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Saturday, March 06, 2010
Motoring
Audi A1 E-tron Electric
Image: © 2010 Audi AG
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Audi Presents The A1 e-tron Electric In Geneva
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Audi debuted a revolutionarty new concept hybrid electric car at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show this week called the Audi 'A1 e-tron'. Audi refers to the A1 e-tron as a Mega City Vehicle (MCV) for its urban mobility status. The A1 e-tron's drivetrain is entirely electric and utilizes an electric motor with a peak output of 75 kW (102 hp), giving it brisk acceleration. ...
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Audi debuted a revolutionarty new concept hybrid electric car at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show this week called the Audi 'A1 e-tron'. Audi refers to the A1 e-tron as a Mega City Vehicle (MCV) for its urban mobility status. The A1 e-tron's drivetrain is entirely electric and utilizes an electric motor with a peak output of 75 kW (102 hp), giving it brisk acceleration.Â
To extend the range of the A1 e-tron electric car, Audi engineers have integrated a 254 cc small single-rotor gasoline engine running at a constant 5000 rpm for efficiency. The Wankel engine operates as a generator to charge the Audi e-trons lithium-ion battery pack when its charge is becoming depleted. The Wankel engine range extender can be activated manually if the driver knows they are about to commence a long journey. The engine is powered by a 12 litre (3.17 US gallon) gasoline fuel tank.
The 4-passenger A1 e-tron electric hybrid car has a zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) acceration time of 10.2 seconds and can reach a top speed of over 130 km/h (80.78 mph). For the first 50 km (31.07 miles) the Audi e-tron operates as a zero emissions vehicle powered entirely by its 12 kWh (380 volt) lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack. The battery is shaped in a T-shaped volume and is mounted in the rear central tunnel of the car to save space. Â The battery pack itself weighs 150 kg (330.69 lbs) and is made up of 96 prismatic cells.
Audi says the A1 e-tron has been designed specifically for operation in metropolitan urban areas situated in Europe, North America, Asia and South America. The electric motor in the A1 e-tron is mounted low in the vehicle, giving the car a low centre of gravity, which helps to improve cornering. The torque output of the electric motor is 150 Nm (110.63 ft-lbs) continuous, and a peak torque of 240 Nm (177.01 ft-lbs) of torque is available for short bursts.
The Audi A1 e-tron electric hybrid car has been designed primarily for use in the city and when the range extender 254 cc Wankel engine is used to charge the battery, the car can travel a driving distance of up to 200 kms (124.27 miles). The electric battery pack can be charged off of a home outlet or by using a commercial quick-charger. Based upon a draft standard for dual-mode powertrains, the Audi A1 e-tron has a fuel consumption of 1.9 L/100 km (123.80 US mpg) with a CO2 emissions output of 45 g/km. |
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Motoring
Honda 3R-C Electric Vehicle
Image: © 2010 Honda Motor Co.
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Honda Creates An Electric Urban Commuter
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Honda Motor Co. will premiere their Honda 3R-C Electric concept vehicle today (March 2, 2010) at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show (2010 Salon International de l'automobile Geneve). Honda says that the 3R-C is a high efficiency single seat three wheel concept car for the future and has been designed for the urban commute. Honda engineers have mounted the electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack low in the 3R-C in order to give the vehicle a low centre of gravity and excellent cornering ...
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Honda Motor Co. will premiere their Honda 3R-C Electric concept vehicle today (March 2, 2010) at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show (2010 Salon International de l'automobile Geneve). Honda says that the 3R-C is a high efficiency single seat three wheel concept car for the future and has been designed for the urban commute. Honda engineers have mounted the electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack low in the 3R-C in order to give the vehicle a low centre of gravity and excellent cornering capability.
