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Brian's Morning Newsletter
Thursday March 11th 2010
Runaway Toyota
Good Morning
"Nonfiction!" Interesting word, does it actually mean factual? Perhaps nonfiction would describe my writing. Not quite scientifically proven fact, well maybe, sort of. Does the BMN need qualification? Certainly not for me. I believe everything I write, except for the satire, which I leave up to you to differentiate between. You might be advised to trust me when I tell you that we already had another micro-blizzard this morning. I'll leave it up to you to decode what I mean by micro-blizzard. Perhaps for instance since I wrote that subject line I came up with a better more informative subject line, but our blog page software WordPress wouldn't let me change it. Then I trust you to read between the lines, or better still disregard every bit of it, beginning where ever you prefer.
My point is, this morning's BMN is really about deciphering truth from fiction. For example over on my favorite biodiesel forum there read a subject "Volkswagen's $600 car gets 258 mpg — It looks like Ford, Chrysler and GM missed the boat again! This got my attention, but not in the way some people might think. No corporation is going to sell a car for $600, even if it is a bicycle with a fairing with no motor. Fiction! Well how about the claim of 258 MPG? It may be possible, in a concept car, with no bells or whistles, like air bags and crush-proof doors. Dream on America, the days of happy motoring are over, come to terms with this and you'll be happier when fossil fuel finally runs out. Diesel hit $3.00 yesterday in Vegas. Also note Google now has Bicycle routes http://googlemapsbikethere.org/
Apparently there are few facts in the original message. VW's prototype car was a single seater with a single cylinder diesel engine, not the car pictured in the rumorous email. One detail that a picture won't show is, driving a single cylinder ICE (internal combustion engine) diesel engine no less, would be about a smooth a ride as driving your ridamower to work in the morning, when in fact most modern ridamowers employ twin cylinder engines, making them smoother than the VW prototype!
We all need a laugh after Toyota sold us 1,200,000 (1.2 million) hybrid cars which obey the pilot's commands about as well as HAL 9000 in 2001 a Space Odyssey Listen "I'm sorry Dave, I am afraid I can't do that. Now that I write this I recall that this was one of my predictions back say eight or nine years ago. Yes, another Brianism, I should think, perhaps befitting a bit of marble chiseling. Yes, I remember now, not sure of the date, before GMail began archiving my words for infamy, nevertheless it was back in the days when I was building the Merchevy.
A MerChevy, for the uninitiated was my "statue in the park," as I used to call it. It was to be the crowning achievement of a life of never-sold-out-hippie working in electrical and mechanical service. We still have the Merchevy, a hybrid of a Chevy and a Mercedes Benz. Indeed it was miraculous, albeit short lived, not because of ill-engineering, falling asleep at the wheel did it in. Withholding the gratuitous patting on my own back building my dream car entailed learning everything there was to know about the 4 or 5 year old fuel injected V6 replete with computer controlled automatic transmission so that I could retrofit the combination into the cool old Mercedes.
I learned everything there was to know at the time about anti-lock brakes and cruise control as well as what later became known as "chipping," the engine & tranny software to improve performance. The latter proved that I was way ahead of my time, and I did not make useful progress so I left that code alone, but the anti-lock brakes I studied, and learned more than anyone ought to know about the vehicles we place our faith in every day. It turns out that the computer, which I humorously refer to as HAL, was then in un-over-ridable control of the individual braking of each wheel.
Hmmm, that is correct, even back in the 90's we were all driving vehicles with this computer controlled braking system. Well, in all non-fictionality, not all ABS (automatic braking systems) are computer controlled, many are inertia controlled, but that's another story. The Chevy systems which I was studying not only had a computer in charge of the brakes it had a completely separate computer which the driver would place in complete control of acceleration and velocity, innocuously called "Cruise control." The cruise control computer is supposed to have failsafe devices built in, including but not limited to a touch to the brake pedal signals human operator override. Hmmm, the brakes, huh? Well what if the brake computer had already lost its mind so to speak?
Who is in charge if the brakes override the cruise control? Good question don't you think? We have all seen this in action on the news as: Toyota Repairs Not Working – “Fixed” Toyotas Runaway Again (VIDEO )
I repeat, "Open the pod bay doors, HAL"
Y'all have fun, I am.
Anyway, I'll be back
Brian Rodgers
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Rumors and Reality About Volkswagen's 258 mpg Car
The rumor was that in 2010, Volkswagen would be releasing a one-seater car with a fuel economy of 258 miles to the gallon costing just $600 each.
If it sounds too good to be true that’s because it is.
But the truth of the matter is still pretty interesting. Since 2002, VW has been working on a car called the L1. It seats 2 people and is made from carbon fiber so it’s super light at just 290 kg or 638 pounds. The body is flat and narrow, and even includes a little bit of storage space.
