Game description: Her this girl pick a nice outfit. Many Dresses and clothes to choose from.
Game controls: Use Mouse to interact.
Thứ Ba, 19 tháng 6, 2012
Star Rebellion
Game description: Challenging defense game with strategy elements. Use your commanding powers to defend your base from attacking enemy forces.
Game controls: Build and upgrade turrets, power stations, refineries and send out air raids to clear the enemy from the map.
Game controls: Build and upgrade turrets, power stations, refineries and send out air raids to clear the enemy from the map.
Autumn Season Dress Up
Game description: Dress her up and prepare this cute girl for autumn season.
Game controls: Use Mouse to interact.
Game controls: Use Mouse to interact.
Chủ Nhật, 17 tháng 6, 2012
Slow progress on battery-electric vehicles
UK report predicts no great leaps but steady as she goes EV battery development until at least 2020
A UK report into the short- and mid-term future of battery technologies has concluded that any quantum-leap improvement in the performance of EV batteries is ‘highly unlikely’ for the rest of this decade.
A research team convened by the UK Committee on Climate Change – an independent body established to advise the UK government on setting and meeting car games bon budgets and preparing for the impacts of climate change – pointed to the dearth of breakthrough technologies in the consumer electronics market as the primary evidence behind its conclusions. History has shown that’s where great leaps forward in battery technology make their debut before strengthening and solidifying to meet the more stringent demands for automotive use.
Working under the stewardship of Professor Peter Bruce of EaStChem, the chemistry school of Edinburgh and St Andrews, the team included researchers from consultancy Element Energy and lithium-ion battery manufacturer Axeon. It concluded that while the industry had seen all the step-change it’s likely to see with the shift from lead-acid through NiMH to Li-ion chemistries, it will continue to see smaller advances, mainly in energy density improvements through technologies like nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), composite cathodes and high-capacity anodes (eg silicon), most of which it suggests will make their way into production vehicles by 2020.
The report goes on to map the future cost-performance trajectory of Li-ion batteries out to 2030, covering individual cell and pack development, taking in cell design, material consumption, manufacturing cost, factory throughput and overheads. From 2020, it predicts, the industry will set to work on higher voltage cathode chemistries boosting Li-ion energy density. It suggests, too, that growth in the automotive battery market will help speed up the development of new cell technologies, bringing it abreast of the consumer cell sector.
In outlining the current condition of the industry, the team identified steady improvements in energy density and the ramping up in production volume as the two main influencers pushing the technology towards mass affordability. The report predicted baseline BEV costs would drop from about $21K for a 2012 medium-sized BEV pack with a range of 150km to about $6400 for a pack with a range closer to 250km.
If this all sounds rather optimistic, the report tempers it with a reminder that you can lead a horse to an EV showroom but you can’t make him buy. Which is to say, any cost benefits brought about by increases in production volume are ‘highly dependent’ on consumer uptake. If buyers continue to balk en masse, “…there is a significant risk of over-capacity in the next five years [which] could stall further investment.”
Beyond lithium-ion, it suggests, the most promising technology now known lies in lithium-air technology – a battery chemistry that keeps weight and size down by drawing its oxygen direct from the air rather than through internal synthesis.
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...
A UK report into the short- and mid-term future of battery technologies has concluded that any quantum-leap improvement in the performance of EV batteries is ‘highly unlikely’ for the rest of this decade.
A research team convened by the UK Committee on Climate Change – an independent body established to advise the UK government on setting and meeting car games bon budgets and preparing for the impacts of climate change – pointed to the dearth of breakthrough technologies in the consumer electronics market as the primary evidence behind its conclusions. History has shown that’s where great leaps forward in battery technology make their debut before strengthening and solidifying to meet the more stringent demands for automotive use.