Developed by Honda's Milan, Italy Research & Design facility, the Honda 3R-C Electric has a canopy windshield that rotates down to cover the driver cabin whilst the vehicle is parked, and then lifts up to become the windshield when the driver enters the car. Honda has also designed driver side protection into the 3R-C electric car, and although the cabin is open to the sky during vehicle operation, the driver is enveloped in a cabin that significantly reduces exposure to the elements. Honda has also designed into the 3R-C a lockable storage compartment in the front facia for the driver to carry luggage and groceries/shopping items.
As a zero emissions electric car, the Honda 3-RC would benefit from some of the tax and purchase credit incentives offered in some world markets if Honda decided to produce it commercially. Honda's 3R-C is a blend of the company's motorcycle and car technology with the addition of knowledge gained from producing electric drivetrain systems from their current line of hybrid cars like the 2010 Honda Civic and 2010 Honda Insight. |
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Fashion
James Cameron Avatar Oscar Nomination
Image: Mark Fellman / © 2010 20th Century Fox
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James Cameron's "Avatar" Brings Special Effects To Life
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - James Cameron took a big risk when he undertook to produce and direct the motion picture "Avatar", which had a rumoured total budget of about $300 million. "Avatar" had its London premiere on December 10, 2009 and was released to the United States on December 18, 2009. For Cameron and the other extremely dedicated professionals behind the film, the hard work of bringing advanced visual effects to movie-going audiences has paid off, and the film has already secured a gross worldwid...
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - James Cameron took a big risk when he undertook to produce and direct the motion picture "Avatar", which had a rumoured total budget of about $300 million. "Avatar" had its London premiere on December 10, 2009 and was released to the United States on December 18, 2009. For Cameron and the other extremely dedicated professionals behind the film, the hard work of bringing advanced visual effects to movie-going audiences has paid off, and the film has already secured a gross worldwide revenue of over $2.5 billion.
For his directing work on "Avatar", James Cameron has been nominated for a 2010 Academy Award in the Oscar category of 'Achievement in Directing', and his film "Avatar has also been nominated for 2010 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects.
Cameron started working on the concepts for the film "Avatar" in 1994, and he originally planned to start filming the movie soon after his blockbuster film "Titanic". But in 1997, much of the movie special effects that he needed to incorporate into the film were technically non-existent, and one of the most important of these was depicting accurate human facial characteristics in 3-D animated beings. James Cameron devised the plot for  "Avatar" such that the human beings would generate their own self-depicting Na'vi characters to communicate with Pandora's native moon population.
"Avatar" relies extensively on computer generated imagery, or CGI, and Cameron's team actually created a new highly advanced stereoscopic 3-D camera to capture left and right film sequence images, much like the human eye does. This meant that there was twice the editing work per frame on "Avatar", and a special 3-D software called 'Ocula' was needed to ensure that the two images blended together well to create a balanced effect for the human eye and its visual perspective. "Avatar" needed a massive supercomputing server farm to be constucted in New Zealand to process all the digital imagery, and the production used advanced copyright protection encryption techniques.Â
The lead company on the visual effects for "Avatar" was Weta Digital of Wellington, New Zealand and they were backed-up by the visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic of San Francisco, California, who are famous for their advanced work on the "Star Wars" motion pictures. Weta and ILM worked together with Cameron's company, Lightstorm Entertainment, on the animation sequences and they had to keep up-to-date on "Avatar"'s detailed scene templates provided to the two companies by Cameron. Weta Digital would often take the lead on one scene with ILM in a supporting role, and then it would be visa versa for another film sequence for the two companies.
For James Cameron, if he is successful in winning this year's Academy Award as Best Director, it will be because his Academy peers were so impressed with the filmaking advances that he brought to the motion picture industry, and with his incredible ability to turn the vision of "Avatar" into a reality. Â |
Last Added Links
Motoring
One of June's most poular articles was the test drive that theirEarth performed of the Vectrix Electric Scooter in France. Read about it in the 'Motoring' Category
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Fashion
Eco Boudoir is a luxury British lingerie fashion house founded by Jenny White. The company designs and distributes sexy lingerie made from organic cottons, bamboo fibres, and silk, and sells worldwide in fine stores.
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Green Investment
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