FISKER AUTOMOTIVE ANNOUNCES A LETTER OF INTENT FOR
ASSEMBLY CONTRACT WITH VALMET AUTOMOTIVE

Valmet to Serve as Global Manufacturing Facility, Fisker Automotive
Strategy Sees Manufacturing Facility in the US for Future Models

IRVINE, CA. July 14, 2008: Fisker Automotive, Inc., a green American premium
car company, today announced that Valmet Automotive will manufacture its first
production car, the Fisker Karma. Known for producing high quality specialty cars
like the Porsche Boxster and Cayman for Porsche AG, the Finland-based contract
manufacturer brings to the Fisker Karma 40 years of experience of working with
OEM customers and their wide ranging engineering and production needs.

When the Fisker Karma begins rolling off the Valmet assembly line in the fourth
quarter of 2009, it will mark the first ever plug-in hybrid 4 door sports sedan to hit
the market. With 50 miles of electric range and more than 350 miles of total range,
the Fisker Karma with its proprietary Q-DRIVE powertrain developed by Quantum
Technologies, will have the potential for a fuel economy of over 100 miles per gallon
(MPG) on extended drives. Boasting a top speed of 125mph and 0-60 acceleration
in less than 6 seconds, the Fisker Karma is poised to be the world’s first true luxury
plug-in hybrid sports car.

“After an exhaustive global search, we are thrilled to have found the ideal
manufacturing partner in Valmet Automotive,” said Fisker Automotive CEO, Henrik
Fisker. “Valmet offers us the quality and speed necessary to meet our production
goals and given that more than half of Fisker Automotive’s sales are expected to be
outside of North America, Valmet represents an ideal international foothold. We do
have a strategic plan to utilize an American manufacturing site for future models of
the Fisker Karma."

“It is forecasted that the market of environmentally-friendly electric vehicles will
grow very fast and we are proud to be in the pole position in this growth”, says Ilpo
Korhonen, President of Valmet Automotive. “Fisker Automotive leads the way by
adapting the most innovative technologies to new, environmentally-friendly premium
cars. The strategic partnership with Fisker Automotive will open a new window for
Valmet Automotive. Our production process can be easily adapted to the production
of electric and hybrid cars and new body designs. In line with our renewed strategy,
engineering will have a strong role in the cooperation.”

“Our mission at Fisker Automotive is to develop beautiful, environmentally friendly
cars that make environmental sense without compromise – be it quality-wise or cost-
wise,” Fisker continued. “Valmet Automotive has the track-record, high quality
technology and has the dedicated resources to take us there, and their high tech
production line with eco-friendly automated paints agrees with our ideology.”

Initial domestic deliveries of Fisker Automotive’s first car, the Karma, will
commence in the 4th quarter of 2009 in North America with planned delivery to
Europe in 2010. Fisker Automotive’s annual production is projected to reach 15,000
cars, with more than half of sales expected to be overseas.

Created by cinematographer Sean Casey, the Tornado Interceptors are used to film impressive images of supercells like this:

Armor or no armor, I wouldn't like to be in that car when something like that hits me. [Ryan Mcginnis at Flickr]

Update: Jalopnik says it's going to have 225 miles per charge. Wowzers!

Update 2: Tesla head Elon Musk also made statements that they want to get prices down to $30,000 within four years, but Jalopnik says take that with a grain of salt. It doesn't seem like a $60k to $30k drop in four years is out of the question if you strip out some luxury items, but we'll see.

