Rohan Saparamadu will become Chief Designer and Advisor to Styling at Maruti-Suzuki on September 7, 2009. Click for larger images
The 1996 L-Series sedan (left) and the 1997 Saturn SC coupe (right): the brand's first global market sedan and first sports coupe, respectively
Saab 9-7X design came from an early concept sketch that Saparamadu prepared for Bob Lutz in 2003
Rohan Saparamadu has been appointed Chief Designer and Advisor to Styling at Delhi, India-based Maruti-Suzuki. Saparamadu, a veteran of GM Design for the last 23 years, was offered the position after he accepted an early retirement from the automotive giant late last year.
Buick Rainier (2004)
Cadillac CTS (2007)
"The company was good and that's what kept me there all those years," Saparamadu told CDN of his career at General Motors. However, when he was given the option of an early retirement he decided to take the chance.
"For a couple of years I was thinking of making a change because I knew that I needed to do something different at a different company," Saparamadu said, adding that the position at Maruti-Suzuki had simply been "excellent timing".
In his new role, Saparamundu will be the company's styling advisor responsible for a "small and very young" group of 22 designers, clay modelers and digital designers. He starts his new role at Maruti-Suzuki, which has more than 50 percent of the market in India, on September 7th.
Born in Sri-Lanka, Saparamadu studied at CCS in Detroit and started his career at GM soon after graduation. Rising through the ranks to become Assistant Chief Designer, Saparamadu worked on the interior and exterior design for Buick and Cadillac concept vehicles as well as the first Saturn L-Series, which was created in collaboration with Opel engineering in Morfelden while he was on a two year assignment in Germany.
Saparamadu also worked on other GM concept vehicles during that time, emphasizing brand characteristics within each project, and was promoted to Lead Designer in 1994.
His appointment to Design Manager in 2002 saw him lead the teams that developed the Cadillac and Saab crossover vehicles as well as an electric vehicle for the Cadillac brand. The Saab 9-7X design came from an early concept sketch that he prepared for Bob Lutz in 2003, which had been inspired by Buick's first SUV, the 2004 Buick Rainier, also penned by Saparamadu. More recently, he led the Perceptual Quality team for the award-winning Cadillac CTS.
Internet has proved to be a good place of investment for many entrepreneurs, young and old. Some of the young entrepreneurs have earned huge success in their projects and have become millionaires at an early age.
This list includes 10 such young entrepreneurs who have become millionaires on the internet.
10) Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith
Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith Tagged Inc. co-founded
Age: 28 years old Project: Tagged Wealth: $45 million
Tagged Inc. was co-founded by Harvard graduates and entrepreneurs Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith. Tagged.com was launched in October 2004 by Tagged Inc. and is privately owned.Tagged.com is a social networking site founded in 2004. Tagged is the subject of numerous customer complaints for sending deceptive bulk mail and is regarded as a phishing and spamming site and an "E-mail scam" by consumer anti-fraud advocates. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States
9 Jake Nickell
Threadless Co-founders Jake Nickell
Age: 28 years old Project: Threadless Wealth: $50 million
Threadless is a community-centered online apparel store run by skinnyCorp of Chicago, Illinois, since 2000. Co-founders Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart started the company with $1,000 in seed money after entering an Internet t-shirt design contest.
Members of the Threadless community submit t-shirt designs online; the designs are then put to a public vote. A small percentage of submitted designs are selected for printing and sold through an online store. Creators of the winning designs receive a prize of cash and store credit.
8 Alexander Levin
ImageShack Co.founder Alexander Levin
Age: 23 years old Project: ImageShack Wealth: $56 million
ImageShack is an image hosting website on the Internet. ImageShack has a subscription service, but the majority of their revenue is produced from advertising related to their free image hosting. The imageshack.us Alexa ranking as of September 25, 2007 is one of the top 40's. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, ImageShack was the fourth fastest growing web brand in July, 2006.
7 John Vechey
PopCap Games Co-founder John Vechey
Age: 28 years old Project: PopCap Games Wealth: $60 million
PopCap Games is a leading American casual game developer and publisher, based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka, and currently employs more than 180 people. Most of Popcap's games can be played free in a limited form, with the full version available for a fee.
PopCap’s flagship title Bejeweled has sold more than 25 million units across all major platforms. PopCap games are available for Web, PC and Mac, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, cell-phones, PDAs, iPod Classic, iPhone/Touch and other mobile devices.
6) Angelo Sotira
DeviantArt Co-founder Angelo Sotira
Age: 26 years old Project: DeviantART Wealth: $75 million
DeviantArt (official typeset as deviantART; commonly abbreviated as dA) is an American online community with worldwide appeal showcasing various forms of user-made artwork. It was first launched on August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, Angelo Sotira and others. DeviantArt, Inc. is headquartered in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States. As of May 2009[update] the site consists of over 10 million members, over 81 million submissions, and receives around 105,000 submissions per day. The domain deviantart.com attracted at least 36 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study.
DeviantArt aims to provide a place for any artist to exhibit and discuss works. Works are organized in a comprehensive category structure, including photography, digital art, traditional art, literature, Flash, filmmaking, skins for applications and others, along with extensive downloadable resources such as tutorials and stock photography. "Fella," a small robotic cat character, is the official DeviantArt mascot.
5) Andrew Michael
Fast Hosts founder Andrew Michael
Age: 29 years old Project: Fast Hosts Wealth: $110 million
4) Blake Ross and David Hyatt
Mozilla firefox project by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross.
Age: 22 years old Project: Mozilla Wealth: $120 million
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. Firefox has 22.98% of the recorded usage share of web browsers as of August 2009[update], making it the second most popular browser in terms of current use worldwide after Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which has 66.97%.
To display web pages, Firefox uses the Gecko layout engine, which implements most current web standards in addition to several features which are intended to anticipate likely additions to the standards.
