Speaking of automotive technology, Brian Wang over at Next Big Future has an article about advances in automotive materials and how they could impact such things as vehicle durability and efficiency.
A new process for working with titanium (which I blogged about back in May) could make it more cost-effective for manufacturers to make their parts out of the durable metal rather than using aluminum. Parts such as brake rotors made out of titanium should last longer than rotors made from aluminum, improving the durability of a vehicle.
Brian also talks about increases in production volumes of carbon fiber and its potential for use in automobiles. Carbon fiber is lighter than steel and ten times as strong as iron. If most of the steel in an auto is replaced with carbon fiber, the vehicle could be made to weigh 40 percent less. Doing so could improve fuel efficiency (and reduce carbon emissions) by as much as 30 percent.
But carbon fiber is currently vastly more expensive than steel and even aluminum, so it has not come into widespread use for auto bodies. That may be changing with the increased production, which will push down prices due to economies of scale, at the same time that prices of iron, steel, and aluminum have been rising.
Green Car Congress recently reported that Toray Industries has partnered with Nissan and Honda to develop a new carbon fiber material for use in auto bodies.
Showing posts with label automotive tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label automotive tech. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2008
Thermoelectric Generators Improve Vehicle Fuel Efficiency
Internal combustion engines, like the one in your car, generate power by burning a fuel source (usually gasoline) and converting that heat into mechanical energy, usually by heating a gas or liquid and causing it to expand, using the pressure to move the pistons outward. But it turns out that the process is fairly energy-inefficient, resulting in most of the heat (about 70 percent) being lost to the atmosphere (that's why the hood of your car gets hot and the exhaust gas that comes out your tailpipe is, likewise, hot). But what if we could capture some of that waste heat and use it for energy? That would make cars more energy efficient.
It turns out that heat can be converted directly into electricity using devices called thermoelectric generators. The U.S. Department of Energy recently challenged researchers to use the wasted heat energy to make automobiles 10 percent more fuel efficient, and the researchers are coming through.
It turns out that if you wrap the exhaust pipe of a Chevrolet Suburban with thermoelectric generators, it will add about one mile-per-gallon (or about five percent) to the vehicle's overall fuel efficiency. It doesn't sound like much, but I'm sure most Suburban owners would love to get better mileage. And, it turns out, the improvement would be greater in smaller, more efficient vehicles.
Additional work with putting thermoelectric generators in other parts of the car could increase the efficiency further. While the devices don't generate enough energy to power the vehicle (or even just its air conditioner) yet, they can power electronic devices such as the radio or GPS. And if used in hybrids, the electricity generated could be used to more efficiently recharge the vehicle's battery.
If the DoE's goal of 10 percent improvement is met, it would reduce fuel demand in the U.S. alone by more than 100 million gallons per year, not to mention the amount of carbon that would be kept out of the atmosphere. Prototypes of the devices will be tested by GM and BMW over the next couple of years. Other manufacturers are also working on the technology.
It turns out that heat can be converted directly into electricity using devices called thermoelectric generators. The U.S. Department of Energy recently challenged researchers to use the wasted heat energy to make automobiles 10 percent more fuel efficient, and the researchers are coming through.
It turns out that if you wrap the exhaust pipe of a Chevrolet Suburban with thermoelectric generators, it will add about one mile-per-gallon (or about five percent) to the vehicle's overall fuel efficiency. It doesn't sound like much, but I'm sure most Suburban owners would love to get better mileage. And, it turns out, the improvement would be greater in smaller, more efficient vehicles.
Additional work with putting thermoelectric generators in other parts of the car could increase the efficiency further. While the devices don't generate enough energy to power the vehicle (or even just its air conditioner) yet, they can power electronic devices such as the radio or GPS. And if used in hybrids, the electricity generated could be used to more efficiently recharge the vehicle's battery.
If the DoE's goal of 10 percent improvement is met, it would reduce fuel demand in the U.S. alone by more than 100 million gallons per year, not to mention the amount of carbon that would be kept out of the atmosphere. Prototypes of the devices will be tested by GM and BMW over the next couple of years. Other manufacturers are also working on the technology.
Monday, June 23, 2008
McCain Proposes $300 Million Prize for Better Auto Batteries
UPDATE: Alan Boyle has more information.
John McCain wants the government to offer a $300 million prize to whoever can develop an automotive battery that far surpasses existing technology. His goals for the battery include delivering power for 30 percent of the current cost with better size, capacity, cost, and power. Doing so, he says, will help propel plug-in hybrid or fully-electric autos.
For a price of $1 for each man, woman, and child in the U.S., this project could propel us toward an economy in which petroleum-based fuels are a thing of the past. Prize-based competitions such as this (and the X Prize) generally produce gains far outstripping their costs, because a large number of competitors vie for the prizes, but only one wins. And in the case of the Ansari X Prize, the winning team at Scaled Composites spent approximately $30 million on R&D before winning the $10 million prize. And that doesn't include what other teams spent. And that $10 million helped launch the sub-orbital tourism flight industry.
