Toyota had announced their response to one of the most luxury car brand Rolls Royce last year, but so far there was no information about it except the fact it is being made.
The new Toyota Century
Few days ago the Japanese resource Best Car Web has published new details about the prospective luxury SUV Toyota Century, which is being called the “Japanese Rolls-Royce Cullinan” by local media, due to the fact of terribly similar design which is hard not to notice.
Rolls Royce Cullinan
The resource has confirmed that the vehicle will be presented this year, however there is no exact date announced, while some sources say autumn is the most probable release time.
Alongside with photos there were some details about the car’s powertrain shown: luckily for car enthusiasts, it will be not a fully electric car. Toyota Century will have a 3.5-liter V6 engine at the front producing around 300 horsepower, and an 80 horsepower electric motor at the rear axle, which makes it a big hybrid SUV. There are also some good news for those who like to hear clicking of their Rolex replica watch while driving on a speedway, as it was also announced that a purely electric version will also be introduced later. Talking about replicas, the name of the car may be changed, so that the expensive crossover is not associated with the more affordable Toyota Century sedan.
The Toyota Century will be built on the elongated Highlander platform (i.e., the TNGA-K platform) and will have three rows of seats. The dimensions of the new Toyota SUV will be 5.2 x 1.95 x 1.75 m, with a wheelbase of 3 m. This means that the Toyota Century will be over 20 cm longer than the well-known Land Cruiser 300, and 14 cm shorter than a Rolls Royce Cullinan.
As the demand for electric and driverless vehicles continues to grow, chip designer Arm has reported impressive growth in its automotive division. The company has more than doubled its revenue in this sector over the past year, as it looks for new opportunities for growth ahead of a highly anticipated public listing in 2022.
The increasing incorporation of technology in modern vehicles has led to a greater demand for chips to power these electronic systems. As a result, there is currently a shortage of chips in the market, causing delays in the availability of certain car models for over a year. In response to this high demand for chips in the automotive industry, Arm has chosen to prioritize the production of chips for this market segment.
The production of a basic automobile necessitates the incorporation of over 3,000 semiconductor chips, as reported by the New York Times. The demand for enhanced fuel efficiency in the automotive industry, particularly after the 1973 oil crisis, has resulted in the increased use of electronics in engine controls. These electronics, including sensors for monitoring various engine functions, have been made possible through the utilization of chips and have significantly improved fuel economy in vehicles.
Semiconductor chips have become increasingly prevalent in the automotive industry due to their reliability compared to mechanical components. Electronic controls, such as those used to open windows or adjust seats, have become standard in many vehicles. These chips also play a role in the operation of features such as air conditioning and screen displays. The use of semiconductor chips has become an integral part of the daily operation and comfort of modern automobiles.
It is clear why Arm has chosen to prioritize the development of car chips. In 2021, a shortage of these components significantly impacted the number of cars that could be produced. Arm’s strategy of becoming a chip supplier for many automobile companies appears to be well-timed, as the lack of available chips has resulted in millions of unproduced cars. The increased production of chips for the automotive industry is therefore a pressing issue.
In conclusion, the increased production of car chips is a crucial development in the automotive industry. The shortage of these components in 2021 had a significant impact on the number of cars that could be produced, highlighting the importance of their availability. Companies like Arm, which have made the decision to focus on car chip production, may be well positioned to meet the demand from automobile manufacturers. As technology continues to advance and the use of electronics in vehicles increases, it is likely that the demand for car chips will only continue to grow. Therefore, important for companies to stay at the forefront of this development in order to meet the needs of the market and stay competitive.
While the arrival of self-driving automobiles has many potential benefits, it also has its own set of challenges. Technology is never flawless, and computers may be hacked. Furthermore, while autonomous cars will make our roads safer, they may also have unexpected societal implications, such as greater unemployment rates.
Some possible issues with self-driving automobiles are inherent in the existing layout and use of our highway infrastructure. Existing road conditions and signs, for example, as well as the transition phase in which some drivers on the road will use autonomous vehicles and others, will use traditional vehicles, might all provide substantial challenges to the adoption of self-driving cars.