Latest Firefox features include tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, live bookmarking, a download manager, private browsing, location-aware browsing (aka "geolocation") based exclusively on a Google service and an integrated search system that uses Google by default in most localizations. Functions can be added through add-ons, created by third-party developers, of which there is a wide selection, a feature that has attracted many of Firefox's users.
Firefox runs on various versions of Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and many other Unix-like operating systems. Its current stable release is version 3.5.3, released on September 9, 2009[update]. Firefox's source code is free software, released under a tri-license GNU GPL/GNU LGPL/MPL
3) Chad Hurley
Chad Hurley co-founder and Chief Executive Officer youtube
Age: 30 years old Project: YouTube Wealth: $300 million
Chad Meredith Hurley (born 1976) is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the popular San Bruno, California-based video sharing website YouTube. In June 2006, he was voted 28th on Business 2.0's "50 People Who Matter Now" list. In October 2006 he sold YouTube for $1.65 billion to Google.
Hurley worked in eBay's PayPal division—one of his tasks involved designing the original PayPal logo before starting YouTube with fellow PayPal colleagues Steve Chen and Jawed Karim.
Hurley is a user interface expert and was primarily responsible for the tagging and video sharing aspects of YouTube
2) Andrew Gower
Andrew Christopher Gower is a British games developer and co-founder of Jagex Ltd
Age: 28 years old Project: Runescape Wealth: $650 million
Andrew Christopher Gower (born 2 December 1978) is a British games developer and co-founder of Jagex Ltd, the company he founded with Paul Gower and Constant Tedder. He is noted for writing MMORPG RuneScape, with the assistance of his brother, Paul Gower and also a lead developer.
Jagex Games Studio (or Jagex Ltd./Jagex Software/JAGeX) is a producer of online computer games based in Cambridge, UK. It is best known for the three versions of its RuneScape MMO, as well as for having produced the FunOrb games site and developing the 'to be released' MechScape MMO. Jagex has over 350 employees, with all content development, management, and customer support provided 'in house'.
The company produces games exclusively written using the Java language, its name standing for "JAva Gaming EXperts". It has received a number of awards for its achievements and is one of the highest profile developers in the UK.
1) Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg Facebook Founder
Age: 23 years old Project: Facebook Wealth: $700 million
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (born May 14, 1984) is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur. As a Harvard student, he created the online social website Facebook with fellow computer science major students and his roommates Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. Facebook is a social networking site popular worldwide. Zuckerberg serves as Facebook's CEO. He has been the subject of controversy for the origins of his business and his wealth.
Time Magazine added Zuckerberg as one of The World's Most Influential People of 2008. He fell under the Scientists & Thinkers category for his web phenomenon, Facebook, and ranked 52 out of 101 people
In the future, we'll all be able to drive without leaving home. Researchers in Berlin reworked their DARPA-spec autonomous minivan to be controllable by an iPhone app (Courtesy of popsci.com)
A recent ad for Vodafone featured Formula One champ Lewis Hamilton piloting his F1 steed, as if it were an RC car, using a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone. Many were fooled, some were not, but really it was just a wishful-thinking play by clever ad people.
But one such convergence of smartphones and automobiles apparently is legit. Computer science researchers at Berlin's Free University worked up this Chrysler minivan that can be controlled remotely by an iPhone app.
The team developed its iDriver app to manage the highly modified "Spirit of Berlin" autonomous vehicle using WiFi and the smartphone's controls. The unit's accelerometer controls steering, accomplished at hand by turning the device, while screen buttons control braking and acceleration. The system also sends a live video stream of the road ahead to the iPhone screen.
The van can also drive itself, by way of technologies developed for the 2007 DARPA Urban Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle race (the van was their entry). Packed inside are a stack of IBM Blade servers, video cameras, 3D laser sensors and GPS for positioning, as well as the drive-by-wire system that enables the iDriver app's functionality. In one experiment, a team member reportedly sat on the roof rack and steered the vehicle from above.
Galleon hedge-fund partner Raj Rajaratnam was escorted by FBI agents in New York Oct. 16 in what authorities are calling the largest insider-trading case against a hedge fund.
(Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
Raj Rajaratnam, who was arrested Friday for insider trading in the US, is also linked to a money-transfer case in Sri Lanka.
The world’s 559th wealthiest individual and hedge-fund owner, who was arrested in New York Friday for insider trading, is not just in trouble with US authorities. Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, is also connected with an indictment against a Sri Lankan member of Parliament and two others, according to the Daily Mirror of Sri Lanka.
The MP and his two accomplices were indicted for depositing $3 million in a private Sri Lankan bank without informing the nation’s central bank, a violation of Sri Lanka’s banking rules. According to the indictment, $1 million of the funds came directly from Galleon on Dec. 22, 2006, and $2 million were deposited by Mr. Rajaratnam on Jan. 3, 2007. The funds were intended to purchase shares in the Union Bank of Sri Lanka, according to the Mirror.
Rajaratnam,, a Tamil born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and widely regarded as a Wall Street wonder boy for perpetual returns over 10 percent, was not indicted in that case. The trial, scheduled to begin Sept. 25, has been postponed until February.
In the US case, federal investigators closed in on Rajaratnam through a series of wiretaps. Authorities say that the case against Rajaratnam and five codefendants is the largest ever against a hedge fund.
“He is not a master of the universe,” said Robert Khuzami, director of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, at a press conference Friday and reported by the New York Times’ DealBook blog. “He is a master of the Rolodex.” According to the indictment, Rajaratnam and his codefendants “routinely received inside information directly or indirectly from insiders and provided it to each other for the purpose of trading based on the information,” netting more than $20 million in illegal profits in 2006 and 2007.
