new illuminati: zero emissions vehicle

Showing posts with label zero emissions vehicle. Show all posts

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Rinspeed’s Zero Emission sQuba: Submersible Electric Car

Rinspeed’s Zero Emission sQuba

Submersible Electric Car

http://www.outnext.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/15/squba15282.jpg

Go ahead and day dream, it’s supposedly good for you and you can have what ever you want without costing a dime. Need a subject? Well picture this; the futuristic 2 door sportster “sQuba” is a James Bond inspired, zero-emissions, electric aqua-car from CEO Frank M. Rinderknecht and the geniuses at Swiss Rinspeed Design Company.

The sQuba “moves like a fish in water” to depths of up to 33 feet (10 meters) and still manages to reach speeds of around 75mph (120kmh) when on dry land. In the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, 007 dove below the waves in a futuristic vehicle that moments before seemed to be an ‘ordinary’ car. Well, that really didn’t happen – it was movie magic. Not only is this vehicle real, it’s better because it’s green. The zero-emissions sQuba can transport a driver and passenger in its open cockpit design which is intended to allow the occupants easy escape, in case of emergency. When underwater, the occupants breathe air carried in the vehicle through scuba-style rebreathers and without occupants the sQuba will surface automatically.

The twin water jets mounted on rotating louvers at the front of the vehicle provide steering and lift while it is underwater and the propellers at the rear provide forward movement. On dry land a single 54 kW electric rear-wheel drive powertrain, utilizing rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, powers the sQuba allowing it to achieve 0-50 mph (0-80kmh) in 7.1 seconds. In the water it will do 4 mph (6 kmh) on the surface and 1.5 mph (3 kmh) underwater.

http://gadgetscrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/squba-car.jpg

The sQuba features powerful yet energy-saving LED lighting technology and employs carbon nano-tubes to keep the weight down and buoyancy just right. It floats on the surface until the operator floods the interior to submerge. It is designed to “fly” when underwater like a submarine, not to drive along the surface at the bottom of the water. The salt-water resistant interior of the one-off (Lotus Elise) concept is built to stand the punishment of a marine environment and yet able to feature genuine mother-of-pearl trim and diamond-plated non-slip inlays. The high-tech instrument cluster and controls create a futuristic ambiance and allow controlling all vehicle functions even while submerged.

But that’s not all! On terra firma the sQuba can drive entirely autonomously (without a driver), at the touch of a button made possible by laser technology called LUX from the Hamburg-based company, Ibeo. LUX laser sensors permit a variety of driver assistance functions using one single small device, such as automatic emergency braking, pedestrian protection, collision protection, traffic jam assistant and others.

http://www.scubadiverinfo.com/images/rinspeed_squba_small.jpg

Rinderknecht said that because they have used a zero emission engine, it was very clear from the beginning to minimize the pollution in every aspect, especially because this vehicle also moves in the precious element of water. All the lubricants and greases in use are made rapidly biodegradable.

The prototype cost more than $1.5 million to build. When the sQuba enters production, they are expected to “cost less than a Rolls-Royce”, according to Rinderknecht.

Rinderknecht is known for his extraordinary automotive creations. The acknowledged James Bond enthusiast kept revisiting that scene in his mind over and over: “For three decades I have tried to imagine how it might be possible to build a car that can fly under water. Now we have made this dream come true. The sQuba lets me be one with the elements and lets me immerse myself in a new and fascinating world. It is our duty to protect this world in which we are guests to the best of our ability.”

If Rinspeed can devote enough resources to a concept car obviously marketed as a “toy for rich people”, yet at the same time ensure that the vehicle maintain an environmental consciousness, that should be a wake up call to those who would steer away from ecological innovation and continue to toe the status quo line.
I take my green-dreaming – shaken, not stirred.

…. as the green future unfolds.

- From ForcedGreen - http://www.forcedgreen.com/2009/09/green-dreamin/#more-1653

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Thursday, 6 March 2008

Air Powered Vehicles: the air car is poised for mass production

Air Powered Vehicles

The air car is poised for mass production

These vehicles may hit the streets of India by the end of the decade

By Eric Mack

If someone tried to sell you a zero-emissions car that costs around $10,000, you might think he was full of hot air. Turns out it’s the car that’s full of it: The vehicle runs on and emits nothing but air. Now, after more than fifteen years of languishing in automotive obscurity, it’s heading for mass production.

The Air Car is the brainchild of Guy Negre, a French inventor and former Formula One engineer. In February, Negre’s company, Motor Development International (MDI), announced a deal to manufacture the technology with Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial automaker and a major player worldwide. “It’s an innovative technology, it’s an environment-friendly technology, and a scalable technology,” says Tata spokesperson Debasis Ray. “It can be used in cars, in commercial vehicles, and in power generation.”

Though Negre first unveiled the technology in the early 1990s, interest has only recently grown. In addition to the Tata deal, which could put thousands of the cars on the road in India by the end of the decade, Negre has signed deals to bring the design to twelve other countries, including South Africa, Israel, and Germany. But experts say the car may never make it to US streets.

The Air Car works similarly to electric cars, but rather than storing electrical energy in a huge, heavy battery, the vehicle converts energy into air pressure and stores it in a tank. According to MDI’s Miguel Celades, Negre’s engine uses compressed air stored at a pressure of 300 bars to pump the pistons, providing a range of around 60 miles per tank at highway speeds. An onboard air compressor can be plugged into a regular outlet at home to recharge the tank in about four hours, or an industrial compressor capable of 3,500 psi (likes those found in scuba shops) can fill it up in a few minutes for around two dollars. Celades says optional gasoline or biofuel hybrid models will heat the pressurized air, increasing the volume available for the pistons and allowing the car to drive for nearly 500 miles between air refills and about 160 miles per gallon of fuel burned.

Early media reports speculated that Tata could have an Air Car on the market by the end of 2008, but Ray says it’s likely to be a couple of years before the technology is available. Until the Indian models hit the streets, the best way to see an Air Car in action is to cross the pond and check out Negre’s prototypes in France—a trip entrepreneur J.P. Maeder says is worthwhile. “It’s not a fantasy,” he says of the car. “It can make a real impact in how personal transportation will develop from here.”

In 2003, Maeder formed ZevCat, a Califonia company that aims to bring the Air Car to America. So far, however, he says his plans have stalled for financial reasons: Without enough money to build and crash test prototypes, he can’t demonstrate the technology for investors who might be willing to fund more prototypes.

The car might garner more attention in the US if it makes it to market in India or elsewhere before other burgeoning technologies like plug-in hybrids or fuel-cell electric cars. If that were to happen, compressed air could become the “next big thing” for green-minded drivers, says Larry Rinek, an auto analyst with the international market-research firm Frost and Sullivan. But Rinek questions whether the car will have mass appeal. Another unknown is whether the vehicle could pass crash tests."

This is an R and D novelty; it’s a curiosity that is nowhere near ready for primetime,” says Rinek. “It’s unknown and untrusted, particularly here in North America” where, he says, adoption of new technology moves “very slowly.”