WASHINGTON--Where you see an electric car, your utility sees a battery on wheels.
Forward-looking utilities are gearing up to tap into the stored energy that plug-in electric vehicles can provide using smart-grid technology, said industry executives at consulting firm Kema's Utility of the Future conference here this week.
Car batteries can provide a buffer to lighten the load on the grid during peak times and potentially provide back-up power to homeowners. Down the line, old plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) batteries could be recycled as storage devices, they said.
"I think PHEVs will be the killer application for the smart grid," said David Mohler, the chief technology officer of Duke Energy. "They are able to both consume and provide energy like no other device can and can really change storage."
A number of plug-in electric vehicles aimed at mainstream buyers will become available over the next two years. Although there's no standard storage capacity, Mohler estimated that four of them could power a house, at least for a short time.
In the near term, the most promising marriage of the grid and car batteries is providing what the power industry calls "frequency regulation." It's an arrangement that could save utilities money, reduce pollution, and potentially save consumers money, advocates of the approach said.
Utilities routinely pay for frequency regulation services to ensure that the supply of electricity matches the demand. When an imbalance between supply and demand causes a change in signal frequency, power generators crank up to adjust the flow of electricity.
But a network of plugged-in electric vehicles could effectively perform the same function by taking a break--even for a few minutes--from charging their batteries. Charging cars in bursts--all while ensuring they're topped off when the drivers needs them--could be done with millions of cars, said Alec Brooks, a renewable energy engineer at Google.
Google has developed proof-of-concept "smart charging" software with algorithms that monitor the electricity supply and very precisely control when cars get charged, he said during a presentation where he showed simulation data. "You figure out which ones you need to dispatch (electricity) to be full when they say they need to be full," Brooks said.
Using car batteries for frequency regulation--already a billion-dollar market--is more cost-effective and would allow power generators to take better advantage of wind and solar power, which are variable, Brooks said. Google is testing the software on its fleet of eight converted plug-in hybrid Priuses.
"You can shape the load to match renewable energy, which can be very different even within one day...So you have a system where you move the load around rather than the generation," he explained.
Saving money on the Chevy Volt
It's not just software engineers at Google who are tooling around with PHEVs and frequency regulation. When the Chevy Volt is released at the end of next year, the car will have smart charging built into it using the OnStar service.
In a Department of Energy research project, General Motors is working with 50 utilities to see how the Chevy Volt can interface with utilities. Providing grid services, such as frequency regulation, will lower the cost of owning the Volt, said Keith Cole, GM's director of advanced vehicle strategies and legislative affairs.
"If a customer can sign up and say they are willing to have their charging interrupted for 140 seconds and the utility will pay them to do it via a credit, it would cut the cost of charging the Volt," Cole said. "So instead of costing 7 or 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, it might cost 5 or 3 because of the service."
Although this will be technically possible when the Volt is first released, don't expect it to be available for a while. The business models for these types of services have yet to be worked out.
Still, cutting electricity demand for frequency regulation makes sense for utilities because the power purchased for this job is relatively expensive, Cole said, adding that a utility would only be interested if it could get large numbers of cars under management.
Farther out, utilities could potentially pull stored electricity in car batteries to lighten the load on the grid, rather than fire up an expensive and dirty auxiliary power plant during peak times. But that two-way power flow, called vehicle-to-grid, is technically challenging and puts added strain on the battery.
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The Qatar Investment Authority could acquire more shares in ailing German sports car maker Porsche SE than previously thought, German magazine Focus said.
In an advance copy of an article due to be published on June 22, the magazine referred to details of a paper outlining the future ownership structure that it said Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking had presented to the Porsche and Piech families.
It said there had been a provision for an external investor to hold 29.9 percent, when so far only a 25 percent share had been mentioned. However, there was no direct mention of Qatar.
Qatar has been discussing the possible size of a stake with Porsche and is due to reveal the outcome in two to three weeks, according to media reports.