Rajaratnam alone racked up more than $12.7 million in illegal profits for Galleon by trading on insider knowledge about companies including Hilton Hotels, Google, Akamai, and Advanced Micro Devices, according to the FBI.
While his wealth may seem astronomical, Rajaratnam is at the “lower” end of all-star fund managers in terms of income, banking “only” $200 million in 2008, for example, when some managers were hauling in over a billion.In Sri Lanka, Rajaratnam was known as a leading example of Tamils who left the country and prospered overseas. After the 2004 tsunami hit the coast, he set up a charity in the country and urged others to contribute funds for rebuilding. Last month, he put up $1 million to fund reintegration programs for Tamil Tiger fighters whose rebellion was crushed earlier this year.
Every single minute, 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. Add to that the hundreds of TV shows now available to watch on the Internet, and the sheer volume of video posted online quickly overwhelms. How do you find the good stuff?
Blinkx, a video search company, creates some stylish order around the vast video haul. Blinkx bills itself as the world's largest video search engine, and says it has indexed more video, audio and TV shows on the Web than anyone else--35 million hours of it. Chief Executive Suranga Chandratillake figures that's about two-thirds of the video content online, and the other one-third is mostly locked up, requiring payment or passwords to view it.
British-born Chandratillake, 31, founded Blinkx five years ago in San Francisco after serving as chief technology officer in the U.S. for U.K. Internet search firm Autonomy. He predicted then that people would be watching more video online and would need a better way to find it.
"Video search is difficult," he says, explaining that most video search looks for descriptive text in tags attached to the video, which can be incomplete or misleading. But Blinkx uses speech recognition, visual analysis and scene-change detection, which enable a more accurate search as well as the ability to search within videos for specific words or people.
Blinkx got a head start by licensing Autonomy's search software, which was designed primarily for use within large companies. (Autonomy has a 10% stake in Blinkx.) Chandratillake started with a dozen programmers to refine the software to better locate and categorize video for the average viewer. The site now has channels that give you the day's news, entertaining videos, or the TV shows you want to watch. Blinx fan Chip McCormack of Kokomo, Ind., says he spends more time watching Blinkx than regular television.
Blinkx went public in May 2007 on the AIM market in London and has been on a fast growth path ever since. The company licenses its video search technology to Ask.com, Real Networks and some Microsoft ( MSFT - news - people ) sites in the U.K. Much of its $13.9 million in revenue for the year ended March 2009 came from advertising revenues it shares with hundreds of travel and how-to partner video sites such as Howcast and Geobeat.
The WLAN Project Team (L-R): Mr Graham Daniels, Dr John O'Sullivan, Dr Terry Percival, Mr Diet Ostry, Mr John Deane.
Australian inventiveness lies at the heart of how millions of people now use wireless networks to access information on a myriad of portable devices.
14 October 2009
In homes, offices and cafés, most of the wireless devices we use every day to access the Internet and other networks rely on CSIRO’s solution to a complex radio problem.
"CSIRO’s solution to the ‘multipath problem’ and its subsequent commercialisation ranks as one of the most significant achievements in CSIRO’s 82 year history," CSIRO chairman Dr John Stocker says.
"The technology is used in over 800 million devices right now and its use is rapidly expanding."
“CSIRO’s solution to the ‘multipath problem’ and its subsequent commercialisation ranks as one of the most significant achievements in CSIRO’s 82 year history,”
CSIRO chairman Dr John Stocker.
Today at a ceremony in Melbourne, the scientific, commercial and legal teams responsible for the achievement will receive CSIRO’s highest honour: the Chairman’s Medal for Research Achievement.
One of the main problems the team managed to solve was ’multipathing’.
"You might imagine that the little box with the flashing lights that powers your home wireless network is simply beaming information straight to your laptop," CSIRO’s Dr John O’Sullivan, leader of the scientific team says.
"In reality the radio waves travel in all directions, bouncing off walls, furniture and people – making it very hard to deliver a clear signal to the receiver."
The team solved this problem by adapting ideas that had their roots in radioastronomy and the search for exploding black holes.
"I was inspired to think about ways of cleaning up smeared radio signals to make searching for short pulses like those from exploding black holes easier," Dr O’Sullivan says.
"We ended up building a ‘fast Fourier transform’ chip to do these sorts of processing tasks efficiently and fast. That proved to be the key to untangling the web of wireless signals so we could build a workable high speed wireless local area network (WLAN)."
A US patent was granted in 1996 and, in 1999, one of the first modern international standards for WLAN (IEEE 802.11a) relied on the technology covered by CSIRO’s patent for its implementation. In 2001 the first products entered the market.
"CSIRO set out to encourage the industry to take licenses for the use of its patented technology," Mr Nigel Poole, CSIRO Executive Director, Commercial says.
"When that did not prove successful, we initiated legal proceedings which then led to proceedings being initiated against CSIRO.
"The result earlier this year was that 14 companies settled with CSIRO under confidential terms. The revenue arising from these settlements to date is approximately $A200 million.
"Soon an announcement will be made about how Australian research will benefit from this success."
Bring high quality sound and large bass to your laptop or netbook
Model
uBoom
Recommended Retail Price
AUD$189.00
Design
Bring high quality sound and large bass to your laptop or netbook
Specifications
Speaker Membrane Size: Left/Right 2, Subwoofer 2 1/2 Speaker Impedance: 4 ohms Speaker Frequency Response: R/L 100~20KHz, Woofer 20~250Hz Total RMS: 24 Watts Power supply: AC/DC adapter 100V~240V 12VDC/2A Driver: Driver Free Connection: 1 x USB, 1 x AUX in, 1 x Microphone Jack Operation Temperature: 0°C ~ 45°C Operation Humidity: 20%~90%RH Weight: 3000g Dimension: (W x D x H) 595x135x90mm
SupremeFX X-Fi discrete Audio Card 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC EAX® Advanced™ HD 4.0 X-Fi CMSS®-3D X-Fi Crystalizer™ Creative ALchemy Supports 1 x S/PDIF out header Supports Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF out ports on rear Blu-ray support
•Supports the Intel® Core™ i7 and Intel® Core™ i5 Processors in the LGA1156 Package •Intel® P55 chipset •Dual-channel, DDR3 2133(O.C.) Support •ROG Connect •GameFirst •MemOK! and MemPerfect
Best known for its disk defragmentation software, Diskeeper has licensed HyperBoot to Taiwanese PC maker Asus, which will install it on its Eee netbooks and other laptops running Windows XP.
