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Category: transportation – Page 251

The modern electric vehicle renaissance has been hampered from day one by the physical limitations imposed by the current state of battery technology. Inefficiencies in the form of heavy battery packs and low power densities have long limited not just the range and performance of EVs but the very forms they can take — there’s a reason Tesla started with a Roadster and not a Cybertruck. But steady advancements in power systems over the past few years — alongside skyrocketing demand for larger, electrified vehicles which cater to the US market — has led to a watershed moment in 2021: the emergence of EV pickups and SUVs.

Yes, we all know the Model X exists and Tesla “did it first” — spare me your tweets — however, the sheer number and variety of new, pure EV pickup and SUV models either ready to hit the showroom floor or in active development is staggering compared to just a few years ago. Let’s take a look at some of this year’s standouts.

GM is betting big on its proprietary Ultium battery technology, investing $35 billion in self-driving and EV technologies through 2025. The company has also announced that it intends to sell 30 EV models by the end of 2025 and EVs exclusively after 2035 with the 1,000 horsepower GMC Hummer EV serving as its vanguard offering.

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Tesla confirmed that it will shut down “passenger play,” which allows for playing video games on the center screen of its vehicles while driving. The change comes after NHTSA announced that it is opening an official probe into the situation.

Tesla has recently been putting more work toward video games inside its vehicles with the goal to “optimize fun” with its ownership experience.

Last year, we reported on Tesla building a new video game and user interface team in Austin, Texas. The goal is to build the platform, Tesla Arcade, and onboard as many video games as possible. Video games are primarily supposed to be used while parked and charging, but Tesla allows playing them while driving after a warning that the feature — called “passenger play” –should only be used by passengers.

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Experts are estimating the crisis will last till 2023.

There’s no denying that there is a global chip shortage. Last month, we reported how Japan had committed $5.2 billion (roughly 600 billion yen) toward providing support for semiconductor manufacturers in a bid to help solve the world’s ongoing chip shortage.

But is that enough? It seems not. During a recent earnings call, Micron CEO, Sanjay Mehrotra, told investors that it is clearly not.

“Across the PC industry, demand for DDR5 products is significantly exceeding supply due to non-memory component shortages impacting memory suppliers’ ability to build DDR5 modules. We expect these shortages to moderate through 2022, enabling bit shipments of DDR5 to grow to meaningful levels in the second half of calendar 2022,” said the CEO.

What does this mean for consumers? Cars are more expensive, computer makers are struggling to keep up with consumer demand, and many products have been severely delayed such as PlayStation 5 which is still impossible to order a year after its launch, according to Yahoo Finance.

Continue reading “Get Used to Chip Shortages: They Are Not Going Away Anytime Soon” | >

Reducing its carbon emissions by 80% compared to conventional designs.

Ascendance Flight Technologies, based in Toulouse, France, has unveiled the striking design of its new hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft, ATEA, according to a press release.

The ATEA is a five-seat hybrid-electric aircraft that can perform vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). The concept stands out from the rest since it has a tandem wing configuration with rotors incorporated into them, giving it a strikingly unusual appearance.

The concept is the result of three years of research and development, and it’s called the “tomorrow’s aircraft” since it reflects the company’s goal of assisting in the decarbonization of aviation: The aircraft aims to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent compared to traditional helicopter designs.

Continue reading “This New Hybrid VTOL Has 8 Fans Embedded in Its Wings” | >

The next chapter of GM’s electrification strategy is officially underway. The Verge reports GM has started deliveries of the Hummer EV as promised, with its first “supertruck” (an Edition 1) rolling off the line at Factory Zero in Hamtramck, Michigan. The automaker didn’t name the initial customer, but that person clearly paid for bragging rights given the Edition 1’s $110,295 sticker.

You’ll have to wait considerably longer for other trim levels. The $99,995 3X (which drops from 1,000HP to ‘just’ 830HP) doesn’t arrive until fall 2022, while the $89,995 2X variant (625HP) will wait until spring 2023. The $79,995 2 trim doesn’t surface until spring 2024. All but the base version deliver a claimed 300 or more miles of range, while that ‘entry’ model musters 250 miles per charge.

The steep prices won’t leave Tesla, Hyundai and other EV competitors too worried. This is a luxury machine that will sell in limited numbers. However, popularity isn’t entirely the point. This is the first consumer-oriented vehicle to ship using the Ultium battery technology that will underpin numerous GM EVs going forward, including the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevy Silverado. The Hummer is both a halo vehicle for the brand and an answer to challengers like Tesla and Rivian.

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Less than a week before the Christmas holiday, French IT services company Inetum Group was hit by a ransomware attack that had a limited impact on the business and its customers.

Inetum is active in more than 26 countries, providing digital services to companies in various sectors: aerospace and defense, banking, automotive, energy and utilities, healthcare, insurance, retail, public sector, transportation, telecom and media.

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Lockheed Martin’s new hypersonic plane is expected to travel at Mach 6.

The Lockheed Martin SR-72, which is rumored to be the world’s fastest plane, is expected to make a test flight in 2025, eight years after its private proposal in 2013.

SR-72 will be the successor of the SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest manned aircraft which smashed speed records in 1974 and was retired by the U.S. Air Force back in 1998.

The SR-72, or “Son of Blackbird” is envisioned as an unmanned, hypersonic and reusable, reconnaissance, surveillance, and strike aircraft. The striking ability of the aircraft comes to the fore as it will, reportedly, support Lockheed Martin’s novel High-Speed Strike Weapon (HSSW). The aircraft’s combat capabilities enable it to strike its target in dangerous environments that are deemed risky for slower manned aircraft.

Since the technology to build the aircraft was overly ambitious when the project was announced in 2013, the project had to wait for several years.

Continue reading “The World’s Fastest Plane’s Successor Will Reach Over 4,600 Miles” | >

It burns about half the fuel of the same-sized rotorcraft.

In 1989, Vox conceptualized fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing airframes (VTOL), along with a plethora of sketches that looked straight out of a sci-fi movie, for a way to innovate the idea. Several prototypes and component tests later, the aircraft is in its final stages of assembly, and testing is expected to start next year.

Revolving around the concept of increasing the safety and convenience of the passenger, this hybrid aircraft can also fly three times faster than a helicopter.

“Our aircraft can travel at turboprop speeds and land on nearly any helipad in the world,” Brian Morgan, the COO and EVP of engineering at Vox, told Robb Report. “Like any helicopter, it provides the flexibility and ease of point-to-point travel, but at two to three times the speed, with more comfort and the ability to fly above the weather, all while burning about half the fuel of the same-sized rotorcraft performing the same mission,” he said.

Full Story:

Continue reading “A New Hybrid Aircraft Is 3 Times Faster Than a Helicopter” | >