Archive for March, 2008
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
Boosting Efficiency in Compact Design and Performance
The Saab 9-X BioHybrid concept is a vivid vision of what a future compact car from Saab could look like. It is designed to reflect the priorities of youthful customers who seek progressive looks, responsible performance and high-tech communications, all in a sporty, fun-to-drive package.
Exploring design themes from Saab’s award-winning Aero X and earlier 9X concepts, the 9-X BioHybrid also demonstrates the potential for ultra-efficient power from a 200 hp (147 kW), 1.4-liter BioPower turbo engine backed by GM’s next-generation Hybrid system. Projected combined cycle CO2 emissions of just 105 g/km on E85 fuel are testimony to the promise of this package (see separate release for details).
The interior showcases an entirely new expression of Saab’s driver-focused cockpit design, together with innovative, seamless connectivity for personal nomadic devices and a rear cargo deck with a ‘low friction’ loading system.
“This car is all about efficiency in design and performance,” says Anthony Lo, Director of Advanced Design at General Motors Europe, who led the 9-X BioHybrid design team in co-operation with the Saab Brand Center in Sweden.
With its ‘turbine’ wheels placed at all four corners, minimal bodywork overhangs and an extended roof line, the proportions of the three-door Saab 9-X BioHybrid bring a dynamic, new dimension to conventional compact ‘hatchback’ looks.
The smooth ‘fuselage’ bodywork, now without any visible handles or door mirrors, the bold ‘wraparound’ window graphic and deep front grille are all themes inspired by the Aero X coupé concept shown at Geneva two years ago.
The car’s distinctive ‘shooting brake’ silhouette and rear functionality are developed from the 9X multi-role concept shown at Frankfurt in 2001. “You could say we designed this car from back to front, “says Lo. “The shape of the 9X is right for a car of this size, and the longer roof line helps the aerodynamics as well as providing more rear headroom and interior space.”
Echoing Saab’s roots in aircraft design, the 9-X BioHybrid also explores the potential for using active aerodynamics to reduce drag – and fuel consumption – at cruising speeds. Above 70 kph (43 mph), the upper and lower bodywork is reshaped as the roof spoiler automatically extends to further lengthen the roof line and an underbody diffuser is deployed from the bottom of the rear bumper.
The four-seater cabin introduces an entirely new execution of Saab’s driver-focused cockpit design. The central, floor-mounted console, with its angled controls and displays, is now eliminated. Instead, the driver- focused layout incorporates a main instrument panel that sweeps out from the top of the door moulding, arching across the driver. The embedded 3-D graphics appear to be ‘frozen’ in ice, continuing a Scandinavian design theme first seen in the Aero X.
Reflecting the needs of youthful customers, who expect easy access to multi-media both inside and outside the car, Saab has co-operated with Sony Ericsson in providing seamless in-car connectivity for a range of nomadic devices. The result is a wireless interface for streaming data, entertainment and satellite navigation functions for display and use. The interface also allows the simultaneous use of multiple devices when passengers are in the car.
At the rear, the cargo deck features an electrically-powered slide-out floor, which is activated when the bottom half of the split tailgate drops down The floor, and the back of the folding rear seats, is covered by ‘high friction’ rubber carpeting, which ‘grips’ items and holds them securely in place. For easy loading and unloading, aluminum bars automatically rise up and down as the tailgate is opened and closed.
The treatment of light is an important part of Scandinavian design and this is evident in the use of variable, white ambient lighting inside the cabin. The level of suffused illumination can be changed in intensity from bright, cold to warm and soft. It’s a personalized feature that could even be programmed, for example, to reflect the pattern of the changing seasons.
“This car shows how our concept work can be carried forward into a compact format,” adds Anthony Lo. “It has a number of features which we will be developing further, such as the new driver-focused design theme, the importance of clean, uncluttered surfaces and the easy, seamless connectivity inside the car.”
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Saturday, March 1st, 2008
A background briefing on the judicial review process
What is a judicial review?
Judicial review is the procedure by which individuals and organisations can seek to challenge the decision, action or failure to act of a public body such as a government department or a local authority or other body exercising a public law function.
A judicial review may be used to seek the following:
- a mandatory order (i.e. an order requiring the public body to do something and formerly known as an order of mandamus);
- a prohibiting order (i.e. an order preventing the public body from doing something and formerly known as an order of prohibition);
- a quashing order (i.e. an order quashing the public body’s decision and formerly known as an order of certiorari);
- a declaration; or
- Human Rights Act damages
Claims will generally be heard by a single judge sitting in open Court at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. They may be heard by a Divisional Court (a court of two judges) where the Court so directs.
Who will be taking this action?
Porsche Cars Great Britain, together with a group of concerned individuals, intends to seek judicial review of the Mayor of London’s decision to increase the congestion charge to £25 for cars that produce CO2 emissions of 226g/km and above.
Should Porsche file an application for judicial review, it will seek an order quashing the Mayor’s decision.
Why is Porsche intending to take this action?
The increase in the congestion charge from £8 to £25 – 213 per cent – for high CO2 emitting cars is completely out of proportion with the rest of the congestion charging scheme and the CO2 savings that are anticipated by TfL. The rise for residents in the congestion zone will be even higher – people who currently pay just 80p a day will also have to pay the new £25.00 charge – a rise of over 3000%.
