Put together the best solar panels money can buy, super-efficient batteries and decades of car-making know-how and, theoretically, a vehicle might run forever.
That’s the audacious motivation behind a project by Toyota Motor Corp., Sharp Corp. and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization of Japan, or NEDO, to test a Prius that could revolutionize transportation.
While pretty much all of the recent obsession with setting Nürburgring Ring lap record times and the rivalry between Tesla and Porsche is sort of idiotic genital-measuring, there is one foolproof way to guarantee that a record will be set: make the criteria for the record so specific that pretty much any result will set a record. That seems to be exactly what Tesla is planning by running a seven-seat Model S.
As with everything important in our world now, this all started with a tweet:
TOKYO (Reuters) — Inspired by new ultra-thin solar panels developed for satellites, a project led by Toyota Motor Corp is experimenting with a sun-powered Prius that it hopes will one day require no plugging in.
In the Japanese government-funded demonstration project, Toyota engineers fitted solar panels designed by Sharp Corp to the hood, roof, rear window and spoiler to see how much juice the sun can generate.
The electricity from the panels goes directly to the drive battery, so the Prius can charge while moving or when parked.
Semiconductors are substances that have a conductivity between that of conductors and insulators. Due to their unique properties of conducting current only in specific conditions, they can be controlled or modified to suit our needs. Nowhere is the application of semiconductors more extensive or important than in electrical and electronic devices, such as diodes, transistors, solar cells, and integrated circuits.
Semiconductors can be made of either organic (carbon-based) or inorganic materials. Recent trends in research show that scientists are opting to develop more organic semiconductors, as they have some clear advantages over inorganic semiconductors. Now, scientists, led by Prof Makoto Tadokoro of the Tokyo University of Science, report on the synthesis of a novel organic substance with potential applications as an n-type semiconductor. This study is published in the journal Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. According to Prof Makoto Tadokoro, “organic semiconductor devices, unlike hard inorganic semiconductor devices, are very soft and are useful for creating adhesive portable devices that can easily fit on a person.” However, despite the advantages of organic semiconductors, there are very few known stable molecules that bear the physical properties of n-type semiconductors, compared to inorganic n-type semiconductors.
N-heteroheptacenequinone is a well-known potential candidate for n-type semiconductor materials. However, it has some drawbacks: it is unstable in air and UV-visible light, and it is insoluble in organic solvents. These disadvantages obstruct the practical applications of this substance as a semiconductor.
A startup that spun out of Cambridge University claims a battery breakthrough that can charge an electric car in just six minutes.
It’s something we heard before, but the difference here is that they claim that they can commercialize the new battery as soon as next year.
The startup, Echion Technologies, was founded by Dr. Jean De La Verpilliere while he was studying for his PhD in nanoscience at the University of Cambridge.
The Sur Ron electric motorcycle is one of the most exciting off-road electric motorcycles to hit the scene recently. The high performance yet low-cost electric motorcycle showed off its abilities by smoking a bunch of gas motorcycles to win 1st place in a recent race. Check out the epic video below!
The long-awaited reveal of Tesla’s pickup truck will most likely take place November, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in response to a Twitter follower’s question.
Tesla’s first crack at one of America’s most popular body styles, which will begin production after the Model Y, has been the topic of much speculation from Tesla and electric vehicle fans collectively. Information regarding the truck is vague, but Elon Musk has released a number of details, most notably a possible 300,000-lb towing capacity.
November most likely.
Porsche just released a new car that can not compete with Tesla, so what to do? Invest in someone who can.
Porsche and Rimac Automobili strengthens their partnership related to high-performance EV technology development.
The German manufacturer initially took 10% of Rimac Automobili and 10% of Rimac’s subsidiary Greyp Bikes in June 2018.
We assume that as Rimac has proven high value and quick progress, Porsche was convinced to further increase its stake to 15.5%.