Battery Tech

http://www.egmcartech.com/2009/08/25/gm-owned-battery-start-up-developing-lithium-ions-with-double-the-energy-density/


Li-ion batteries already pack a lot of power into a small package when compared to regular alkaline batteries. They are smaller and lighter than the Ni-Ca and Ni-MH batteries (think old laptop and cell phone batteries). But they are a fairly young battery and practically still in their first generation. That is one reason they are so expensive and the reason the Chevy Volt will cost so much. The next generation Volt will cost less because cost of components will come down including the battery.

Now according to this article they will also be able to probably double the mileage that they can get out of a car with the same size battery. Or reduce the size of the battery pack in the vehicle and get the same mileage. Actually, because the weight would be reduced they would still get better mileage if they halved the size of the battery.

The main question is how long before we see this technology on the road. Since it is a GM owned company and the US government owns most of GM right now there are really 2 ways of thinking. Knowing how government organizations are run, it takes forever to get anything approved. MAGLEV anyone? On the other hand, GM does have some say in what it can do and has said the Volt will be a continually developed vehicle, if the batteries are ready we could see the new battery packs in the first generation Volt in its mid life face lift probably around 2014 or 2015.

Pay Attention

Technology is good, it helps the human race advance as a civilization. But it needs to be used at the right place and the right time. I've never been a fan of texting, why not just call the person and talk to them. Of course I've never been a fan of calling people if I really don't have too. I guess I'm one of the few people out there that hasn't texted while driving. A recent survey of over 2000 people found that 53% of the people had texted while they were driving. I have almost been run off the run and run into a number of times by people not paying attention, either talking on the phone or texting and not watching where they were going. Maybe this video out of Britain will help convince them. Caution, very graphic

Stellarium

Have you ever wanted a good astronomy application and didn't want to pay a lot of money?

Stellarium is what you want. Go to http://www.stellarium.org/ to download it. It is free and a great program. The other day when we were camping I was pretty sure the bright object in the sky to the south west was Jupiter, but wasn't for sure. Last night I checked it out on Stellarium and sure enough it is. I also couldn't find the little dipper or Polaris (the North star). I know 2 of the stars in the big dipper pointed to it, but wasn't sure which ones. With Stellarium I found that it was the 2 stars on the end of the dipper that point north to Polaris which is part of the little dipper. But because of the light of the city, it is hard to see.

It might run slow on a low end system, so it might not be for everyone. But just so you know, it does run on Windows 7.

Kepler ready to go

After being launched in March of this year the kepler space telescope is ready to find worlds. Recently it under went some tests to see if it could detect exo-planets (planets orbiting other stars). It passed its test by finding a planet that orbits its host star every few day. Yes, it was an already know planet, but kepler was able to find it and because of the precise data and clearer view that it has in space it was able to tell that it has an atmosphere.



The graph above shows when the planet passes in front of the star and how we would see it in phases as it did so if we could actually see it. But kepler is only going to detect and find the planets, another telescope to launched in a couple of years will hopefully get the first real pictures of an exo-planet. Keplers mission is to find earth sized planets in the parent star's habitable zone.

The current count on the number of exo-planets is 357. Most being huge gas gaints even larger than Jupiter.

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler-discovery.html

New engine design

Source: http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.ASpx?AR=242332

Ilmor Engineering has developed an innovative 130bhp, 700cc, three-cylinder, five-stroke petrol engine that develops the fuel economy of a diesel engine without any of the emissions shortcomings.

The engineering firm, which has a long history working in motorsport and which was previously part-owned by Mercedes when it prepared its F1 engines, has developed the radical road car engine to showcase its engineering ability.

This is one engine that has promise. The company says that this is just the beginning and that they will improve on the concept cutting the weight of the engine and increasing HP possibly to 150. For a 3 cylinder that is great.

I still find it interesting that all these new technologies for the internal combustion engine are popping up all over the place, yet for the last 100 years the engine had pretty much remained the same. It was only recently (little over 10 years ago) that Porsche managed to get 100bhp per cylinder, now a lot of people have that.

