Lifeboat Foundation

As electric vehicles grow in popularity, the spotlight shines more brightly on some of their remaining major issues. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin are tackling two of the bigger challenges facing electric vehicles: limited range and slow recharging.

The researchers fabricated a new type of electrode for lithium-ion batteries that could unleash greater power and faster charging. They did this by creating thicker electrodes—the positively and negatively charged parts of the battery that deliver power to a device—using magnets to create a unique alignment that sidesteps common problems associated with sizing up these critical components.

The result is an electrode that could potentially facilitate twice the range on a single charge for an electric vehicle, compared with a battery using an existing commercial electrode.

Regent’s electric seaglider successfully completed its first series of flights and demonstrated her ability to fully fulfill its “float-foil-fly” mission.

A video of Regent’s unique Seaglider prototype in flight testing has just been released. The machine offers breakthrough speed and range in coastal locations as the first to combine the efficiency benefits of ground effect with hydro-foiling in a single design.

Continue reading “Watch world’s first flying electric boat concept complete its test flight” »

The electric vehicle also offers the first full-scenario driver assistance.

In an attempt to tackle range anxiety, Chinese automaker XPeng has revealed the fastest charging electric vehicle, G9, which also features industry-first full-scenario driver assistance.

The G9 model from XPeng features a brand-new powertrain system built on China’s first 800 V Silicon Carbide (SiC) mass production platform. The 4C version of the G9 can add up to 160 miles (200 km) of CLTC range in as little as five minutes, thanks to the company’s new 480 kW S4 supercharging stations, which means it can charge from 10–80 percent in just 15 minutes.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, discovered a key material needed for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries. The commercially relevant approach opens a potential pathway to improve charging speeds for electric vehicles.

Lithium-ion batteries, or LIBs, play an essential role in the nation’s portfolio of clean energy technologies. Most hybrid electric and all–electric vehicles use LIBs. These rechargeable batteries offer advantages in reliability and efficiency because they can store more energy, charge faster and last longer than traditional lead-acid batteries. However, the technology is still developing, and fundamental advances are needed to meet priorities to improve the cost, range and charge time of electric-vehicle batteries.

“Overcoming these challenges will require advances in materials that are more efficient and synthesis methods that are scalable to industry,” said ORNL Corporate Fellow and corresponding author Sheng Dai.

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Prototype · Front Line Assembly.

Continue reading “Prototype: I hope we build an artificial super intelligence system soon” »

Robotic eyes on autonomous vehicles could improve pedestrian safety, according to a new study at the University of Tokyo. Participants played out scenarios in virtual reality (VR) and had to decide whether to cross a road in front of a moving vehicle or not.

When that vehicle was fitted with robotic eyes, which either looked at the pedestrian (registering their presence) or away (not registering them), the participants were able to make safer or more efficient choices.

DARPA’s Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) program has successfully completed one experiment and is now moving on to even more difficult off-road landscapes at Camp Roberts, California, for trials set for September 15–27, according to a press release by the organization published last week.

Giving driverless combat vehicles off-road autonomy

Continue reading “DARPA is experimenting with giving driverless combat vehicles off-road autonomy” »

XH4D/iStock.

The technique has enabled scientists to test a hypersonic bomber prototype in the wind tunnel.

The artificial artist Dall-E 2 has now designed the Apple Car.

A hypothetical “AI-generated Apple Car” ingeniously made use of artificial intelligence technology was created by Dall-E 2 in response to a text request by San Francisco-based industrial designer John Mauriello.

Mauriello focuses on advancing his one-of-a-kind craft by utilizing cutting-edge technologies. He typed that he wanted a minimalist sports automobile inspired by a MacBook and a Magic Mouse created out of metal and glass on DALL-E 2, an artificial intelligence system that can create realistic visuals and art from a description. Additionally, he gave the AI instructions to style the design using Jony Ive’s methods, the former head of design at Apple.