Road conditions
Road conditions can be exceedingly variable and vary from location to location. There are smooth and well-marked wide roadways in certain situations. In other areas, the road is severely eroded, with no lane markings. Lanes are not well defined, there are potholes, hilly and tunnel routes with unclear external cues for orientation, and so forth.
Weather conditions
Another stumbling block is the weather. The weather might be bright and clear or wet and stormy. Autonomous vehicles should be able to operate in any weather situations. There is no possibility of failure or downtime.
Traffic conditions
Autonomous vehicles would have to enter the road and drive under a variety of traffic scenarios. They would have to share the road with other autonomous vehicles as well as a large number of humans. There are a lot of emotions involved whenever people are involved. The flow of traffic might be greatly monitored and self-regulated. However, there are times when someone may be breaching driving laws. An item may appear in unforeseen circumstances. Even a few centimeters per minute of movement matters in tight traffic. One cannot wait indefinitely for traffic to clear and for some prerequisite to begin moving. If there are more of these automobiles on the road waiting for traffic to move, it might lead to a heavy traffic.
Accident Liability
Accident liability is the most significant feature of self-driving automobiles. In the case of self-driving automobiles, the software will be the primary component that will operate the vehicle and make all critical choices. While the earliest concepts had a human physically stationed behind the steering wheel. Furthermore, owing to the nature of autonomous vehicles, the occupants will be primarily relaxed and may not be paying careful attention to road conditions. In instances where their attention is required, it may be too late to act by the time they need to.
Radar Interference
Lasers and radar are used for navigation in self-driving automobiles. The lasers are installed on the roof, while the sensors are located on the vehicle’s body. Radar operates by detecting radio wave reflections from nearby objects. When a car is on the road, it emits radio frequency waves that are reflected by other automobiles and things in the vicinity. The time required for the reflection is calculated to determine the distance between the automobile and the object. Based on the radar data, appropriate action is subsequently performed. Radar operates by detecting radio wave reflections from nearby objects. When a car is on the road, it emits radio frequency waves that are reflected by other automobiles and things in the vicinity. The time required for the reflection is calculated to determine the distance between the automobile and the object. Based on the radar data, appropriate action is subsequently performed. Will a car be able to discern between its own (reflected) signal and the signal (reflected or transmitted) from another vehicle when this technology is utilized for hundreds of cars on the road? Even if numerous radio frequencies are available for radar, it is doubtful that this frequency range would be insufficient for all cars made.
Today electric cars are being pushed into the world car market to make it more environmentally friendly for people to travel. Its theory is for people to buy electric cars to travel and make less pollution. But are cars the main reason for polluting in the first place yes they are everywhere but are electric cars the solution?
The world is ready for electric cars but can the producing keep up with it? Batteries are seen to be the biggest issue with better technology their production is rapid. But batteries are the most damaging stage of the production procedure in cars. The production of batteries starts with lithium mines that are mostly located in Chile, Canada, and Australia then the raw material is transported to Europe for cleaning and mixed to make lithium for its final stage to being made into batteries. But for the production of clean lithium batteries, the material has to be transported again from Europe to china where the biggest producers of batteries are. This procedure does not sound clean to me with all of the transport happening. But looking at the long run this is definitely an option to make the world cleaner.
Looking at what will power these batteries is another problem that we face. These called green sources of power have mixed ideas of eco-friendly. Wind turbines can be a case when a lot of people sed that to produce a wind turbine makes more damage then it will produce this is not true but except one aspect of the producing the amount of concrete to place a wind turbine is huge and the production of that is great and as we know producing such specific concrete is very deadly for the idea of being eco-friendly. We all get to listen to the ideas of everything and how good it will be in the future but why don’t they tell us how it affects us now so what if in 100 years it will be better were in a situation where in need of change right now. Looking at sea transport for the raw, not raw, and final product of the batteries is one of the main transport to move such large quantities of the material because of the high demand to produce the batteries. Looking at statistics container ships account for 18% of air emissions but the problem here is that they do not take into account a very important aspect. What if the ship sinks? Sinking a ship affects the whole world because of all of the toxins that are not contained and leak into the whole sea, not just the area where the ship sank.