Working under the stewardship of Professor Peter Bruce of EaStChem, the chemistry school of Edinburgh and St Andrews, the team included researchers from consultancy Element Energy and lithium-ion battery manufacturer Axeon. It concluded that while the industry had seen all the step-change it’s likely to see with the shift from lead-acid through NiMH to Li-ion chemistries, it will continue to see smaller advances, mainly in energy density improvements through technologies like nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), composite cathodes and high-capacity anodes (eg silicon), most of which it suggests will make their way into production vehicles by 2020.
The report goes on to map the future cost-performance trajectory of Li-ion batteries out to 2030, covering individual cell and pack development, taking in cell design, material consumption, manufacturing cost, factory throughput and overheads. From 2020, it predicts, the industry will set to work on higher voltage cathode chemistries boosting Li-ion energy density. It suggests, too, that growth in the automotive battery market will help speed up the development of new cell technologies, bringing it abreast of the consumer cell sector.
In outlining the current condition of the industry, the team identified steady improvements in energy density and the ramping up in production volume as the two main influencers pushing the technology towards mass affordability. The report predicted baseline BEV costs would drop from about $21K for a 2012 medium-sized BEV pack with a range of 150km to about $6400 for a pack with a range closer to 250km.
If this all sounds rather optimistic, the report tempers it with a reminder that you can lead a horse to an EV showroom but you can’t make him buy. Which is to say, any cost benefits brought about by increases in production volume are ‘highly dependent’ on consumer uptake. If buyers continue to balk en masse, “…there is a significant risk of over-capacity in the next five years [which] could stall further investment.”
Beyond lithium-ion, it suggests, the most promising technology now known lies in lithium-air technology – a battery chemistry that keeps weight and size down by drawing its oxygen direct from the air rather than through internal synthesis.
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...
SPY PICS: A-Class AMG spotted on test
Meister A-Class Mercedes-Benz on track to take on Golf R
discount new cars » Get the best price on a new Mercedes-Benz
Chunky wheels, body kit and dual exhausts might have featured in the photos issued of the all-new Benz A-Class at its launch in Geneva this year, but these don’t necessarily point to what will be seen on cooking varieties of the now-conventionally styled and engineered VW Golf/BMW 1 Series/Audi A3 challenger.
What they do point to, is the far from secret plans Benz has to introduce an AMG version of the new car, as seen here in the spy photos supplied by Carparazzi. Complete with all the good gear aforementioned, the AMG A-Class will come with a pumped-up version of the 2.0-litre engine producing as much as 260kW (highest power so far in the new A-Class is 155kW), plus bigger brakes and the Benz 4Matic all-wheel drive system to put it all effectively to the road. Transmission is expected to be the seven-speed dual-clutch system seen elsewhere in the new A-Class.
Word is that the AMG A-Class will directly target VW’s 50K or thereabouts all-wheel drive, 188kW Golf R at the top end of the range.
— with Carparazzi
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at cars games ales' mobile site...
discount new cars » Get the best price on a new Mercedes-Benz
Chunky wheels, body kit and dual exhausts might have featured in the photos issued of the all-new Benz A-Class at its launch in Geneva this year, but these don’t necessarily point to what will be seen on cooking varieties of the now-conventionally styled and engineered VW Golf/BMW 1 Series/Audi A3 challenger.
What they do point to, is the far from secret plans Benz has to introduce an AMG version of the new car, as seen here in the spy photos supplied by Carparazzi. Complete with all the good gear aforementioned, the AMG A-Class will come with a pumped-up version of the 2.0-litre engine producing as much as 260kW (highest power so far in the new A-Class is 155kW), plus bigger brakes and the Benz 4Matic all-wheel drive system to put it all effectively to the road. Transmission is expected to be the seven-speed dual-clutch system seen elsewhere in the new A-Class.
Word is that the AMG A-Class will directly target VW’s 50K or thereabouts all-wheel drive, 188kW Golf R at the top end of the range.
— with Carparazzi
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at cars games ales' mobile site...
