Tesla debuts electric car for the masses
Tesla Motors unveiled its newest and cheapest electric car Thursday, cutting the price tag to $57,000 US from over $100,000, in a move that could transform the boutique California firm into a mainstream automaker.
The Model S prototype debuted amid much hubbub at a rocket factory in Southern California, the main market for its electric cars. Automobile Magazine has described the vehicle as a cross between an Aston Martin and a Maserati.
The Model S is powered by a massive lithium-ion battery pack composed of 8,000 individual cells. The pack, which uses the same technology found in laptop computers and cell phones, weighs about 454 kilograms and generates enough heat that it needs to be liquid-cooled. It’s floor-mounted and takes up most of the car’s rear half.
2009 Infiniti G37 Sedan
Infiniti G37 Sedan has replaced the G35 Sedan. The exterior, interior and options remain identical to the 2008 G35 model range but the sedan now also sports the improved and enlarged version of the Nissan VQ engine the 3.7-liter VQ37VHR "VVEL" V6, rated 328 hp (245 kW) @ 7,000 rpm and 269 ft·lbf (365 N·m). @ 5,200 rpm (2008 G35 VQ35HR engine is 306 hp (228 kW) @ 6,800 rpm and 268 ft·lbf (363 N·m). @ 4,800 rpm) that was already introduced in the G37 Coupe for the 2008 model year. Although the engine gains only 0.2 kg·m (2 N·m; 1 ft·lbf) peak torque over the VQ35HR and this torque value arrives at a later 5,200 rpm vs. 4,800 in the VQ35HR, the torque curve itself is improved and flattened across the rpm range via Nissan’s new VVEL (Variable Valve Event and Lift) variable valve timing resulting in even better throttle response and low rpm torque. This also marks the first use of Nissan’s VVEL (Variable Valve Event and Lift) system on a production vehicle in the US market.
Air Force’s New ‘Killer Zombie’ Drone
Armed Predator and Reaper drones have become the primary weapons in the fight against Pakistani militants. But they can be pricey; the Reapers come in at around a hundred million dollars each. Which is why the Air Force is working on a cheaper option: killer zombies.
Visit Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, and you’ll see rows upon of obsolete F-4 Phantom II aircraft – or at least their gutted carcasses. This is the Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Center or AMARC — whatever you do, don’t call it the Boneyard. For many years, it has been common practice to resurrect these deceased planes as QF-4 unmanned drones, so that they can have a brief and undignified existence as “full-scale aerial targets.” Everything in the inventory — from Sidewinder missiles to Patriots — have been tested on one at some point, even though some find it “kind of hard to shoot at such a magnificent aircraft.”
Fusion Man makes historic Channel flight
Filed under: Aircraft, New Technology, Top Stories
LONDON (Reuters) – Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy flew from France to Britain Friday propelled by a jetpack strapped to his back — the first person to cross the English Channnel in such a way.
Rossy, a pilot who normally flies an Airbus airliner, crossed the 22 miles between Calais and Dover at speeds of up to 120 mph in 13 minutes, his spokesman said.
When the white cliffs of Dover came into view, he opened a blue and yellow parachute and drifted down in light winds to land in a British field where he was mobbed by well-wishers.
Miracle airship tech sustained by DARPA pork trickle • The Register
A Ukrainian airship visionary based in California has won further US military funding to develop his miraculous “Aeroscraft” sky-leviathan design. However, some question marks remain over the craft’s unique – almost miraculous – buoyancy-control technology.
Aeros Aeronautical Systems Corp announced last week that it had been awarded a contract to demonstrate its lightweight rigid aerostructure technology. The money was awarded by DARPA*, the famous Pentagon wackboffinry bureau known for its defiant reliance on the appliance of science to all military problems.
Greener hybrid: Toyota Camry concept for L.A. show uses no gasoline
Spinning off yet another variation on the clean-energy theme, Toyota plans to display a CNG-hybrid version of its Camry family sedan at the Los Angeles show in November. Using compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of gasoline to fuel the engine, said Irv Miller, group vice president for corporate communications, highlights the fuel’s growing emergence as a domestic energy source in abundant supply.
Development of a CNG infrastructure, Miller noted, is ahead of that for hydrogen, with 1.8 million miles of pipeline in the United States. The supply also is readily available, not dependent on imports or development of new refining methods.
The announcement was made during the company’s Sustainable Mobility Seminar in Portland, Ore., where several speakers noted challenges facing the development of biofuels and an infrastructure to support hydrogen fuel cells.
Hybrid Hades
In this terrible year for the auto industry even a lineup with several fuel-saving hybrids may not do much to improve sales. That is especially true for General Motors, which currently offers six hybrid models and has more in the works.
The big winner in hybrids is Toyota Motor (nyse: TM – news – people ), which sold 185,051 hybrids in the first eight months of this year. Of that total, 119,688 are of the Prius model, the one truly popular hybrid on the market. In fact, Toyota cannot keep the Prius in stock. The supply situation should improve in a few years when Toyota starts assembling the Prius in a new factory it is building in Mississippi.
Toyota’s other hybrid models have racked up modest sales. Through August, Toyota sold 36,633 Camry hybrid sedans, 15,651 Highlander hybrid sport utility vehicles and 111,754 Lexus RX 400h SUVs.
Kawasaki Reveals The Fastest Bullet Train in Japan
Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. recently announced that it is developing the country’s fastest high speed train! Named the “Environmentally Friendly Super Express Train” (efSET), the modern marvel will propel passengers along at 217 miles per hour, besting the record-holding Shinkansen’s 186mph. The streamlined design also promises to be less noisy, more energy efficient, and will feature a state-of-the-art electrical control system.
The introduction of Kawasaki’s new high-speed train stands to improve upon Japan’s standing rail system, already considered to be one of the most efficient in the world. The efSET will feature an extremely lightweight and aerodynamic profile in addition to a regenerative braking system that will recycle the kinetic energy generated by its movement.