Category Archives: Cars
Volvo to Test KERS Flywheel Tech with Grant from Swedish Government
KERS system will propel the vehicle from a stop
In the automotive world, a lot of manpower and money is being put into research and development of systems to help boost fuel economy. The most common system today is a hybrid arrangement that uses batteries and electric motors to help propel the vehicle. Another green system is a KERS flywheel like the one used on the Porsche 918 RSR racecar.
The KERS system on the Porsche is activated with a push button to give the car added performance. Volvo is set to start testing its own version of KERS on the public roads of Sweden after receive a grant from the Swedish Energy Agency.
“Our aim is to develop a complete system for kinetic energy recovery. Tests in a Volvo car will get under way in the second half of 2011. This technology has the potential for reducing fuel consumption by up to 20 percent. What is more, it gives the driver an extra horsepower boost, giving a four-cylinder engine acceleration like a six-cylinder unit,” relates Derek Crabb, Vice President VCC Powertrain Engineering.
The KERS flywheel that Volvo will use spins at up to 60,000 RPM and gets its energy for the forces created when braking. That rotational inertia is then transferred to the rear wheels via a special transmission. In the Volvo system, the combustion engine will be switched off as soon as braking starts and then the energy in the flywheel will be used to propel the vehicle from a stop and help it accelerate.
This sort of system will be most effective in stop and go city driving. Volvo estimates that the combustion engine might be able to be turned off as much as half the time. When combined with the combustion engine the energy in the flywheel could add as much as 80hp to the vehicle and increase performance while allowing the car to be more fuel-efficient.
The Volvo flywheel will be made from carbon fiber instead of steel for maximum efficiency. The flywheel measures a diameter of 20cm and weighs 13 pounds. It also spins in a vacuum to minimize losses.
Article Continues -> Volvo to Test KERS Flywheel Tech with Grant from Swedish Government
Formula 1 electric racing car hits 162 MPH
by Aaron Colter, EarthTechling
FCI, a global electric connector manufacturer, has signed a partnership with Formulec to sponsor its Formula 1 electric race car.
Dubbed the EF01, the electric vehicle took two and half years to develop in conjunction with automotive professionals from the Segula Technologies consulting firm and the Formula 1 team for Merceds – GP Petronas.
The EF01 is built with batteries from French company Saft, an engine from Siemens, and a high performance connector from FCI that transmits power from the battery to the engine.
Able to go from 0 to 62 miles per hour in a stunning three seconds flat, the EF01 has a top speed of 162 miles per hour.
At this point, the EF01 is one of the fastest electric cars on the planet. Even high-end automaker Tesla Motors hasn’t released a vehicle with such impressive speed, although the races the vehicles compete in are much different.
Story Continues -> Formula 1 electric racing car hits 162 MPH
A Car Battery at Half the Price
Battery prototype: Two sludge-like electrode materials are fed into the device shown here. The anode material flows into the top half, and the cathode flows into the bottom. Lithium ions pass from one material to the other, and electrons flow through the black and red leads. Credit: Yet-Ming Chiang
A startup hopes to commercialize a novel design that features a liquid electrolyte.
Last year, the battery startup A123 Systems spun out another company, called 24M, to develop a new kind of battery meant to make electric vehicles go farther and cost less. Now a research paper published in Advanced Energy Materials reveals the first details about how that battery would work. It also addresses the challenges in bringing the battery to market.
A big problem with the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids is that only about 25 percent of the battery’s volume is taken up by materials that store energy. The rest is made up of inactive materials, such as packaging, conductive foils, and glues, which make the batteries bulky and account for a significant part of the cost.
24M intends to greatly reduce the inactive material in a battery. According to estimates in the new paper, its batteries could achieve almost twice the energy densities of today’s vehicle battery packs. Batteries with a higher energy density would be smaller and cheaper, which means electric and hybrid cars would be less expensive. The paper estimates that the batteries could cost as little as $250 per kilowatt hour—less than half what they cost now.
A conventional battery pack is made up of hundreds of cells. Each cell contains a stack of many thin, solid electrodes. These electrodes are paired with metal foil current collectors and separated from each other by plastic films. Increasing the energy storagerequires adding more layers of electrode material—which in turn requires more layers of metal foil and plastic film.
24M’s design makes it possible to increase energy storage without the extra metal foil and plastic film. The key difference is that the electrodes are not solid films stacked in a cell, but sludge-like materials stored in tanks—one for the positive electrode material and another for the negative electrode.
The materials are pumped from the tanks into a small device, where they move through channels carved into blocks of metal. As this happens, ions move from one electrode to the other through the same kind of separator material used in a conventional battery. Electrons make their way out of the material to an external circuit. In this design, increasing energy storage is as simple as increasing the size of the storage tanks—the device that allows the electrodes to interact stays the same size. The design also does away with the need to wire together hundreds of cells to achieve adequate energy storage.