Van start-up to tackle Aussie market
China's newest light commercial brand has serious backing, and it's coming Down Under
Chinese start-up light commercial brand Maxus is set to launch into the Australian market. Imported by Milperra (NSW) based operation WMC Group , the brand will arrive Down Under with multiple variants of its V80 light van around October 2012.
Maxus is a new manufacturer established less than two years. It has strong backing, however, as a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC Motor (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), China's largest automotive manufacturing group.
SAIC is perhaps best known for its passenger car games joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen. In 2011 the group built more than 4.0m vehicles, placing it in the position of eighth largest automaker in the world.
Maxus is based in Wuxi, around 120km north of Shanghai in China's south. Construction of the factory in which the new V80 range is built, a greenfield site, was finished in 2010. Maxus produced its first V80s last year, thus Australia is one of the first export markets for the van.
Based on a Leyland-DAF design, V80 is a front-engined, front-wheel drive van that features unitary (passenger car style) construction. Designed initially to take on Ford's Transit in Europe, it will tackle the Blue Oval boxcar again in China where Ford has a substantial share of the rapidly expanding LCV market.
Maxus claims the vehicle is built to European standards of fit, finish and construction. It says V80 meets European commercial vehicle collision standards. The van earns a four-star rating in its domestic C -NCAP crash test program (not directly comparable to ANCAP) and Australian-delivered vans will come equipped with dual front airbags.
The Wuxi plant itself uses manufacturing equipment sourced from Leyland-DAF Van's Birmingham operation. Production updates include a move to the latest water-based paint and coatings technology. Many of the Maxus staff and executive team have been drawn from SAIC's JV passenger car operations.
Maxus claims the design of the van itself has had around 100 detailed changes from its LDV roots. Notable upgrades include a revised interior with passenger car style centre-stack and instrument panel, four-wheel disc brakes and late-spec Bosch antilock braking hardware.
V80 is powered by a VM Motori-designed 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel rated (for Australia) at 100kW and 330Nm. Matched to a five-speed manual transmission, the powerplant is built under licence in China.
The engine is currently certified to Euro 4 emission regs, though Maxus says a Euro 5 version is in development. So too for the Australian market, says Maxus, an automatic transmission option. Aisin-Warner is the partner supplier, WMC representatives told motoring.com.au.
Chinese fuel consumption figures have the van in its varied configurations rated at around 9.3L/100km. It's not clear how this figure will translate to local ADR testing.
In the Australian market WMC will launch both passenger and cargo versions of the V80 across a range of configurations and specifications.
Passenger vans will be offered in long (3850mm) and standard (3100mm) wheelbase models and standard and high-roof body styles. Seating layouts range from seven in single captain-style leather recliners to more utilitarian cloth-faced 16-seater versions. Twin zone twin compressor air-con systems are standard on the larger vans.
The cargo variant will be offered in two and three-seat versions (and perhaps a crew van) — again in both long and short wheelbase. No short wheelbase high-roof cargos will be sold Down Under at this stage, WMC reps say.
Exact Australian specifications and range are yet to be finalised -- along with pricing.
Maxus says it is looking to deliver high levels of comfort and amenity with the V80. Options offered in the Chinese domestic market include rear park sensors and a large screen rear view camera, while passenger vans can be equipped with electrically operated folding steps.
Other options include cruise control, 220-volt power outlets and a tyre pressure and temperature monitoring system. Vans rolling off the line at Wuxi wore a mix of 16-inch steel and 17-inch alloy wheels.
motoring.com.au visited Maxus' production facility in Wuxi this week. The new plant is currently building vans at a run-rate approaching 30,000 units per annum but plans to step up to a two-shift output of approximately 50,000 vans per year. Exports currently account for around ten per cent of volume.
Cab-chassis and dropside tray versions of the V80 are undergoing final testing and are expected to debut in China before the end of 2012. These too are earmarked for Australian market sales.
Longer term Maxus intends to build a smaller van with a true MPV variant. Execs are tight-lipped regarding any prospect of building ute or SUV style vehicles.
