First, Tesla sold 23,000 cars last year. The gigafactory, which would start production in 2017,
would by 2020 make enough batteries for 500,000 electric cars. It would produce enough batteries annually to store 35 gigawatt hours of electricity, hence the name.
when electric car sales so far come nowhere close to justifying it? The project seems more puzzling in light of the hard times at other electric car battery factories in the United states. In 2009,
because electric car sales have been slow. All of the battery makers involved have struggled (see oo Many Battery factories, Too Few Electric cars,
and one, A123 Systems, went bankrupt. Musk is betting that Tesla can generate a much bigger market for electric cars.
To keep the factory humming he will have to sell more than 10 times as many electric vehicles in a year as Nissan managed last year
(and Nissan has sold more electric cars than any other automaker). Musk has some reason for confidenceast year Tesla sold as many electric cars as Nissan in the United states,
even though Tesla Model S costs two to three times as much as Nissan electric car, the Leaf. He seems to be betting that a huge factory will significantly reduce the cost of making batteries,
which remain the most expensive part of electric cars. In the ideal scenario, that cost reduction would help Tesla produce a mass-market car similar in cost to the Nissan leaf or Chevrolet volt but that,
crucially, will be able to go more than twice as far on a charge (the car would also be able to accelerate faster than the Leaf).
Yet it not clear that a huge factory would deliver the needed cost reductions. According to a presentation to investors, it would lower costs by 30 percent.
Tesla has a good track record for reducing battery costs (see riving Innovation, and even incremental improvements at conventional factories could reduce costs by 15 percent by 2020,
If Tesla can sell as many cars as it hopes, there would likely be no alternative market for those batteries,
Some states are even reconsidering laws that restrict how Tesla can sell cars in their state,
a factory to supply 100,000 cars. anasonic can afford to lose the business, says Anderman.
it worth noting that 500,000 cars is still a tiny fraction of the worldwide auto industry.
GM sold nearly 10 million cars last year. If electric vehicles are ever to make a dent in the world auto market,
#Apps by the Dashboard Light Starting next month, many car buyers will be getting a novel feature:
Backseat passengers could get streaming movies and fast Wi-fi connections to smart watches and tablets in (and near) the car.
Many other carmakers, including Ford and Toyota, are following suit, both in the U s. and worldwide, using partnerships with wireless carriers to deliver the connectivity.
By providing apps, carmakers see an opportunity for product differentiation and steady revenue streams. They also suggest that connectivity can lead to new safety features
since it pulling data from the car, it locked down before it ever gets into the vehicle.
whose apps will be available in GM cars. Called Kaliki, BT Software app provides audio readings of storiesone by humans, not text-to-speech softwareulled from mainstream publications such as USA Today and TV Guide,
getting their apps included in a car could help them market versions that work on smartphones.
And apps in cars command much more attention if they are among just a few that a driver can choose from while sitting behind the wheel for an hour or two every day.
In the longer term, apps will emerge that draw on data generated by the car, says GM Ross.
Apps tapping information from many cars could alert drivers to accidents; signals indicating hard braking
or slipping wheels in other cars could warn of slick roads ahead. Sensors can ultimately help bring about semi-autonomous
or fully autonomous cars (see ata Show Google Robot Cars Are Smoother, Safer Drivers Than You or I. Henry Tirri,
CTO of Nokia, says the potential for apps in cars is given vast the amount of data vehicles produce. he car is already probably the densest sensor hub that an individual owns right now,
he says. See fter Microsoft Deal, What Left of Nokia Will Bet on Internet of things. In Audi case, the service will cost $100 for up to five gigabytes of data over six months,
GM has announced not pricing except to say that customers can get various plans combining service to their homes, phones, and cars.
Both GM and Audi are using AT&T to provide service (see M and AT&T Blur Line Between Car and Smartphone r
Hamedi said the aerogel batteries could be used in electric car bodies, as well as in clothing, providing the garment has a lining.
Hamedi said the aerogel batteries could be used in electric car bodies, as well as in clothing, providing the garment has a lining g
the miracle material that promises to transform everything from smartphones and computers to cars, buildings and satellites.