Focus also said a Qatari delegation would discuss possible details with the state of Lower Saxony, which is home to Volkswagen. The state owns just over 20 percent of VW and has to approve any deals related to Porsche and VW.
Porsche amassed a 9 billion euro ($12.5 billion) net debt pile in its aborted attempt to acquire 75 percent of Volkswagen AG votes and has looked to rescue itself by uniting with its cash-rich subsidiary, which is Europe's largest carmaker.
Volkswagen CEO Ferdinand Piech is a member of the family that controls Porsche.
German car maker Daimler is also in advanced talks to buy a stake in Porsche, German magazine manager magazin reported on Friday on its website, citing financial sources.
Automaker Volkswagen will temporarily shut parts of its plant in central Mexico from next week until early August but exports of the popular New Beetle should not be affected, a union spokesman said on Saturday.
The partial closure, starting Wednesday, will be the latest in a series of temporary shutdowns at the plant in recent months as the global slowdown hurts demand for new cars.
Union spokesman Arturo Monter said by idling some operations at the plant in the city of Puebla, the German auto maker hoped to save jobs while also taking advantage of the drop in orders to make adjustments to assembly lines.
He said about one-third of union workers on assembly lines for the Bora and Bora Variant models would be off work for 14 days. For 10 of those days, their pay would be cut by 50 percent.
The Puebla plant is Volkswagen's only factory in North America and most of the cars it produces are shipped to the United States, Canada and Europe.
About 70 percent of cars produced across Mexico are destined for the U.S. market, which is suffering its worst downturn in almost 30 years.
Mexico is the world's No. 10 producer of autos but output fell 39.4 percent in May year-on-year, hit by slumping U.S. demand. The country's plants assembled 108,162 automobiles in May and exported 83,910, industry group AMIA said.
Hi guys.Happy to meet you with this interesting post.Hope you like it. Now TATA will offer AIR CARS,I MEAN...air as fuel
MDI has developed a high performance compressed air technology. When it is compared to traditional gasoline powered engines, MDI´s engine is far superior in terms of energy used and thermodynamics.
The technology that MDI vehicles use is not new, in fact it had been around for years. Compressed air technology allows for engines that are both non polluting and economical. After ten years of research and development, MDI is prepared to introduce its clean vehicles onto the market. Unlike electric or hydrogen powered vehicles, MDI vehicles are not expensive and do not have a limited driving range. MDI cars are affordable and have a performance rate that stands up to current standards. To sum it up, they are non-expensive cars that do not pollute and are easy to get around cities in.
Two technologies have been developed to meet different needs:
- Single energy compressed air engines
- Dual energy compressed air plus fuel engines
Tata Motors owners of Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) which it acquired for $2.3 billion last year, is launching the two premium British brands in the Indian market later this year. Tata Motors, through its newly formed premium car division, will import Jaguar's XF and XKR and Land Rover's Discovery and Range Rover into the country. The brands, to be initially available as completely built units (CBUs) from the UK, will be available at an exclusive showroom scheduled to open by June in Mumbai.
The company has not announced the price at which it will sell these brands in India, but Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata had said at the company's annual general meeting last year that the JLR brands will be available at a "lower price". In the UK, the all-terrain (4x4) Land Rover sells in the range of 23,000-63,000 (Rs 17-46 lakh), while the sports luxury Jaguar sells at 21,000-82,000 (Rs 15-60 lakh). The cars will attract a customs duty of 110%, making them all the more expensive in India. Rohit Suri has been appointed as the head of the premium car division and is leading plans to develop a dealer network through 2009 and 2010, the company said.
Industry experts say that JLR will find it difficult to make a mark in the Indian luxury car market, which is expected to see a decline of 14% to just over 6,000 units in 2009. The segment in India comprises global brands including Mercedes-Benz, Volvo Cars, BMW and Audi.
According to JD Power, the luxury car market fell 21% in March, as slower economic growth and lower business profits kept buyers away. Except for the BMW 3 Series, other models posted lower sales in the month. Mercedes-Benz fell 27% in March, while BMW's sales dropped 20% year-on-year. By 2016, luxury car sales are forecast to be around just 12,000 units.
