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Porsche concept electric Mission E car.
Here’s the stunning electric car Porsche is making to take on Tesla.
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Category: transportation – Page 553
The newest Airbus and Boeing passenger jets flying today are made primarily from advanced composite materials such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic — extremely light, durable materials that reduce the overall weight of the plane by as much as 20 percent compared to aluminum-bodied planes. Such lightweight airframes translate directly to fuel savings, which is a major point in advanced composites’ favor.
But composite materials are also surprisingly vulnerable: While aluminum can withstand relatively large impacts before cracking, the many layers in composites can break apart due to relatively small impacts — a drawback that is considered the material’s Achilles’ heel.
Now MIT aerospace engineers have found a way to bond composite layers in such a way that the resulting material is substantially stronger and more resistant to damage than other advanced composites. Their results are published this week in the journal Composites Science and Technology.
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“Gogoro is bringing 200 of its stylish all-electric scooters to Berlin. Starting today, anyone over 21 with a valid driver’s (or motorcycle) license will be able to rent one of the scooters as part of a new scooter-sharing program”
Tesla buys SolarCity.
(Reuters) — SolarCity Corp agreed to be acquired by sister company Tesla Motors Inc in a deal worth $200 million less than the initial offer, sending shares of both companies down in early trading on Monday.
Electric vehicle maker Tesla expects to achieve “significant” cost savings and “dramatic improvements” in manufacturing efficiency as a result of the acquisition of solar panel installer SolarCity, Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Monday.
Musk said the combined companies will have a “stronger balance sheet,” but likely will require a “small equity capital raise” next year. Both companies have been burning through cash and have projected achieving positive cash flow later this year.
The spectacular growth of the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) market in China continues; state media reports that sales were up a massive 162% to 170,000 units in the first half of the year. NEVs include pure-electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).
The 170,000 NEVs were divided by 134,000 EVs and 36,000 PHEVs.
The new numbers confirm China’s position as the largest market worldwide for NEVs. The United States follows at a respectable distance in second place with sales of 64,000 EVs and PHEVs.
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This is the type of hijacking that the US DHS has been worried about. And, now we’re looking at self-driving Big Rigs and commercial jets.; as I stated last year I would hesitate in allowing autonomous planes and Big Rigs until we have a breech proof connected infrastructure in place.
As researchers demonstrate digital attacks on a 33,000 pound truck, car hacking is moving beyond consumer vehicles.
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We saw the animated video; now check out the real thing.
What was once a crazy bus/train-hybrid idea has turned into reality, as China’s elevated bus has just undergone its first test run in Qinhuangdao. The Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) was first touted in 2010 as a solution to the traffic woes in the country, and was revealed in miniature form during the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo in May this year.
This time however, the real-life test unit (TEB-1) you see here measures 22 meters in length, 7.8 meters in width and stands at 4.8 meters tall. For testing purposes, the bus is limited to a 300-meter long track, and isn’t subjected to demanding traffic challenges or excessive turns.