Will Dyson Vacuum Motor Drive New Solar Car?

Celebrity inventor, James Dyson, (most known for his innovative vacuum) is rumored to be working on an engine for an electric car, reports UK's Daily Mail. The British billionaire isn't satisfied with the low miles per charge for which drivers must settle.

Electric cars in the UK include the tiny G-Wiz (made in India by the Reva Electric Car Company). It costs about £9,000 (under $18,000 US), has a maximum speed of 50mph, and has a range of 48 miles before it needs recharging. Once you find a charging station, it can take 2-8 hours to "fill-up." While there are only 100 electric charging stations currently in the UK, there are plans to increase that number to nearly 1,000 before 2010. Electrified Brit's can pay a fee for access to the charging station, but receive free perks (parking & such) for having an electric vehicle. France has hundreds of such stations already, and is working on more.

The facts of driving range & charging station availability make the rumored technology applications in Dyson's version so appealing. As the story goes, in addition to being able to charge conventionally, the Dyson system will have solar panels on the top of the vehicle to help improve the range and power of the engine. A version of the Dyson Digital Motor, used in the vacuum cleaners may be the power plant. It weighs half what an engine of similar power does, yet spins at 10,000 rpm (five times faster than a Formula One racecar).

Reports are that he isn't looking at a complete car, but providing the system to be used by existing car manufacturers. He is rumored to be putting nearly one billion dollars towards the efforts. I say best wishes to Sir James and his engineers.

RESEARCH: Road Robots Develop

New Developments from DARPA's "Robot Driving Competition:"

(June 2008) "The Boss", first place winner of the DARPA Urban Challenge was the result of joint work of General Motors Research & Development and Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science and College of Engineering. The GM-Carnegie Mellon Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research Lab is being established as an extension of GM's Global Research & Development network and will be located at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.


(June 2008) "Stanley" the first winner of a DARPA Challenge, is heading to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, as an example of technological pioneering. This driverless car was developed jointly with Stanford University School of Engineering and Volkswagen Research in both California and Wolfsburg, Germany. Stanford and VW will continue to collaborate at the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab (VAIL) on the university’s campus.


It is really awesome to see several vehicles driving on a course without drivers, making decisions about when to safely proceed at a stop-sign or where to park. In November 2007 I traveled to Victorville, California to cover the 2007 DARPA* Urban Challenge. Eighty-nine teams applied, and thirty-five were chosen for the National Qualification Event.

The vehicles were designed and built to drive entirely on their own with no driver in the vehicle and no remote control. The vehicle determined its environment with sensors and positioning systems, to carry out assigned tasks in certain areas completely on its own.

These vehicles packed a lot of computing power to complete the task while evaluating the environment to control steering, brakes, and acceleration. There were different courses in the 55 mile event - some involving driving in a course with turns, stop signs, cross-traffic, rough terrain, and suburban streets. It was really strange to see driverless vehicles coming up to stop signs, waiting for traffic to clear, signalling (why can't human drivers do this), turning into the proper lane, and parking in the right spot in a parking lot.

I don't expect auto-pilot functions anytime soon in your car, but besides reducing risks to our troops, one of the team members said that there are possible safety improvements to our driving in some situations. Larry Burns, GM vice president of R&D and Strategic Planning said, "Imagine being virtually chauffeured safely in your car while doing your e-mail, eating breakfast and watching the news." Now I know some people try this now, but we're looking at this happening SAFELY in the future.



*DARPA is the acronym for The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - the central research and development organization for the Department of Defense (DoD).

POLICY: New Silent Vehicles Bring Safety Concerns

On June 23, 2008 the National Federation of the Blind asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the Department of Transportation to review potential safety issues posed to the blind and other pedestrians by silent engine technology used in hybrid and electric automobiles.

Without visual cues, the blind must depend on hearing to determine where running vehicles are as well as their direction. The National Federation of the Blind advocates the establishment of a minimum sound standard for all new vehicles sold and licensed in the United States.

Push to Bring Plug-in Hybrid Cars to Market

Will 2010 be a big year for plug-in hybrid vehicles?*

General Motors plans to bring the Volt to market in 2010. Although a concept model was shown at car shows around the world, the exterior is being re-crafted to lower the wind resistance.

Mitsubishi is working to bring its iMiEV electric vehicle to market in 2009 for fleets, and 2010 for the public. They report that a prototype can run for 80 miles with a full charge on their innovative lithium-ion batteries.


Toyota will supply plug-in hybrids to commercial customers by 2010.

Daimler AG plans to launch two electric models in 2020: a Mercedes-Benz and a model from Daimler's Smart car division.

Hyundai Motors is reportedly testing a plug-in hybrid to bring to market in 2009 or 2010.