The prototype has a single-cylinder diesel engine (though that could change), anti lock brakes, driver's airbag and an electronic stability program. It holds 6.5 liters or 1.72 gallons of gasoline and does, in fact get 258 miles per gallon with a top speed of around 74 miles per hour.
The body is made from carbon composites and it is shaped to be extremely slippery, giving it a coefficient of drag of only 0.16 ("the average car comes in around 0.30 and the Honda Insight had a Cd of 0.25"). The prototype was powered by a 1-cylinder diesel engine, but the production model should have a 2-cylinder diesel (which means it could be powered by algae-biodiesel!), and maybe even a stop-start anti-idling feature (to cut the engine when the car is stopped). – Treehugger
Volkswagen is calling it the world’s most economical car but the price tag is not going to be $600. Reports say it will be more like $25,900 and that VW will be making a limited number for release in 2010.
Still, with that kind of gas mileage it is highly economical. You and a friend could drive from Boston to New York and back on less than a single tank of gas. Supposing gas is $2.85 a gallon, round trip would cost you less than $5. Or think of it this way; you would need less than 10 gallons of gas to drive from Los Angeles to New York. How your luggage would get there is anyone’s guess.
The concept of the 1-litre car – four wheels, low height, with two seats in tandem – gives an idea for a possible new family of vehicles, which could cover new requirements ranging from the ultra-economical vehicle, through the low-lost everyday touring vehicle for young people to the high-performance sports supercar. – Serious Wheels
VW is also working on the EcoRacer, a sports that can achieve 100 miles per gallon and top 140 miles per hour. Its carbon fiber body weighs 850 kilograms (1870 pounds) and the turbo diesel engine accelerates to 60 miles per hour in just 6.3 seconds.
In addition to its impressive gas mileage, the EcoRacer can morph body style between a coupe, a roadster and a speedster in just minutes. Combine that with Volkswagen’s foray back into electric vehicles, and they might even give Tesla Motors a run for their money!
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Volkswagen introduces world’s most economical car
March 6, 2009 by Matt Brogan
While we don’t have a great deal of information available at this stage, we do know that Volkswagen is set to reveal the world’s most economical non-hybrid car to shareholders attending the 42nd annual general meeting of Volkswagen AG in Hamburg.
The single-seater is capable of 0.91 litres per 100km (or 258mpg in the old measure) and can manage a top speed of 123km/h.
The prototype, as shown here, was built in conditions of such great secrecy that little more is known about the car, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted after next week’s meeting.
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Volkswagen has been working on a car that gets 258 miles to the gallon-Truth! & Fiction! |
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Summary of the eRumor: |
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The Truth: Volkswagen has designed and built the L-1 with an eye toward better gas mileage and lower carbon emissions. It has not yet resulted in a production model to be released to the public, but Former VW chairman Dr Ferdinand Piëch actually drove the L1 to the VW shareholders' meeting in Hamburg from his office in Wolfsburg which lies about 84 miles South of the German port. Piëch recorded 317.4mpg with an average speed of 43.5mph. The two passenger car is equipped with a carbon fiber body, 299cc single-cylinder diesel engine, anti lock brakes, driver's airbag and an electronic stability program. The L1's price tag of $25,900 was much higher than what the German automotive company targeted for consumers. The UK Telegraph followed the progress of the L1 over the years reported that the project had been scrapped and later restarted. The L1 has design challenges such as the passenger having to sit bobsled style with their legs around the drivers seat as well as excessive noise and vibration adding to passenger discomfort. Piëch now heads VW's supervisory board and is still working on fuel efficient vehicles for the German automaker. The L1 appeared to be a stepping stone and a learning tool to design more efficient vehicles. Piëch said, "We will never build a one-litre car, but it could give us the knowledge to build a two-litre car." The VW company also introduced a 3 liter vehicle, the Lupo, which seats four and goes about 78 miles to a gallon of fuel. |
The Volkswagen (VW) L1 is a real car, seats 2 and if released would have a price tag $25,900. ——————-
Network news
Shutdown of Zeus botnet controller has researchers wondering
It's not yet known why the Russian upstream ISPs decided to take the actions they did, but presumably it's because they responded to complaints from some source. Then again, the operators of Troyak may simply be on an evasive maneuver to stay ahead of the law.
The shutdown of Troyak, at least for the present, is extremely good news for those trying to keep dangerous botnets from plundering victims around the world, says Landesman. Other recent events, including Microsoft striking a blow at the Waledec botnet and the takedown of the so-called Mariposa botnet , are encouraging signs that cyber-crime activity can be challenged and fought.
Read more about security in Network World's Security section.
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