The sinking ship is not a rare occasion between 2011 and 2020, 348 cargo ships sank, 40 chemical and product tankers sank, 37 Ro-ro ships sank and 35 container ships sank. The listed ships are the ones that make the biggest change in climate damage but the list goes on.
this is not a small number as each has a huge amount of toxins on board which would take many years to undo the damage but there’s nothing really happening to attack this damage done by the biggest corporations and firms around the world.
Another aspect of pollution is our consumption. Today we are pushed to have new technology the newest clothes everything new but what happens to the old things that we don’t use yes there are recycling procedures but there’s a limit to how an item can be recycled. Clothes are sent to poor countries and delt there which is not the worse idea but what about other items? Something like a phone is only 15% reusable. Look how many phones there are today and how much waste is involved. buying a new smartphone every year is a norm for many people because there’s a new model that comes out. We don’t look anymore at do we need this function of design to make our life easier only we look at” that is new we need it” and that is our problem. I don’t blame society but I do blame the corporations that push these new items if they dint look at making profits only to make sustainable money and make eco-friendly products, producing it would help the environment but then you would say that people would lose jobs, that’s the loop that I can’t find any information about.
So looking back at if electric cars are the soluting to pollution I say yes but in the long run, definitely will not make a change today we have many different aspects to look at first then cars which could be taken as just another way to make more money with an eco-friendly change in theory.
Nowadays all manufactures in the automotive industry are switching from internal combustions engines (ICE) to electric, with the intend to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars in Europe by 2035. Moreover, the media keeps telling us that this change will benefit the environment and help reduce the amount of CO2 that we produce. But have you ever thought about the truthfulness of these statements?
One of the companies that are making this change is Volvo, which has released data about the amount of CO2 that is produced during the manufacturing and use of an electric car (XC40 recharge). In the report Volvo has compared it to the ICE equivalent (XC40), but keep in mind that the data doesn’t consider the productions and utilization of the batteries.
Looking at the first part of every automobile, the production process. Volvo states that the production of the electric vehicle increases carbon emissions by 70% in comparison to its ICE equivalent. This is mainly due to the increase of materials that are needs to produce sed vehicle. Looking at the numerical data that is provided from the company, we can see that the production of the XC40 Recharge generates 26.4 tones of CO2, whilst the XC40 ICE produces only 15.7 tones (Elisabeth Evrard, Carbon Footprint Report, 2020). Putting this into perspective, the entire automotive industry produces around 3 billion tons of CO2 (in 2020) (Tiseo, 2021) in the production processes of vehicles. If the entire industry started only producing electric cars this number would change to around 5.1 billion tons of CO2. Moreover, the world would be at great risk of having a crisis due to the limited supply of Li-ion batteries. This would affect almost every aspect of our life, since this type of batteries are used in almost every device that we buy and use everyday.
The most important part of a car’s life cycle is the “use phase”, in which the two types of vehicles differ substantially. Volvo in its analysis tells us that electric car is supposed to travel 200 thousand kilometers before being dismantled. During this time the cars is estimated to produce 24 tons of CO2 on the global electricity mix, which being compared to the 43 tons of CO2 that the internal combustion equivalent is estimated make, sounds like an amazing improvement. Nevertheless, this brings the breakeven point of the car’s pollution at 110 thousand kilometers (Elisabeth Evrard, Carbon footprint report, 2020) of driving but keep in mind that the average person travels 21.7 thousand kilometers per year (Transportation, 2022). Which means on average it will take a person around 9 years to reach the end goal of 200 thousand kilometers. Most if not all of, electric car manufactures guarantee that the battery will last 8 years and decrease it compacity to only 70% (Corby, 2022), which also means that the range that the vehicle can travel on one charge will decrease. Throughout the estimated cars use cycle the user might need to change the cars battery or replace the entire vehicle. In the instance of replacing the entire vehicle (generating 26.4 tons of CO2) the breakeven point in carbon pollution will be at around 250 thousand kilometers, which exceeds the scale of the analysis.
(Elisabeth Evrard, Carbon footprint report, 2020)
Coming to the end phase of the vehicles life cycle, it is the least polluting process with both types of vehicles producing the same amount of CO2. The problem with this is that the data doesn’t consider the fact that the utilization of batteries is a very harmful process for the environment. Nevertheless, in the most optimistic circumstances the batteries will be refabricated and reused in some other way.
