Half-Car, Half Boat May Crack U.S. Military Market

from Danger Room by Sharon Weinberger

Gibbs Technologies first wowed spectators when it unveiled Aquada, a leisure sports vehicle that could travel 100mph on land and of 30mph on water. The U.S. Navy may now be interested in buying this sort of technology:

The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division is seeking information pertaining to high-speed amphibious craft capable of rapid transition from ground maneuver to water-borne operations. High speed amphibian (HSA) craft of interest are those able to achieve forty-five miles per hour or more over land and in excess of thirty knots over water. Operational concepts should include the ability of the craft to maneuver on its own from land to water and return over variable beach or riparian conditions, including sand, mud, or rocks. A broad range of payload capacity is of interest, including small craft capable of transporting two or three passengers (or one operator and up to 500 pounds payload), and larger craft capable of transporting up to sixteen passengers (or three operators and up to 3500 pounds). Intermediate size craft are also of interest. Factors affecting the military utility of the craft will include its speed over land and water, the time to transition from land to water (and visa-versa) [sic], its acceleration characteristics over land and water, its fuel carrying capacity and consumption rate, its ability to integrate combat and/or C4ISR systems, its seaworthiness, its survivability in various threat environments, and its cost.

The U.K.-based Gibbs has already won a modest Defense Department contract to test one of its vehicles. And last year, Lockheed joined forces with Gibbs to develop a family of high speed amphibious vehicles based on the Aquada-maker's commercial technology.

Volkswagen Revives 200-mpg Car Project

from Jalopnik

Five years since Volkswagen showed off its 222 mpg "1-Liter Car" concept (shown), the company is apparently recommitting to the 200+ mpg project. Board chair Ferdinand Piëch says it can be done -- that advances in materials and a reduction in associated costs have put plans for a super-efficient small Volkswagen back on the table. According to Piëch, one supplier says the components can be had for around $6,775, not $47,400 as had been calculated. Of course, the 1-Liter concept was powered by an 8.5-horsepower, 299 cc one-cylinder engine, while anything built for the marketplace would likely have to come in a bit higher on all those specs to be viable. But if V-dub can build a car with a quad-turbocharged W16 that can hit 250 mph, they can also build one with a warp-driven Q3-cylinder with 500 mpg should be a walk in the Berchtesgaden. – Mike Spinelli

Novitec's Latest: Ferrari F430 Bi-Compressor Evoluzione

FromJalopnik

German Ferrari tweakers Novitec Rosso's been messing with the Ferrari F430 since it first materialized from Maranello. Its modus operandi is to stick twin superchargers on the stock V8 and see what happens. What happened previously was a peak of 636 hp. Now, with its new Evoluzione model, the company's added 20 horses via a Motronics ECU, though zero-to-60 time is static at 3.7 seconds and top speed remains a factory-listed 216 mph. The Novitec bi-compressor setup already includes water-fed intercoolers, uprated fuel injectors and reinforced drive belts with dynamic tensioners. The Evoluzione package also comes with a windtunnel-tested aero kit. No word on price, but unless you've knocked over a Brinks truck lately, don't ask. – Mike Spinelli

Regenerative braking coming to BMW 3-series in October

Posted Apr 17th 2007 8:53AM by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Euro, Green, BMW

We already know that BMW isn't interested in making any hybrid gas/electric vehicles unless they can find a way to make the system more efficient than their most efficient diesels (click here for more from AutoblogGreen). But, that does not mean that some of the technology pioneered in hybrid vehicles can't find a place in the BMW model range.

Take for instance regenerative braking. While your standard hybrid is capable of recapturing energy normally wasted in braking with their electric motor(s), the same technology can be used in a more mainstream application by aiding the alternator in energy production. The BMW 5-Series and 1-Series have already used this type of system with good effect, so it comes as no surprise that BMW would implement it in their best-selling 3 Series as well.

The system is capable of coupling and decoupling the alternator from the engine, which has the dual benefits of slowing down the vehicle when engaged and freeing up more engine power for the wheels when disconnected. It's nice to see that performance and fuel-economy can cohabitate under the same hood.