In addition to getting better auto batteries for consumers, the prize money will allow the winning company to make presumably massive amounts of money either selling their new batteries the world over or licensing the technology to other battery companies. Either way, that money will provide industrial growth within the U.S. and create American jobs and American wealth. Jobs will be lost in the oil industry, sure, but the U.S. economy will be better off, and so will the environment.
John McCain wants the government to offer a $300 million prize to whoever can develop an automotive battery that far surpasses existing technology. His goals for the battery include delivering power for 30 percent of the current cost with better size, capacity, cost, and power. Doing so, he says, will help propel plug-in hybrid or fully-electric autos.
For a price of $1 for each man, woman, and child in the U.S., this project could propel us toward an economy in which petroleum-based fuels are a thing of the past. Prize-based competitions such as this (and the X Prize) generally produce gains far outstripping their costs, because a large number of competitors vie for the prizes, but only one wins. And in the case of the Ansari X Prize, the winning team at Scaled Composites spent approximately $30 million on R&D before winning the $10 million prize. And that doesn't include what other teams spent. And that $10 million helped launch the sub-orbital tourism flight industry.
In addition to getting better auto batteries for consumers, the prize money will allow the winning company to make presumably massive amounts of money either selling their new batteries the world over or licensing the technology to other battery companies. Either way, that money will provide industrial growth within the U.S. and create American jobs and American wealth. Jobs will be lost in the oil industry, sure, but the U.S. economy will be better off, and so will the environment.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
A Car That Runs on Water?
CNN has video of a car designed to run mostly on water. According to the video, the engine uses a small amount of gasoline to power a process to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen. The engine then burns the hydrogen for power. And according to the designer, Anthony Brown of Jacksonville, his car gets 100 miles per ounce of water.
Don't get too excited, though. I'd like to see this independently verified and tested before I run out and convert my car. Plus, he says he gets 100 miles per ounce of water, but he doesn't say how much gasoline the car uses in that process.
Don't get too excited, though. I'd like to see this independently verified and tested before I run out and convert my car. Plus, he says he gets 100 miles per ounce of water, but he doesn't say how much gasoline the car uses in that process.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Damon on Tesla
Apparently, Matt Damon is a fan of the Tesla Roadster.
Matt says this prototype isn’t launching so well of the line but tells me, “The 30-60 acceleration is like nothing else.” Like I said he’s digging the car.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Hybrid Technologies Plans X-Prize Entrant
C|Net's News.com reports that Hybrid Technologies is preparing to submit a green sports car for the Automotive X Prize. The version submitted for the Automotive X Prize will be a gas-battery hybrid that will get an equivalent 220 miles per gallon. An all-electric plug-in hybrid version will also be available, and will be expected to get 150 to 180 mpg.
The company expects to have a drivable prototype by September, and has ambitious plans for a wide-range of vehicles that run on batteries, not just cars.
The company expects to have a drivable prototype by September, and has ambitious plans for a wide-range of vehicles that run on batteries, not just cars.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tesla Roadster Gets Powertrain Update
JB Straubel over at Tesla Motors have provided an update on the "Touch" blog about the new, enhanced Powertrain 1.5 for the Tesla Roadster. It seems that the very talented engineers working at Tesla have managed to improve the Powertrain in just about every possible way, and along the way reduced the weight and complexity of the system while improving torque and efficiency!
If you haven't seen it, the Tesla Roadster is about the coolest looking, highest-performance electric vehicle out there. The Roadster is an all-electric vehicle with the performance and styling of a top-of-the-line sports car, but it doesn't use any fuel. The car has a 0-to-60 time of under 4 seconds and , with the new powertrain, a quarter-mile time in the 12.9 second range.
Sure, the Roadster will set you back a cool hundred grand, but that's not out of line with other top-performance cars. And when their WhiteStar sedan comes out (probably in 2010 or 2011) with a price tag in the $50-65,000 range, I expect it to signal the beginning of the end for fossil-fueled vehicles, at least in the U.S.
If you haven't seen it, the Tesla Roadster is about the coolest looking, highest-performance electric vehicle out there. The Roadster is an all-electric vehicle with the performance and styling of a top-of-the-line sports car, but it doesn't use any fuel. The car has a 0-to-60 time of under 4 seconds and , with the new powertrain, a quarter-mile time in the 12.9 second range.
Sure, the Roadster will set you back a cool hundred grand, but that's not out of line with other top-performance cars. And when their WhiteStar sedan comes out (probably in 2010 or 2011) with a price tag in the $50-65,000 range, I expect it to signal the beginning of the end for fossil-fueled vehicles, at least in the U.S.
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