(Edelstein, 2015)
Concluding, electric vehicles aren’t as ecological, with regards to the information that we are given in the media. Data shows us that this change will have a very different outcome on our environment than what people believe it will have. There are very many downsides to the change and putting the world on the verge of a crisis isn’t a solution. Maybe there is more behind this change than we think?
Feel free to comment about this topic, I am curious of your opinions.
Bibliography
Elisabeth Evrard, J. D.-H. (2020). Carbon footprint report. Retrieved from Volvocars: https://www.volvocars.com/images/v/-/media/Market-Assets/INTL/Applications/DotCom/PDF/C40/Volvo-C40-Recharge-LCA-report.pdf
Elisabeth Evrard, J. D.-H. (2020). Carbon Footprint Report. Retrieved from Volvo Cars: https://www.volvocars.com/images/v/-/media/Market-Assets/INTL/Applications/DotCom/PDF/C40/Volvo-C40-Recharge-LCA-report.pdf
Tiseo, I. (2021, December 14). Carbon dioxide emissions from passenger cars worldwide from 2000 to 2020. Retrieved from statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1107970/carbon-dioxide-emissions-passenger-transport/
Transportation, U. D. (2022, May 31). U.S. Deparment of Transportation. Retrieved from U.S. Deparment of Transportation: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm
Edelstein, S. (2015, January 30). Where Will BMW Electric-Car Batteries Go When They Retire?Retrieved from Green Car Reports: https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1096552_where-will-bmw-electric-car-batteries-go-when-they-retire
Corby, S. (2022, March 22). What is the lifespan of an electric car battery?Retrieved from Carguide: https://www.carsguide.com.au/ev/advice/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-electric-car-battery-86149
XPeng Inc has developed the XPeng X2 flying car, which has been successfully tested in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
XPeng is a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer that was established in 2014 by Xia Heng (Henry Xia) and He Tao. The goal of XPeng is to create smart cars using the latest technologies with the possibility of using their products by ordinary users.
On Monday, October 10, the novelty took off over the Marina in Dubai, a prototype of its electronic taxi, which will soon be able to transport people around cities over the main road routes. The tests took place with an empty cockpit, but the company says it conducted a manned flight test in July 2021 last year.
The developers claim that the car can reach speeds of 130 km/h (81 mph) and a flight time of 35 minutes. It is controlled by an eight-rotor design and can carry two passengers
at the same time. Also, the car was specially created for Urban Air Mobility (UAM). Chinese engineers were able to provide fast and affordable point-to-point travel inside the city without specially equipped takeoff and landing sites.
The XPeng X2 weighs 360 kg (794 lb) and has a maximum takeoff weight of 560 kg (1,235 lb). The Chinese company achieved such a small weight by making the body of the aircraft from carbon fiber
The approximate cost of the novelty is from $126,000.00 – $236,000.00 USD. In the future, tests of the car in Europe are planned, and serial production will occur in 2024.
Theoretically, flying cars can be a discovery for mankind and transport people high above traffic jams, but so far the problem with flight duration has not been resolved (35 minutes without recharging), as well as security problems and general conditions for flying many such cars at the same time
We have been using our daily electronic devices, depending on a device which was first invented in 1881. Of course, I am talking about a “battery”.
Batteries are a collection of one or more cells whose chemical reactions create a flow of electrons in a circuit. All batteries are made up of three basic components: an anode (the ‘-‘ side), a cathode (the ‘+’ side), and some kind of electrolyte (a substance that chemically reacts with the anode and cathode).
When the anode and cathode of a battery is connected to a circuit, a chemical reaction takes place between the anode and the electrolyte. This reaction causes electrons to flow through the circuit and back into the cathode where another chemical reaction takes place. When the material in the cathode or anode is consumed or no longer able to be used in the reaction, the battery is unable to produce electricity. At that point, your battery is “dead.”
As quoted above, and as we most probably have encountered it before, our batteries are not usable after a certain amount of time. The technological progress we’ve had throughout 100 years is astonishing and technological advancements have to occur as we head into a green and carbon-free future. That is why these advancements have to happen also in the battery business, the solution is Nano Diamond Nuclear Batteries.
