Automotive X Prize News: Nov 19th, 2008
Some interesting news this week. We've got an interview with some West Phily X students, more Neil Young news, new regenerative shocks for Physics Lab of Lake Havasu (pictured), plus updates from Aptera, Tesla, Avion, ZAP, Hybrid Technologies, X Tracer. And, some info on Fisker, the Big Three Bailout, Toyota iQ and liquid crystal lubricants.
Aptera hires former Chrysler executive Marques McCammon as Chief Marketing Officer.
Chris Paine of Who Killed the Electric Car receives his silver Tesla. Tesla Blog: Gordon Brown meets the Roadster. Tesla Roadster Now Available With Warp Drive, meaning some sound effects :-). Tesla Blog: From the Factory to Our Garage, with lots of cool photos.
WBUR Boston: On Point Radio: West Philly's X-Kids. Guests include the founder of the team, two students, and an MIT media lab member. Great show.
Physics Lab of Lake Havasu Chevy Blazer is back, now with regenerative shocks. The report from Jim Stansbury is that these shocks will return 5-10kW to the vehicle (depending on road conditions and vehicle speed), which is a lot! The engineering question is: what percentage of that energy comes at the expense of forward momentum which might otherwise be maintained? See video on their media page.
Interview with Craig Henderson of Avion, lots of juicy details, including that the most recent record breaking run was accomplished thanks to a new lighter engine (Smart diesel), better tires, and constant 55 MPH speed. They are building a new car for the AXP.
ZAP report 52% revenue increase for third quarter of '08
Sam's Club finds buyer for $100,000 electric Super Car package, the Hybrid Technologies car which no one has actually seen.
Niel Young is all over the news again this time with a new article in the Huffington Post: How to Save a Major Automobile Company. His plan would have the Big Three making only "transition rollers", vehicles with no engines/drivetrain. Other innovators would complete these vehicles by e.g. making them into EVs... crazy, but imagine the thousand flowers which would bloom in that new field of opportunity. Neil Young's LincVolt, MAKE: Neil Young's Car.
MonoTracer Blurs the Line Between Motorcycle and Car.
Fisker sets up shop in Detroit, they've already got 130 employees there, looking to employ around 200 total. More at Gas 2.0, Wired. Fisker and Valmet finalize Finnish production deal.
Pressure to Bailout Big Three Grows, But What About Startups? If the government figured out how to give the same money to startups, I think it would make a far larger difference 10 years from now. The question is whether the short term damage from auto-maker implosion can be weathered in this down economy...
Toyota iQ wins Japanese Car of the Year.
Petroleum-free liquid crystals the next big thing in lubricants?. Apparently the same liquid-crystals which made Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) act as a GREAT engine lubricant - the article says "order of magnitude" difference, but doesn't give us a feel for how much this might actually change engine efficiency. (relative improvement don't mean anything without knowing the absolute level of performance). 3-5 years out, and even then only commercial applications.
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Eric, thanks for running this site.
On the "Compare the Xprize Cars" page you list Miastrada as having 158 hp. This is misleading since the average power used is only 12 hp at 80 mph steady speed and even less at lower speeds. The 158 hp is just short term peak power for purposes of getting up to speed quickly. This high level power usage lasts for only about 8 seconds to get from 0 to 60 mph.
Of course, this points out a real advantage of electric drive for any car, where the size of engine can be significantly reduced. In the case of the Miastrada, the very low aerodynamic drag makes possible high steady speeds on very low power.
I understand that you would question the very low drag coefficient of the Miastrada. It might not seem so unrealistic if you would note that the Miastrada design arranges to effectively use the most thoroughly wind tunnel tested shape that exists. See Freeman, 1933, USS Akron, ZRS-4 on the NASA reports server. Using this shape in an automobile is an old idea, but it only gets real because of the special Miastrada wheel system which enables aerodynamics that is not ruined by the ground effect.
The pictures do not make this clear, but if you can find a head on view of the Loremo, you will see that they are trying to do much the same thing regarding ground effect. The penalty they pay is passenger comfort, which seems to be unreasonable.
This subject was most effectively studied by Morelli, 1982, where a special shape was developed to make closer proximity to the ground possible, even with a slightly flattened bottom car form. The Aptera is substantially the shape developed by Morelli.
The Miastrada in its present form is a slight adjustment to the USS Akron shape based on Morelli rules. This is done to improve various car configuration details, but it also includes some camber which is the basic Morelli feature. Still, the main ways ground effect is combatted in the Miastrada design is use of a basic body of revolution form which prevents flow entrapment under the car, as well as the obvious use of elevation above ground to allow free flow conditions.
The wheel system is clarified at the www.miastrada.com website. This must be seen to understand how the whole thing comes together.