The effect will be to decrease CO2 emissions by only a tiny percentage – a fraction of a percentage according to many estimates – while increasing the cost of living in London and hurting business. In the run up to a hotly contested Mayoral election the proposal appears motivated by politics rather than sensible policy making. TfL itself has admitted that the emissions savings will be minimal.
As one of the world’s leading car manufacturers Porsche feels it is time to draw a line in the sand on this issue. The Mayor of London has not thought through the consequences of his policy which will be bad for London at time when economic confidence is far from certain.
What are the next steps?
As is required by the relevant pre-action protocol, Porsche solicitors will be writing to the Mayor setting out Porsche’s basis for challenging the Mayor’s decision. The purpose of the letter is to identify the issues in dispute and establish whether litigation can be avoided. The letter will contain the details of the decision which is being challenged and the facts on which the proposed application for judicial review will be based. The Mayor of London will have 14 days to reply.
Porsche will not apply for judicial review until it has received and considered any response to its letter or until the proposed reply date in its letter has passed. In the event that the Mayor does not change his position, the claim form for judicial review – Form N461 – will then be filed. It will include a request for permission to apply for judicial review; a detailed statement of the claimants’ grounds for bringing the claim for judicial review; a statement of the facts relied on and an application for directions. Porsche and the individual claimants will also file all their written evidence supporting the claim and all appropriate supporting material.
The Mayor of London then has 21 days to file an acknowledgement of the claim form which will set out the summary of grounds for contesting the claim and the name and address of any person considered to be an interested party.
After the acknowledgement or 21 days has passed, the application for permission is then considered by a single judge who will then let Porsche, the individual claimants and the Mayor know of their decision. If permission is refused it is possible to request a reconsideration of that decision at an oral hearing.
If permission is granted then the Mayor will have 35 days to submit grounds for contesting the claim and any written evidence.
Once the time for lodging evidence has passed, the Court will provide a list of dates for the hearing.
What happens once the judicial review is completed?
If Porsche is successful, the Mayor’s decision to confirm the changes to the congestion charging scheme will be quashed. The Mayor would then need to consider any new version of an emissions-based congestion charging scheme in light of the Court’s decision.
The party which loses a substantive claim for judicial review will usually be ordered to pay the costs. However the Judge considering the matter has discretion to deal with the issue of costs as he considers appropriate in all of the circumstances. An appeal against the Court’s decision can be filed within 7 days of the decision.
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Saturday, March 1st, 2008
The Morgan LIFECar takes a fresh look at transport, offering as revolutionary an approach to personal freedom as did the brilliant Morgan Threewheeler introduced by HFS Morgan nearly 100 years ago.
The LIFECar is powered by a fuel cell that is sized to meet the constant load requirement of cruising (about 20% of peakpower) and as a result significant weight and cost reductions have been made over other designs. By recapturing energy during braking, maximum performance is available to LIFECar for acceleration from this unique mix of technologies.
The initial concept was the brainchild of Hugo Spowers of RiverSimple, a specialist company investigating new ideas in environmentally sound transport solutions. In order to realise LIFECar however, several partners were needed to make the concept a reality.
The project is based around hydrogen as the fuel source because when it burns the only emission is pure water. Hydrogen is potentially abundant and Spowers brought in Linde to the project for their expertise across the whole hydrogen supply chain from production and distribution through to their high pressure refuelling systems.
The hydrogen is converted to electricity using a 4 stack hydrogen PEM fuel cell. Apart from 22Kw of electricity, the fuel cell produces only heat and water as by-products. The fuel cell made by QinetiQ operates at 45% efficiency, a significant advance over the conventional internal combustion engine.
Electricity is directed to 4 electric motor/generators, each connected directly to a driving wheel. Not only are these motors super-efficient – 92-94% across their operating range – but they have inbuilt re-generative braking, recapturing the kinetic energy for when vivid acceleration is required (and reducing energy consumption still further). Whilst regenerative braking is not a new concept, current applications offer around 10% energy reuse, whereas in LIFECar, up to 50% of this stored kinetic energy can be re-employed.
This regained energy needs to be efficiently stored and delivered. Historically this has been the job of batteries, which are rich in heavy metals, heavy in weight and limited in their ability to deliver or receive high power bursts of energy. LIFECar has shunned these in favour of a bank of ultra capacitors. These have the ability to shuffle up to 1000 amps back and forth, maximising energy storage during braking and delivering powerful acceleration.
This technology would not be practical without sophisticated controls. Cranfield University have developed management systems for the vehicle, hydrogen, fuel cell, ultracapacitors and the motors allowing them to become the drive and braking system (powerful enough to give 0.7g retardation as well as generating energy). They have also developed a solution to seamlessly switch the electronic brakes to a conventional hydraulic system at very low speeds.
LIFECar has been engineered to deliver energy consumption equivalent to 150 mpg (1.8 l/100km) on petrol with a top speed potential of 80-85 mph, a 0-62 time of under 7 seconds and a 250 mile range. This unique mix of technology has been packaged by Morgan to add yet another unique twist to the project. Using only the best and lightest materials that are also attractive from an environmental and an aesthetic point of view, aluminium, wood and leather, the Morgan DNA is clearly visible and gives a new dimension to an environmentally sensitive concept.
One thing is for certain, the world of motoring will change out of all recognition over the next 10 years…Could this be its future?
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