Some Automotive Fun...

Armour tougher than a British Rail sandwich and the facility to cook pot noodles and brew tea - of course it is. Seriously though, the fourth crew member, the loader, makes a difference, sharing tasks with the commander and helping with repairs.
 
I thought it was Yugos all the way down…

Tiny Electric Cars Are Taking Over China's Small Town Roads

In less-developed parts of southern China, residents favor affordable, compact electric cars like the Wuling Hongguang Mini, reflecting broader trends in China's EV market.
www.techtimes.com www.techtimes.com
www.ynetnews.com

Israeli-developed foldable car could change urban driving

City Transformer has launched a prototype on Tel Aviv's roads, with production of an improved model underway and vehicles slated for a July release; however, the high price tag might make the innovative car less marketable
www.ynetnews.com www.ynetnews.com

arstechnica.com

It’s no accident: These automotive safety features flopped

Over the years, inventors have had some weird ideas about how to make cars safer.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
 
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Some automotive common sense. Re some discussions in other threads about touchscreens. European safety regulations now require buttons for the highest safety ratings no matter how well a car performs in a crash - it's better not to crash first.

www.motor1.com

Aston Martin's 'Piss-Off' Metric Helps Keep Buttons in Its Cabins

Aston Martin created the “piss-off” factor to determine which physical buttons to keep in its car interiors and out of touchscreen menus.
www.motor1.com www.motor1.com

IMG_5864.JPG
 
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Here’s a fun patent from our friends in Maranello:
  • Hydrogen-burning inverted inline 6 flanked by two H2 tanks
  • Electrically-driven superchargers OR
  • MGU-H supercharging OR
  • Mechanical supercharger driven off the transmission
I’m surprised they didn’t resurrect the Triflux head while they were at it.

Espacenet - Bibliographic data

worldwide.espacenet.com worldwide.espacenet.com
 
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Tron Jr has to have training wheels at some point…

Rice U has a new ride
techxplore.com

Engineering students convert old truck to an electrical vehicle

Four teams of Rice University engineering students converted a 1997 Chevy P30 delivery van into a fully electric vehicle in less than a year, using a combination of parts scavenged from out-of-use vehicles, custom-built elements and off-the-shelf items.
techxplore.com techxplore.com

In terms of buttons
hackaday.com

Hacking Buttons Back Into The Car Stereo

To our younger readers, a car without an all-touchscreen “infotainment” system may look clunky and dated, but really, you kids don’t know what they’re missing. Buttons, knob…
hackaday.com hackaday.com
 
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How influencers, one in particular, are affecting the car business. A number of things struck me about how social media might be affecting car designs in the coming years. She mentions that viewers like seeing cars with visibly moving parts and quirky details for instance. I've had a personal theory that European and American car design is influenced by the pen while Japanese design is influenced by the brush - bother traditional media that were taught in schools. A Bentley Continental R-Type is characterised by its gothic arch grille and the sweeping lines of its profile Japanese cars when not imitating European models often were compositions of jewel-like details, especially when customised. This is a trend that has now spread to European designs. Taking Bentley again, have a look at the headlights of a modern Continental.

I love European designs of the 30s and 50s to 70s that have clear, graceful lines myself, but in the future, I think I can expect lots of bling and 'gimmicky' detailing designed for close-ups and generating surprises and drama rather than forms that look best at speed through a telephoto lens unless drones become more common... which is pretty likely, actually.

Anyway, adding to the pen and the brush, perhaps replacing them, there's the VR headset, the iPhone and the drone.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2RGiFXN0UM
 

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