A quick drive of a manual long-wheelbase 14-seater right-hand-drive Standard spec V80 straight off the Wuxi line (see pics) hardly comprises a thorough review, however, we can attest that the van performed as advertised.
Control weightings are light (the steering is boarding on vague) and the manual gearchange is deliberate but far from truck-like. The VM engine's response with six persons onboard was eager enough. Indeed, even dropping down below 1000rpm in third gear didn't illicit any histrionics as the turbodiesel four just torqued its way back into its sweet spot.
More time in both Standard and Deluxe versions of the passenger vans provided as our transport to and from Wuxi showed noise levels are commendably low. It's clear, however, that the standard gear ratios are quite short. At 110km/h on the freeway engine revs are up towards 3000rpm mark on the manual variant. No autos were available to drive.
Also impressive was the general refinement of the vans -- both our transport and those coming off the Wuxi line. Vans are not luxury cars, and the Maxus offerings don't match the best Euro vans, but as many buyers have to spend hours in their cabins, decent fit and finish is a consideration even for those on a budget.
In the case of the V80, the plastics appear durable but they also have a level of graining and gloss that's better than average. There are niceties like central locking (even a folding ignition key) and Deluxe versions got better than average leather seat facings and high-spec audio units in the Chinese models we saw.
There are some driver-related negatives at first flush, chiefly: no steering wheel adjustment; limited driver's seat rail travel; and the necessity to operate a separate central locking switch to exit the van -- even from the driver's seat. But perhaps the biggest niggle behind the wheel is the old-gen Yaris-style centrally located instrument cluster. Your eyes are away from the road for an awfully long time when speedo checking. Given the miles and pace at which most van owners drive, this could be an issue.
WMC Group is still to confirm its full dealer network for Maxus in Australia along with details such as warranty coverage, service intervals and, of course, price.
It's a balance of these factors but mainly the final detail that will dictate just how many professional van operators take the plunge and give Maxus a go. That said, if first impressions count, WMC Group is already ahead of the curve.
Chinese start-up light commercial brand Maxus is set to launch into the Australian market. Imported by Milperra (NSW) based operation WMC Group , the brand will arrive Down Under with multiple variants of its V80 light van around October 2012.
Maxus is a new manufacturer established less than two years. It has strong backing, however, as a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC Motor (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), China's largest automotive manufacturing group.
SAIC is perhaps best known for its passenger car games joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen. In 2011 the group built more than 4.0m vehicles, placing it in the position of eighth largest automaker in the world.
Maxus is based in Wuxi, around 120km north of Shanghai in China's south. Construction of the factory in which the new V80 range is built, a greenfield site, was finished in 2010. Maxus produced its first V80s last year, thus Australia is one of the first export markets for the van.
Based on a Leyland-DAF design, V80 is a front-engined, front-wheel drive van that features unitary (passenger car style) construction. Designed initially to take on Ford's Transit in Europe, it will tackle the Blue Oval boxcar again in China where Ford has a substantial share of the rapidly expanding LCV market.
Maxus claims the vehicle is built to European standards of fit, finish and construction. It says V80 meets European commercial vehicle collision standards. The van earns a four-star rating in its domestic C -NCAP crash test program (not directly comparable to ANCAP) and Australian-delivered vans will come equipped with dual front airbags.
The Wuxi plant itself uses manufacturing equipment sourced from Leyland-DAF Van's Birmingham operation. Production updates include a move to the latest water-based paint and coatings technology. Many of the Maxus staff and executive team have been drawn from SAIC's JV passenger car operations.
Maxus claims the design of the van itself has had around 100 detailed changes from its LDV roots. Notable upgrades include a revised interior with passenger car style centre-stack and instrument panel, four-wheel disc brakes and late-spec Bosch antilock braking hardware.
V80 is powered by a VM Motori-designed 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel rated (for Australia) at 100kW and 330Nm. Matched to a five-speed manual transmission, the powerplant is built under licence in China.