Story Continues -> A car battery at half the price
Powering Your Car with Waste Heat
Power from heat: A thermoelectric generator that converts waste heat from a car’s exhaust system into electricity could improve fuel economy. Credit: General Motors
New thermoelectric materials will be tested in BMW, Ford, and Chevrolet vehicles by the end of summer.
At least two-thirds of the energy in gasoline used in cars and trucks is wasted as heat. Thermoelectrics, semiconductor materials that convert heat into electricity, could capture this waste heat, reducing the fuel needs of the vehicle and improving fuel economy by at least 5 percent. But the low efficiency and high cost of existing thermoelectric materials has kept such devices from becoming practical in vehicles.
Now researchers are assembling the first prototype thermoelectric generators for tests in commercial cars and SUVs. The devices are a culmination of several advances made independently at thermoelectric device-maker BSST in Irwindale, California, and at General Motors Global R&D in Warren, Michigan. Both companies plan to install and test their prototypes by the end of the summer—BSST in BMW and Ford cars, and GM in a Chevrolet SUV.
BSST is using new materials. Bismuth telluride, a common thermoelectric, contains expensive tellurium and works at temperatures of only up to 250 °C, whereas thermoelectric generators can reach 500 °C. So BSST is using another family of thermoelectrics—blends of hafnium and zirconium—that work well at high temperatures. This has increased the generator efficiency by about 40 percent.
At GM, researchers are assembling a final prototype based on a promising new class of thermoelectrics called skutterudites, which are cheaper than tellurides and perform better at high temperatures. The company’s computer models show that in its Chevrolet Suburban test vehicle, this device could generate 350 watts, improving fuel economy by 3 percent.
Story Continues -> Powering your car with waste heat
EPA Ditches letter grade for MPG ratings, put $$$ up front
I think we can all agree that nobody wants to be reminded of high school when trying to determine the fuel efficiency of a new car. Thankfully the EPA has yanked the letter grades and replaced it with dollar signs.
The new mpg system will be applied to all 2013 model year cars. Before I go further, I will say that the EPA has quite the task ahead of them, trying to figure out a ratings system that fits a variety of new cars and technologies, from pure electrics extended-range plug-in hybrids to mild hybrids. Not an easy task to be sure, and such information can only be presented a certain way as to remain objective. The letter grading system was not objective, no matter which way you cut it. It was just an awful idea from beginning to end, and if you really want to sell green, you’ve got to put the cost savings up front and center.
The new rating system provides several critical information points up front and center, including how far a full charge is estimated to take you, how long the battery takes to charge and, most importantly, how much money this car will save you compared to the “average” car. I took a look at the fine print, which says that the formula will be based on fuel price projections put out by the U.S. Energy Information Administration every year and a 15,000 miles of driving annually. It also will include an app and smartphone scanner so you can compare one car to another.
Story Continues -> EPA Ditches letter grade for MPG ratings, put $$$ up front
Most Fuel Efficient Car: 285 MPG, Not A Hybrid
[UPDATE 9/15/09]: Volkswagen’s Diesel-Hybrid L1 Concept Gets 170 MPG, Available by 2013
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This is what a team of engineers can do when challenged to push the limits of fuel efficiency and technology. You may have already heard of VW’s 1-liter car, but take a closer look. It’s a sports-economy concept car produced a few years ago by VW engineers, to answer one big question: could they build a car that consumes less than 3 liters of fuel for every 100 km traveled?
It turns out they could, but they didn’t stop there. Instead, VW blew by that goal to create a car that uses only 1 liter of fuel for every 100 km. That’s 285 MPG.
To accomplish such a feat, VW’s engineers had to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch. They knew that fuel efficiency depends on aerodynamics and weight, so they created a bullet-shaped, ultra-lightweight (640 lbs) carbon-fiber car powered by a new, completely redesigned diesel engine. To save more weight, they didn’t even paint it:
Proper aerodynamics were key to the low fuel consumption. VW engineers knew they needed a small frontal area. This led to its unusually narrow, bullet-shaped body where the passenger sits behind the driver. As well, the car features an aircraft-like canopy, enclosed rear wheels, special flat carbon-fibre front wheel covers, and an aerodynamic underpan. Even the side cooling air inlets only open when the engine needs cooling, and otherwise stay closed. . .the 1-Litre-Car has an amazingly low coefficient of drag of 0.16 (a typical car has a drag coefficient of approximately 0.30 ).