Rust-free cars Graphene repels water and is highly conductive. This combination delays the oxidising reaction that causes rust.
the miracle material that promises to transform everything from smartphones and computers to cars, buildings and satellites.
Rust-free cars Graphene repels water and is highly conductive. This combination delays the oxidising reaction that causes rust t
With regard to the virtual cockpit which was showcased in Q7 Audi said that the Q7 will be the first-of its-kind car that will continue to increase its knowledge;
Announcing its piloted driving system at the CES event Audi said that it is tantalizingly close to bringing its piloted car to the market.
Audi proved that a true turning point for the (autonomous) automobile has arrived d
#Britain's Transport Department has given go-ahead to test driverless cars on public roads According to a statement released by Britain's Department for Transport (Dft),
And what about mounting these scanners of Google street view cars? This scanning ability could be used to make maps far more interactive and realistic,
#World first 3d printed modular supercar is unveiled, built using revolutionary Node technology platform Considered by many to be the ultimate 3d printing challenge,
3d printed cars have been seeing significantly more attention ever since the crowdsourced automobile design and manufacturer Local Motors unveiled their Strati 3d printed car,
which is expected to be released later this year. But while the Strati-which can be built in a matter of hours-represents a monumental shift in modern manufacturing technologies,
materials and capital costs associated with building automobiles and other large complex structures is based San francisco Divergent Microfactories.
and democratize car manufacturing in the form of the company very first 3d printed supercar prototype,
Blade. ociety has made great strides in its awareness and adoption of cleaner and greener cars.
while these cars do now exist, the actual manufacturing of them is anything but environmentally friendly, says Czinger. t Divergent Microfactories,
wee found a way to make automobiles that holds the promise of radically reducing the resource use
It also holds the promise of making large-scale car manufacturing affordable for small teams of innovators.
Wee developed a sustainable path forward for the car industry that we believe will result in a renaissance in car manufacturing, with innovative,
eco-friendly cars like Blade being designed and built in microfactories around the world. hile the Strati is produced using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3d printing,
a 3d printed aluminum joint that connects pieces of carbon fiber tubing to make up the car chassis. Among other problems solved by the Node include cutting down on the amount of 3d printing required to build the chassis as well as the time to assemble the car components
Additionally, the reduction of materials and energy usage helps bring the weight of the car down as much as 90%compared to traditional cars,
"Nodes are the key building block we developed to build cars. They are made of a metal alloy
"The nodes, combined with carbon fiber tubes are the key components in building a car chassis. It took less than 30 minutes to assemble the chassis by hand.
"While the Node presents Divergent Microfactoriesnew technology, the Blade presents the new technology in context as the world first 3d printed supercar.
the prototype is one of the greenest and most powerful cars in the world. As for power, the Blade is equipped with a 700-horsepower bi-fuel engine that can use both compressed natural gas or gasoline,
"That's faster than a Mclaren P1 supercar. It also has 2x the power-to-weight ratio of a Bugatti Veyron."
While the ability to create their own cars using their technology is one thing, Divergent Microfactories plans on releasing the platform into the hands of entrepreneurs
and small businesses around the world in an effort to help them set up their own microfactories to build their own cars and complex structures.
between the developments in self-driving cars as well as disruptions to car manufacturing itself, this is an exciting time for the near-future of transportation
#MASSIVIT 3d shows off GDP Gel Dispensing 3d printing technology by printing a Strati car Jun 26, 2015 By Alecgenerally speaking,
Envisioning a wide variety of applications, the Israeli developers have emphasized just its potential by 3d printing an entire car body in a single piece.
as the Israeli engineers emphasize by 3d printing the body of a car. As reported in Israeli media, they 3d printed the body of a Strati car by Local Motors, with a bit of help from design specialists from Autodesk.
Autodesk Spark design platform was used for this version of the Strati, which will be on display at Ecomotion, a gathering of people from the Smart Transportation industry.
and the printed car is only one example of the opportunities that will be available in the near future.
