Hasta La Gadget!

As cool as it would seem to physically get into your vehicle to drive it around, it’s a way cooler to hack your car to be driven through an iPad app. Some Russians decided driving their Opel Vectra around town was super lame, and so they hacked their car, which they dubbed the “James Bond car” as they modeled their vehicle after Bond’s BMW that was driven by using a cell phone in Tomorrow Never Dies. 

The process required the group of Russians fine tune the vehicle as a new actuator and new steering motors had to be installed, as well as the addition of the ability to shift gears without having to do it manually. Once all of the adjustments were made, the group of Russians used an app on their iPad 3 in order to actually drive it. Unfortunately, the controls that were chosen don’t offer any kind of precision, especially in the brake and gas peddles which can only be activated full on or off, which makes for everyday driving nearly impossible. Video in the full post. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: TabRider Is Essentially Guitar Hero With Real Guitars, The ampjacket Amplifies Your iPhone, iPad Mini And iPod Touch’s Sound Naturally,

A study done by the Dr. Michael Sivak, the director at the Sustainable Worldwide Transportation in the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), discovered that while fuel economy has improved greatly from 1970-2010, the improvement is greatly undercut due to the amount of people who drive more often and with less passengers in their cars. The study showed that the fuel economy for the entire fleet of light duty vehicles improved by 40%, from 13 mpg to 21.6 mpg, but the vehicle load (number of occupants) decreased from 1.9 persons per vehicle to about 1.38 persons.

Because of the decrease in carpooling, Sivak discovered that the fuel economy for the fleet of light duty vehicles has only increased by 17%. Sivak also discovered that people travel more often thanks to improved fuel economy in vehicles. This is due to the rebound effect. To determine the nominal reduction of fuel consumption for a vehicle, you have to take the % increase of fuel economy and subtract 10% due to the rebound effect. An example would be a 20% increase in fuel economy results in an 18% reduction of fuel consumption.

Sivak also notes that it takes a long time for changes in the fuel economy to apply to the entire fleet of light duty vehicles, so an 18% reduction in fuel consumption would only result in 1% reduction of fuel used by the entire fleet. This brought up a discussion between researchers about whether or not there should be an increase on fuel tax to reduce the amount of vehicular distance traveled.

Another way to improve the fuel economy is if people carpooled more often. The vehicle distance traveled has increased by 155% from 1970-2010. If the vehicle load is increased by 20%, from 1.38 persons per vehicle to 1.66 persons per vehicle, the distance traveled would decrease by 15%, and while there would be a 1% decrease in fuel economy (due to the heavy load), there would be a 14% decrease in fuel consumption.

The amount of fuel used between 1970-2010 has increased by 53%, from 303 billion liters to 463 billion liters. As vehicles become more fuel efficient, people want to drive more often. There’s also the inconvenience factor some see while carpooling. Like the LA Times put it, “People are driving alone because they still ‘want the convenience of driving by themselves. They are not eager to drive an extra mile to pick up a friend.’”

[via Green Car Congress]

People carpool less and drive more due to improved fuel economy is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Tesla had made statements before about repaying its loan to the Department of Energy ahead of schedule, and that it plans on forgoing help from the government in the future in order to thrive as a stand-alone company. Tesla has now stated that it has changed its loan’s terms of agreement, and it expects to pay off the entire loan by 2017. That 5 years ahead of the anticipated December 2022 repayment target.

Tesla first acquired the loan 10 years ago. The U.S Department of Energy granted Tesla $465 million to develop its electric cars. The loan agreement Tesla had with the Department of Energy stated that if it didn’t pay off its loans by 2018, the government would be able to purchase 3 million of Tesla shares at a discounted price. Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer, Deepak Ahuja, stated, ” The terms of the original loan had a very good incentive for us to pay off the loan early.”

With the new amendment to the loan agreement, they will be able to avoid the “vesting of that warrant.” Any cash that Tesla makes that is above their $200 million threshold will be used to repay their loans. Ahuja also stated that if there is any balance remaining by the end of 2017, the company will pay it all off as a “balloon payment.” Things are looking optimistic for Tesla that makes the company believe it will be able to painlessly finish paying off its loan.

Tesla is expected to sell 20,000 of its Model S sedans by the end of this year. Sales of Tesla’s Zero-Emission Vehicle credits reached $40.5 million in 2012, which is a phenomenal increase from the $2.7 million it made in 2011. Due to a California regulation, automakers have to produce a certain amount of electric/plug-in vehicles a year, and those who are unable to meet those demands can buy credits from companies like Tesla in order to meet their quota.

Beginning in 2015, Tesla will begin making accelerated payments on its loan. It plans on producing its next all-electric vehicle, the Model X, late next year, and it also plans on building around 15,000 electric vehicles each year. The company is doing extremely well financially, especially considering 2,650 Model S sedans sold last year, which go for around $50,000 – $100,000+ each after the $7,500 tax credit provided by the government.

[via Bloomberg]

Tesla will repay loan 5 years earlier than expected is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Many Rolls-Royce drivers are used to effortless speed between the big engines and smooth suspensions. The automaker’s new Wraith coupe could iron out what few of those wrinkles are left through a clever use of GPS for the transmission. Its eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox relies on positioning to pick gears in advance, gauging the situation down to the exact stretch of road: it can see the need for a shorter gear at the upcoming corner, for example. Other tech upgrades aren’t quite as fresh, although we’re sure that less traditionalist Rolls drivers won’t mind a heads-up display, voice command support and the infotainment system’s multi-touch trackpad. The Wraith’s €245,000 ($318,745) price and late 2013 availability will likely be too much to endure if all you’re looking for is seamless shifting — they may, however, provide some consolation for missing out on that LaFerrari.

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

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Via: Autoblog

Source: Rolls-Royce

Everyone knew Ferrari was cooking up its first hybrid, and that it would be very quick when it was pegged as an Enzo successor. Still, we didn’t quite expect the sledgehammer that is the LaFerrari. Never mind the very redundant naming scheme: there’s a 789HP V12 mated with 160HP of electric power, the 949HP combination of which takes the supercar to 62MPH in less than 3 seconds and makes it the overall fastest Ferrari to date. There’s a nod to eco-friendliness with relatively low emissions, but the hybrid component mostly powers a KERS system that fills out the few weak points in the torque band. You won’t have the chance to buy the LaFerrari — all 499 units of the €1 million ($1.3 million) flagship are spoken for — but there’s already talk of future hybrids that will run solely on electric power some or all of the time.

Don’t be too forlorn if you have money to burn on a tech-centric Ferrari, though. The Maranello crew is also showing the very first results of its Apple collaboration through an upgraded FF. The four-seater GT now has Siri voice integration and ships with a pair of iPad minis to keep backseaters entertained when the 652HP V12 somehow isn’t exciting enough. Ferrari hasn’t said how much the upgraded FF costs, although we imagine that the iOS-linked costs are drops in the bucket next to the vehicle itself. Chairman Luca di Montezemolo hints that it’s just the start of the Apple relationship, too, as Ferrari will be “more precise” about the union in the months ahead.

Filed under: Transportation, Apple

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Via: Autoblog, Bloomberg

Source: Ferrari