David Smith, chief executive officer, JLR said, "We are delighted to be formally entering the Indian market, an economy which is still growing appreciably, and able to offer our premium products to a whole new group of customers. It is an important strategic move for JLR and will enable us to realise our competitive potential in this significant market."
Ravi Kant, managing director, Tata Motors, said, "This is a natural move for both businesses and will allow JLR to establish a strong and deserved presence in India. We are very pleased to develop our relationship with JLR in this way and to provide the opportunity for Indian customers to access their premium products for the first time."
Skoda has beaten motoring's elite to be voted the UK's number one car brand and British-built Jaguar XF became the most satisfying new car to own. A hostess of the Skoda booth poses with the Skoda SuperB is shown during the press day at the 78th Geneva International Motor Show, Tuesday, March 4, 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland. The Motor Show will open its gates to public from 6 to 16 March, presenting over 1000 brands with more than 130 world and european firsts in the sector saloon alone.
The Landrover Freelander Td4 HSE stands at a simulated hillside at the car fair Auto Mobil International in Leipzig, eastern Germany, Friday, April 4, 2003. More than 415 exhibitors from 16 countries present their new productsin Leipzig until April 13, 2003.
The Czech manufacturer has Britain's happiest and most satisfied owners, according to a survey. Skoda took the top manufacturer's title and also had two cars in the top three individual models with the Superb second and Octavia third. In photo: A hostess of the Skoda booth poses with the Skoda SuperB is shown during the press day at the 78th Geneva International Motor Show, Tuesday, March 4, 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland. The Motor Show will open its gates to public from 6 to 16 March, presenting over 1000 brands with more than 130 world and european firsts in the sector saloon alone.
Models pose next to Jaguar's New S-Type cars during its unveiling at downtown Seoul Tuesday, June 8, 2004. The price of the sports sedan vehicle equipped with a 2,967 cc engine is 83.5 million won (US$ 69,500). The new product is put on the market from Tuesday.
Ian Callum, director of design for Jaguar presents the Jaguar Advance Lightweight Coupe at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Monday, Jan. 10, 2005.
Mark Templin, Lexus Group vice president and general manager, introduces the new Lexus RX 350 luxury SUV during media previews for the Los Angeles Auto Show Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008. The show opens to the public Friday, Nov. 21.
The Jaguar XFR is introduced at the North American International Auto Show Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009 in Detroit.
Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori, stand by a Toyota Lexus RX450h at Lexus RX Museum in Tokyo during its media preview Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. Toyota Motor Corp. holds the special even between Jan. 20 and Feb. 15 to mark the launch of the Lexus RX crossover in Japan.
A Porsche Panamera is seen in Stuttgart, Germany, Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. The new four-door sportscar will be launched in September 2009.
Porsche's 911 GT3 is unveiled during a presentation of Porsche at the Geneva Motor Show in Geneva, Tuesday, March 3, 2009. The 79th Geneva International Motor Show will be open to the public from March 5 through 15.
The Acura ZDX sports coupe is unveiled at the 2009 New York International Auto Show Wednesday, April 8, 2009, in New York.
It is good to see this movie doing well at the Box Office because it was a lot of good, clean, exciting fun. It was good to see Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and crew back together on film. This movie works, not because of the fun and exciting action scenes, but because it has a reasonable solid story as a foundation, dialog was natural for the characters and above all the movie dealt with the theme of loyalty between friends. Above all this is why, in my opinion, the movie is doing so well at the Box Office. Hollywood, please don't start to think that all it takes is bringing stars back on the set from older successful movies and then you will have a hit on your hands. People, including me, like this film above all because it deals with the loyalty between two friends, ever if they are on opposite sides of the law. Everyone of us that might be a potential audience member understands the importance of loyalty, friendship and the sacrifices you might be willing to make for each other. My advice to everyone is treat yourself and your wife to a nice night at the movies. Go catch this with some good friends or with your brother, brothers, sister, sisters, neighbor, work associate or anyone else you enjoy spending time with. Have fun at the theaters! This is one movie perfect for that good time at the movies!