Diskeeper is working on more deals, including with large US PC makers, said Derek De Vette, vice-president of global alliances for the company. It may eventually sell the software to consumers and other end users, but not anytime soon.
Long a headache for users, lengthy startup and shutdown times for Windows ballooned with Vista's release several years ago. Microsoft and PC vendors have tried to respond.
Last week, Lenovo said its computers will load Windows 7 up to 56% faster than when loading XP or Vista.
Yesterday, DeviceVM launched a virtualization enabled corporate version of its instant on Linux platform.
Diskeeper, which has sold 36 million copies of its defragmentation software, began working on HyperBoot six months ago. The software rearranges the order in which applications and services are loaded by Windows to minimise delays and maximise efficiency.
A HyperBoot-enabled PC will average 100% CPU utilisation during the Windows loading process, said Ed Beckman, vice-president of development for Diskeeper.
Even after optimising a PC the first time, HyperBoot will continue to monitor and re-optimise Windows as it continues to run, and more apps are installed, preventing the sluggishness most users are accustomed to, Beckman said. The software can also cut shutdown times by about 10%.
Version one of HyperBoot was optimised for Windows XP and conventional hard disk drives. Version two, which Diskeeper is now offering to PC makers, works with Windows 7 as well as solid-state disk (SSD) drives, which many performance hounds are turning to for even faster boot times, Beckman said.
Unlike Lenovo, HyperBoot does not tweak the PC device drivers nor its BIOS. HyperBoot is not yet good at accelerating the loading of Windows virtual machines on Macs either, Beckman said.
HyperBoot does delay the loading of some services and apps until after the Windows desktop appears. Those continue to load in the background, meaning that applications that users try to open immediately after the startup will load up slower than normal, Beckman said.
Giorgetto Giugiaro is a very important person; probably the most important person that no one’s ever heard of. He’s the car designer of the century, and he’s responsible for some of the most beautiful and influential vehicles of all time.
Here are his 5 most beautiful creations:
1. The Iso Grifo – 1963
There were actually two body styles for the early Iso Grifo, the A3/L (the one pictured above) and the A3/C, and they were both designed by Giugiaro when he was only 25 years old. The A3/C was the sleek competition version that looked almost like a lighter Ford GT40, and the A3/L was the more aggressive street version, with the mean brow and front end that inspired the American muscle cars later on in the decade.
2. Fiat 850 Spyder – 1965
A tiny little car with a tiny little engine. Grossly underpowered compared to the other 4 cars on the list, but still important because of the straight, clean lines and really simple elegance of the car.
Where do you think the Mazda Miata’s styling comes from?
3. DeTomaso Mangusta – 1966
The Mangusta was slightly more accessible than the Vallelunga before it and better quality than the Pantera after it. It’s DeTomaso’s coolest car, and one of my favorite cars of all time. It looks like it’s going to take off and attack an impala and go eat it in a tree or something. It’s a monster car.
4. Maserati Ghibli – 1966
Anything Giugiaro did for Maserati was solid gold, but the Ghibli was the best. This car was the European version of the C4 Corvette, nearly 20 years before that Corvette was designed. Again, Giugiaro was ahead of his time with a beautiful, really clean body style. It looks fast just sitting there.
5. Lotus Esprit – 1972
This is the big one. Giugiaro designed the concept for the Lotus Esprit in 1972 and it went into production in 1976. The Lotus Esprit wasn’t just another angular sports car, this was the first angular sports car. Nothing looked like this before 1976, and everything looks like it after. Any sports car built today, you can still see the influence of the Lotus Esprit. The Ferrari Testarossa, the Lamborghini Countach, the Diablo, basically all modern Lamborghini’s, and just about all of those modern high level sports cars can trace their design linage to the 1976 Lotus Esprit, and so, to Giorgetto Giugiaro.
A new fighter jet camera which can read the time on Big Ben from the Isle of Wight has been hailed as a breakthrough for fighter pilots in Afghanistan.
The RAF Tornado GR4 technology - known as a Raptor - is used to zoom in on Taliban hideouts and snipers. It is one of the most advanced reconnaissance sensors in the world today.
The pod, which is just under two metres long, is fixed underneath the jets, enabling pilots overhead to see precise detail from miles in the air. It contains a dual-band sensor using both visible light and infrared, so can be used both day and night.
The Raptor pod can be seen attached to the underbelly of the Tornado GR4
Test flights showed the raptor can spot tiny details 75 miles away
Speaking at Kandahar Air Field, Wing Commander James Linter, officer commander 12 (Bomber) Squadron, said: 'It brings great flexibility to us and is particularly useful in Afghanistan.
'We have had them since July 1 - since then we have been able to deliver high quality imagery from amazing distances.
'One of the early testers flew over the Isle of Wight to test it. They were able to take a shot of the face of Big Ben.'
First used during the 2003 invasion of Iraq in Operation Telic, the RAF now has eight Raptor pods and two ground stations.
Raptor, standing for Reconnaissance Airborne Pod for Tornado, is built by BF Goodrich Aerospace. The infrared sensor offers superior haze-penetration in poor weather conditions, while the night time imagery can reveal details such as the fuel levels in storage tanks on the ground.