Mileage results

With this latest tank of gas I was able to pull off 329 miles. This is in the Sunfire of course, the BMW would never be able to do that (I don't think). All of it was city driving conditions. I made sure I was easy on the throttle all the time, barely touching it most of the time. The sad thing is that I could still out accelerate a lot of people. I'm not sure on the exact mpg since I only put 6.5 gallons back in it since gas prices are high right now and they should drop a little more by the weekend. But I think it was around 26mpg. That doesn't sound great but this is on a 10 year old car and with a coil pack that is going bad (has been for years).

With this small tank of gas I am going to start using the neutral coasting down the hills. This drops the RPMs to about 700 rather than 1500 with it in drive. I've tried the shutting off of the car at stop lights before and that is taking it a little to far. I also don't agree with the people that run the stop signs to keep from having to stop. I'm thinking the coasting should get me at least another .5 to 1 mile per gallon.

New tire tech

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10304634-54.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Manufacturing tires from a renewable plant source could be less expensive to produce than tires using carbon black which is made from oil, or silica which takes a lot of energy to produce.

But aside from the manufacturing benefits, the researchers found that the cellulosic rubber tires had better traction on wet surfaces and less effected by heat compared to conventional tires.

"Early tests indicate that such products would have comparable traction on cold or wet pavement, be just as strong, and provide even higher fuel efficiency than traditional tires in hot weather," according to a report from Kaichang Li, associate professor of wood science and engineering in the OSU College of Forestry, and Wen Bai, a doctoral student who collaborated on the project.

This is promising. But I have heard other tire technologies that they have been working on for a long time and nothing came of them. Really until there is a reason to change, they won't change.

New Duramax diesel for GM

This one comes from Wardsauto.com

Although the program is “on the shelf,” General Motors Co. Vice Chairman Tom Stephens says the auto maker’s Duramax 4.5L V-8 turbodiesel is ready when needed.

“The program is essentially complete and could be implemented whenever we choose to do that,” GM’s vice chairman-product development tells Ward’s in a phone interview.

The Duramax diesel was expected in GM’s ’10 light-duty fullsize pickup trucks, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, and possibly future cross/utility and SUVs.

But the auto maker’s misfortunes, culminating in a June 1 bankruptcy filing, caused it to cancel the mill’s spring introduction. Another hurdle is declining gas prices, making fuel-saving diesels less alluring for many consumers.

Developed over nearly four years and due to be built at GM’s Tonawanda, NY, plant, the engine’s design defies conventional diesel technology with reverse flow of air and exhaust gases entering and exiting the cylinder heads.

Exhaust gases exit toward the center of the engine directly into the turbocharger, which is located in the “V” between the heads. Placing the forced induction system between the cylinder banks is a cutting-edge design that saves weight and space and improves performance and emissions.

Very interesting that it runs reverse what any normal engine does. Maybe they should try some gasoline turbo charged V-6s like that along with the laser ignition and all the other new tech coming along.

Lasers instead of sparks

This is a couple of weeks old, but still relevant. From Telegraph.co.uk

Scientists at Liverpool University and engineers at car giants Ford have developed a new ignition system which uses focused beams of laser light to ignite the fuel.

The researchers claim the technology is more reliable and efficient than current spark plug technology and will enable cars to start more easily in cold and damp conditions.

In the new system the spark plug is replaced by a laser powered by the car battery which is sent along thin optical fibres into the engine's cylinders where lenses focus the beam into an intense pinprick of light.

When fuel is injected into the engine, the laser is fired, producing enough heat to ignite the fuel and power the engine.

The researchers claim that the laser, which will need to fire more than 50 times per second to produce 3000 RPM, will require less power than traditional spark plugs.

Some of the laser can be reflected back from inside the cylinder to provide information for the car on the type of fuel being used and the level of ignition, allowing the car to adjust the quantities of air and fuel automatically to optimise the performance.

There is no telling when we could see this in production but it does have promise. With the advantages of using a laser and be able to do multiple beams and precise targeting for a combustion camber it could definitely improve power and economy in the standard gas engine.