Need for Speed is heading into simulation territory with Need for Speed: Shift. Announced in January as part of a three-game announcement that includes Need for Speed: Nitro and Need for Speed World Online, Shift takes a new, more realistic approach to racing and will be going head-to-head against seasoned pros Gran Turismo and Forza for the attention of serious racing fans.
Thankfully it looks like the franchise is in good hands, with London-based Slightly Mad Studios (formerly Blimey Games) heading up development duties. According to Shift's producer, Suzy Wallace, Slightly Mad is SimBin--the team behind the high-scoring GTR FIA Racing, GTR 2, and GT Legends games--in everything but name after most of the original team left to form their new studio, and the team is working closely with EA Black Box executive producer Michael Mann and EA Games Europe senior vice president Patrick Soderlund (cofounder of DICE) to ensure that Shift, currently in a pre-alpha build, meets the franchise's standards.
One of the immediately obvious innovations in Shift is the way it tries to simulate crashes; the development team is trying to re-create the jarring, often fear-filled experience. In addition to motion blur, you'll experience some violent camera shake--not too dissimilar to an onboard camera during crash replays--and you'll also experience temporary vision blur after crashes. This is accompanied by the typical audio effects involved in a high-speed collision, but also additional sound effects from your driver, such as a stress-induced spike in heart rate and even a sharp gasp of breath before impact. Lots of other small effects have gone into making Shift feel as realistic as possible, including tunnel vision at high speeds, subtle reflections coming off the windshield, and heat haze emitted from engines.
Shift is all about your experience as a race driver. The action will take place on existing, licensed racetracks, on new racetracks created for Shift, and on street circuits. There is no open-road racing this time around, and we were promised you won't be pursued by the police or have to take part in old-fashioned street races. Instead, Shift will feature 15 real-world locations in addition to fictitious tracks. We got a chance to see the Brands Hatch Race Circuit in Kent and a new London street circuit. The Brands Hatch course looks to be a faithful re-creation of the ex-Formula One racetrack, with a mix of long straights, sweeping curves, sharp corners, and hairpin turns offering variety throughout. Zipping around it with an Audi RS4 was a great introduction.
The London circuit is even more formidable than the purpose-built track, with the streets throwing in some particularly tight turns, all re-created in impressive detail. The location is instantly recognisable for anyone who has visited London. The circuit runs through the Thames' South Bank and the Victoria Embankment to the north, with dozens of famous landmarks flying past you, including the London Eye, County Hall, Houses of Parliament, and the Blackfriars and Westminster bridges. Shift has a dynamic weather condition, and this course looked brilliant at sunset. However, there's no word on whether you will be able to change the time of day manually or if there will be night races.
Unlike in some simulation racers, in Shift the focus is more on the driving experience than on amassing a sizable car collection, although it's unconfirmed if all of the vehicles in the game will be unlocked from the beginning. What is certain is that Shift will offer some exotic and highly tuned models, including the Porsche 997 GT 2, the Audi RS4, the Lotus Elise 111R, the Shelby Terlingua (a highly modified Ford Mustang made specifically for the Need for Speed series), the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, and the Pagani Zonda F. The game will feature more than 70 different cars in total, including hatches, classics, and exotic imports, and while we didn't get to see all of these, we did manage to get behind the wheel of the RS4 and the Terlingua and found them to look, sound, and feel incredibly authentic and true to life, complete with full race-day liveries. In fact, the car models looked so good that we almost found ourselves wanting to look more at the cars than at the road in front of us. In addition to creating realistic visuals, Slightly Mad is going for realistically performing cars, forgoing the rubber-band catch-up of arcade racers for damage modelling, with penalties to your car's physics, performance, and appearance should you hit too many obstacles in your way. The environments are also promised to be realistic, with animated crowds, race marshals, and LCD screens helping to re-create the race-day atmosphere.
