Faraday Future Reveals Their Car

The automotive future, according to Faraday Future, looks a lot like a Corvette crossed with the Batmobile. The California-based company today unveiled its sleek electric concept during the annual CES show that focuses on consumer gadgets

Daily Mail: Faraday Future unveils the 'Tesla killer': Mysterious Chinese-backed firm reveals its bizarre 1,000-horsepower electric car

* Concept car has adjustable chassis that can house strings of batteries
* It was revealed at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today
* The company predicts they will start being produced within two years
* The firm is backed by 'China's Steve Jobs', multibillionaire Jia Yueting

The future of cars, according to Faraday Future, looks like a Corvette crossed with the Batmobile.

The California-based company today unveiled its sleek electric concept during the annual CES show that focuses on consumer gadgets.

The company is dubbing today's debut FFZero1, but others are nicknaming it the 'Tesla-killer'.

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CSN Editor: On the surface it looks impressive. But what is under the hood is also important, and we will not kinow about that until they start producing these cars in two years.

A Flying Car In The Near Future?

Discover: One Small Step for Flying Cars

A drone’s flying test may help pave the way for flying cars. In early December, U.S. regulators gave their approval for unmanned hover tests of a miniature flying car model made by the company Terrafugia. Such testing would provide feedback for eventually building a full-size version of a flying car capable of hovering for vertical takeoff and landing.

Contrary to some more breathless news headlines, this does not mean the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared a hover-capable flying car for flight tests in U.S. airspace. Instead, Terrafugia only received special permission to operate a “one-tenth scale TF-X vehicle” under the classification of a small Unmanned Aircraft System weighing less than 55 pounds. The small-scale model of the TF-X prototype—basically a small drone—will have to operate at altitudes below 400 feet and at speeds under 100 miles per hour. Still, it’s a crucial step on the road to creating a flying car with the likeness of the futuristic vehicles seen in science fiction films such as “Back to the Future,” “Blade Runner” or the “Star Wars” prequels.

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CSN Editor: I want one.

High Expectations For Faraday Future's Car

Daily Mail: Faraday Future teases the ‘Tesla killer’: Mysterious Chinese-backed firm provides the first glimpse of its electric car

* Teaser video of vehicle driving around shows its wheel but not much else
* It will be revealed at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday
* The company predicts a production model will hit the roads by 2020
* The firm is backed by 'China's Steve Jobs', multibillionaire Jia Yueting

Faraday Future has provided a glimpse of its top-secret electric car, billed the 'Tesla-killer', ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next week.

The secretive Chinese-backed company today posted a teaser video of vehicle driving around showing not much more than a wheel.

The car, which is set to be revealed at CES in Las Vegas on Monday, will be a concept vehicle with a production model set to hit the roads by 2020.

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CSN Editor: I am looking forward to this unveiling.

Vehicles Will Soon Be Able To Talk To Each Other

Vehicles May Soon Be Talking To Each Other -- Voice of America

WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators are close to approving new standards for enabling vehicles to communicate with each other, hoping the new technology will reduce traffic accidents. Within as little as three years, automakers may be required to equip all new cars with the so-called ‘vehicle-to-vehicle’ communication devices.

Vehicle-to-vehicle, or V2V, is a short-range communication technology that enables vehicles to exchange vital information 10 times per second, about location, speed, acceleration and braking. Cars will be able to calculate the hazard risk within about 300 meters and alert their drivers or even take automatic collision-avoidance action.

The drivers will be able to see, hear and even feel the hazard signals through vibration of the seat.

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My Comment: Another reason to increase car prices .... but what am I interested in is .... can such a system be rigged to warn drivers of speed traps?

Trion SuperCars Wants To Develop The Nemesis, An American Supercar With 2,000hp

Trion SuperCars plans to introduce a prototype for the Nemesis, an American supercar with 2,000hp. Yahoo News

2,000-hp Trion Nemesis Angling To Be America's Next Great Supercar -- Autoblog

You can add one more name to the list of boutique builders hoping to break into the automotive industry. This time it's a California-based outfit called Trion Supercars that is launching the 2,000-horsepower Nemesis. It's supposed to be a driver-oriented sportscar and is aimed at the wealthiest people in the world. At the moment it still only exists in renderings, though.

