This in from Japan – Tokyo-based environmental venture Smart Energy has developed a lithium ion rechargeable battery for households called the Veus, which can also be used to power a hybrid vehicle, in this case the Toyota Prius.

According to a report, the company is set to begin selling the Veus (Vital Energy Un-blackout System) batteries from this month, with a goal to sell 100 units a month, or 1,000 by the end of this year. Primary sales deployment will be in the metropolitan area of Tokyo, where electricity shortages are expected this summer.

The Veus batteries – which will be produced by domestic electronics manufacturer CNO Corp on an OEM basis – will be available in two model forms, a 4 kwh model priced at 945,000 yen and a 8 kwh version at 1.89 million yen.

At home, the Veus can be used to store electricity generated from such renewable sources as sunlight. The 8 kwh version is able to power a 1.2 kw air conditioner for six to seven hours on a full charge.

Beyond the home application front, the Veus comes in handy in emergencies – in areas where power lines are severed by earthquakes or other disasters, it can be used for commercial and public purposes such as operating medical equipment at hospitals and running water pumps in condominiums.

And as for automotive applications, the Veus has been designed to fit in the rear of the Prius – working as a backup power source, a fully-charged 8 kwh unit (which weighs 150kg, so it doesn’t sound like a light job!) offers 60-100 km of travel range.

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Another tech-related development, this time on the anti-roll front. Seems braking and chassis systems specialist BWI Group has developed a lightweight, more compact version of its proven Active Stabiliser Bar System (ASBS), and the new development is set to make the many benefits of active roll control available to a far wider range of vehicles.

Originally developed for large SUVs, the technology reduces the compromise between sharp handling and ride quality. Advances in the systems’ actuators and optimisation of other components has translated into a reduced weight of 15%, which means the system can meet the package constraints and weight targets of smaller cars, including sports cars and smaller SUVs.

The BWI Active Stabiliser Bar splits the anti-roll bar in the middle and uses a computer-controlled actuator (graphic below) to apply variable levels of torque to the ends of each section. When cornering, the system applies an anti-roll torque, opposed to the lateral acceleration, which limits body roll.

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When subject to road disturbances, the system has the ability to apply a torque opposed to the one generated by the springs and dampers, thus limiting head-toss. This gives the benefits of stiff, large diameter bars without the normal compromise in comfort and refinement.

Because ASBS can deal with all the vehicle roll angle and roll velocity inputs, leaving the springs and dampers to deal just with vertical inputs, it helps eliminate the traditional compromise between ride and handling. The system is able to modify the understeer or oversteer behaviour of vehicles near-instantaneously. With a range of linear and rotary actuators with single or twin channel operation, systems are available for a wide variety of applications.

The company has developed a new rotary actuator that will go into production on an SUV in 2012, while a high-performance sports car with an active stabiliser bar system is due to start production later this year, using BWI’s linear actuator. Current users of BWI’s ASBS include Land Rover – the Range Rover Sport uses ASBS actuators and hydraulic control modules.

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Here’s something for the techies. It’s a split-cycle mill called the Scuderi Engine, and it’s designed by the Scuderi Group, a US engine development company. What the company says it has come up with is a design – featuring Miller-like valve control strategies, extended expansion and turbocharging – that enables maximum levels of power and torque while reducing the rate of fuel consumption and engine size.

The Scuderi Engine divides the four strokes of a combustion cycle between two paired cylinders — the left cylinder functions as an air compressor, handling intake and compression, while the right cylinder handles combustion and exhaust. The key to Scuderi’s split-cycle design is that it compresses the air before it fires.

Consistent with conventional four-stroke engine designs, the combustion cycle of the Scuderi Engine has two high-pressure strokes — compression and power, and two low-pressure strokes (intake and exhaust). The power stroke is positive work, or the energy that is produced by the expanding gases to create mechanical work. The intake, compression and exhaust strokes are all negative work, or the energy that the engine consumes to create mechanical work.

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By separating the compression cylinder from the power cylinder and by using a standard turbocharger to convert recovered exhaust-gas energy into compressed air energy, the size of the compression cylinder can be downsized to achieve substantial reductions in negative compression work.

Key features include fully variable intake and exhaust valves, outwardly opening crossover passage valves and high geometric compression and expansion ratios. Independent lab tests reveal that the Scuderi block has fast and robust combustion, offers a diesel-like, flat torque curve and is highly knock-resistant.

The engine – when fully developed – will reduce NOx emissions up to 80% and improve fuel efficiency by 50%, compared to a conventional gasoline engine. The engine requires one crankshaft revolution to complete a single combustion cycle and is projected to have higher torque, thermodynamic efficiency, and lower emissions than possible with today’s engines.

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Other figures and percentages – the engine, when boosted with a turbocharger to 3.2 bar, decreases the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) up to 14%, and a simultaneous increase occurs in the engine’s power brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) by 140%. At the same time, the size of the engine is reduced by over 29%.

The net result, the company says, is a smaller, higher-performing engine that yields significant gains in volumetric efficiency and power as well as reducing BSFC. Studies are underway at the lab that will soon show impressive results of the Scuderi split-cycle engine modelled in a 2011 Nissan Sentra.