• After nearly going bankrupt in 1927, Buckminster Fuller moved his family to a Chicago slum so he could spend his days in the library reading works from the likes of Gandhi and Da Vinci. By 1928, he had compiled 2,000 pages of notes into a 50 page manuscript entitled "4D Time Lock." It was basically described as incomprehensible nonsense. From here, Fuller began work on his Dymaxion line of inventions focused around utopian living.
• The Dymaxion Car, built in 1933, was blimp shaped, sat on three wheels and had a periscope instead of a rear window. Fuller had a vision that the evolution of housing would lead to pre-fabricated homes that could be put anywhere, so people would be living in places like Antarctica or the Sahara, and would need an all-terrain vehicle to get around. The car could turn 180 degrees on a dime, and would often cause traffic jams from slack-jawed onlookers. Future designs for the car called for it to fly using a VTOL mechanism, but a fluke accident at the Chicago World's Fair killed production of the vehicle in 1934.
• Fuller viewed the (still popular) individual homebuilding process as inefficient and antiquated, which gave way to his Dymaxion Home project. He thought homes should be built like cars; constructed in a day, exactly the same as the rest. The Dymaxion Home would have all the necessary amenities and would be installed in lightweight towers. The towers themselves would be constructed in a central location and transported to the building site via Zeppelin, where a bomb would be used to excavate the land. When a family was ready to move, the home could be packed up, removed from the tower and taken to the next site. Unfortunately, Fuller was unconcerned with the availability of the technology he called for, which made building these homes nearly impossible.
• The Dymaxion Bathroom was intended to be built like a refrigerator, with a sink, toilet and bath condensed into a modular unit that could be placed anywhere in the home. Thirteen models were produced before production was nixed in 1936.
• Bucky's most bizarre concept was his Cloud Nine project, which consisted of communities built inside ginormous, super light spheres covered in polyethelyne. Apparently, when the sun hit the spheres and created enough hot air, they would rise up into the sky, essentially creating cloud cities (sans Billy Dee Williams). I don't think further explanation is needed to show why this never happened.
• But Fuller's most realized innovation were his Geodesic domes. Utilizing aluminum struts and fiberglass panels, Fuller made a dome which covered 93 feet and only weighed 8.5 tons, catapulting him to design fame. His services as a speaker and thinker became popular from universities and the Pentagon alike. Obsessed with the shape for their volume optimizing qualities, Fuller wanted to house entire cities under domes and shield residents from the elements, where energy would be conserved and money saved. His envisioned Manhattan covered in a two-mile dome, and more domes in the Arctic, Antarctic and Tokyo Bay.

Buckminster Fuller's failed inventions aren't the only things worth reading about. There are plenty of great anecdotes about his eccentric life — like how he was expelled from Harvard using his tuition money to entertain a group of chorus girls and spent a significant chunk of time only eating prunes, steak, tea,and...umm...Jell-O (unmentioned is that he also served as the second president of MENSA). Basically, he was awesome. [The New Yorker]

The concept for the project came about through a $1.7 million "Phase One" brainstorming contract. Apparently unaware of the existence of birds, DARPA decided that this innovative and classy new idea was worth pushing through to development and handed over the second wad of cash this week. The Nano Air Vehicle is part of an apparent trend toward smaller and smaller UAVs, following AreoVironment's 80 gram, six inch Black Widow and Prox Dynamics' four inch, 20 gram Black Hornet (which, thanks to the less literal-minded people at PD, does not fly like an actual insect). [Ares] -By John Herrman

The new MKV-L will be able to take out an ICBM and all of its MIRVs long before they could do any damage, and Lockheed just announced an important milestone in its development: they've calibrated the infrared pathfinder seekers. These are the clever gizmos at the heart of the MKV-L that'll let it track those multiple targets. Next up: testing prototypes in the air and the lab, with an aim of in-operation date of 2017. [Cnet News]

Built by Ben J. Poss Gulak, it's an electric vehicle that uses a similar sort of microgyro-motor system as the Segway, but with two gyros: one for forward and back, and one for turning. Its got just one control —a power switch— and everything else is done by leaning, which must make for one hell of an adrenaline-packed ride. It's the culmination of a number of vehicle projects by Ben, and uses electric propulsion for eco-friendliness, since Ben visited China where he found that "the smog was so thick, we never saw the sun."

Ben designed the 120-lb vehicle himself, using Google SketchUp to help with the plans as he couldn't afford professional software. How does it perform? We don't know, but we suspect it's a lot of fun. And though Ben got some advice from expert motorbike modders, and a robotics expert for the gyro programming, he deserves a round of applause— he's only 18 years old. And that's just amazing. [Motorcycle Mojo via Make —Thanks Daniel]

WILLWARN: Uses wireless communication to warn the driver about potential hazards that lie ahead.
MAPS&ADAS: Alerts drivers to terrain hazards using sat-nav maps.

SASPENCE: Analyzes safe driving distances and speed.

LATERALSAFE: Keeps an eye on your blind spot.

APALACI and COMPOSE: Analyzes the speed and trajectories of other vehicles and pedestrians in real time.

