Eh, kleenex, scotties, brand name recognition is a trite point.
And when it comes to EV batteries, Tesla is leading the field. 21700 batteries are a smart improvement over 18650 cells.
And I'll happily give the engineers at Tesla credit. However, realistically speaking they should be branching out and applying the same technology elsewhere. Especially in regard to hybrid vehicles.
It's not an either/or situation. We can eat our cake and drive it halfway too.
Which is why companies like this are going to be doing what Musk is doing with Electric vehicles.
Now, if they could make these for 2000-3000km flights and they ran on 250kWh to 350kWh electric they'd be what the future entails. Especially if they weren't piloted and were fully automated.
Yeah but it'd be cooler if the sides were completely digital "windows".
What should these be called? Dindows? Digidows? Digdows?
I live in the arctic and I was thinking of building a home without windows but with same idea. It allows you to remove convective heat loss from windows almost entirely. Not to mention it's much cheaper than shipping up glass windows.
And as others have mentioned, it's taken advantage of newer technology that allows six of pistons to be turned off.
The engine basically sounds like two in-line six cylinder engines that share many common single engine features but with the ability to shut off one side and use power from the remaining side.
So hypothetically, you fly up to altitude and climb using all 12 cylinders, then cruise on six.
That could be where the fuel efficiency is being notched up versus burning all 12 cylinders at all times.
Kinda like how people are still amazed variable displacement engines took them from 10mpg to 18-20mpg. It's also likely the engine has a number of other more recent innovations included too. Variable valve timing, etc, etc. A lot of new rather exciting new engine technology has come out in the last 20 years.
It's much like when we went from naturally aspirated aka carbs to electronic fuel injection/ignition.
Heavy, cold air will generate more lift since it's "thicker" for lack of a better term.
Hot air is less dense. This means it takes more power to move more air.
It's easier to maybe think of the air that you breath as a "liquid" like material comprised of a mix of mostly nitrogen, some oxygen and a little carbon dioxide and other gases. That mix changes with temperature and elevation. Just like the deeper under the ocean that you go, you have more pressure, the lower to the ground you are the more atmospheric pressure you will feel. And the higher that you go, there's less pressure.
Battery systems aren't designed for temperatures below -40°C.
I'm currently looking at building a cold weather tower for use as a non-rotator SatNOGS ground station.
One solution I've found is using snow as an insulator. If you insulate a battery box then cover it in one foot of snow you can effectively insulate batteries against cold temperatures.
Tests I've conducted with temperature sensors: -34°C air temperature. -24°C under 2" of snow. -17°C under one foot of snow. That's without heating.
If you use a heater and an alternative energy source, you can keep the batteries warm and toasty within their optimal operational specification of 0°C to 20°C.
I'm in the Canadian arctic and seasonal winter temperatures are between -35°C and -44°C.
I'm also looking at using SkelCaps from Skeleton Technologies out of Estonia. I haven't tested them yet, but I suspect their curved graphene ultra capacitors should do quite well in the extreme cold.
It's a foolish endeavour not to believe that China is capable of identifying every single citizen based on their internet traffic.
Ad companies have already been doing it for years. As entertaining as Black Mirror is, the episode featuring just such a scenario in China of being capable linking real life identities to online and offline activities for the purposes of a dystopic and a just plain shitty world is very possible. In addition, it's incredibly likely what will happen in China with the social credit system will be much worse than anything you'd see in Black Mirror.
Imagine a world where you could curb the enthusiasm of the entire population for democratic activities or activities that run contrary to state directives. Oh, you said something bad about some mundane activity. Your phone used voice recognition technology to pass that up to the state censor bot. The punitive measures taken can then be expected to occur up to and including an obligatory re-education.
"I pledge allegiance to the great firewall of China and the government of China. I will never make disparaging remarks about any state run corporation or agency, in private and especially not in public ever again."
The State panopticon: VOICE RECOGNITION CONFIRMED SAY THREE HAIL CHINAS AND CONTINUE TO INDOCTRINATION CAMP 3 FOR FURTHER RE-EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
I'm partial to the complete and utter destruction of robots using overwhelming force. Except obviously for No 6 and the Boomer bots. They're smoke shows.
I just wish carbureted was an easier word to spell after not using it for months at time.