The FIA Formula E Championship is trying out new broadcasting features like a 360 degrees camera. It should get implemented from March onwards.
Here is a first test video at the temporary Buenos Aires race track. Step onboard the electric hypercar Rimac Concept_One, which is the course car of Formula E’s race director.
Please note that this blue mean machine doesn’t reach its top speed.
Watch the 360 degree video from Rimac Concept One electric hypercar cockpit here.
Beijing, September 13th , 2014 - Beijing kicked off the first ever season of the FIA Formula E
The first of ten races that will be held
all around the world hosted many well-known names from motorsports,
business and showbiz. This was also the first outing for the Rimac
Concept_One as the Race Director and Hot Lap car.
The Concept_One joined the group of 20 racing cars of the FIA Formula E
that share the same genetic code with it. Both sprint to 100 km/h from a
standstill in 2,8 seconds, both are the first of their kind in history
and both are 100% electric.
It wasn’t only Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag who experienced the
Concept_One on the race track on the first event. CEO of Rimac
Automobili, Mate Rimac was there to give a group of VIP guests a
first-hand experience of the all-electric hypercar, moments before the
start of the historic race.
The Concept_One was warming the crowd and the race track before the
first official Formula E racing kilometers took place. It is only
logical that the pioneers of electric single seater racing series would
be supported by the world's first electric hypercar, driven by four
electric motors and controlled by the sophisticated
Rimac-All-Wheel-Torque-Vectoring System. The FIA Formula E and Rimac
Automobili are bringing passion and performance together with zero
emissions – a fusion between the future of mobility and racing.
Mate Rimac, CEO of Rimac Autombili, explaines: “Racing has always been
the forefront of technological development. Racing has always been the
driver of innovation. It is the reason for our very existence as Rimac
Automobili was born as the result of my passion for racing and
electronics. We believe that the Formula E series will be an incubator
for thousands of innovations and technologies that will contribute to
the adaptation of electric drivetrain technology in many applications.
It only makes sense that a car that is truly embracing the possibilities
of the technology takes part in the series – the Concept_One shows
already today what tomorrow’s technology can do. Our strong partnership
with the Formula E series is a unique opportunity to push the limits
even further.”
It was Nicolas Prost to write history and claim the pole position for
the race. Lucas di Grassi claimed the victory after the spectacular
crash of Prost and Heidfeld during the dramatic last lap.
The first Formula E race proved that motorsport evolution might be quiet, but can definitely be full of excitement.
The Rimac Concept_One will serve as a Race Directors and Hot Lap car for
the first Formula E season, making history in the evolution of
motorsport. “Formula E is certainly a different experience and it will
speed up the development of electric mobility. To discover something new
you have to be on your own path and you also have to be on your limit.
That is what we are doing with every day, and that is what we saw here
in Beijing this weekend. The race cars are really driven to their limits
– this will give the extra push needed to bring us new technologies and
new ideas very quickly.” said Mate Rimac.
The season of Formula E continues to Malaysia, Uruguay, Argentina, United States and on to Europe, all the way to June 2015.
At a time when most high-tech companies are hoarding patents and suing each other, creating a complex web of cold war-style mutually-assured destruction, Tesla is going against the crowd (once again) and open sourcing all of its patents, making its inventions available for anyone who wants to use them. No need to say that this is a big deal, and should be quite good for the electric car industry!
In a letter titled "All Our Patent Are Belong To You" published on Tesla's site, CEO Elon Musk writes that "Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal."
This means that the company will not sue anyone who wants to use their technology (as long as they act "in good faith", though it's not quite clear what a bad faith use of a patent would be).
Part of the reason behind this reversal, says Elon Musk, is that at first Tesla was worried that if they didn't protect their technology, big car manufacturers would copy it and then use their massive scale advantage in manufacturing, sales, marketing, etc, to crush them. But it turns out that this is not what happened:
The unfortunate reality is the opposite: electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn’t burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers are small to non-existent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales.
At best, the large automakers are producing electric cars with limited range in limited volume. Some produce no zero emission cars at all.
Tesla sees its competition not as other electric cars, but as all the millions of gasoline cars that they're trying to replace. They feel they can't possibly do that by themselves, so might as well give a hand to their allies by sharing technology. Makes sense!
LAS VEGAS — Toyota made it clear today at the big Consumer Electronics Show that its fuel-cell technology is the future of automotive transportation.