Not only is this type of battery much more efficient and longer-lasting, but it does also get rid of toxic waste from nuclear power plants and use it as a green energy solution, as radiation will power them for up to 28 000 years, though we will see for ourselves in the future *wink wink*. Let’s compare these two:
This invention will make our mobile devices almost, or completely charge free and the usability possibilities rise only as fast as our imagination can allow. The electric cars business will be turned around in a fashion that only a fool would discredit as petrol cars soon will go extinct. I’m eager to see what the future will bring, but thanks to this invention, it won’t be as depressing and polluted as many may think. Let’s hope for the best and support innovators.
Reading Time: 2minutesThere is a trend in the modern car industry to aim at the production of electric automobiles, which are of people’s interest and demand nowadays. Toyota, being one of the most significant Japanese car producers, is not an exception! The company has been experimenting with solid-state batteries since 2017 and is planning to present its newest technology on the mass market. All in all, their work is likely to be done in the shortest terms, as the car presentation with the new technology applied was planned for the middle of the next year.
According to Nikkei Asia, one of the largest financial newspapers, the car of Toyota will be possible to go 500 km with the battery fully charged. What is more compelling – only 10 minutes are needed to charge the battery from 5% to 90%. However, the information was given on the prototype, so the situation may be quite different as well as captivating than it was before.
Usually, it takes around 2 years to make a realization of a car prototype, but no one knows how much time is needed to create a totally new project of an electric car operated with an unknown type of tracking batteries, which are planned to be used in Toyota electric models of a new type.
There are lots of electric car advantages in comparison with the regular ones, though they are much more expensive in production. The batteries of this kind are predicted to be of use in automobiles in 2025, but if Toyota manages to start such a car production, it will make a giant step in electro car market promotion.
Reading Time: 4minutesBugatti entered the cards of history back in 1920s by producing one of the most successful racing car of all time : the Type 35. The car itself achieved astonishing number of over 2000 victories becoming the legend in racing history, but the company didn’t stop. In 2003 they announced new competitor in car industry Bugatti Veyron. It was the first street-legal fastest production car in the world with a top-speed of 431.072 km/h.
“Type 35”
“Bugatti Veyron”
Bugatti Automobiles decided that they can achieve even more, so they started working on another project. That being said in 2016 during Geneva Motor Show Bugatti presented their new toy “Chiron” faster and better than his brother “Veyron”. 2020 model “Chiron Super Sport 300 +” surprised every automaniac in the whole world. New model is able to exceed his older brother “Veyron” top-speed by 50 km/h ! Isn’t it amazing and scary at the same time ?
President of Bugatti Stephan Winkelmann says “Bugatti never stands still” therefore he asked himself a question “What if ?”. “What if Bugatti could unleash the complete power of W16 engine ?”, “What if we could reduce the weight to minimum ?” the answer to those questions is only one
“BUGATTI BOLIDE”.
On 23rd of October Bugatti team presented the world their new monster “Bolide”. The new project is Bugatti’s fastest, most powerful, lightest and probably most expensive car yet. Huge W16 engine provides us with 1,850 horse power which is an enormous amount of horses. Weighs only 1,240 kg that’s slightly less than every compact car. Top-speed of this car is said to be 310mph + (500 km/h +). “Bolide” can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in just 2.17 seconds, 0 to 200km/h in only 4.36 seconds 0 to 300km/h in 7.37 and 0 to 400km/h in 12.08 it’s ridiculous how fast this masterpiece of engineering is. They truly stood up to a challenge, but we have to keep in mind that those statistics are only simulated performance numbers. As a race car Bugatti designed “Bolide” to not only beat the previous top-speed record holder SSC Tuatara but also break the records on worlds famous race tracks such as Le Mans or challenging Nürburgring. Engineers from Molsheim did simulations and the results are stunning. Our rocket should do the lap of Le Mans in 3 minutes and 7 seconds (faster than a purpose-built Le Mans racing car by 7 seconds) while Nürburgring lap in just 5 minutes 23 seconds (1 minute and 20 seconds faster than current record holder Lamborghini Aventador SVJ ).