The systems developed by Prevent are already being tested in the Volvo FH12, BMW 545i, Fiat Stilo, Alfa Romeo 156 and Mercedes E350, but they acknowledged that it would be "a while" before on-board vehicle computers are sophisticated enough to take advantage of this technology. [Science Daily via Jalopnik]

Contrary to our previous report, the Micro Air Vehicle is still pending FAA testing but "is expected to make its debut soon in the skies over the Florida Everglades."

Honeywell's MAVs, which are now being used in Iraq and Afghanistan, are not the only ones waiting for FAA permission. There are dozen of companies making all kinds of spy drones now, among them Cyber Defense Systems, which has a kite-sized surveillance drone that has been already flown once by the police in Palm Bay, also in Florida. [Reuters]

Morgan is putting together the LifeCar to demonstrate that eco-friendly vehicles can still be fun to drive and desirable. To this end, that sleek art-deco chassis is designed to be ultra light, with sound eco-credentials without sacrificing performance. It even incorporates features like regenerative braking to claw back wasted energy, which helps shrink down the engine and fuel system and still retain a 200-mile range. Combine the performance and eco-friendliness with luxury details like hand-stitched leather and a wooden-rimmed steering wheel, and suddenly going green doesn't sound so Prius-y. Let's just hope we can save enough for the presumably enormous price. [Jalopnik]

Current hybrid vehicles use nickel-metal hydride batteries, but the lithium-ion alternatives are known to offer greater efficiency, as well as a better overall weight-to-power ratio. The problem with integrating the Li-ion technology was in securing their stability—they became far too hot to be a viable option in a hybrid vehicle. Fortunately, Mercedes-Benz has 25 patents it is confident solves the dilemma of battery overheating, whether they stay on target for 2009 is another matter, but we certainly wouldn't doubt them. (N.B. The model pictured is the standard petrol engine S400. Images of the BlueHybrid have not been released as yet.)[CNET]

Top speed is 75mph on land, 4mph on water and 2mph below the surface. The zero-emission vehicle is powered by rechargeable li-ion batteries and dives to 10 meters and, once submerged, can stay underwater for up to two hours.

All this technology, however, comes at a very steep price. Costing almost $1.5 million to build, the car, which will be on show at next month's Geneva Motor Show, will never enter production. "We don't plan to build it, even in a limited capacity," says Rinderknecht. "But if someone wants to take up the project that would be great. I'm sure there will be people interested in buying one." [Daily Mail and Jalopnik]

This sort of destruction should not make us feel good, but the pictures are awesome and we can constantly hear Edward Norton's cold, monotone voice saying, "I felt like destroying something beautiful," as a slim justification. We should really speak to someone about Edward Norton's psychotic comments repeating themselves autonomously in our insane membrane regions. [Tesla via Valleywag]

Naturally, the notion of landing on a power line is riddled with challenges. For starters, the device could easily cause a discharge of sparks that would give away its position. Despite these challenges and the admission that the whole concept is "bizarre," the AFRL is planning on conducting test flights in 2008. [New Scientist]

The $50,000 PAM is powered by two 105-hp engines that can propel it up to 60 mph. Compare that to the Vertipod's 440cc lawnmower engine, 40 mph top speed and sticker price of $10,000. That having been said, it is probably not surprising when I say that I would have to recommend the Vertipod as my flying nerd-killer of choice. [Product Page via Gizmag via DVICE]

The Black Knight is able to survey an area and plan a route, then drive along that course and avoid obstacles without human intervention. Remember that robotic gun that went berserk and killed nine people in South Africa? Imagine that rolling along at 41mph.

But relax. According to the beast's maker, BAE Systems, it's not going to shoot unless a human tells it to. "The command to fire would always be made by a remote Soldier and only after the data necessary to make positive identification is received." But isn't that what that South African machine was supposed to do, too?

[Danger Room]

Joeseph McPhatter of Baltimore, MD, recently was cruising along when he was abruptly cut off and wrecked his motorcycle. Upon crashing, McPhatter was launched over 100 feet at a rate of 140MPH and instantly became the Impact Jacket's first "real world" motorcycle crash test. Medics claim that if McPhatter hadn't been wearing the Impact Jacket, his injuries, which amounted to a few sore ribs, would have been severely worse—if not fatal. Thanks, Impact Jacket! [Baltimore Sun via Core77]

Featuring 4 wheels for enhanced stability, the frame is apparently still not much bigger than a normal bike. And somewhere in there fits two different engines, one gasoline of undisclosed size and another electrical (to dual impress biker chicks and eco babes, though probably offering some impressive performance payoffs as well). The important note to remember is that the Tesseract is not a motorcycle. Please spread the word and make sure every wife knows it while we pray Yamaha actually puts the...vehicle...into production.