If you fancy an in-cockpit, first-person view, you'll be pleased to know that the insides of the cars look as meticulous as the outsides, with highly detailed dashboards, driver animations, and even full working instruments. In fact, you can get rid of the heads-up display entirely and rely solely on the car's gauges if you so desire, and you can peer around the cockpit or even out of the window. The team has also tried to make you feel like you're connected with the car in external camera views by having the camera jerk back when you accelerate and shunt forward when you're braking. Additionally, the HUD shakes when in bumper view to give you a feeling of speed and vibration.
Shift's AI drivers will range from aggressive hotheads to cool, calm, and collected drivers, and the game's grudge system will ensure that aggravated drivers with a personal vendetta will seek out their revenge. Despite this, you won't have to worry about the marshals getting in the way with drive-through penalties or yellow flags. You'll also be able to compete against other humans. Though we didn't get to experience Shift's multiplayer, the game will support 16 players in online races. Need for Speed: Shift combines impressive real-world locations and cars, solid simulation gameplay, and some interesting additions to help immerse you in the racing experience. It's currently set for an autumn 2009 release on the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PSP. In the meantime, stay tuned to GameSpot for more on Shift as it approaches.
In many ways, Need for Speed: Undercover is like a "greatest hits" package of ideas and concepts that we've seen the franchise play around with since Need for Speed: Underground turned the series on its head five years ago. Undercover revels in street culture, much like both of the Underground games, while putting a greater emphasis on cops and car chases like Need for Speed: Most Wanted. And like Need for Speed: Carbon, it leans heavily on a narrative that's plays out in occasional cut-scenes while building on some of the impressive graphics and driving-physics technology built for Need for Speed: ProStreet. On paper it seems like a slam-dunk, but it sadly falls just a little flat in practice.
The vehicle list is impressive, boasting a broad menu of 55 cars that includes a large number of relatively attainable desirables like the Audi TT or Mitsubishi Evo X as well as exotics like the Audi R8 and the Bugatti Veyron. The general feel and handling is exactly what we've come to expect from Need for Speed over the past few years; while based on realistic principles that allow the cars to lean and grip like the real thing, the game's tuned for gameplay rather than realism. If you're familiar with the franchise, you'll be pleased to learn that its "point and squirt" approach is fully intact. Point the car where you want it to go and squeeze the throttle, and all you really need to do to make course adjustments is ease off the throttle briefly. When you get the feel for it, you'll hardly ever do anything more than feather the brakes to get around particularly aggressive turns.
Structurally, the game has the most in common with Most Wanted. While the city of Palm Harbor offers you freedom to cruise around hunting for events, you can instantly hop from race to race without having to waste any time cruising around if you don't want to. All of the events are in keeping with The Fast and the Furious vibe that Black Box's clearly trying to cultivate, with circuit and sprint events supplemented with 1-on-1 races that have you weaving through traffic to impress the bad guys, cop-chase missions that borrow Most Wanted's "cost to the city" mechanic, and a Test Drive-like car delivery mode.
New to the franchise is a fully transparent "leveling" system that borrows heavily from role-playing games and even World of WarCraft. Successful completion of "missions" boosts stats, and stats in turn allow you to level up your driving skills. The higher your level, the more cars you can drive, and the more upgrades you can access. Even if you have enough in-game cash to buy that Nissan GT-R, if you're not sufficiently leveled up, you can't buy it yet. Unless, of course, you want to buy it with real money. See? Not only is this a Need for Speed with something that's essentially grinding, but it also has microtransactions for "cheating," too.
While these may sound like what could be Undercover's greatest crimes against fun, the real offenders are yet to come. Anyone that worked their way to the end of the "Blacklist" in Most Wanted will recall that the cop chases got a little aggressive toward the end. In Undercover, the difficulty ramps in even more obnoxious ways. Though things start off very easy, by the time you've become just a level 5 driver, both the opponent and cop A.I. is so obnoxiously aggressive that it borders on absurd. Drivers will ram you off the road, while cops will somehow find ways to squeeze past you and pull right across your front bumper while you're hurtling along at 120 mph.
