Why shouldn’t there be a day to honor Elon Musk? If static electricity and bubble wrap are entitled to commemorations on the calendar (January 9 and 27, respectively), surely the visionary behind Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal and other high-tech ventures deserves a day. That’s the question that Tesla pundit and superfan Anuarbek Imanbaev asked a group… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "NASA"
EV motor shaft bearings: One of the few moving parts
CoorsTek argues that ceramic bearings are the best fit for EVs The less moving parts in a machine, the better. That’s one often-heard argument for the superiority of electric powertrains over internal combustion engines (ICEs), in which the number of moving components is dramatic. Sure, EVs have a lot of electrons moving this way and… Read more »
Intumescent battery housing improves lithium-ion battery safety
Sponsored by Pyrophobic Systems Ltd. By Dr. Sean Luo Pyrophobic Systems Ltd. has developed and commercialized an innovative intumescent battery housing LithiumPrevent™ to mitigate the risk of fire and explosion and improve the safety in the operational use, storage, logistics, manufacturing and testing of lithium (ion) batteries. Battery Fire Containment The LithiumPrevent™ battery housing is… Read more »
Tesla Autopilot adds “full self-driving features,” Roadster gets rockets
Tesla seems to be back into the pattern its investors love to see: Elon tweets out a slow drip of good news items, and the stock ratchets higher (as the media makes an about-face and the short sellers gnash their teeth). The latest tidbit is that the eagerly awaited Autopilot version 9 software upgrade, scheduled… Read more »
KULR Technology to manufacture NREL-developed battery safety testing device
KULR Technology has reached an agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to be the exclusive manufacturing and distribution partner for the patented Internal Short Circuit (ISC) device. The device, which was developed in 2015 by NREL and NASA researchers, creates cell failures in predictable conditions, allowing for improved research into safer battery technologies…. Read more »
Flying electric: Both startups and industry giants push ahead with electric airplanes
In the popular imagination, aviation represents the last frontier for electrification. Considering the weight and limited range of batteries, an electric airplane might seem practically impossible. However, while electric long-haul airliners probably lie pretty far in the future, the fact is that, in some applications, the technical obstacles to electrified aircraft are not as formidable… Read more »
An airbag for battery packs: PyroPhobic says its unique thermoplastics will stop thermal runaway
Engineers have been searching for ways to mitigate the risk of fire with Li-ion batteries since the technology was first commercialized. Chemists are creating new cell formulations that are less prone to problems, electronics experts are designing fail-safe battery management systems, and mechanical engineers are building complex cooling and fire suppression systems. A common rule… Read more »
Elon Musk: Tesla can increase the speed of its production line 20-fold
Tesla’s future depends on being able to ramp up to high-volume production quickly. The main pillar of its strategy for doing so is making the production process more efficient – “building the machine that makes the machine,” as Elon Musk puts it. The mathematically-minded Musk has even formulated an equation to quantify the challenge: Production… Read more »
Musk’s manufacturing math: Cars should be able to exit the factory at walking speed
As it faces a huge pile of orders for Model 3, Tesla’s new challenge is not to build great cars (it’s already proven it can do that), but to build great cars quickly, in large volume. Along the way, it just might add manufacturing to the list of realms it has reshaped. As Elon Musk… Read more »
Elon Musk et al to CARB: Make VW sell EVs instead of fixing dirty diesels
Volkswagen is sincerely sorry that it got caught designing its diesels to cheat on emissions tests, and it has proposed to recall some 482,000 vehicles and modify them to bring them into compliance. VW has not yet revealed exactly how it will do this, and some automotive experts have pointed out that a technical fix… Read more »
