Audi’s all electric SUV is destined for production following its unveiling at the IAA 2015. The vehicle, which it is hoped will be in production in 2018 will have a range of 310 miles and is expected to be one of the stars at next month’s IAA in Frankfurt.
The Audi etron Quattro benefits from the expertise in developing the R8 etron and will be the brands first large series electric car.
We’ve written before about the electric car market, its development and how the battery life in some models of car have improved. However, the biggest barrier to people buying electric cars is still the battery life. It doesn’t matter how green the vehicle is or how good the tax benefits, the bottom line question that people need an answer to is ‘How far can I travel on a charge?’ And for many electric cars, that’s not very far. They are great for running around the city where you’re not doing many miles, but for longer road journeys, the fear of running out of power is still a huge barrier to buying an electric car.
There are many research projects going on around electric cars. Some trying to improve and extend the life of a battery charge, others like Highways England feasibility study looking at charging on the go. The result of which is the first UK trial at a testing site that will allow cars to charge on the go.
Here at PRV we provide services to the motorsport industry and there’s no denying that there’s an insatiable appetite for all things motorsport in the UK. TV programmes and Formula 1 viewing figures back that up and the Formula E series was a big hit. But just how much does the engineering in motorsport impact the everyday road car development?
There will be some that say it doesn’t; F1 and race weekends are nothing but a chance for celebrity and excess to take the platform. However, that’s not the view of the motorsport Industry Association (MIA) or the automotive industry themselves, who say that the engineering innovations in motorsport have a significant impact on the wider industry.
Over the years PRV Engineering has been pleased to be able to report our successes in investment, expansion and employment.
In 2014 Managing Director Simon Jones, reported on the success of the company, saying “With the machining facility, fabrication, deep hole drilling, presswork, paint and powder coating services already provided by the company, our £1million plus investment has reinforced PRV Engineering Ltd’s position as a true ‘One Stop Shop Facility’ capable of providing a whole host of components and services.”
PRV Engineering Ltd has developed through acquisition and constant Investment in new technology and 2015 is no different.
As one marathon amount of tunnelling is just completing another is about to begin.
The 26 miles of crossrail tunnelling, linking rail services from Reading and Heathrow in the West to Shenfield and Abbey wood in the East finished in June after 3 years of constant tunnelling. 8 giant tunnelling machines were used constantly to make the network of new rail tunnels, and whilst there are still stations and platforms to construct it is hoped the civil engineering work will be complete in 2017 with the new rail services starting from 2018.
The new services will allow an extra 24 trains an hour to run during peak services and will increase rail capacity by 10% carrying 72,000 passengers per hour through the new tunnels. 1.5 million more people will be able travel to within 45 minutes of central London.
However, as one feat of tunnelling engineering ends another is about to begin. The Thames Tideway Project preliminary construction works begin in 2016, with the proposed 4 years of tunnelling beginning in 2017.
Self driving cars, whilst once a novel and entertaining idea have now become a regular news feature. The design and rigorous testing they are going through is all in an effort to see road safety improved by eliminating driving error.
In fact a recent report in manufacturing.net stated that in the 6 years and 1.9 million miles of testing by Google there have only been 14 accidents involving their self driving cars. Google say that none of the accidents were caused by their self driving cars. In 11 of the 14 accidents, the self driving car was rear ended, by distracted drivers.
So, could autonomous applications be applied to ships to improve efficiencies and also the level of CO2 emissions, which are twice that of the aviation industry? Could we see autonomous ships at sea? Rolls Royce think so.
Will this be the way to solve overcrowding in big cities?
For years there has been concern over the space available for new buildings, whether it’s housing or industrial. Skyscrapers have got taller and taller and the space between buildings has reduced. But still, this isn’t solving the problem of overcrowding and in some countries planning authorities are becoming uncomfortable with the higher structures.
Living like the fictional Wombles, ‘underground’ is increasingly looking as though it could become a reality at some point in the future. We travel underground regularly, even using tunnels to get to other countries, so why not take that next step?
BAE Systems test pilot Pete Wilson became the first pilot to test the launch of the F35B from a ski jump last week.
The launch, which took place at a Naval Air Station in Maryland is only the start of testing which is expected to last two weeks and is a big step towards the implementation of the ski launch on UK aircraft carriers.
The F35B is designed for short and vertical take-off and the trials demonstrate the ability to take off and land safely and effectively from a ski-jump ramp.
Airbus signed a partnership agreement with the University of Bristol last week, formalising their commitment to build on training, education and diversity. The agreement was signed at the International Air Show in Paris last week.
Talking about the partnership Thierry Baril, Chief Human Resources Officer of Airbus Group, said: “These partnership agreements underline our commitment to work hand-in-hand with academics and engineering education leaders to develop and secure the competences that the aerospace industry will need in the future.”
All areas of engineering are evolving and developing and we like to keep an eye on what’s going on, reporting from time to time on innovative and sometimes controversial developments.
When it comes to robotics most of the things we’ve written about have been ground breaking developments that have meant that safety can be increased or that major improvements in quality of life can be achieved.
We even wrote about whether increased automation means that less skill will be required in the future. It seems the answer is no – operators still need to understand what they’re doing, why they’re doing it and what could go wrong. However, automation can and does help improve efficiency.
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