Similar to the driver assistance systems found within modern cars the Byxee, which was created by Italian AI specialist Riccardo Ricci,
This process of scanning the road in front of the bicycle happens hundreds of times per second at distances of up to 80 feet (25 m)- meaning that the alerts are highly-responsive to any number of potential hazards ranging from pedestrians to cars and flying
have developed previously smart technologies for car brands. According to the team, the Byxee is the result of over two years of research and development that covered every angle including technology, design and of course, functionality.
and launch programmes vice-president Julie Van Kleeck said:""For high-power SEP modules such as those that Nasa envisions for transporting cargo to Mars,
and automobile sectors. They are used also in radars and other applications. Recently the emergence of green technology markets of products such as direct drive wind turbine power systems
Every time the field flips, the polarity of the bars reverses, drawing the magnetized droplets in a new, predetermined direction, like slot cars on a track.
For example, when placed alongside a battery in an electric car, a supercapacitor is useful when a short burst of power is required,
such as when overtaking another car, with the battery providing the steady power for highway driving. upercapacitors perform a similar function to batteries
pajamas, toothbrushes, tires, shoes, car seats, air filtration systems and even your clothes. Abbey Liebman 0 created a dress using conductive cotton threads capable of charging an iphone.
or can be utilized as a clean fuel source in the chemical industry, for instance in cars to drive engines.
However, due to its high cost, the use of low-temperature fuel cells in automobile and home applications has been limited.
The research is focused mainly on reducing the expense of cathodes used in fuel cells that power homes and automobiles.
Other applications, including catalytic converters in automobiles, employ significant quantities of platinum. The application of new hollow shells in automobile catalytic converters is limited as these converters function at temperatures that cannot be tolerated by the shells.
However, the platinum nanocages could be used in other industrial processes such as hydrogenation. Besides carrying out experimental work at Georgia Tech,
#Baidu to launch self-drive car Chinese web giant Baidu will launch its first driverless car in the second half of 2015,
It had said previously it was working on such a car but did not say when it would be available.
Google announced last month that its prototype self-driving cars would take to the public roads this summer around its headquarters in Mountain view, California a
"It's kind of like a parking lot where you want to move one of the cars, but they are jammed all in,
or CARS) used to treat other cancers. The study was developed originally by Carl H. June, M d.,of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center,
and automatically discover unmarked vans parked outside of banks for four hours without moving. Baidu is interested in other aspects, too."
and car so that he could start it without a key. If you have enabled a NFC phone
Irving advocates an integrated platform that brings together automobiles, public transit, cycling and walking, with incentives to drive behaviour,
That strategy takes advantage of new-generation cars as rolling collections of sensors to reduce congestion
For her, public transit, not cars, is where technology could have a transformative role. She notes that increasing vehicle occupancy helps,
but for me nothing is worse than seeing my car covered in slush and road salt.
and oil, preventing the car from getting dirty. It been proven effective against road spray, sleet, standing water,
just rolling off the car into a delicious puddle on the ground. Obviously, the ramifications of self-cleaning paint would be huge on the auto industry,
More importantly, this technology would all but put car washes out of business. Even the most efficient car washes use hundreds of gallons of water to clean a single vehicle.
That would have a tremendous impact on the environment, especially considering how access to clean water is one of the most pressing issues facing the public these days.
but self-cleaning cars are a good first step
#98 MPG Range-Extended Electric Metrocab Coming To London London will soon be home to 98 MPG range-extended electric Metrocabs,
Overall, 65,199 electric cars+commercial vehicles were registered in Europe during 2014 representing a significant increase over the previous year,
Third in the country as far as cities not dependent on owning cars for transportation, Boston is full of transit options.
but probably not for electric cars, because it can be recharged enough times. Some people drive the same car for ten years,
but they usually change cell phones much more quickly. Lithium-ion batteries have become more high-profile recently because of the very notable success of the Tesla Model S
NISSAN LEAF, and other modern electric cars. A lot more electric cars are following, so it will be intriguing to see
if the advances made by the Boston startup will ever translate to electric cars n
#India Issues Draft Guidelines For 2 GW Solar PV Auction The latest draft guidelines pertain to an impending auction of 2 GW solar PV capacity, possibly within this calendar year.
The auction will be a part of the National Solar Mission, India#s landmark policy initiative to boost solar power capacity.
of which will be enough to fuel 145,000 cars annually. At a recent ceremony that hailed the plant opening,
but local officials noticed it was more important step in pushing California closer to its 2020 clean energy goals. lectricity (to power cars)
This can make owning an electric car difficult, especially as plug-in cars become more prevalent and draw more power from the apartment in question.
