Future Amphibious Hybrid Concept Vehicle with Intelligent Wheel System

Despite the fact that very few make it off the drawing board to prototype stage, ‘go anywhere’ concept cars are an ever popular subject for budding auto designers and car lovers alike. And why not - they allow us to forget about the pesky practicalities of design and tiresome economics and imagine what could be. The latest to cross our desk - the Amphibious Hybrid concept vehicle - is a case of Bond meets the Transformers with its automatically adjusting tire design that morphs to ensure maximum grip on any given terrain including ice and water, where it becomes a kind of three wheel paddle boat.

The team that designed this car thought it should be able to navigate on land, ice and water and, hence, its tires have the ability to change shape automatically to suit the terrain. For instance, when the terrain sensors located within the ‘intelligent wheels’ detect the vehicle has moved from normal mode (bitumen roads) to a slipperier surface, like snow, the tires open up a little. The more traction required, the wider the tire.

When on the water, the tires resemble something more akin to a propeller.

Intelligent wheel system

Each battery-powered wheel comprises movable parts that can increase or decrease traction according to the inbuilt terrain sensors, depending on the amount of traction required to operate safely.

Students who designed the vehicle, Janne Leppänen, Tuulia Miettinen, Roope Kolu, Tiemen Stelwagen, and Jaap Van Der Voort, were conscious of the costs of such a car and, thinking like students, have come up with a renting system for those who can’t afford vehicles like this one (if it ever comes to fruition). However, their offer of five euros a day (around USD$7) appears pretty cheap.

Source: Gizmag, Tuvie

-->Read more...

U.S. vehicle fuel efficiency has increased only 3 mpg in 80 years

Gizmag is always on the lookout for alternative means of powering vehicles and saving precious fossil fuels. But, in truth, the vast majority of us still drive exclusively petrol-powered cars. And the even sadder truth, outlined in a new research from the University of Michigan, is that the average fuel efficiency of a US vehicle has improved only three miles per gallon since the days of the Ford Model T.

Michael Sivak and Omer Tsimhonia, of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, calculated the distance driven and fuel consumed for the entire US fleet of vehicles – incorporating cars, motorcycles, trucks and buses – between 1923 and 2006. Using those numbers, they were then able to analyze fuel efficiency on US roads at any time, and make telling comparisons between eras.

According to Ford, the Model T – which began mass-production in 1913 – averaged a fairly healthy 25 miles to the gallon. Nonetheless, by 1923, the year the study begins, the average fuel efficiency of the entire US fleet was 14 mpg. That figure remained about the same for more than a decade.

From 1935, however, fuel efficiency fell into steady decline, dropping to an alarming 11.9 mpg in 1973. When you think about the kind of vehicles released through that time – and the number of extras that steadily became standard – it’s almost not surprising. All those fins and chrome and power-assisted systems came with heavy penalties in efficiency. The Environmental Defense Fund, for example, estimates that air-conditioning alone decreases the fuel efficiency of a car by as much as 12%.

But, with the fuel crisis of the 70’s, fleet efficiency was compelled to improve, and in a hurry. From 1974 the economy of the US fleet improved five miles a gallon to 16.9 mpg in 1991. Curiously, since then – despite growing environmental awareness and publicly-voiced concern – improvement has been painfully slow, reaching just 17.2 mpg in 2006.

The underlying problem in recent years, of course, isn’t with new cars, some of which can achieve close to 40 mpg. It’s all those old vehicles out there, chewing up gas like there’s no tomorrow. As far as Sivak and Tsimhoni are concerned, it’s much more important to improve fuel efficiency at this end – from 15 to 16 mpg, say – than trying to get a Prius from 40 to 41 mpg.

By their estimates, for the US to reduce its total annual fuel consumption by 10%, fuel efficiency across the entire fleet of cars, motorbikes, truck and buses would have to rise nearly two percent. That may not sound like much, but it took 15 years for a 0.3% change. And when you’re talking about 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the average medium-sized sedan, making a change has never seemed more critical.

Source:Gizmag

-->Read more...

Nissan LEAF: 100 mile range, mid-size production EV revealed

Last month we looked at the Nissan's latest prototype EV and the infrastructure it hopes to put in place to support the "electric future". Now production plans have been revealed with the company taking the wraps off a fully-electric mid-size vehicle which it intends to launch in Japan, the United States and Europe in late 2010. With a name to compliment its green credentials, the LEAF is a five-seat hatchback powered by lithium-ion batteries which deliver a range of 160km (100 miles) on one full charge. The electric motor delivers 80kW (107bhp) and 280Nm of torque with top speed slated at 140kmh (around 90mph).

The LEAF's laminated compact lithium-ion battery has a capacity of 24kWh and generates power output of over 90kW. Regenerative braking also helps the car achieve its 100 mile range - a figure that Nissan says its consumer research shows will satisfy 70% of the world’s drivers.

The plug-in EV includes two charging inputs - one for AC200V home-use and a fast-charging 3-phase inlet. The standard 200V takes around 8 hours to reach full charge while the DC 50kW option will deliver 80% of full charge in less than 30 minutes... but expect to part with significant dollars to get the three-phase option up and running.

Among the notable design innovations are the LED headlights which, apart from using one tenth of the electricity of conventional lamps, are designed to split airflow and reduce drag on the door mirrors.

Connected Mobility IT system

The LEAF will be hooked in to Nissan's advanced IT system which will provide a range of navigation and infotainment support via a 24/7 a global data center. This will range from remotely checking the charge condition of the vehicle to providing info on the nearest charging stations and even turning on the air-conditioning using a mobile phone.

More at Nissan's dedicated site.

Source: Gizmag

-->Read more...