Electric car buying guide.
electric car buying guide. electric vehicles offer more driving fun. via sierra club [nOnnIs]
Thonet concept bike. Andy martin.
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Here comes another wooden bike concept. This one is a bit different though. It’s built for Thonet using their steam bent-wood know-how developed in the 1930s.
At the end of 2010 London based designer andy martin was asked by Thonet to design and develop a concept road bicycle using their steam bending process. He developed three designs of which the final was selected because its beauty and modest connection with the heritage of the company.
Andy says ‘The challenge was to take on fairly low tech process of steam bending and then apply it to a 21st century bicycle with highly complex engineering’. With the many restrictions of hand bending the beech frame the final jointing and contours would be cut and adjusted on a cnc machine. Andy has also developed a series of connectors and sprung rods to reinforce joints and the major stress areas in the frame. The bike itself is a fixed wheel, which is the tradition of cycling; one has a greater connection to the bike and the surface one rides on. The bike comes with no brakes and has several interchangeable gear ratios. The seat is solid beech wood supported on a sprung rod supports. The wheels, not designed by andy are carbon fibre HED H3’s. I may like the firmness of my Brooks B17 Special vs a solid beech saddle though.The bike will be available in limited edition and cost £43,000. [ andy martin studio ] [ thonet ]
[ andy martin ] Established in 2000 and based in London, Andy Martin’s studio is a new generation design practice. The studio incorporates craftspeople, furniture designers, product designers and futurists. Andy, who has worked with some of the most illustrious names in design and creative fields and spent 5 years working alongside Marc Newson in Paris. In London his architectural practice, AMA, is better known for designing some of London’s best restaurants and he has more recently designed the private homes of Noel Gallagher and the Hotelier Olga Polizzi. Andy who was born in Australia, was designing furniture at 18 when he shaped his first chair in the same method as a surfboard. Growing up in Sydney’s northern beaches Andy was a keen surfer and had been making surfboards for both himself and friends since 15yr old.
[ Thonet ] today, as in the past, is considered a pioneer of furniture design throughout the world. The company was established in 1819 by Michael Thonet to produce his own designs, using the then new bentwood process, which he developed. Within a short period of time it became a major furniture manufacturer with a global distribution network. In the 1930’s a major expansion took place with the addition of tubular steel furniture from famous Bauhaus associated designers such as Mart Stam, Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe. Today, as well as continuing with the manufacture of many of the tubular steel and bentwood classics, Thonet, in their long established tradition of innovation and design quality, introduce products by renowned contemporary architects and designers such as Claudio Bellini, Stefan Diez, Naoto Fukasawa, Hadi Teherani, James Irvine, Glen Oliver Löw, Lepper, Schmidt, Sommerlade. This family enterprise managed by the 5th generation of Thonets, has its corporate headquarters and production facility in Frankenberg, Germany.
Central park to be safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
central park to become safer for cyclists and pedestrians. new signs, road markings and wider pedestrian and bike lanes. via ny daily news [RK]
Green pedestrian crossing. China.
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The more you walk, the greener the trees will be. Well, that’s the message the creators are intending to make. Almost 4 million people stepped in a green environmentally friendly washable and quick dry paint, then walked across a massive canvas measuring 12.6 x 7 meters that was stretched at at pedestrian crossing in 15 different cities in China. Credits go to Jody Xuibg from DDB China in cooperation with the China Environmental Protection Foundation. 40% of carbon monoxide emissions come from cars. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce; the country is now the world’s largest car market with over 500 million vehicles on the road. 132 trees were created. After the campaign, the above print was exhibited at the Shanghai Zheng Da Art Museum.
[ ddb china ]
A bicycle built for you: chicago's hand-built bike movement.
chicago’s hand-built bike movement. from rarefied custom racing builds to well-designed commuters. via crain’s chicago business [RK]
Volvo x-ray app.
A new app for iPhones and iPads developed for the new Volvo V40. The app turns your device into handheld x-ray scanners. You can walk around the car and see patented Volvo innovations. Last June at the Geneva Auto Show another app launched which showed competitors who use Volvo innovations. Both apps developed by [ la communidad ]
How things work: data drives zipcars.
data tells zipcars where to place their cars and which cars in which neighborhoods. via ad age [RK]
Electric vehicles. A traffic update.
battery technology charges ahead. an electric vehicles traffic update. via mckinsey quarterly [RK]
Tesla s launches.
