Navy Charters Kite Powered Cargo Ship to Deliver Equipment
January 21, 2009 by admin
Filed under innovation
The US Navy’s Military Sea Lift Command has chartered a “kite assisted”, fuel saving ship to deliver cargo from Europe to the US. The ship uses a paraglider shaped, SkySails system, which supplements its internal combustion engines.
The sail is basically a huge, computer-controlled kite that soars 30 — 90 metres into the air, using wind to tow the ship at the end of a long tear-proof synthetic rope. Fuel savings are expected to be about 20-30% or $1600 per day.
Original article: Mark Rutherford. CNet News. 11 October 2008. Read more…
BYD F3DM Extended Range Electric Car Launches in China
January 21, 2009 by admin
Filed under innovation
Chinese automaker BYD has unveiled the BYD F3DM electric vehicle (EREV) for sale in the Chinese market. BYD also plans to bring the 62-mile range $22,000 car to the US and out-Volt the Volt.
The F3DM will operate for up to 62 miles in all-EV with a motor making 300 lb-ft of torque, when the battery runs low power comes from a 1.0 liter gasoline engine. Compare that to the Chevy Volt which will only have a 40 mile range in all-electric and will be mated to a 1.4-liter gasoline engine. The batteries can be charged in several ways, with a standard wall plug it’ll take about 7 hours, a dedicated high power charging station will do the job in about 3 hours, and a half charge can be achieved in as little as 10 minutes.
The real smack in the mouth is the asking price for the F3 DM — only $22,000 for the China market model — much cheaper than the expected $40,000 for the Volt. BYD has announced intent to introduce the car to the US market in the 2010 model year or perhaps sooner depending on crash certifications and regulatory hoop-jumping. The F3DM will make its worldwide debut in January at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.
Original article: Ben Wojdyla. Jalopnik. 15 December 2008. Read more…
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