Transportation

Tesla Motors replaces CEO, plans layoff

Updated at 1 p.m. PDT with details from Musk's statement.

Electric-car company Tesla Motors has replaced its CEO and plans to lay off some staff members as part of a corporate review, the company announced Wednesday.

Chairman Elon Musk is now CEO, continuing his activities in product development. Former CEO Ze'ev Drori is now vice chairman of the board and is expected to remain active in Tesla operations, according to a company representative, who did not give a reason for Drori's replacement.

The exact staff percentage of Tesla's forthcoming layoff has not been determined, but … Read more

MIT prof sees no free ride to cleaner cars

To get under the hood of transportation technology, just talk to John Heywood.

Heywood, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his colleagues took the proverbial big-picture view of transportation in a recent report on how the U.S. could slash gasoline usage by 2035.

Looking at the pace of technology development and the market "pull" of consumers, the report tries to sort out dead ends from more promising routes.

MIT's report concludes there's great potential for transportation technology. If lightweight hybrids and plug-in hybrids, for example, were the primary vehicle … Read more

Ford's key-with-a-chip to control teen drivers

Ford Motor has found a new way for parents to keep teen drivers in check when they lend them the car, the company said Monday.

MyKey, a car key with a chip, can be programmed to curtail the top speed of its user to 80 mph.

The MyKey will come standard with the 2010 Focus coupe and eventually will be available on other Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury models, according to Ford.

In addition to implementing a speed limit, the key can be used to limit the volume of the car stereo system and emit a chime for six seconds every … Read more

Photos: 2011 Chevy Volt at the Paris Motor Show

GM gives the Chevy Volt its first auto show exposure at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. With a game-changing power train, the Volt is as relevant in Europe as it is in the U.S. The Volt uses a series hybrid system, using an electric motor to drive the wheels with a gas engine to generate more electricity once the car's lithium ion battery pack is depleted.

Under electric power alone, the car has a 40-mile range and can be recharged at any AC outlet. For many people, that range will cover their daily commute, which will result in … Read more

Pininfarina designs an electric car

If you want to build a new car, even a small, economical car, get Pininfarina to design it. That lesson is made clear with the launch of the B0 at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, the best-looking small car we've seen here. The B0 has smart lines and a graceful arch between its front and rear wheels, yet maintains the dimensions and configuration to be a practical car. This car is actually a collaboration between Pininfarina and Bolloré, the latter being a consortium of companies with expertise in batteries and capacitors, and is intended to go into mass … Read more

SpaceX orbits success with Falcon 1

A privately developed rocket is now orbiting the Earth.

Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 1 launched into orbit at 4:15 p.m. PDT Sunday from Omelek Island, which is in the Kwajalein Atoll, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. Just over nine minutes later, the Falcon 1 reached orbit, the company said.

The successful launch comes after the company, better known as SpaceX, had suffered three unsuccessful attempts over the past two years.

Elon Musk, the company's founder and CEO, called the launch a "great day for SpaceX."

"The data shows we achieved a super … Read more

The technology behind an F1 race

When the streets of Singapore come alive with Formula One action this weekend, it may be easy to forget how much technology is involved to enable the cars to whiz through the track at breakneck speeds.

Perhaps the most noticeable equipment will be the lights lining the track. Designed by Italian lighting contractor Valerio Maioli, the Philips-made system will involve some 1,500 lighting projectors around the track, lighting it to the level of 3,000 lux--nearly four times brighter than that of a typical sports stadium.

Provisions have been made for wet weather in the tropical city: the projectors will beam light on the track at different angles, rather than vertically, to minimize glare off the road surface, should it rain.

The power requirements of these lights are correspondingly stringent. While many of the teams will plug their back-end IT systems into the country's power grid, Valerio Maioli has fitted 12 twin-power generators to power the lights. These 24 generators are also fail-resistant--the second generator will pick up the load, should the first one fail, to keep the light levels consistent.

But environmentalists should rest easy, a Philips representative told ZDNet Asia. The lighting system is 16 percent more energy-efficient, compared to competitors' products, the representative said.

Another noticeable addition to the track from Valerio Maioli will be digital flags--electronic light displays that will replace the traditional colored flags used in day races, for better visibility at night. These 35 panels will communicate vital information to drivers.

Supercomputing in Formula One Behind the scenes is where you will find the heavy-duty computing power. Alex Burns, chief operating officer of the Williams F1 team, described to ZDNet Asia in an interview the magnitude of the systems involved, both leading up to the event and during the actual race.

Burns said the team takes 35 Lenovo ThinkPad laptops to the circuit, to be used by race engineers. In the garage by the pit stop, there are another eight racks of servers: two for the data coming off each of the two cars, and another two for each car's engines, he said. … Read more

Green news harvest: Wave power moves ahead

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

RWE NPower tests carbon capture in the U.K.--SmartPlanet.comCarbon storage next to coal plant plan moving ahead in the U.K. A report suggests this could be done at large scale by 2030. Hydrogen as automotive fuel--NYTimes.comAnother reality check on hydrogen transportation. Worth noting that during a panel at EmTech on green transportation Wednesday, the word "hydrogen" was never said.

First U.S. carbon auction results to come out Monday--ReutersThe U.S dips its toes into carbon emissions trading with the Northeast RGGI regime. … Read more

Tesla's 'Bluestar' to be all-electric family car

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Tesla Motors has received many accolades for producing an all-electric luxury sports car. But its long-term plans may hold its most challenging task: making a mass-market electric car.

The company intends to make a "family car" that it hopes will lead to the sale of millions of all-electric vehicles, JB Straubel, Tesla's chief technology officer, said Wednesday. He spoke earlier on a panel on "green transportation" at the EmTech 2008 conference here.

Code-named Bluestar, the car has been part of Tesla's plans for a few years. Tesla Chairman Elon Musk earlier this … Read more