"We want to be the Nemesis of the Europeans," said company leader Richard Patterson to Autoblog about in the inspiration for the name. The company claims the it's going to be one of the world's fastest cars when it's ready, theoretically packing a twin-turbo V8 with more than 2,000 hp and an eight-speed sequential gearbox. The company believes that its creation could hit 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds and reach a top speed of over 270 mph. If that is the case, then it would put the newcomer against the heavyweights like the Hennessey Venom GT and Koenigsegg Agera One:1.

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More News On Trion SuperCars Wanting To Develop The Nemesis, An American Supercar With 2,000hp

US firm developing 2,000hp supercar -- Yahoo News
Trion Supercars Nemesis promises the US a 2000hp street bullet -- Slash Gear
With ‘Predator Mode’ and 2,000 horsepower, Trion’s Nemesis is as mythical as it sounds -- Digital Trends
Trion Nemesis 2,000-hp Super Car Imagined by American Firm -- Motorward
Trion Nemesis Supercar Sports 2,000hp For Top Speed Of Over 270mph -- Geeky Gadgets
The Trion Nemesis Is A Ridiculous 2,000-HP Supercar For Tall People -- Jalopnik

The Future Of Vehicles?

Unique features: No emissions, there is storage space in both the boot and the bonnet, and the Tesla can be fully charged up for the cost of £6.40

The Future Of Vehicles? PayPal Founder Unveils 'Tesla' Electric Car Which Accelerates Faster Than A BMW And Travels 300 Miles On A Top-Up Of £6.40 -- Daily Mail

Elon Musk, the creator of the Tesla Model S electric car, has already revolutionised the world twice.

He co-founded PayPal, one of the staple payment methods on the internet, then founded the Space X rocket project, which launched last month and made him the first commercial operator in space.

Now his electric car attempts a motor revolution - packing as it does an electric engine that can do 0-60 in a silent 4.4 seconds, two 'boots' as there is no engine in the bonnet, and 300miles between charges - which, when it comes, only costs £6,40.

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My Comment: With these cars at a price range between at $49,900 (£31,500) and $84,900 (£54,000) .... they are not going to be cheap.

A Competitor To Tesla Motors

Fisker Karma Plug-in Hybrid Courtesy Fisker Automotive

Testing the Long-Awaited Fisker Karma Plug-In Hybrid -- Popular Science

At the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, the start-up Fisker Automotive unveiled its Karma concept , a high-end plug-in hybrid the company would use to challenge Tesla Motors. Cofounder Henrik Fisker said the Karma would go on sale in late 2009. Then the recession, a switch in battery suppliers and other delays kept Fisker from shipping the first trickle of cars until late last year. This spring, we got one of the first test drives.

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My Comment: I wish them luck.

Porsche 918 Spyder On Display

Porsche 918 Spyder Concept

An Exclusive Ride In The World’s First Plug-In Hybrid Supercar -- Autopia

NARDO, Italy – There’s a digital clock mounted above the door of Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser’s office counting down the days until the launch of Porsche 918 Spyder. It’s a constant reminder of what Walliser and his team have been tasked with. They’re reinventing the supercar for the 21st century and we’ve traveled all the way to the high-security Nardo Test Track for an exclusive ride in the world’s first plug-in hybrid supercar.

This is most definitely not a Prius.

