I am always on the lookout for trends that will affect my readers’ futures, paying particular attention to emerging technologies which are less polluting and more earth friendly. For the past several weeks I have been accumulating stories along these lines, and today’s edition is dedicated to the transportation of tomorrow that is just emerging.
The whispers started three years ago.A mysterious bullet-shaped plane was spotted at the Southern California Logistics Airport near Victorville in April 2017. Its unusual design prompted immediate speculation, with military website The War Zone being the first to report that the aircraft was the work of California-based Otto Aviation — and that development was very much under wraps.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=853752856041488384&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Ftravel%2Farticle%2Fcelera-500l-plane%2Findex.html&theme=light&widgetsVersion=223fc1c4%3A1596143124634&width=550pxNow, in the late summer of the strangest year in aviation history, the Celera 500L has finally been revealed to the world, with the launch of a new website and a bunch of very cool new photos.What we’re looking at is a six-person private craft that promises to fly at jet speeds, but with eight times lower fuel consumption, and a range that’s twice that of a comparably sized craft.Bold claims indeed. Otto Aviation says on its website that 31 successful test flights have so far been performed, with aerodynamic efficiency proven in 2019, bolstering its declaration that “the Celera 500L is the most fuel-efficient, commercially viable aircraft in existence.”The company, founded in 2008 and an offshoot […]
Is this the year to buy an electric car or hybrid? It is for Michael Rowan, who wanted to save money and energy during the pandemic. And it is for a lot of other drivers, too.
Rowan, an IT director from Albuquerque, N.M., recently bought a Chrysler Pacifica PHEV minivan and new solar panels for his home to help power the vehicle.
He says the hybrid car purchase made economic sense, from the tax breaks to improved fuel efficiency.
“We get 45 miles per gallon on our van when we use gas,” he says. “But we rarely use gas. We’ve used two gallons since we started having the ability to run off home electricity.”
As the pandemic has stretched into summer, there’s been a lot of talk about electric cars and hybrids. Tesla’s stock is hot, as my FORBES colleague Camilo Maldonado noted. And the company recently cut the price of its Model 3, Model S, and Model X electric cars by up to $5,000.Recommended For You
For drivers who are often stuck at home and dreaming about being […]
Affordability is tough when it comes to electric cars. Even mass-market EVs are often just a little out of reach for the average car buyer, especially considering how much further a dollar stretches when it comes to a traditional car with an engine.
So, can Kandi and its K27 tempt you with an unusually low price? This is a Chinese electric car that will be the most affordable EV for sale in the US later this year. Kandi revealed the K27 alongside the more expensive K23 model on Wednesday and plans to showcase both cars during a virtual event on Aug. 18.
The K27 costs just $19,999. Kandi promises it’s a no-haggle, no-nonsense price. And that’s before the $7,500 federal tax credit to bring the cost down to $12,499. That’s cheap for any new car, but, well, the price is sort of reflected in the K27’s looks.
Honestly, it looks like some sort of weird Smart and Mini Cooper combination. If it snaps necks, it’ll be because onlookers are curious what the hell just passed them. […]
In the 1880s, the first automobile was developed and about two decades later, the Wright brothers in North Carolina invented the first successful airplane. Today, the world is closer to combining those two concepts as a Japanese tech company said it completed a manned test flight of a “flying car.”
The company, SkyDrive, said in a news release on Friday that it had completed a flight test using “the world’s first manned testing machine,” its SD-03 model, an electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle. The flight time was four minutes, the company said.
The aircraft has one seat and operates with eight motors and two propellers on each corner. It lifted about 3 meters (or about 10 feet) into the air and was operated by a pilot, the company said.
Tomohiro Fukuzawa, SkyDrive’s chief executive, said on Saturday that five years ago there were various prototypes of flying cars, usually with fixed wings. SkyDrive’s product, he said, was one of the most compact in size and was lighter compared with other designs.
SkyDrive was started in 2012 […]