The car-maker on Monday held a press conference detailing the progress of the new Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that is powered by combining oxygen and hydrogen and will be commercially available later this year.
“We believe that hydrogen electric will be the primary fuel for the next 100 years,” said Bob Carter, a senior VP with Toyota’s US office.
Dr. Michio Kaku talks about Toyota’s fuel cell technology.
Perhaps the most newsworthy announcement came when Toyota said it would make all of its 5,680 patents related to fuel cell technology available, royalty-free, to other companies manufacturing and selling both fuel-cell vehicles and hydrogen refueling stations. The idea is to drive more innovation in this somewhat nascent sector of the automobile industry.
“It’s obvious that there can be a higher societal value in openly sharing our IP,” Carter said. “By eliminating the traditional corporate boundaries, we can speed the metabolism of everyone’s research and move into a future of mobility quicker, more effectively, and more economically. Indeed, I believe that today marks a turning point in automotive history.”
Toyota did something similar when it was developing the technology for its popular hybrid cars, but this marks the first time it has made its patents available free of charge. Tesla also gave away its patents last year.
“Hopefully by sharing these patents with others, the new fuel cell components and systems can be refined and improved to increase our performance, reduce our costs, and attract a broader market of buyers,” Carter said.
Bob Carter shows how the Mirai can provide electricity for a home.
The company today opened with remarks from Dr. Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist and best-selling author. Kaku noted his initial skepticism for Toyota’s plans for hydrogen fuel cell cars, but explained why he’s convinced that this is a “game-changer.”
“The hydrogen car will change the landscape not just of our lives, but perhaps the world of politics, the world of energy — energy is at the very basis of all of modern society,” Kaku said. “We are present at the creation of a hydrogen society, a non-polluting society that will perhaps one day vanquish global warming and the problems associated with the burning of hydrocarbon fuels.”
The Mirai, which will be first sold in California later this year for $57,500 MSRP and then in the New England area, generates electricity by combining oxygen and hydrogen molecules — the only emission is water “so refined you could practically drink it,” Kaku noted. The car has a range of 300 miles and goes from 0-to-60 MPH in nine seconds. Unlike electric batteries, hydrogen tanks can be refilled in three-to-five minutes.
Carter also demonstrated how the Mirai can provide power to your house for up to a week in the event of emergencies, as we reported last year at Toyota’s CES press conference.
“Think of it as having an electric generator enclosed in your garage when there’s six feet of snow outside and it’s 30 below-zero, and have zero emissions to worry about on the inside,” Carter said. “In fact, we see this Toyota fuel cell system and this new Mirai as simply a better battery.”
However, one problem for Toyota is that it needs hydrogen fueling stations built in cities. Government agencies are helping, though, as the state of California gave $47 million in grants last year to help build 28 stations there. Toyota also has other partnerships to set up stations in the northeastern U.S, and Carter noted that by 2020, the company’s fueling infrastructure will reach “sustainable growth.”
“Very simply, we cannot have the car without the refueling stations,” Carter said. “We know that the day-in, day-out ownership experience will make or break this vision we have of the hydrogen society. That’s why Toyota will deliver on both the car, as well as the ownership experience.”
Toyota’s vision here is ambitious, but the company is confident that hydrogen-powered cars are the future.
“President Abraham Lincoln said the best way to predict the future is to create it,” Carter said. “That’s what we’re doing at Toyota.”
Dec 30, 2014 by Matt Burns (@mjburnsy) for TechCrunch
The Tesla Model S P85D packs dual electric motors and all-wheel drive. It’s basically a Porsche-killer that can transport seven people. And it utterly destroys the previous king of Teslas, the P85.
In the video above produced by Drag Times the P85D proves its worth by destroying a P85. It’s not even a race. The publication also recently took a P85D to a dyno to measure its torque,finding it packed 864 ft-lbs of torque. That’s double what’s found in a 2015 V8 Ford Mustang. But thanks to some sticky tires, all-wheel drive system and plenty of electronic controls, the P85D can clearly take advantage of that immense power as the drag race video above shows.
If anything, the sheer performance of the Tesla P85D (and even the older P85) should comfort gear heads fearing the EV revolution. Electric drivetrains can produce immense performance and excitement.
Find link to the original article on TechCrunch.com here.
© Tesla
Youtube/Screen capture
However, one problem for Toyota is that it needs hydrogen fueling stations built in cities. Government agencies are helping, though, as the state of California 