Story Continues & More pictures -> Most Fuel Efficient Car: 285 MPG, Not A Hybrid
Automotive Black Boxes, Minus the Gray Area
By Keith Barry
Next month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to declare that all vehicles must contain an event data recorder, known more commonly as a “black box.” The device, similar to those found in aircraft, records vehicle inputs and, in the event of a crash, provides a snapshot of the final moments before impact.
That snapshot could be viewed by law enforcement, insurance companies and automakers. The device cannot be turned off, and you’ll probably know little more about it than the legal disclosure you’ll find in the owner’s manual.
The pending mandate looks to some like a gross overreach of government authority, or perhaps an effort by Uncle Sam, the insurance industry and even the automakers to keep tabs on what drivers are doing. But if you’re driving a car with airbags, chances are there’s already one of these devices under your hood.
How much it affects you depends upon where you live and what data points it records. How much it will affect you in the future may depend on a new set of standards that spell out exactly what data is collected and who can access it.
An Incomplete Record
On August 17, 2002, two teenage girls in Pembroke Pines, Florida, died when their vehicle was struck by a Pontiac Firebird Firehawk driven by Edwin Matos. The girls were backing out of their driveway; investigators accessed the vehicle’s data recorder and discovered Matos had been traveling 114 mph in a residential area moments before impact.
Matos was convicted on two counts of manslaughter, but his lawyer appealed the admission of the data recorder evidence, arguing it may have malfunctioned because the car had been extensively modified. The attorney also argued the evidence was based on an evolving technology. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the conviction, however, establishing precedent in that state that data gleaned from event data recorders is admissible in court.
There are two important facts to note in this case. First, Matos was driving in Florida, one of 37 states with no statutes barring the disclosure of such data. While car companies initially claimed ownership of the data, courts eventually ruled that it belongs to vehicle owners and lessees. No federal laws govern access to black box data, and state laws eventually clarified how much data other parties could access.
“The state statutes, starting with one in California, arose out of consumer complaints about insurance companies getting the data without the vehicle owner even knowing that the data existed or had been accessed,” said Dorothy Glancy, a lawyer and professor at Santa Clara Law with extensive experience studying issues of privacy and transportation.
In most of the 13 other states, however, Matos’ black box data still would have been available to police officers armed with a warrant.
“Law enforcement generally has access to the data,” Glancy said.
The second important fact is that, though the court denied Matos’ appeal, the question of the data’s validity remained. Most manufacturers currently use proprietary systems that require specialized interpretation, and many individual event data recorders do not survive crashes intact. Other courts have ruled against the admission of the data.
Setting a Standard
The lack of uniformity concerns Tom Kowalick. He chairs the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers P1616 Standards Working Group on Motor Vehicle Event Data Recorders, one of three panels aiming to set universal standards for event data recorders (EDR).
“Until recently, there has been no industry-standard or recommended practice governing EDR format, method of retrieval, or procedure for archival,” Kowalick said. “Even for a given automaker, there may not be standardized format. This lack of standardization has been an impediment to national-level studies of vehicle and roadside crash safety.”
Standards proposed in 2008 would ensure that data once available only to automakers IS publicly accessible. The new standards would make accessibility universal and prevent data tampering such as odometer fraud.
“It also addresses concerns over privacy rights by establishing standards protecting data from misuse,” Kowalick said.
The standards also propose specific guidelines and technology to prevent the modification, removal or deactivation of an event data recorder.
Those regulations would, in theory, make black box data more reliable than what is currently collected. But they also would prevent drivers from controlling the collection of information — information that they own.
“I am not sure why consumers would want a system in their vehicles that they could not control,” Glancy said.
Story Continues -> Automotive Black Boxes
Ford developing in-car health monitoring tech
Drivers will be able to track pollen counts, check blood glucose levels
Computerworld – Ford announced on Wednesday that it is developing voice-controlled wireless technology that connects drivers to various health monitoring technology and services for things such as web-based allergen alerts, asthma management tools and diabetes control.
Ford said it’s developing its initial offering by working with medical device maker Medtronic, mobile health vendor WellDoc, and health analytics provider SDI Health, which developed the allergy website pollen.com. Pollen.com tracks pollen counts around the U.S.
Ford is leveraging its SYNC technology, a factory-installed, in-car communications and entertainment system developed with Microsoft. The voice-operated SYNC system, which uses Bluetooth to connect wireless devices, is offered in 12 different Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.
Through SYNC and its technology partnerships Ford developed a blood glucose monitoring capability, location-based allergy and pollen alerts and voice-controlled, cloud-based health management services.
“Ford SYNC is well known in the industry and with consumers as a successful in-car infotainment system, but we want to broaden the paradigm, transforming SYNC into a tool that can also help improve people’s lives as well as the driving experience,” Paul Mascarenas, chief technology officer at Ford’s Research and Innovation division.
