electricity

The Geek Squad might not like this development, but we're excited about it. Engineers at the University of Illinois have developed a self-healing system for electronics that they say can restore conductivity to failed circuitry in "mere microseconds."

Today's ever-denser chips face more reliability problems due to the increasingly sophisticated demands on electronic devices. When one circuit within an integrated chip fails, the whole chip, and even the whole device (and your pressing deadline, of course) can go down with it.

"In a multilayer integrated circuit, there's no opening it up," Nancy Sottos, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said in a statement. "Normally you just replace the whole chip. It's true for a battery too. You can't pull a battery apart and try to find the source of the failure."

To get around the need for external intervention and diagnostics (which may not be readily available for spacecraft or defense-based aircraft, for example), the researchers adapted a previous technique they'd developed for self-healing polymer materials.

They placed tiny microcapsules (as small as 10 microns in diameter) filled with liquid metal on top of a gold line functioning as a circuit. When the circuit cracks, the microcapsules break open, releasing the liquid gallium-indium alloy into the gap and restoring electrical flow--up to 99 percent in most cases. The liquid does its bidding in less time than it takes to blink. … Read more

Ford Motor has set a goal to have hybrids and electric vehicles make up 10 percent to 25 percent of its fleet by 2020.

SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das talked to Ford executive Dan Kapp recently about the company's alternative-fuels strategy and one of its first electric vehicles to hit the market in 2012, the Ford Focus Electric.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "Ford driving into the future with energy-efficient autos."

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Tesla has laid out the pricing structure for the all-new Model S electric car, and, as expected, higher range will cost you more.

The company launched a Web page today showing the base model, with a 40kWh battery pack, costing $49,900. The 60kWh model runs $59,900, and it's another $10,000 jump to the 85kWh model. Go up to $79,900 for the Performance model, which also comes with the 85kWh pack and a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.4 seconds. All of those prices are after a federal tax credit of $7,500.

Those battery packs give the Model S an estimated range at 55 mph of 160 miles, 230 miles, and 300 miles respectively.

And then there are the options.… Read more

Over the last few years, the passenger car has evolved from a gas-guzzling hunk of steel into what some have called the largest piece of consumer electronics in your life.

So, while it's fitting that the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012) will likely be a jumping-off point for the next stage of development on car infotainment, connectivity, and safety technology, I still find it a bit odd to see so many cars sharing the floor with the likes of 3D TVs and compact digital cameras. Now that the car has established itself as a cornerstone of CES 2012, … Read more

Electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt may have gotten most of the attention this year but electric motorcycles also turned heads.

The year also brought innovations such as an electric vehicle that you can also use to power your house. SmartPlanet takes a look back at the evolution of EVs in 2011.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "Electric vehicles: 2011's hottest headlines."

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What technology can make an in-car cell phone ban workable? Morgan Stanley takes a dim view of electric cars. Acura's first hybrid is on the way. Renault is first with a dash system based on Android. And we drive the 2012 Honda Civic Si and get the VTEC to kick in.

By cutting out gasoline altogether, Ford may be the first production car to break the 100 miles per gallon mark.

Ford today said it has started production of the 2012 Focus Electric at its Michigan Assembly Plant, a sedan the company expects to be rated at more than 100 miles per gallon equivalent.

The electric version of its five-seater will be available early next year for just under $40,000 before a $7,500 federal tax rebate. Ford is making the car available first in California and the New York/New Jersey area and then will make it available in … Read more

You may or may not be a hybrid fan today, but by 2040 there's a one in two chance you'll be driving one.

ExxonMobil released its annual Outlook, which takes a look at the future of global energy demands and consumption, and forecasts that the global number of personal vehicles on the road will nearly double over the next few decades to to 1.6 billion cars. But to keep fuel demand and consumption in check, half of them will be hybrids.

Government fuel economy standards are the driving force that will make hybrids mainstream. Manufacturers are responding … Read more

The time has come for the U.S. government to focus a single agency's efforts on reinforcing the security of the electrical grid, MIT researchers said today in a wide-ranging report.

The issue, MIT's researchers say, is that the many stakeholders involved in maintaining the U.S. electrical grid aren't working together, even though "cybersecurity regulations for bulk power systems already exist in the form of the NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection reliability standards." For one, the researchers point out, those standards only apply to "the bulk power system and [do] not include the distribution … Read more