Evercharge*has a solution, though, as its unique technology learns driver behavior and can dole out the power as needed to drivers,
having ten plug-in cars charging, all at the same time, could lead to an energy bottleneck that could require tens of thousands of dollars in service upgrades.
Evercharge intelligently divvies up the available energy between all the electric cars plugged into an apartment building. It also keeps track
Sure, it not the sexiest advancement in electric car technology, but with the number of plug-in cars expected to multiply exponentially,
it could become an essential component in many new apartment buildings. With so many people choosing apartment life over home ownership,
helping these residents adopt to the plug-in lifestyle will be key in spreading electric cars to the masses.
offsetting 45 million metric tons of damaging carbon emissions the equivalent of removing 10 million cars off our roads
Chris Van Hollen (MD-8; Paul Tonko (NY-20; Bill Keating (MA-9; Peter Welch (VT-At-large;
#Weirdest Biofuel Ever Powers Strangest Car Ever The folks at Columbia University have come up with a loating enginethat runs on evaporating water
Weirdest Biofuel Ever, For anything Columbia press materials sum up the strange new car in one pithy sentence:
Eva, the first evaporation-powered car, rolls along, thanks to a moisture mill a turbine engine driven by water evaporating from wet paper strips lining its walls.
Then we add in electric cars, which are now on the same path converting a staid, slow moving industry (traditional auto companies like GM) into a disruptive technology-driven one (innovators like Tesla).
Electric cars will accelerate the end of fossil fuels by joining with renewables to create a system shift,
This would then unleash a huge political and commercial driver for growth in electric cars with the utility sector providing infrastructure to use their product
and lobbying for electric cars (to also protect the grid). Within a decade, electric cars will be more reliable,
cheaper to own and more fun to drive than petrol-fueled cars. Then it will just be a matter of turning over the fleet.
Oil companies will then have their Kodak moment. Coal will already largely be gone, replaced by renewables.
Other companies like utilities and auto companies, meanwhile, have great options like taking away a large share of the oil industry market with renewable powered electric cars.
And electric car maker Tesla, producing less than 40,000 cars per year, is valued at over half of GM, which produces 9 million cars per year!
The market can smell death and knows that fast beats slow. For climate advocates and policy makers, nothing changes in their approach,
The obvious example is utilities promoting electric cars as an enormous new market opportunity, which will assist them in avoiding the eath spiralthreat posed by the end of centralised generation.
and Google who are both developing battery and car opportunities, with a close eye on the technology integration opportunity.
Tech startup Aclima just announced a partnership with Google earth Outreach to equip Google street view cars with its mobile sensor platform.
The cars spent 750 hours of drive time gathering 150 million data points on nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, black carbon
and Street view cars, said Davida Herzl, Aclima Cofounder and CEO. ith more than half of the world population now living in cities,
and then think of a repetitive task that will be associated with driving the car. Once the headset has been calibrated,
and other everyday objects such as computers or cars could make people see the technology as useful and easy to operate.
scale buildings and even hold a car's steering wheel. CHIMP is roughly the size of a human,
Scroll down for video This is detailed enough to be able to see cars and even people moving around the planet
At a conference in California, the car maker unveiled its latest prototype folding electric bike called Mode:
fold to fit on a train or in the boot of a car, and with pedal assist, help riders reach speeds of up to 15mph (25km/h). They are also part of the company's wider Smart mobility plan,
designed to make cars and other vehicles more connected. With all of its protoypes, Ford took inspiration from technology seen in cars including rear-facing ultrasonic sensors.
These sensors link with the handlebars to discreetly alert the rider when a car is about to overtake using subtle vibrations.