The camera has both visible light and infrared sensors so can be used during day and night missions
A Tornado GR4 is fitted with Raptor in Afghanistan
The pictures received by the pod can be transmitted via a live data-link system to image analysts at a ground station, or can be displayed in the cockpit during flight. It can also record for post-flight analysis.
The pod is capable of imaging over 200 separate points on any one flight.
Squadron Leader Jon Nixon said: 'The thing about Raptor and its strategic capability is that it can take a huge amount of imagery in a short space of time.'
In the past many reconnaissance pods have been designed to operate with the aircraft either overflying or passing very close to the target, but the Raptor works differently.
'The stand-off range of the sensors also allows the aircraft to remain outside heavily defended areas, thus minimising the aircraft’s exposure to enemy air-defence systems,' an RAF spokesman said.
The Raptor transmits data from the camera to a ground station (pictured) for advanced analysis
Boy howdy could I use this thing at CEATEC today. Running on a Windows Mobile handheld, Toshiba has a real-time voice translation demonstration. It worked quite well. How much longer until we get the Star Trek universal translators?
The latest BMW Concept Car for the EfficientDynamics philosophy.
For decades, BMW has made the reduction of emissions and fuel consumption a key part of its product development strategy, just as enhancements to the dynamic ability of each BMW have been a lasting, sustained brand value. BMW's EfficientDynamics engineering philosophy - the pursuit of an enhanced, athletic driving experience while simultaneously lowering the consumption and emissions of each vehicle - resulted in the most dramatic drop in fleet consumption of any automaker from 1990 through 2005, according to an Environmental Defense study.
Now, the BMW Vision concept car clearly demonstrates that the EfficientDynamics objectives are fully compatible when applied to a sports car. Conceived as a 2+2-seater with plug-in full-hybrid technology, this unique car combines the performance of a BMW M vehicle with a standard of fuel efficiency and emission management that exceeds even the current levels achieved by the latest small cars. This outstanding result is made possible by the combination of BMW ActiveHybrid components with an extremely economical combustion engine, and outstanding aerodynamic qualities.
BMW Vision EfficientDynamics is the result of a "clean-sheet" development process to ensure that the correct achievements were made in the areas of efficiency, driving pleasure, technology, and emotional design. BMW Vision EfficientDynamics is the most comprehensive implementation of the EfficientDynamics philosophy seen so far. The powertrain provides a top speed limited electronically to 155 mph, with acceleration to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. Average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle is 3.76 liters/100 kilometers, equal to 62.6 mpg, and the CO2 emission rating is 99 grams per kilometer. CO2 emission management is even more outstanding when driving in the all-electric mode after charging the battery from a plug-in source: Taking all emissions in the generation of electricity into account, as prescribed by the EU formula, the car's emission rating is just 50 grams per kilometer.
Through this unique balance of driving pleasure and fuel efficiency, the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car clearly demonstrates the potential of BMW ActiveHybrid technology, which makes its world debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show in the BMW ActiveHybrid X6 and BMW ActiveHybrid 7 production models.
The power and performance are made possible by combining a fuel-efficient 3-cylinder turbodiesel with one electric motor on each axle. The intelligent combination of these units, together with precisely controlled energy management, simultaneously enhances the dynamic performance and the efficiency of the car. Overall system output is 356 horsepower, and peak torque is 590 lb-ft. The special arrangement of the two motors and diesel engine allows all-wheel drive when driving in all-electric mode. The result is minimum power loss and a harmonious transmission of the power available under all conditions.
In its design, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics for the first time conveys the dynamic look of a BMW sports car to a hybrid vehicle. Developed with decades of experience in Motorsport, the body of this unique sports car is a result of intelligent lightweight technology and aerodynamic efficiency. In the design of the interior, the focus was likewise on both the fascinating driving experience and, in particular, on transparent, hands-on technology and maximum reduction of weight.
Turbodiesel engine with unprecedented specific output. The combustion engine is a cutting-edge turbodiesel featured for the first time in the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car. Displacing 1.5 liters on three cylinders, the engine consistently follows the downsizing principle of using a relatively small engine combined with a turbocharger to reduce fuel consumption.
Through its compact dimensions, the 3-cylinder fits conveniently in front of the rear axle like in an agile mid-engine sports car, despite the two seats at the rear. Fuel is injected by the latest generation of High Precision Direct Injection, and the turbocharger features variable intake geometry for maximum efficiency. Engine output is 163 hp with peak torque of 214 lb-ft.
The specific output of 109 hp per liter sets a new benchmark in diesel technology. The power delivered by the turbodiesel is conveyed to the rear axle by means of a double-clutch transmission (DCT). This advanced transmission technology, which already offers a particularly dynamic driving experience in BMW's M3 and Z4 Roadster, allows the driver to shift gears without the slightest interruption of power. BMW Vision EfficientDynamics features a newly-developed version of BMW's DCT with six speeds for maximum efficiency and flexibility.
Two electric motors for full-hybrid drive. The combustion engine is supplemented by two electric motors. Consistently applying the BMW ActiveHybrid philosophy, development engineers followed the principle of "Best of Hybrid," choosing the optimum combination of a hybrid synchronous motor on the front axle and a full-hybrid system at the rear.
In this concept, the driver benefits from the efficiency of the electric motors over a far wider speed range than with a conventional hybrid car. The rear axle comes with a second-generation full-hybrid system corresponding to the technology in the BMW ActiveHybrid 7 production model. The compact electric motor positioned between the diesel engine and the DCT outputs a consistent 33 horsepower and is able to reach a peak of up to 51 hp. Maximum torque for the rear electric motor is 214 lb-ft, the power, either supporting the diesel engine or in all-electric motoring. When coasting or applying the brakes, the electric motor acts as a generator and feeds electric power to the lithium-polymer battery in the car. The electric energy developed in this way is therefore captured without any additional consumption of fuel through the principle of Brake Energy Regeneration. Energy wasted on the brakes of a conventional car is thus saved within the new power system for subsequent use in driving the car.