The engine is currently certified to Euro 4 emission regs, though Maxus says a Euro 5 version is in development. So too for the Australian market, says Maxus, an automatic transmission option. Aisin-Warner is the partner supplier, WMC representatives told motoring.com.au.
Chinese fuel consumption figures have the van in its varied configurations rated at around 9.3L/100km. It's not clear how this figure will translate to local ADR testing.
In the Australian market WMC will launch both passenger and cargo versions of the V80 across a range of configurations and specifications.
Passenger vans will be offered in long (3850mm) and standard (3100mm) wheelbase models and standard and high-roof body styles. Seating layouts range from seven in single captain-style leather recliners to more utilitarian cloth-faced 16-seater versions. Twin zone twin compressor air-con systems are standard on the larger vans.
The cargo variant will be offered in two and three-seat versions (and perhaps a crew van) — again in both long and short wheelbase. No short wheelbase high-roof cargos will be sold Down Under at this stage, WMC reps say.
Exact Australian specifications and range are yet to be finalised -- along with pricing.
Maxus says it is looking to deliver high levels of comfort and amenity with the V80. Options offered in the Chinese domestic market include rear park sensors and a large screen rear view camera, while passenger vans can be equipped with electrically operated folding steps.
Other options include cruise control, 220-volt power outlets and a tyre pressure and temperature monitoring system. Vans rolling off the line at Wuxi wore a mix of 16-inch steel and 17-inch alloy wheels.
motoring.com.au visited Maxus' production facility in Wuxi this week. The new plant is currently building vans at a run-rate approaching 30,000 units per annum but plans to step up to a two-shift output of approximately 50,000 vans per year. Exports currently account for around ten per cent of volume.
Cab-chassis and dropside tray versions of the V80 are undergoing final testing and are expected to debut in China before the end of 2012. These too are earmarked for Australian market sales.
Longer term Maxus intends to build a smaller van with a true MPV variant. Execs are tight-lipped regarding any prospect of building ute or SUV style vehicles.
A quick drive of a manual long-wheelbase 14-seater right-hand-drive Standard spec V80 straight off the Wuxi line (see pics) hardly comprises a thorough review, however, we can attest that the van performed as advertised.
Control weightings are light (the steering is boarding on vague) and the manual gearchange is deliberate but far from truck-like. The VM engine's response with six persons onboard was eager enough. Indeed, even dropping down below 1000rpm in third gear didn't illicit any histrionics as the turbodiesel four just torqued its way back into its sweet spot.
More time in both Standard and Deluxe versions of the passenger vans provided as our transport to and from Wuxi showed noise levels are commendably low. It's clear, however, that the standard gear ratios are quite short. At 110km/h on the freeway engine revs are up towards 3000rpm mark on the manual variant. No autos were available to drive.
Also impressive was the general refinement of the vans -- both our transport and those coming off the Wuxi line. Vans are not luxury cars, and the Maxus offerings don't match the best Euro vans, but as many buyers have to spend hours in their cabins, decent fit and finish is a consideration even for those on a budget.
In the case of the V80, the plastics appear durable but they also have a level of graining and gloss that's better than average. There are niceties like central locking (even a folding ignition key) and Deluxe versions got better than average leather seat facings and high-spec audio units in the Chinese models we saw.
There are some driver-related negatives at first flush, chiefly: no steering wheel adjustment; limited driver's seat rail travel; and the necessity to operate a separate central locking switch to exit the van -- even from the driver's seat. But perhaps the biggest niggle behind the wheel is the old-gen Yaris-style centrally located instrument cluster. Your eyes are away from the road for an awfully long time when speedo checking. Given the miles and pace at which most van owners drive, this could be an issue.
WMC Group is still to confirm its full dealer network for Maxus in Australia along with details such as warranty coverage, service intervals and, of course, price.
It's a balance of these factors but mainly the final detail that will dictate just how many professional van operators take the plunge and give Maxus a go. That said, if first impressions count, WMC Group is already ahead of the curve.
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