Showing posts with label more. Show all posts
Showing posts with label more. Show all posts
Roadster 3.0
Battery technology has continued a steady improvement in recent years, as has our experience in optimizing total vehicle efficiency through Model S development. We have long been excited to apply our learning back to our first vehicle, and are thrilled to do just that with the prototype Roadster 3.0 package. It consists of three main improvement areas.
1. Batteries
The original Roadster battery was the very first lithium ion battery put into production in any vehicle. It was state of the art in 2008, but cell technology has improved substantially since then. We have identified a new cell that has 31% more energy than the original Roadster cell. Using this new cell we have created a battery pack that delivers roughly 70kWh in the same package as the original battery.
2. Aerodynamics
The original Roadster had a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.36. Using modern computational methods we expect to make a 15% improvement, dropping the total Cd down to 0.31 with a retrofit aero kit.
3. Rolling Resistance
The original Roadster tires have a rolling resistance coefficient (Crr) of 11.0 kg/ton. New tires that we will use on the Roadster 3.0 have a Crr of roughly 8.9 kg/ton, about a 20% improvement. We are also making improvements in the wheel bearings and residual brake drag that further reduce overall rolling resistance of the car.
Summary
Combining all of these improvements we can achieve a predicted 40-50% improvement on range between the original Roadster and Roadster 3.0. There is a set of speeds and driving conditions where we can confidently drive the Roadster 3.0 over 400 miles. We will be demonstrating this in the real world during a non-stop drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the early weeks of 2015.
Appointments for upgrading Roadsters will be taken this spring once the new battery pack finishes safety validation. We are confident that this will not be the last update the Roadster will receive in the many years to come.
1. Batteries
The original Roadster battery was the very first lithium ion battery put into production in any vehicle. It was state of the art in 2008, but cell technology has improved substantially since then. We have identified a new cell that has 31% more energy than the original Roadster cell. Using this new cell we have created a battery pack that delivers roughly 70kWh in the same package as the original battery.
2. Aerodynamics
The original Roadster had a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.36. Using modern computational methods we expect to make a 15% improvement, dropping the total Cd down to 0.31 with a retrofit aero kit.
3. Rolling Resistance
The original Roadster tires have a rolling resistance coefficient (Crr) of 11.0 kg/ton. New tires that we will use on the Roadster 3.0 have a Crr of roughly 8.9 kg/ton, about a 20% improvement. We are also making improvements in the wheel bearings and residual brake drag that further reduce overall rolling resistance of the car.
Summary
Combining all of these improvements we can achieve a predicted 40-50% improvement on range between the original Roadster and Roadster 3.0. There is a set of speeds and driving conditions where we can confidently drive the Roadster 3.0 over 400 miles. We will be demonstrating this in the real world during a non-stop drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the early weeks of 2015.
Appointments for upgrading Roadsters will be taken this spring once the new battery pack finishes safety validation. We are confident that this will not be the last update the Roadster will receive in the many years to come.
X-37B Space Plane Returns: 5 Theories About Its Secret Mission
After spending nearly two years in orbit on a secret mission, the U.S. Air Force's mysterious X-37B space plane landed today (Oct. 17) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The unmanned, reusable vehicle logged an unprecedented 675 days in space, but very little is known about the record-setting flight.
The X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, touched down at the Vandenberg Air Force Base today at 9:24 a.m. local Pacific Time (12:24 p.m. EDT). It was the third in a series of flights that the Air Force has conducted using its two X-37B planes.
This most recent flight, called OTV-3, was the third one to make it into orbit and was the longest mission, at 675 days. The program's inaugural mission launched in April 2010 and lasted 225 days. The space plane's second mission lasted 469 days.
The X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, touched down at the Vandenberg Air Force Base today at 9:24 a.m. local Pacific Time (12:24 p.m. EDT). It was the third in a series of flights that the Air Force has conducted using its two X-37B planes.
This most recent flight, called OTV-3, was the third one to make it into orbit and was the longest mission, at 675 days. The program's inaugural mission launched in April 2010 and lasted 225 days. The space plane's second mission lasted 469 days.
New Smart ForSpeed Concept Hints
While Smart has no immediate plans to produce the ForSpeed, key styling elements such as the headlamp and tail lamp designs with the outer rings illuminated by a LEDs as well as the more prominent front grille, will be carried over to future products including the next ForTwo series and the new five-door ForFour as the company plans to create a more distinct look for its cars to better compete with the Fiat 500 and the Mini.
2046 Parsonal Commuter
NANOQ Mobile Media-Centric Habitation And Work Unit
Chevy Volt Batteries
GM and ABB conducted a laboratory demonstration at the University of North Carolina campus in Raleigh that combined a bank of “used” EV batteries with an Inverter pack to produce 25 kilowatts of power for 2 hours. The 25/50 kWH pack could provide standby power to five homes. The batteries used in the demo were not really used batteries. The Chevy Volt warrants its batteries for 8 years or 100,000 miles and the car has not been on the roads for long enough to generate “used” batteries. The application , which is planned to be field tested in 2012 with help from the Electric Power Research Institute ( EPRI) aims to apply this Inverter to applications like storage batteries for renewable energy sources and as a standby power source connected to a transformer that feeds five homes on a street.
GM senior manager for battery life-cycle management , Pablo Valencia says that even after a 10 year use on the Chevy Volt car, the lithium ion batteries would still have 70 percent residual life that could well meet the utilities requirement of a 15 year further life for any standby power source they install. He also says that more spent batteries than needed could be used in the Inverter application to provide for any deficiencies in battery residual life. Valencia says that battery energy storage capacity declines in the first few years and then it “levels off”
Some battery researchers disagree.They say that as batteries age, they undergo changes in structure and chemistry that would make the performance hard to predict. Other critics point out that battery technologies are evolving fast and in 10 years when the EV used batteries become available in large quantity, then technology would make these batteries unattractive for use.
Nissan has also announced a partnership with Sumitomo Corporation to use spent EV batteries to store solar power. They have installed seven Leaf recharging stations at the Nissan Headquarters that have solar roof panels charging battery packs at the ground level.
Alstom Loop Train-Tram By Alex Nadal
Bufalino – One Person Camper By Cornelius Comanns
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