A second electric motor acts on the front axle. This engine, a hybrid synchronous motor, offers continuous output of 80 horsepower and peak torque of 162 lb-ft. Extra power of 112 horsepower is available for a period of up to 30 seconds, and, for a 10-second "burst," the electric motor is able to develop 139 horsepower. The power is transmitted through a 2-stage, single-speed reduction gearbox.
BMW Vision EfficientDynamics is able to run completely under electric power, with the power of the turbodiesel engine alone, or through an infinite combination of the three power sources. Depending on driving conditions, the two electric motors may be used both for accelerating and for regenerating energy when applying the brakes and while coasting. This principle ensures efficient energy management, with the charge status of the lithium-polymer battery constantly remaining within the optimum range. When accelerating, the electric motors help to boost the car for even greater performance, ensuring immediate response and a significant reduction in fuel consumption. For a short time, such as in passing maneuvers, the cumulative maximum output of all three engines increases to 356 hp, with maximum torque generated by the three engines reaching 590 lb-ft.
Lithium-polymer battery for electrical energy. The energy cells featured in BMW Vision EfficientDynamics are housed in a chassis element running from front to rear through the middle of the car. The front unit is the lithium-polymer complex, an ongoing development of the lithium-ion battery. Overall, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics comes with a total of 98 lithium-polymer cells, each offering a capacity of 30 amp/hours and developing continuous output of 600 Amps at a voltage of 3.7 V. For a period of 30 seconds, each cell is even able to develop maximum output of 1,200 Amps.
Serial arrangement of the lithium-polymer cells serves to generate nominal voltage of 364 volts, the gross storage capacity of the battery is 10.8 kW/h. With an unusually high discharge capacity of 80 percent, the battery delivers 8.6 kW/h for driving the car. This superior performance comes on overall weight of the entire energy storage system of just 187 lb. A further advantage is that through their optimum dimensions tailored to the specific qualities and features of the car, the lithium-polymer cells, together with the operating strategy chosen with a concept of "forward looking" energy management, reduces the thermal load acting on the battery to such an extent that there is no need for active cooling.
Plug-in solution: convenient charging of the electric power system from a conventional power socket. Brake Energy Regeneration captures electric power generated while driving without additional fuel consumption, which is subsequently used to supply power to the electric motors and on-board network. A further option is to connect the lithium-polymer cells to a conventional power socket for a simple and efficient charge process, using a plug-in connector in the front-right wing of the car. Connected to a standard EU power outlet (220 V, 16 Amps), the system requires a maximum of 2 ½ hours to fully charge the lithium-polymer cells. And wherever a power source with higher voltage and amperage (380 V, 32 Amps) is available, the charge time is an even shorter 44 minutes.
In addition to electrical energy storage, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics comes with a conventional fuel tank at the rear end of the central chassis tunnel, offering a capacity of 6.6 gallons. Running on diesel fuel alone, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics is able to cover a distance of approximately 400 miles with its combustion engine. Benefitting from an extra range of up to 31 miles in the all-electric mode, the car offers an overall range of approximately 431 miles. As a result, this unique concept car offers all the requirements for using energy with maximum efficiency and at the same time experiencing the dynamic performance typical of BMW without any restriction of everyday driving qualities.
Performance, fuel efficiency and emission management opening new dimensions in hybrid technology. The power delivered by the two electric motors and single diesel 3-cylinder engine gives the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept a level of performance superior to anything provided so far by a hybrid vehicle. Acceleration from a standstill to 100 km/h, for example, comes in just 4.8 seconds and the car could exceed its electronically-limited 155 mph top speed.
At the same time fuel efficiency and emission management now reach a standard only achieved, if at all, by far less powerful small cars conceived for city traffic and short distances. Applying the criteria of the EU test cycle, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics offers average fuel consumption equal to 62.6 mpg. CO2 emissions, in turn, are 99 grams per kilometer. These consumption and emission figures are measured on a consistent internal power balance, meaning that the batteries and storage media for electrical energy maintain the same charge level throughout the entire test cycle (with the same level at the beginning and end) and are charged while driving only by the car's on-board systems.
As a plug-in hybrid, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics is able to cover the entire drive cycle for measuring fuel consumption also with its combustion engine completely switched off. Then, to subsequently charge the lithium-polymer cells to the same status as when setting off, all the driver has to do is connect the car to an external power grid. To determine the consumption of electric power, the only requirement is to compare the charge level of the battery before and after the test cycle. Applying this measurement process, the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car consumes 17.5 kW/h per 100 kilometers, equal to a CO2 emission rating of just 50 grams per kilometer in the EU test cycle.
To determine the total volume of CO2 emissions when driving in the all-electric mode, new legal standards for measuring the level of fuel consumption are currently being prepared for hybrid and electric cars with a plug-in power supply. Applying this calculation method, the CO2 emission ratings generated by BMW Vision EfficientDynamics are reduced further to just one-third of the original figure of 99 grams per kilometer. Clearly, this significant reduction of emissions opens up a new dimension in BMW's EfficientDynamics development strategy in this unique concept car.
Aerodynamic qualities reflecting BMW's Motorsport experience. BMW Vision EfficientDynamics also takes a new approach in its design and streamlining, the body and the interior clearly expressing the unique combination of supreme efficiency and the sporting performance of the brand. Following BMW's design language, this concept car visualizes both highly efficient aerodynamics and intelligent lightweight construction.
