There have been a handful of motorised vehicles that were specifically made to be a taxicab. The two most well known have been the London Cab and the Checker on the other side of the Atlantic. When the Checker Cab ended production, many taxi owners moved to cars such as the Ford Crown Victoria, however in 2011, the New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg announced the winner … [Read more...]
The Nissan ZEOD Turbo Motor
A few years ago Nissan produced a very lightweight motor for their Nissan ZEOD RC (Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car). The basic statistics were 88lbs (40kg) with a three cylinder 1500cc capacity fitted with a turbocharger. It produced 400hp - which at the time was a better power-to-weight ratio than a comparable Formula One engine. The plan was to run the ZEOD RC as an … [Read more...]
The Datsun name is coming back
I read a fascinating article recently about Datsun. Many readers over a certain age will remember the name. It was the marque that Nissan used in many countries until someone decided that the parent name was better. The iconic Z series started out as a Datsun and the marque had a great name in racing and rallying until the mid 80s when a corporate boffin dropped the … [Read more...]
The Age of the Standard Electric Car Charger is Coming
Humans are interesting creatures! Whenever we develop a new technology we have to make it proprietary and unique to only our buyers. We have seen this in consumer electronics and mobile telephony for decades. This of course meant that every time you bought a new product, you had to buy a new power cable or battery pack or charger unit and waste the old one. We have seen a … [Read more...]
Battery Technology Gains Power
Many devices in today’s world use Lithium-ion batteries such as laptops, tablets and phones. Electric and hybrid cars also use these batteries, although they are super-sized. When they first came out the batteries were renowned for having a “memory” - as you used them they changed the amount of charge they could hold "learning" the usage patterns, to a point where they became … [Read more...]