The mobile research firm Research2Guidance says that smartphone apps are set to become the killer health care product, as a research report projects that about 500 million people will be using them within five years.
According to the Global Mobile Health Market Report 2010-2015, compiled by Research2Guidance, more than a third of 1.4 billion smartphone users in 2015 will be running some kind of mobile health care application.
The major app stores, such as Apple‘s, are now housing as many as 17,000 available health apps for download, with nearly 60% of those aimed at consumers rather than health care professionals, says Research2Guidance.
“Wireless health provides an unprecedented ability for monitoring and promotion of health and wellness for all individuals,” William Kaiser, Professor of Electrical Engineering at UCLA, said in a statement.
Article Continues -> Ford Developing in=car health monitoring tech
NY Taxi and Limousine Commission Bans Lexus Hybrid for Being “Too Powerful”
Tiffany Kaiser – May 19, 2011 7:02 AM
Samuel Pekoh with his Lexus taxicab (Source: nysun.com)
Lexus Hybrid cab drivers hope their vehicles will be grandfathered into the hybrid program, but it seems unlikely as NY clears the roads for the newly adopted Taxi of Tomorrow winner, the Nissan NV200
The New York Taxi and Limousine Commission have passed new regulations prohibit the use of Lexus taxi cabs because they are “too powerful.”
The city of New York has over 13,000 cabs in operation, where the Ford Crown Victoria reigns supreme accounting for more than half of the city’s taxis. But that is about to change since the Taxi and Limousine Commission just selected the Nissan NV200 as the Taxi of Tomorrow, which is an effort to encourage the adoption of environmentally friendly vehicles.
Despite New York’s plan to integrate hybrid vehicles into the taxi system until all the cabs are hybrids, there is a certain hybrid vehicle that doesn’t make the cut: the Lexus.
Out of 13,000 cabs cruising NY city streets, only six of them are Lexus models. These hybrid models are the Lexus RX 400h or the RX 450h, and they cost over $40,000 per vehicle.
The Lexus taxi first came about in 2006 when a taxi fleet was testing these particular models. These vehicles were modified for taxi use with additions like roof lights, a camera and of course, a yellow paint job.
Cliff Adler was the first to drive a Lexus taxi. He then persuaded his friend Samuel Pekoh to drive one as well.
Later, four more Lexus taxi drivers were added to the list, including Sushil Maggoo, Neil Newmark, Shmuel Poper and Ilya Atanelov.
Together, these six cab drivers make up an elite force of Lexus enthusiasts, and care for their vehicles very much. Customers are not to slam their doors or put their bags on the leather seats, but it’s the extra care that draws customers to these luxury vehicles. The drivers have sometimes received tips as much as 50 to 100 percent of the cab fare, and a couple of the men even mentioned driving their kids to school in style using their Lexus cabs.
In a city full of $28,000 Crown Victoria’s whipping around street corners and battling loads of traffic, one might wonder why a cabbie would pay so much money for a Lexus cab. The cab drivers note that they do not make more money in fares and tips, but rather, they bought the vehicles for two reasons: individuality and health.
There are thousands of yellow cabs on the streets of New York, so cabbies are constantly trying to make their cars stick out and attract more business. Most of the time, cab drivers use bumper stickers to stand out amongst the crowd, but with a Lexus, Newmark notes that the unique factor is a no-brainer.
“A cab driver is dying for individuality,” said Newmark. “I sort of feel like a celebrity.”
Lexus cabs also offer a more comfortable ride, which is important for physical health when cabbies are driving over deep potholes and sitting in traffic for long periods of time. Newmark, in particular, notes that the Lexus’ smooth ride helps him manage knee pain.
In addition, the six Lexus drivers noted that their vehicles require less maintenance than most other hybrid vehicles.
But recently, the NY Taxi and Limousine Commission passed regulations that forbid the Lexus taxicab from roaming New York City streets. The reason for this ban is because the vehicle are “too powerful.”
Of course, the Lexus cab drivers disagree with the Taxi and Limousine Commission, and hope their vehicles will be grandfathered into the hybrid program.
“If I’m willing to spend the money on a Lexus, why won’t they let me?” said Mr. Newmark.
As of right now, the Lexus cabbies plan to enjoy the time they have left with their vehicles until they must be retired. Cabs are typically retired after a three to seven year period depending on the vehicle, but a Lexus cab has a six-year cab life. Adler will have to retire his vehicle next year, and Atanelov, who was the most recent Lexus cab buyer, said he plans to retire along with his Lexus when the time comes.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission plans to clear out most varieties of cabs in anticipation of the newly adopted Nissan NV200.
NY Taxi and Limousine Commission Bans Lexus Hybrid for Being “Too Powerful”