These handlebars also light up to make the bikes more visible to motorists. And each of the bikes works with an app called Mode:
while stowed in the back of a car. As part of the announcement, Ford also said it is extending its Mode:
#The gas powered 3d printed supercar that can go from 0-60 in TWO seconds It can go from 0-60mph in just two seconds,
and weighs 90%less that traditional cars. According to San francisco firm Divergent Microfactories, the Blade is the first 3d printed supercar,
and is created using a series of chassis parts held together by carbon rods-rather like a giant Lego kit.
and altogether it weighs just 1400lbs-90%less than some modern cars. Scroll down for video'Society has made great strides in its awareness and adoption of cleaner and greener cars'
said Divergent Microfactories CEO Kevin Czinger.''The problem is that while these cars do now exist,
the actual manufacturing of them is anything but environmentally friendly, 'The firm says its approach incorporates 3d printing to dramatically reduce the pollution,
materials and capital costs associated with building automobiles and other large complex structures.''At Divergent Microfactories, we've found a way to make automobiles that holds the promise of radically reducing the resource use
and pollution generated by manufacturing.''It also holds the promise of making large-scale car manufacturing affordable for small teams of innovators.'
'The Blade is made using a proprietary solution called a Node: a 3d printed aluminum joint that connects pieces of carbon fiber tubing to make up the car's chassis. This solves the problem of time
and space by cutting down on the actual amount of 3d printing required to build the chassis
In addition to dramatically reducing materials and energy use, the weight of the Node-enabled chassis is up to 90%lighter than traditional cars,
allowing them to set up their own microfactories and build their own cars and, eventually, other large complex structures.
#Lexus builds car with human HEARTBEAT in connection between driver and vehicle Lexus has built a car that pulsates with light in time with the driver's heartbeat in order to display the connection between the driver and the car.
Using electroluminescent paint, Lexus have converted an RC F coupe into a on-off model they are calling the'heartbeat car'.
'Unfortunately for petrol heads, the special project is a onetime collaboration, and won't go on general sale.
and Lexus Australia, was to connect the human body to the car. Pictured, the side panels light up The model uses biometric technology to visualise the physical and emotional connection shared by man and machine when at the wheel.
was to connect the human body to the car. The car with INFRARED headlights: Ford develops smart lights...
The village where only ROBOTS drive: University launches autonomous driving test track The village where only ROBOTS drive:
Could we finally power cars with SOLAR PANELS? Nanowire...Forget the Insane Mode: Elon musk says Tesla's new...
to talking about what the car does to you emotionally,'Ben Cooper, innovation director at M&c Saatchi, told Mashable Australia.
Lexus unveil the world's first ever car with a heartbeat LEXUS RC F SPECS Unfortunately for petrol heads,
the'hearbeat car'special project is a onetime collaboration, and won't go on general sale. Here are the specs of the Lexus RC F
'From there, we looked at how we were going to take the heartbeat and express it throughout the car.'
'A wireless heartbeat monitor sends the driver's heartbeat to a control board in the rear of the car.
and uses it to trigger the electroluminescent paint to display the heartbeat in a pulsating pattern on the car's side panels.
Pictured, the car on the test track The electroluminescent paint contains phosphorescent substances that emit light
When the car is parked in the day time and the system is shut down, the car has a standard silver finish,
with its secret heart pulsing potential hidden from sight. The system is powered by a 13v battery
Professor Axel van de Walle, an engineer at Brown University, Rhode island, who led the research,
They worked out its melting point would be 474°C higher than Hf-Ta-C. Professor van de Walle and Dr Qijun Hong,
Professor van de Walle added: Melting point isn't the only property that's important in material applications.'
moves their hands in the air or moves their eyes in a car heads up display or under a VR hood,
as distance sensors in cars. Another application is the measurement of dust particles and trace gases in environmental monitoring.
as distance sensors in cars. Another application is the measurement of dust particles and trace gases in environmental monitoring.
#Will car makers become internet companies? Connected vehicles will create a new business opportunity proving the internet-based mobile services to the driver.
But arguably the biggest market opportunity will be in the provision v of online services that support the Iot devices in the car.
Existing automotive technologies and business models that have worked for the car industry for a century are not so well suited to a changing car market with autonomous vehicles and Iot-connected cars.
This will combine car makers with electronics firms and software services suppliers. No single sector will be able to capitalise on this market, due to its diversity and the range of technologies required.
Putting electronics management systems in cars was only the beginning. Connecting vehicles to the internet will add a far greater level of complexity to the automotive business model.
NXP believes car makers will find themselves fighting on two major battlefronts. Their core activity will be designing new forms of autonomous connected vehicles,
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