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Tesla Motors announces 520 reservations for the Model S, an all-electric family sedan that carries up to seven people and travels up to 300 miles per charge. The Model S launched March 26, and orders immediately began streaming in online and at showrooms in California. Tesla plans to open stores in Chicago, London, New York, Miami, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Munich this year.
“Frankly the number of cars reserved in the first week has exceeded our optimistic internal projections,” said Tesla CEO, Chairman and Product Architect Elon Musk. “Enthusiasm surrounding the Model S is proof that there’s pent-up demand for more affordable, fuel-efficient vehicles – including those made in America.”
The Model S will likely be the world’s first mass-produced, highway-capable electric vehicle. The company has applied for a $350 million loan from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program, which would be used to build the Model S assembly plant in California.
The East Coast premier of the Model S was at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The drivable prototype also will be shown in New York, Chicago, Miami and Seattle this summer.
The Model S can be recharged from any 120V, 208V or 240V outlet or quick-charged from an external direct current supply in only 45 minutes. You can recharge the car during rest stops or meal breaks, enabling the Model S to go from L.A. to New York in approximately the same time as a gasoline car.
The Model S does 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds, and will have an electronically limited top speed of 130 mph. A 17-inch touchscreen with in-car 3G connectivity means you can listen to Pandora Radio or consult Google Maps, or check the car’s state of charge remotely on your iPhone.
The anticipated base price of the Model S is $49,900 after a federal tax credit of $7,500. The $5,000 reservation fee is refundable, and the car is a better value than far cheaper cars.
If you account for the much lower cost of electricity vs. gasoline at a likely future cost of over $4 per gallon, the Model S is equivalent to buying a gasoline car with a sticker price of about $35,000, such as a Ford Taurus. Importantly, those savings are realized immediately if you lease a Model S, so there is no need wait years to earn back the price difference.
Three battery pack choices will offer a range of 160, 230 or 300 miles per charge. The company has not released options pricing.
battery slab cover bottom of car
Tesla also is taking reservations for the Model S Signature Edition with a $40,000 reservation fee. Tesla will produce only 2,000 Signature Edition cars, which will be the first built and have unique interior and exterior features. Signature Edition cars will be evenly split between U.S. and European customers.
[ Proven Technology ]
Tesla is the only production automaker selling highway-capable EVs in North America or Europe today. With 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds, the Roadster outperforms almost all sports cars in its class, yet is more than twice as energy efficient as a Toyota Prius and delivers 244 miles per charge.
Tesla delivered 104 Roadsters to customers in March, marking the first triple-digit delivery month in the company’s history. Tesla delivered over 170 cars in the first quarter – more than the total delivered in 2008.
Tesla has delivered about 320 Roadsters so far. The base price of the Roadster is $101,500 after a $7,500 federal tax credit.
Teslas do not require routine oil changes, and have far fewer moving (and breakable) parts than internal combustion engine vehicles. They qualify for federal and state tax credits, rebates and sales tax exemptions. The Roadster costs roughly $4 to drive more than 240 miles – a bargain even if gasoline were less than $1 per gallon.
Tesla plans to introduce more affordable cars and partner with other automakers to help them produce mass-market EVs. Tesla announced in January it is partnering with Daimler AG to produce the battery packs and chargers for at least 1,000 Smart EVs. “Tesla is relentlessly driving down the cost of battery technology – similar to what other technology companies did to make cellular phones and laptop computers low-cost commodities,” Musk said. [ tesla motors ]
Update on terraflugia's car/plane
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After our post about “Transition”, Terraflugia’s car/plane went up yesterday, I got an email from Cliff Allen, the VP of Sales, who wanted to clarify one pretty important point: don’t drive Transition on the road!
We envision the Transition pilot leaving their home and driving to a nearby public-use airport (there are over 5,200 in the US, on average, one within 30 miles of any point in the US), shifting the Transition into flight mode, then flying to another public-use airport near their destination, landing, converting the Transition back to road mode, and driving the last few miles to their destination. The Transition pilot should not take-off or land on a public road, this is illegal in most states (every state but Montana and Alaska, I think).
Thanks, Cliff! And be sure to check out Terraflugia at the NY International Auto Show.
