Archive October, 2009

Dutch prince opens CleanTech Manufacturing Campus

After two years of reconstruction of the old RDM Manufacturing area in the Habours of Rotterdam, the new RDM Campus is finally finished. This new place of education in Design and Manufacturing (hence the RDM) will focus itself on education and cooperation with business in the fields of climate adaptation, water management, sustainable building and sustainable mobility. The Dutch Prince of Oranje (Prince Willem Alexander) opened the area by connecting two pipes together through a new innovative technology. The Minister Jacqueline Cramer of Building and Environment: ”Entrepreneurs can work together with students on new sustainable technologies to solve the challenges of today and tomorrow.” The place is specially suited for SME ventures looking for [...]  Meer...

The ‘total solution’ battle starts as mobility meets grid

For a market to develop rapidly, total product solutions are essential. Especially when you want to revamp a crucial system such as our personal transportation network, you will need to give even the innovators in the market something that does more or less the same as the old system, and more. With Massachusetts’ battery developer A123 Systems (known for its work on lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles) to step into the energy storage systems for electric utilities, it is clear that several parties are getting into position for the storm that a market breakthrough can bring. This week, the startup announced the installation of its first Hybrid [...]  Meer...

The Japanese electric vehicle fight for dominant design

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the largest energy firm in Japan, plans to begin installing quick-charge stations for electric vehicles. This plan is not about a small pilot. No, it is about the initial roll-out for some 200 stations to be up and running by March of 2010. And TEPCO doesn’t plan to stop there. 1,000 more stations are planned within three years. No coincidence, this will happen at the same time that Mitsubishi will launch its ‘iMiev’. TEPCO and Mitsubishi have been testing the last few years, but also EVs from Subaru and Nissan as well. According to some sources, these stations will [...]  Meer...

Smart’s dump car name!

The small car company made a smart move to name their car ‘smart’ in the first place. Everybody ‘knows’ that small cars are mainly produced for people who can’t parallel park. That’s why I was so confused to hear about their new electric car’s name. ED – A (not so) brilliant campaign Yes, they called the car ‘ED’. It brings us back to faults like the MR2, in French pronounced as ‘mèrde’, or the Nova which in Spanish countries is know as ‘No vas’ (No go). For those who don’t know what the fuzz is about, while within Smart ED stands for ‘Electric Drive’, in the [...]  Meer...

Grocery Getters get it on

Talking about ‘original’ names, the new ‘Kurrent’ an Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) by American Electric Vehicles in Michigan. Is under a lot of discussion. Many producers are launching € 7,000 or €15,000 grocery getters and industrial-yard security cruisers, but the question is. Is the market big enough?   Company president Scott Thornton of American Electric Vehicles says he’ll hire 50 to 70 employees for the new venture. The problem with NEVs is that American laws prevent them from operating on roads with speed limits faster than 35 mph, and they’re allowed to run only 25 mph top speed. Experts disagree on the size of the market [...]  Meer...

Smart Lighting: LEDs as WiFi

LED lighting can not only reduce your energy bill, but has the potential to become the part of next-generation wireless communications technology. The Boston University’s College of Engineering will work on developing a wireless technology based on visible light instead of radio frequency (RF). Called “Smart Lighting,” data is transmitted through light emitted by LEDs, making each light the equivalent of a WiFi hotspot. The moment you flick a light on, you can access data on any device with wireless capability anytime without the use of wires. According to Boston University, the data transmission is possible through flickering light patterns which go unnoticed. Rather crucial, [...]  Meer...

Amtech making the transition to solar

While the semiconductor industry is having a hard time for a while due to the economic slowdown, Amtech Systems has managed to hedge their capabilities. Amtech Systems,Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS), a global supplier of production, silicon wafers and automation systems decided to move into the growing field of solar cells. A few months ago they announced that Amtech Systems had booked over $100 million in orders for its solar and semiconductor products in fiscal 2008 ended September 30th, with solar orders approximating 70% of total bookings.  J.S. Whang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amtech, commented, “With the $9.0 million in follow-on solar orders we announced on September 15th, we have [...]  Meer...

Scooters revolutionized through DriveByWire

The Technical University of Delft claims that the future of the scooter will be electric. And who are we to disagree? Whether it will be a combination of LNG, hydrogen or nano chargers, that still remains the question, but electricity is the way to go. This fundamental change in traction technology will give way to many opportunities in the way scooters are designed. For instance, the introduction of so-called drive-by-wire technology makes the old ’steer’ absolutely obsolete. In the near future, one could also use a steeringmodule comparable to that of a Playstation. This alone gives designers a great deal of options that will give electric driving an competitive edge. Wilmer van Kampen, graduated on the design of the ‘BiWire’. [...]  Meer...

Duracar and its Dutch design introduction strategy

The Dutch car market is not known for its sexiness. Except for Spyker cars, the few Dutch car manufacturers are mostly known for their decent, practical design and with the new start-up Duracar that is not about to change. At same time, that practical approach could very well be the key to their success in the electric car market. October 4th this year, Duracar will unveilled their first ‘ready to produce and deliver’ car at the “Mondial de L’Automobile” (world of the car) –show in Paris. The ‘Diva’ as it is called is comparable with a Renault Kangoo and the Peugeot Bippen. According to Duracar’s Guido [...]  Meer...

Windmeters for the masses – Mariah Power iPhone App

Consumer windpower products still have to prove their Return On Investment. However, after being bombarded with commercials about (local) windpower successes. You can’t blaim many consumers wondering what the potential of their backyard is.  Thanks to a new iPhone app, they know now. One of the newest iPhone apps turns the phone  into an anemometer to clock wind speeds for those considering installing a backyard turbine. Mariah Power is introducing a program that will let you measure the wind speed around your house by pointing your iPhone toward the sky. The application uses the phone’s microphone to capture wind noise. It filters out ambient sound and an algorithm converts the result into [...]  Meer...

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