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Since 90's, core team that formed istanbul teknolojik ar-ge merkezi ltd have been in research and development of revolutionary engine and powertrain with capability to change 75% of known automotive technical solutions.
The team is planning to enter both the Mainstream and the Alternative categories of the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE www.progressiveautoxprize.org The team's application accepted as “Letter of Intent Contender” link
The Road Ahead: Future Technologies link Gas - continued improvements in fuel economy and reduced emissions are likely to keep the gas engine in the running for many years to come. Diesel - Green Diesels - Ultra-clean burning diesels have been on European highways for years. The Lupo, produced by Volkswagon, gets 90 mpg. Diesel powered cars represent 25% of the European car market. (There has been very little press coverage on this technology in North America.) Improvements in 'green' diesel cars are expected Biodiesel - a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics. Electric - small, battery-powered, zero-emission vehicles are expected to become a popular alternative commuter vehicle, especially in congested urban areas. Hybrid - may well become the dominant technology for all-purpose road cars, having an advantage over the electrics for driving longer distances. Plug-in hybrids - able to be plugged in when not in use, this design adds greater effeciency to the hybrid-electric models. Plug-in hybrids are now available on the market and are likely to be a long-time leader in new technologies. Plug-in electrics - General Motors hopes to have its plug-in Chevrolet Volt on the market by 2010. The Volt concept car that GM has shown at auto shows around the world can travel up to 40 miles on electricity from its rechargeable battery, but also has a three-cylinder gasoline engine to recharge the lithium-ion battery pack that would extend its range. Hydraulic Hybrid - Ford Motor Co. and the U.S. EPA are working together to develop a unique hybrid, high-efficiency vehicle that uses hydraulic fluid to store and provide energy to power the car. The technology could be used to dramatically improve the fuel economy of sport utility vehicles and light trucks. The hybrid system uses hydraulic pumps and hydraulic storage tanks to store energy in the place of electric motors and batteries used in electric hybrid vehicles. This hydraulic power system could have cost and power advantages over electric hybrid systems, the developers believe. Fuel cell - promising long-term outlook, but some obstacles yet to overcome, such as cost, improved performance, reducing the size and weight of the fuel cell systems and setting up a hydrogen fuel supply infrastructure. The current refining process for hydrogen fuel is a dirty process, and will need improvement. DaimlerChrysler has invested US$1 billion in fuel cell research and has built ten fuel cell vehicles either as concept cars or test vehicles, each one powered by Ballard fuel cells. Honda's fuel-cell car, the FCX, is currently being road tested. Chevy has launched a test fleet of hydrogen-powered fuel cell Equinox SUVs. Hydrogen hybrids - combine the high fuel economy attributes of today's gasoline- electric hybrids with the near-zero emissions of internal combustion engines running on hydrogen. The result is an extremely clean-running vehicle, using the same environmentally positive fuel as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but at a lower cost. A recently developed solid storage medium for hydrogen vehicles is key to this promising technology. Still, there’s a lot of work ahead to make this vision workable – costs must come down, fuel cell durability must improve, and challenges that go beyond the vehicles themselves must be met. Creating hydrogen economically is one of them, as is developing a widespread refueling infrastructure.
In addition to Progressive Automotive X PRIZE entry, there are development work in progress for wind turbine without propeller and new floating platform www.newfloatingtechnology.com projects.
The team is led by; Alpay İNCE (alpayince@turkrd.com) has more than 35 years of experience on building/manufacturing and reseach & development and Özgür TAN (ozgurtan@turkrd.com) Mechanical Engineer B.Sc. has more than 18 years of experience on development of automotive projects. |
