Archive for Technology

First of all, thanks to Mat Kamil Awang for the pointer to these documents. The source for the data I am going to use in this article is from a Japanese site hosting presentations from the 4th Asian Petroleum Technology Symposium. This particular presentation is entitled “Clean Fuels for A Clean Malaysian Environment”, by Harlina Firdaus Marzuki and Fazil Mat Isa of PETRONAS Research & Scientific Services.

This is heavy reading but insightful, so bewarned! Continued after the jump…

Click here to read the rest of Analyzing fuel quality in Malaysia - 3 out of 6 already Euro II compliant for petrol!

Volvo will debut it’s new hydraulically controlled dual-clutch gearbox in diesel variants of it’s Volvo S40 sedan and Volvo V50 stationwagon models, coinciding with a mid-life facelift of the two cars. Parent company Ford also plans to introduce the dual-clutch gearbox to other models like the Ford Focus and the Ford Focus C-MAX, which currently also offer CVT gearboxes, as well as the Land Rover Freelander and some Mazda models. Ford Focus ST or MazdaSpeed 3 with a dual-clutch gearbox, anyone?

While Volkswagen’s extremely good Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG) is supplied by BorgWarner, Ford gets it’s units from Getrag, and the system is called Powershift.

Malaysian-registered cars will receive the equivalent of the MyKad system early next year - number plates called e-plates which will contain RFID tags which will contain information about the vehicle and it’s owner. The e-plate system was conceived as a strategy to curb car theft. It will supposedly prevent car thieves from getting away by merely changing stolen car’s plates. The system will be implemented in stages, starting with new cars, followed by those already running on the road. Range is 100 meters. The e-plates have a battery lifespan of 10 years.

How much will this new system cost us? Who will be bearing the cost of the new tagged numberplates, and will the prices be overinflated due to someone making a fat profit in the middle of the supply chain?

The plates are supposed to be tamper-proof, but then again with technology, there are many ways to get around security. There is always a way - think RFID “burner” devices to create a massive amount of electronically “plate-less” cars to confuse the police in the area, making it easier for you to get the car out of the theft zone, etc.

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Tesla Motors, who sent shockwaves through the industry with the introduction of the Elise-based electric sportscar the Tesla Roadster (shown above) has announced that it will be making a new 4-seater sedan aimed at the BMW 5-series, to be released by the end of the decade.

The luxury electric sedan is set to be available globally in two variants, one with a similiar engine to the Tesla Roadster (248 horsepower) with a 320 kilometer range on a single charge, and another more powerful variant with a higher range - about 480 kilometers. The sedan will be built with lightweight steel, and production is expected to be 10,000 to 20,000 units annually.

This is likely the first manufacturer to come up with a fully electric powered sedan for mass production, while other manufacturers have gone different paths - Lexus is focusing on hybrids while BMW is investing in hydrogen and turbodiesel technology. Don’t expect anything funky like in-wheel motors though, the motor and battery pack will be positioned traditionally in the front, and power will be sent through the rear wheels.

Blogger Peter Tan might be very interested in this. While the rest of the automotive industry is focusing on applying fuel cell technology on cars, Suzuki is applying the technology in the powered wheelchair market - and its latest prototype, the MIO, features a fuel cell that uses methanol as a fuel source to generate hydrogen and therefore electricity, which is then stored in a Li-ion battery which also acts as a backup power storage.

The Suzuki MIO has a 4 litre tank that gives it a range of approximately 25 miles. Theres also an LCD display showing fuel level and power sources. Therefore, unlike wheelchairs that rely solely on mains charging of the battery, it addresses users fears of being stranded at some distance from their home.

This is the Volkswagen Nanospyder. A two seater Ariel Atom-like car that runs on hydrogen fuel cells powering in-wheel electric motors. It has a strong spine, on which other components is bolted on, and the body panels are constructed from latticework of billions of tiny programmable nano devices each measuring less than half a millimetre in daimeter. These devices can individually be programmed to be as strong or weak as required, meaning the vehicle could have active crumple zones.

These nanopanels are also coated with materials which can inflate to provide further cushioning upon impact, and also doubles as a solar power panel, which assists the hydrogen fuel cell in powering the in-wheel motors.

Of course, such a vehicle doesn’t exist. The Volkswagen Nanospyder is actually the vision of three Volkswagen designers, their idea of what the future car would be. It was conceptualised as an entry for the Design Los Angeles conference. The challenge was to design a car that can make the most of California without harming the environment.

One more photo after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Nanospyder Concept

A research team from the Tokyo University of Science and the Japan Science and Technology Agency has managed to use gallium nitride (GaN) crystals to extract hydrogen from water, which might lead to the development of more efficient processes of extracting hydrogen for the use in fuel cells.

A GaN wafer is connected with platinum using a wire, and immersed in water. Light is applied, and current flows through the water which causes electrolysis, hence producing hydrogen. The efficiency of converting light energy to hydrogen energy using this method is a mere 0.5%, however efficiency was improved 1.3 times by introducing the narrower bandgap material such as InGaN. According to Professor Kazuhiro Ohkawa of the Tokyo University of Science applied physics department, this can be raised to more than 20%.

I’m just wondering if this is the magic metal used in LMG’s Hydroxene

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Chery Automobile Co., Ltd, J&K Technologies Inc and Tsinghua University has developed a hydrogen fuel cell car which can reach a top speed of 80 km/h and like a traditional hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, emits no exhaust fumes other than water vapor.

The joint venture has announced that the car was developed entirely on their own, and China now has fully independent intellectual property rights to a fuel cell vehicle. But then again, considering Chery’s definition of intellectual property… hmm.

Think we’ll be seeing a fuel cell Chery QQ soon?

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BMW’s Hydrogen 7 is a 100-unit production ready car, powered by a 260hp V12 engine which takes the car from 0-100km/h in 9.5 seconds thanks to 390Nm of torque which peaks at 4,300rpm. While 6.0 liters of V12 goodness based on the unit in the BMW 760i making only 260hp is really nothing to shout about, in fact some might say it’s under performing, but the engine has the ability to use both regular gasoline as well as liquid hydrogen. More details after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of BMW Hydrogen 7

Sharp has developed a special LCD display that can be used for in-car dashboard meter panels, thanks to it’s 1500:1 contrast radio - the industry’s highest! The new 8 inch screen has a pixel count of 800 x 480, and it’s great contrast ratio offers excellent blacks even in the kind of lighting that a car dashboard has to go through.

With an LCD, the method of displaying information can be varied to provide a wide range of options, such as displaying GPS navigation maps right in the center dash! This system is already available in the new Mercedes Benz S-Class.

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