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More News On The Porsche 918 Spyder

Porsche Unleashes 918 Spyder Hybrid Prototype on the Racetrack -- Daily Tech
Early Porsche 918 Spyder prototype hits the track -- Slash Gear
Porsche 918 Spyder: The first ride in the future game changer -- Autoweek
Porsche 918 Spyder Prototype Looks Like a Skunkworks Supercar -- AutoGuide
Porsche 918 Spyder Development Progressing -- GTSpirit
Porsche 918 hybrid supercar rolls out of our dreams, onto the tarmac -- Endgadget
Development of Porsche 918 plug-in hybrid supercar progressing nicely -- AutoBlog Green
Report: Porsche Rolling Out Plug-In Hybrid Panamera Next Year -- Automobile
Porsche Panamera Plug-In Hybrid in 2013 -- Autoevolution

7 Next-Gen Driving Technologies, Coming Soon To BMW

BMW's next-gen tech could change cars—for better or worse. Here, an iPhone app locates a parked vehicle by GPS from up to 1600 meters away.

From Popular Mechanics:

Fascinating or frightening? Wondrous or worrisome? BMW demonstrates tomorrow's driving innovations, beyond the self-parking car and everyday GPS system.

Munich, Germany—Tomorrow's automotive technology is usually tucked away in research labs—well out of public view. But every once in a while we're granted access to these top-secret incubators, as was the case when we recently paid a visit to BMW's headquarters in Munich.

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The Car In front Will Be Carbon Fibre

Volkswagen AG's carbon-fibre sports car prototype, at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005. The cars of the future will be like this with knobs on. Photo: Reuters/ERIKO SUGITA

From The Telegraph:

A nano-scale material developed in Britain may one day yield wafer-thin cellphones and light-weight, long-range electric cars powered by the roof, boot and doors, according to researchers.

For now, the new technology - which is a patented mix of carbon fibre and polymer resin that can charge and release electricity just like a regular battery - has not gone beyond a successful laboratory experiment.

But if scaled up, it could hold several advantages over existing energy sources for hybrid and electric cars, according to the scientists at Imperial College London who developed it.

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The Future Of Cars ( Preview )

Alina Novopashna, Corbis

From Scientific American:

Industry leaders look way down the road.

Key Concepts

* The car fleet of 2030 will use a patchwork quilt of different fuels and power trains, with some cars meant for short hops and city driving.
* As the years go by, vehicles will become increasingly connected to one another electronically,
for crash prevention and social networking. Driver distraction will be an ongoing concern.
* Whether cars that run on hydrogen fuel cells will be common in 20 years remains an open question.

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Super-Efficient BMW Concepts Are Simple and Clever

From Autopia/Wired:

BMW, the company that brought you Gina, that wild shape-shifting concept car made of cloth, went even further off the deep end with a pair of wacky concepts making their debut at the company museum in Munich.

The cars, dubbed “Simple” and “Clever” — acronyms that we’ll explain in a moment — are über-small, über-light three-wheelers that are supposed to show just how far down the efficiency road BMW can go. The Bavarians say Simple is “light in weight, low on energy” and Clever gives you “cooperative driving pleasure.”

We say, WTF?

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1000 MPH or Bust: Behind the Scenes With Supersonic Car Tech

(Illustration by Curventa)

From Popular Mechancis:

A series of successful rocket tests in the Mojave desert recently marks another step in the development of a car built to reach 1000 mph. The British team Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) is comprised of some legendary land speed experience. Richard Noble was the man behind the Thrust SSC—the car that set the current land speed record. And the man that will slide behind the wheel of the Bloodhound is Andy Green, the former fighter pilot who holds the land speed record for the fastest diesel vehicle in the world (just over 350 mph, back in 2006). We met with the team recently to get a sense of the scope of the Bloodhound project and the challenges that lie ahead on the road to 1000 mph.

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G.M. And Segway Build An EV Only Woz Could Love

From Autopia/Wired:

General Motors and the people who make the world's coolest scooter have developed a two-wheeled, two-seat electric car that's essentially a big honkin' Segway, which makes us wonder how long it'll be before Woz is playing polo with one.

GM and Segway pulled the sheet off the unusual, albeit innovative, EV on Tuesday morning at the New York Auto Show, proclaiming the car of the future may have two wheels, not four. The beleaguered automaker says the concept vehicle, dubbed Project PUMA - for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility - is just the thing for navigating congested cities with ease.

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