And then there's the story. While arguably an improvement over previous attempts to bring "real" actors into the franchise, the script and the performances here are laughable at best. The desperately earnest street racers that chide, threaten, and try to intimidate you throughout make Lucas Black's performance in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift look almost Oscar-worthy.
As a mashup of Need for Speed: Carbon and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Undercover is ultimately fairly successful. For many, though, in a post-Burnout: Paradise world, the question has to be raised: "What does this give me that Paradise doesn't?" The answer to that is "cops and robbers," a mechanic that has worked well in single-player since the days of Hot Pursuit, and works even better online when played in teams of 4-on-4 in Undercover.
Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) has received huge bookings for its multi-utility vehicle Xylo in the last three months, a top official said here Wednesday.
'In the last three months, 15,000 Xylo were booked. In the last month alone, we have sold 2,954 units,' Vivek Nayer, senior vice-president (marketing-automotive sector) of M&M, told reporters.
He was here to unveil a customised Scorpio, a sports utility vehicle (SUV) from the company, for soccer star Bhaichung Bhutia.
M&M sold 3,200 Scorpio vehicles last month, Nayer said.
Asked about the outlook for the current financial year, he said: 'It's difficult to speak about the outlook. We are looking at month-to-month performance. Current month is going fine. Let's wait and watch how the situation unfolds.'
In 2008-09, M&M has crossed 57 percent of the total utility vehicles market share in the country. In the previous year it was around 51 percent, Nayer said.
Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection in New York on Thursday and announced an alliance with Fiat SpA that would see new small cars from the Italian automaker built in the United States.
Following are key facts on the planned alliance.
NEW COMPANY STRUCTURE
* Chrysler will ask the bankruptcy court in New York to approve the sale of substantially all of its assets to a new company.
* Pending this approval, the current Chrysler will continue normal business operations, and the U.S. Treasury and the Canadian government will provide the company with debtor-in-possession financing.
* The restructured company will assume the corporate name of Chrysler and become the owner of substantially all the Chrysler's businesses without certain debts and liabilities.
OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE
* Fiat will initially hold a 20 percent ownership stake in the new Chrysler.
* Fiat's ownership stake will increase to 35 percent in three increments as it meets the following criteria: 5 percent for bringing a 40 mpg vehicle platform to Chrysler to be produced in the United States; 5 percent for providing a fuel-efficient engine family to be produced in the United States for use in Chrysler vehicles, and 5 percent for providing Chrysler with access to its global distribution network to export Chrysler vehicles. (Each of the 5 percent increments will be held in trust until Fiat is able to claim them.)
* Fiat will be granted an option to acquire an additional 16 percent shareholding that will bring its total ownership stake to 51 percent.
* The option, exercisable from Jan. 1, 2013, until June 30, 2016, will allow Fiat to raise its shareholding to 49 percent once outstanding U.S. Treasury loans have fallen to $3 billion or less. When all U.S. government loans have been repaid, Fiat will be able to take a full 51 percent stake.
* The United Auto Workers union retiree healthcare trust, Voluntary Employee Benefit Association, will own 55 percent of the new company.
* The U.S. Treasury and the Canadian Government will collectively hold a 10 percent equity interest.
NEW BOARD
* The new Chrysler will be managed by a board consisting of nine directors, three of whom will be appointed by Fiat.
* U.S. Treasury will have the right to make the initial appointment of four directors. The union healthcare trust and the government of Canada will have the right to appoint one director, respectively.
PRODUCT TIE-UP
* Chrysler will provide Fiat with access to the North American market.
* Chrysler will use all Fiat car platforms for the production of Chrysler vehicles in North America, and certain of Fiat's other key technology, such as engine technology.
* Chrysler will participate in Fiat's purchasing and procurement programs.
* Fiat will give Chrysler access to its distribution network outside North America, particularly in countries in which Chrysler currently has a limited presence.