In its design, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics differs from the usual low-emission car concepts. The principle of "form follows function" is not just for the overall look of the car, but embraces each and every detail. Measuring 48.8" in height and boasting a sweeping, arch-like roofline, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics offers the slender silhouette of a classic Gran Turismo. With the combustion engine fitted in front of the rear axle, the designers have succeeded in giving the car a very low front end, with the flow of air being further smoothened by active louvers in front of the radiator, which close completely when the need for cooling air is low. This efficient function follows in the footsteps of the active air flap control already used as a feature of BMW EfficientDynamics in some of BMW's current production models. As a further highlight, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics guides air smoothly and exactly as required into the car through an active air intake at the front.
Numerous details in the design of the body are based on the know-how BMW has gained in Motorsport, a number of body elements serving as air deflectors and guide vanes. Designed as ducts, for example, the A-pillars serve to channel the flow of air in the same way as the rear lights with their wing profile. The floor of the car is fully covered from front to rear and from one side to the other, thus maintaining a smooth surface to avoid any air swirl liable to increase fuel consumption. Slender openings around the front air dam guide the air flowing specifically into two closed ducts leading inside the front air dam to the wheel arches where the air comes out again through a very slim aperture at high speed, flowing just next to the outer wheel flanks. This air jet rests on the front wheels like a curtain and is therefore referred to most appropriately as the "air curtain." It provides a highly stabilizing effect.
Overall vehicle concept for a drag coefficient of just 0.22. To further optimize the aerodynamic qualities of the entire vehicle and keep rolling resistance to a minimum, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics comes with tires and wheels of quite unusual size on a sports car. The tires measure 195/55, while large 21-inch wheels provide a contact surface on the road otherwise offered only by a much wider tire. In combination with the sophisticated axle geometry, this ensures agile driving behavior.
The extra-large wheel covers extending over part of the tire flanks add to the unique, very different look of BMW Vision EfficientDynamics from the side. The blade profile integrated in the wheels serves furthermore to reduce the negative effect of the turning wheels on the overall aerodynamics of the car. In all, these features optimizing the aerodynamic qualities of the car give the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car a very low drag factor (CX) of just 0.22.
Technological look as a strong impression of intelligent lightweight construction. In both exterior and interior design, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics stands out clearly as a strong spearhead in technology. Many components of the vehicle are presented in full view expressing the "transparent" character of the car as a powerful visual feature of lightweight technology. The chassis and suspension of BMW Vision EfficientDynamics are made completely of aluminum; the roof and the outer skin on the doors are made almost completely of a special polycarbonate glass automatically darkening as a function of the light shining on the car.
Measuring 181.1" in length, 74.8" in width and 48.8" in height, this unique concept car offers ample space for up to four passengers and their luggage. Thanks to the consistent lightweight construction strategy applied on the car, curb weight is 3,076 lb, with the center of gravity remaining very low. In its power-to-weight ratio, the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car is far superior to all other hybrid cars, achieving the same standard as extremely dynamic sports cars with a conventional combustion engine.
Carrying a maximum payload of 981 lb, this unique 2+2-seater is fully suited for everyday traffic. Luggage capacity of 5.3 cu ft, in turn, allows the driver and passengers to conveniently take along two golf bags. And to meet additional loading requirements the backrests of the two rear seats may be tilted down individually to provide extra storage space.
Emotional design through sculptural shapes and layering technology. Reflecting the innovative drive concept of this unique car, the design of BMW Vision EfficientDynamics likewise takes a new approach in combining functional progress with a most powerful emotional impact.
This has been achieved through the close cooperation of BMW's Design and Technical Development Divisions starting at an early point and continuing consistently throughout the entire development process. The result is a brand-new vehicle architecture with the drive components as well as the body and interior elements perfectly coordinated and matched to one another with maximum flexibility and individual style.
A fully integrated design philosophy also provided new options in using harmonized design principles connecting the exterior and the interior and providing an interacting effect between the two areas.
Sculptural design language giving BMW Vision EfficientDynamics a fully harmonized, complete look ensures the proportions typical of a BMW sports car. The front, side, rear and roof areas, for example, flow smoothly into one another. Dynamically contoured surfaces and shapes, in turn, create highly attractive light and shade effects accentuating the light and sporting character of the car in an emotional manner.
Layering technology developed by the BMW Group Design Division acts as the fundamental guideline in designing the exterior and interior. Applied for the first time in exterior design, this technology layers one surface on top of the other, creating very smooth seams and joints to reduce the number of components and, accordingly, the weight of the car. As a result, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics meets the most demanding aerodynamic requirements without using any additional body elements, simply through the structure of the surfaces optimized for a smooth flow of air.
Interior: innovative lightweight construction and unprecedented orientation to the driver. In the design of the interior, innovative layering technology provides an unprecedented symbiosis of function and stylish shapes intentionally reduced to a minimum, consistently implementing and visualizing the lightweight principle also inside the car.
Specific components such as the central air vent not only serving to enhance motoring comfort but also acting as part of the cockpit, perform several functions in one. This multi-functionality is then presented visibly within the car, the use of particularly sophisticated materials providing a highly attractive combination of innovation in technology and quality clear to the eye and the touch of the surface.
This interaction of lightweight construction and individual well-being also comes out clearly in the design of the controls and switches, with a leather band, for example, running round the aluminum gear selector lever on the center console. Materials combining lightweight technology and all the qualities required are also to be admired all round the cockpit of BMW Vision EfficientDynamics, giving the car an unusually generous feeling of space for a 2+2-seater. The body-contoured seats, for example, are made up of a kevlar shell, a backbone structure, and seat padding with personalized fillings. Clearly, this combination alone ensures comfort at a minimum weight. The driver's and front passenger's seats are connected firmly to the center console to form a joint interior "landscape", while the rear seats anchored on the floor would appear to be hovering in space. Natural materials and light colors on the seat upholstery and all interior linings underline the light, sophisticated and sustainability-oriented atmosphere within the passenger compartment.
