Virgin Atlantic released this promotional video for their new satellite launch system, The Galactic Launcher One. The idea is to use aircraft based launches to significantly reduce the cost of putting 500 lbs. payloads into orbit. The claim is that this system is cheap enough to open space to individual businesses, organizations or even universities.
This is WhiteKnightTwo and LauncherOne demonstrating the air launch concept.
This is testing footage for a proposed new series called Stadium Super Trucks. Bangshift.com calls it a cross between desert racing trophy trucks and sprint cars. It looks like it would be some exciting racing.
Translogic got a crack at the Honda Fit EV at Honda’s press launch in Pasadena, California. It’s kind of an exciting EV because the Fit is such a fun car to drive in gasoline form. The Fit EV replaces the floor with a 20 kilowatt-hour battery pack and the engine is replaced with a 123 horsepower (92 kw), 189 ft-lbs electric motor. That means the Fit EV is probably faster and handles better than the regular Fit. Another interesting spec to note is that the battery pack only takes 3 hours to charge. Compare that to the Nissan Leaf that takes 9 hours to charge a 23 kwh battery. There’s also smart phone and key fob connectivity that allows you to control charging and air conditioning remotely. It’s an incremental step up in technology, but it goes a long way into making EV’s some more normal and appealing. My main gripe is the trend to make EV interiors light colored and sterile. That still appeals more to transportation appliance people and not car people.
Source: Translogic
Here’s an interesting point in my case to prove that electric vehicles are cool. This is the Green Rock Dawg. It’s a rock crawler that has hydraulically actuated legs and electric motors driving each wheel. The hydraulics can be run electrically or with a small gas engine. The wheelbase, track width and ride height all have extreme ranges of adjustment and each wheel can be steered individually. It’s basically a robot spider truck that works because of the flexibility offered by the placement of the electric drive motors.
Unlike people who aren’t into cars, I’m sure that if you regularly visit this blog you can appreciate the fact that I think it would be hilarious for me to show up to my own funeral sideways squared in a drifting hearse. On this classic episode of Will it Drift?, Steve Sutcliffe tries to slide the nicest hearse I have ever seen. It’s a stretched Mercedes E-Class with a Popemobile-esque bubble in the back to display a casket and a 3.0 liter TDi engine in the front that makes 200 horsepower. I wonder if they ever made one based on the E63 AMG because that would be even cooler and driftier.