Lifeboat Foundation

The three-wheeled, two-person vehicle is curvy and lightweight.

Aptera, the company that shuttered in 2011 after failing to secure funding for its three-wheeled electric car, is back with a new solar electric vehicle it claims never needs charging, at least, for most drivers. And it predicts its top model, with a battery of 100 kWh, can get up to 1,000 miles of range.

Continue reading “Aptera is back with a new EV it says doesn’t need charging” »

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Do recent explanations solve the mysteries of aerodynamic lift?

China has made tall claims after testing an advanced aircraft engine prototype. The claim is that the ‘sodramjet’ (short form for ‘standing oblique detonation ramjet)’ jet engine could power an aircraft to such speeds that it can reach anywhere on Earth in two hours.

The engine prototype, tested in hypersonic wind tunnel simulating flight conditions, came off clocking test speeds nine times the speed of sound, the Chinese engineers said, according to the South China Morning Post. The test was conducted in Beijing the report adds.

Today, Aptera announced a solar electric vehicle that will not need to be plugged in for most regular uses, and it sports a 1,000 mile range on a full charge.

“With Aptera’s Never Charge technology, you are driven by the power of the sun. Our built-in solar array keeps your battery pack topped off and anywhere you want to go, you just go,” says co-founder Chris Anthony. Aptera says they will achieve this by making the vehicle as efficient as possible, allowing the relatively low amount of energy one can get from solar panels to do a lot more than it could for other electric vehicles.

The biggest thing Aptera does that others don’t is optimize the vehicle for low drag. With an airplane-like design and only three wheels, the car has a drag coefficient of just 0.13. To put this in perspective, a Tesla Model S has a drag coefficient of 0.24. With less “wind resistance,” travel at all speeds requires less energy, with the effect of saving more energy compared to normal cars increasing as the car goes faster. Aptera plans to do this while still having a 100 kWh battery pack, so the car will have great range.

The founder of a startup that helps cars drive themselves just became a billionaire — and he’s barely old enough to rent a car on his own.

Luminar Technologies CEO Austin Russell, 25, secured a hefty fortune after his company’s stock market debut this week. The Florida-based firm — which he founded when he was just 17 — makes so-called lidar scanners that use lasers to give autonomous cars a three-dimensional view of the road and what’s around them.

Luminar’s share price surged nearly 28 percent on its Thursday debut to close at $22.98, giving the company a market value of about $7.8 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Following its amazing electrified Ford Bronco, Zero Labs reveals a new modular electric platform for a wide range of classic cars and trucks.

Elon Musk’s Boring Company has released the first images teasing the first passenger station of the Las Vegas Loop ahead of its launch.

A Boring Company Loop system consists of tunnels in which Tesla autonomous electric vehicles travel at high speeds between stations to transport people within a city.

The first system is being deployed at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCVA), which is paying $50 million for the system, but we recently learned that the Boring Company plans to connect the convention center’s Loop to casinos on the strip in order to eventually create a city-wide Loop in Las Vegas.

This Week in Engineering is multi-segment show that explores the latest innovations and tech trends across many engineering disciplines from academic institutions, government agencies and industry.

EPISODE SEGMENTS:
0:14 GM Unveils Massive Investment in EV’s.
2:30 UK’s Kar-go Autonomous Delivery Vehicle.

Continue reading “All About Electric Transportation” »

RV life has never appealed a great deal to me. It has had a slight appeal, but it always looked a bit too compromising for my tastes. Until I discovered the Living Vehicle today.

Granted, there are still some benefits to a more fixed living situation, and an important thing to note is the Living Vehicle is certainly not cheap. It starts at $229,995 and various options will add thousands more (each). But the thing is wicked, offers the core luxuries of life that I feel I need, and allows you to travel all over the place and have different amazing views out your window and your front door as you wish — the kind of views, I presume, that can cost millions of dollars on their own.