The instrument panel is deliberately padded only where technical components have to be appropriately covered, thus making an important contribution to passenger safety in the event of a collision. The instrument cluster played a fundamental role right from the start in the design process, serving as the starting point for all surfaces within the interior and thus creating a particularly powerful rendition of that driver orientation typical of BMW.
Innovative light technology: providing clear signals to the outside and offering soothing ambient illumination inside in a unique symbiosis. LED lights at both the front and rear end of BMW Vision EfficientDynamics provide an innovative combination of the symbols typical of the brand and clear design language oriented towards trendsetting technology. The distinctive look of the dual round headlights characteristic of a BMW is emphasized in particular by the use of LED technology. The rear lights are integrated also in their function into the design of the entire rear section, forming part of the rear air deflector and thus merging completely into the rear contour.
Extremely flat and compact, the rear lights are made up of innovative LED units forming a smooth and consistent red surface when not in use. Only when used do the respective light chambers take on the appropriate color such as yellow on the direction indicators. This innovative light technology also provides an intense symbiosis of the exterior and interior, again promoting and further refining the driving experience.
This is also why the ambient illumination of the interior comes with new features and qualities, the light sources within the passenger compartment being fed from the positioning lights at the side, the rear lights and the brake lights, thus changing the atmosphere created by the lights within the car as a function of driving conditions.
The optical impression conveyed by BMW Vision EfficientDynamics also results in other areas from the symbiosis of the exterior and interior, eliminating the conventional barriers between the two. The lines within the interior, for example, continue on to the innovative design of the engine compartment lid, while in its shape the third brake light positioned higher up on the car follows the structure of the glass roof and tapers to the outside where the roofline moves down gently to the rear.
Overhead doors for convenient access to all seats. The doors on BMW Vision EfficientDynamics open up like bird's wings, turning on pivots in the front roof column at the level of the side direction indicators. Since the car has no B-pillars, the large door cutouts ensure convenient entry also to the rear seats. The pivots on the doors also provide the base for the exterior mirrors, thus forming an ideal combination of function and aesthetic design. The structure of the doors is also characterized by several layers of materials on top of one another and the optical and functional symbiosis of the interior and exterior this technology is able to offer. Made up of three layers, the overall structure comprises the outer glass surface, an interim load-bearing layer, and the interior cover with its particularly smooth shapes and fl owing forms clearly visible to the passengers, layering technology again, therefore, opening up new perspectives.
The large glass surfaces extending far down on the body also provide a strong optical impression of the low seating position close to the road. And at the same time a stable sidebar ensures the body stiffness and crash safety naturally required on every vehicle. Flowing to the inside at its central point, this safety element also serves as an armrest. This interplay of the three layers also helping to minimize the weight of the car continues on the trim bar running along the door and extending out of the armrest, finally flowing into the outer door opener on its path from inside to outside.
Clear focus on the essential: 3-dimensional Head-Up Display. Layering technology is also used on the displays in the instrument cluster and in the Head-Up Display developed to an even higher standard on BMW's new concept car. The Display now creates a powerful impression of three dimensions, at the same time providing the option to present various signals more in the front or more in the background, depending on their relevance and current driving conditions.
The Head-Up Display projects information important to the driver on to the windscreen. Indeed, innovative presentation technology even allows the superimposed presentation of several views in three dimensions, keeping, the gauge graphics visible in the background while the latest information on route guidance or warning signals from BMW Night Vision, for example, are shown in the foreground.
The sequence in which such signals appear depends on the driving mode chosen by the driver, the display technology, again depending on the driver's personal preference, enhancing a particularly sporting, a more comfort oriented, or an efficiency-based style of motoring. Through its design alone, the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car clearly shows that highly efficient individual mobility may by all means be presented in emotional style. BMW already offers models in all vehicle segments which, compared with the competition, ensure the lowest level of fuel consumption and emissions combined with superior power and performance.
And now BMW Vision EfficientDynamics confirms BMW's commitment to offer a perfect combination in future of unique driving pleasure and optimum qualities in the responsible use of natural resources.
In the design process the need for sustainable management is borne out most clearly by the GINA (Geometry and Functions in N-fold Augmentation) concept developed by the BMW Group. In this case maximum creative freedom sets the foundation for innovative solutions challenging the conventional and meeting the requirements of the future. This makes the GINA principle particularly well-suited for developing visions for the future reflecting both the wish for emotional style and individual character as well as the quest for sustainable management and efficiency. From the dimensions of its wheels through the design of the rear lights and all the way to the configuration of the cockpit, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics therefore boasts a number of details both outside and inside which, going far beyond conventional solutions, open up a new approach to maximum efficiency and that Dynamic ability typical of BMW.
Forward-looking energy management adjusting to individual requirements. With the individual system components on board BMW Vision EfficientDynamics being networked with one another, conditions are perfect for implementing a forward-looking system of energy management using information gathered by the sensors of the driver assistance units fitted in the car. Data provided, for example, by the rain sensor or Active Cruise Control with its Stop & Go function as well as by the navigation system, and subsequently evaluated by the central control unit, offers an overview of current and upcoming driving conditions. Then, evaluating such data, the on-board computer is able to forecast driving conditions on the stretch of road immediately ahead, such calculations serving to prepare the car for upcoming requirements and make efficient use of the energy available through optimum operation of all systems.
Should the high-performance central computer establish, for example, that the driver is about to take the motorway, the power used for running the cooling system is reduced for a certain period in advance, on the assumption that the short increase in coolant temperature resulting from such an energy-saving measure will quickly be set off by the higher speed of the car on the motorway. Another example of such pre-conditioning is the regeneration of energy from the air conditioning, from Electronic Power Steering and the Brake Assistant.
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