Let’s move to reasons why does this car is so fast and such a masterpiece.
“We asked ourselves how we could realize the mighty W16 engine as a technical symbol of the brand in its purest form – with solely four wheels, engine, gearbox, steering wheel and, as the only luxury, two seats.” – Stephan Winkelmann, Bugatti President.
The company focused on 4 aspects :
Weight and Strength :
In order to build such a beast they had to use the lightest and therefore the most durable materials as possible. That’s why “Bolide” is made mainly from 2 materials carbon fiber and titanium which demonstrate high strength-to-weight ratios.
Speed and Dynamics :
Improved aerodynamics, reduced weight, upgraded W16 engine with 4 superchargers, specially designed cooling system with all these ingredients comes speed and capability of “Bolide”. For the first time Bugatti Automobiles stream the air through the internal parts of the car. Raw air travels to a roof scoop and hot air travels along the cabin and the cool air travel through the side to intercoolers etc. Bugatti says that new spoilers and wings are capable of producing a downforce up to 1800kg.
Combining all of these factors such as striped cabin, lightweight, aerodynamics, new engine, new durability provides us with incredible amount of power and amazing (simulated) achievements.
In addition Bugatti added some aviation lining to “Bolide” model such as X shaped rear, front lights and also side view of vehicle.
“It is indirectly reminiscent of the Bell X-1 jet aircraft which was flown by Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager in 1947, the first person to break the sound barrier at Mach 1.06.”
Company didn’t provide us with a price tag or premier date of “Bolide”.
To conclude, Bugatti has shown the world that they are expanding their horizons with every year presenting us more and more technologically advanced machines. They keep amaze us but the real question is, Is it necessary ? Is it the right way they should go ? Will there be any customers interested to buy cars which they can’t test to the maximum ?
Even in a difficult economic situation Mercedes-Benz continues to improve its manufacturing process and tries to set a higher bar in the car industry. Another proof of that is the opening of a new Mercedes-Benz’s factory named Factory 56 in the German city Sindelfingen. The company itself calls this factory “Flexible, digital, efficient and sustainable.” Factory 56 was opened at the beginning of September on a ground area corresponding to 30 soccer pitches. It took 2.5 years to finish the project. According to the company’s web-site, Mercedes-Benz is planning to invest about 2.1 billion euros at Factory 56.
But what makes this plant the future of car manufacturing?
Flexibility. At one factory’s assembly line is possible to assemble cars with different body types. The production can adapt to current demand on the market and allows to easily restructure process of assembling to switch from sedan to SUV, for instance. Digitalization.The plant has no conventional assembly line. A car is manufactured on a remote platform, which allows a car to stay in one place most of the time when all required parts are being transported by remote carts connected to one intellectual network. The digital ecosystem is built on a powerful WLAN and 5G network, which allows workers to supervise all systems automatically. From the monitoring of parts in stock to the system of electronic workflow, which would save 10 tons of paper every year. Environmental friendliness.Factory 56 became fully carbon-neutral with zero CO2 emissions and significantly low energy consumption. The plant was built using recycled concrete. 40% of the factory’s roof is covered with plants and trees, the roof is also filled with solar panels, which is a sign that Mercedes-Benz does care about the environment. Working conditions.More than 1500 employees are working at the factory in two shifts. While organizing the working space, Mercedes-Benz took into account employees’ preferences. For example, via an online survey, they were asked about personal opinions, preferable shifts to work, suggestions, and even people they want to work together with. More than 85% of the suggestions were successfully granted.
At Factory 56 Mercedes-Benz is manufacturing the new S-class W223 and EQS as start models to launch the site. It’s extremely crucial that the company approached this project with responsibility, taking care of the environment.
I would say it should be an example for major companies that it’s possible to remain eco-friendly and efficient at the same time. And, of course, technologies. This is really astonishing to see real technological development, not the one Apple calls “revolution” each year. This is a huge step towards efficiency. For me, it’s really boldly for a company with a reputation and history to do this. It’s clear to see their struggles on this occasion, let alone the new S-class. Mercedes-Benz proved that even investing an enormous amount of money to implement modern technologies is worth it when it comes to technologies.
