 4oz. G-Wheel Brake Dust Shield and a Green Earth Technologies license plate . I felt that I had all the bases covered so I got to work.

At first I found myself a little confused, the GET products look like normal car cleaning fluids, sure it may not be as foamy as the stuff I have used in the past but it had that chemical look about it. I had to stop a couple of times to re-read the information on the pack just to make sure it really is an eco-friendly product. I guess it should be read as a measure of success that GET products look like any other car washing fluid.

According to the literature, all of the “G”-Branded appearance products are produced from American-grown plant base oils, making it safe for the environment, including ground water. The material explains that they use the power of ‘nanotechnology’ (the field of applied science at the molecular scale) and continues to explain how it is designed to help you not only get the car clean, but also to keep it that way as long as possible. And it certainly worked for me.

After the first wash the Hydrophobic car wash was doing its thing, repelling water into little droplets, the organic glass cleaner was shining nicely and the tire shine worked a treat. The little bugs were hard to remove - though it might have been more of question of how many there were rather than how successful the cleaning product is - it definitely did a decent job in the end.

My favorite product in the pack had to be the 'Brake Dust Removing Wheel Cleaner', the wheels came out perfect and should remain so for longer than usual thanks to the Wheel Brake Dust Shield. In the end, I found myself with a pretty clean car and happy that the products washing away on my drive were ecologically safe, which is an amazing achievement I think. Now to wash my bicycle with it!

Green Earth Technologies ‘5-Pack Car Care Kit’ is available on www.amazon.com for $15.88

For more information see: www.getg.com

Test results at a glance

Pros: Pretty effective and very gentle on the environment. The kit is well priced and comprehensive

Cons: The license plate in the pack is a fairly superfluous addition.

Product Feature: Volvo S40 DRIVe

As the season for driving holidays is firmly coming along, climate worries as well as fuel efficiency and running costs are high on the agenda and for that reason we figured we would show you one of the greenest cars in current production.

The Volvo S40 1.6D DRIVe, featuring the new Start/Stop technology, has some very interesting green credentials that have helped it scoop up the ‘Green Car of the Year' award at the prestigious 2009 What Car? Green Car Awards.

The Volvo S40 DRIVe beat the BMW 118d and the Renault Megane to the top spot in the Small Family category and then stormed ahead to achieve victory over all the other category winners, including the Audi A8 and MINI Cooper S. The Volvo offers exceptionally low CO2 emissions of just 104g/km and returning up to 72.4 mpg on the combined cycle, What Car?'s judges praised the S40 DRIVe's unique combination of low emissions, practicality, safety and driver enjoyment as key reasons for the win.

Steve Fowler, What Car’s editor, heaped praise on the car. He said: “Volvo’s S40 DRIVe is one seriously appealing eco-friendly car. Its low emissions don’t come at the expense of quality, safety or driver enjoyment and it’s great value, too. It’s everything we look for in a Green Car of the Year.”

Upon receiving the award, Stuart Kerr (Regional President of Europe, Volvo Car Corporation) said “Volvo has a strong commitment to its environmental activities and we have worked hard to reduce the carbon footprint on all our cars by focusing on health, resource utilisation and the ecological consequences right through from production, use to disposal”

The Volvo S40 DRIVe is pretty generously equipped with the entry level S specification featuring ECC (Electronic Climate Control), power windows, plenty of boot space and all the safety systems that people have come to expect from Volvo, including DSTC (Dynamic Stability and Traction Control), SIPS (Side Impact Protection System) and Dual Stage Driver and Passenger Airbags. Prices for the Volvo S40 DRIVe 1.6D with Start/Stop range start at £17,495 for the entry level S specification.

You should also take note of the very reasonable running costs, with an annual tax disc cost of just £35, an insurance group 9 and a frugal diesel engine which gives a range of up to 800 miles between visits to the fuel station. Currently, drivers who are taking advantage of the Government scrappage scheme can trade in a car over ten years old and save a generous £4,377 on a brand new Volvo S40 DRIVe 1.6D S with Start/Stop, reducing its On The Road price to just £13,118.

How does Start/Stop work?

In order to reduce CO2 emissions to 104 g/km, the new S40 DRIVe has been equipped with a Start/Stop function that allows the engine to switch off when the car is at a standstill.
When the driver puts the gear lever into neutral and releases the clutch while at a standstill, the engine switches off. The next time the driver presses the clutch, the engine starts up again. Volvo's Start/Stop system also continuously monitors the comfort levels in the cabin and automatically reactivates the air conditioning if, for instance, the temperature increases in the passenger compartment.
This innovative monitoring system has been made possible due to an additional small battery which supports the larger battery by providing extra power. Thanks to this extra battery, Volvo's DRIVe models also feature particularly quick and smooth start-up. The audio system also remains unaffected when the starter motor is activated. This distinguishes Volvo Car's solution from other systems offered by the competition. The standard larger battery has also been upgraded to handle up to 175,000 Start/Stop cycles. The Start/Stop technology is also available in the Volvo C30 SportsCoupe and V50 Sportswagon DRIVe models.

For more information click here

Eco-Friendly Flying

When we think of recreational flying it would be hard to think of it as an environmentally friendly activity, yet one aircraft producer is proving the World wrong and doing it in style. Not content with winning a whole array of awards, including the super-prestigious NASA CAFÉ PAV Challenge 2007 and the NASA
GAT 2008 competitions for Personal Air Vehicles of the future, Pipistrel have now created the World’s first ever production two-seat electric powered aircraft. It seems like a small step, but we really are staring in the face of what could become the ultimate eco-friendly personal transportation device.

What makes this achievement all the more interesting is that it doesn’t cost any more than its closest combustion engine counterpart despite the incredible amount of R&D that the firm has put in. The Taurus Electro was built onto the company’s already very successful Taurus glider design; it uses a special lifting body shape concept and features enough room for an auxiliary, yet fully retractable engine leaving lots of space in the cockpit. The pilots in the Taurus are placed side-by-side for comfort and ease of communication, for added comfort they enjoy adjustable headrests, in-flight adjustable rudder pedals, separate vent windows and an incredible view - thanks to the large glass surfaces.

Pipistrel is a company that really cares about the environment and this product is not the only evidence of this. Their HQ in Slovenia boasts one of the most up-to-date research centres in the world designed to be completely emission free and self-sufficient. The heart of the building is Slovenia's largest solar power plant which, combined with a very sophisticated geothermal unit, makes for a totally energy-independent construction. Here at EHOTW we hope to see more aircraft manufacturers take on the environmental challenge and we salute Pipistrel for their excellent start!

For more info, click here