We're also hoping to see the Tesseract transform into a Gundam robot and fulfill its true destiny. [autoblog]

How's 230mpg while driving at 55mph? Yes, that's short of the 330mpg first promised last year, but that's a real world number demonstrated as the company rolled out the first working prototype of this diesel-electric car in March. Part of the secret to that great mpg number is its drag coefficient of 0.11, extremely slippery. The company's also claiming a 0-60 time of 10 seconds.

It looks way-cool, too. We especially like the view from the rear of this car—it looks like a flying saucer, and the view from the side? Why, it's a banana on wheels, and we mean that in the nicest way.

And the pricing? The company insists all this tech will cost around $20K, and say the first Apteras will be delivered in "approximately 12 months." That's a long time to lend someone $500 interest-free, but hey, this is an extraordinary design so maybe we'll give 'em a pass this time. [Aptera]

The Stingray, with its carbon-fiber hull, is the brainchild of the San Diego iBotics Student Society, a bunch of undergraduates from a variety of colleges and universities in the San Diego area. They and the Naval Academy will be battling it out against teams from Duke, Cornell, MIT and last year's winner, the University of Central Florida. There's a whole bunch of other pics at over at CNET if, like me, you're into hot pool action.

[CNET News]

Well, Flame Grill my Whopper and call it Professor Caractacus Potts! Is there nothing sacred any more? Not even those precious moments when a man wants a little peace in the world so that he can go about his daily business without being disturbed? It seems not, but then the British always were a little strange. This is, apparently, the world's fastest toilet. Powered by a Boeing Jet engine, the $10,000 vehicle's top speed is in excess of 70mph, and it farts flames from its tailpipe - rather like, I would imagine, a man forced to eat ten vindaloos one after another.

There's a video, as well another pic of the flaming khazi in action and its inventor, Paul Stender, all after the jump.

On the day when we remember Walter Schirra, let us also salute mechanic Paul Stender, without whom we would not be able to use clichés such as "To Boldly Go" and have them mean something completely different. – Ad Dugdale

Hold onto your Trousers... It's the world's fastest Loo

No longer will slow leisurely rides in the sky be the property of the wealthy & contest winners. The Personal Blimp will hold up to two people, max out at a blistering 12 mph, and thankfully use hot air instead of helium since I have no idea where to get that much helium aside from robbing a local party store. Also, the Personal Blimp will be fully collapsible so you can keep it in your garage, now there's a plus.

No word on pricing yet, but I'm putting aside the $2,600 I had saved up for a PS3, on a Personal Blimp down payment instead. See a video of the Personal Blimps first 360 degree turn after the jump.

Skyacht [New Launches]
Personal Blimp [Personal Blimp]

– Ben Longo

This is the next step toward the era where instrument displays in cars will resemble those of aircraft. It's high time, too. Imagine having a backup camera/rear-view monitor, GPS navigation, speedometer and other gauges, all displayed on configurable high-contrast video panels across the dashboard. Then spread a few across the seatbacks so those back seat drivers will stfu and enjoy total multimedia and carputing.

What took so long? These objects may be closer than they appear. – Charlie White

Press Release [Sharp Corporation, via BornRich]

TomTom ONE [GPS Review]

This Aptera concept vehicle looks like an amalgam of all kinds of vehicles. In the design, you can see a tricycle, a Plymouth Prowler, the glossy white of an iPod, and an EV-1.

The hybrid car can get up to 330 MPG, and if actually made, will be targeted at less than $20,000 and get a 0-60 time of around 11 seconds. They want to make this thing safe, but it looks kinda small and easy to be thrown around. Here's hoping this one gets to market. – Jason Chen

Aptera™ Concept Car [Accelerated Composites via Red Ferret]

No, this is not that lame Aquacar from years past; this prototype amphibious vehicle can fly both on the water and the road (not in the air, but wouldn't that be cool), where its retractable wheels quickly move up tight into the seaworthy bodywork when it's time to do some motorboating. The company is taking orders now for delivery in six months, and the price? Order one for us and find out. – Charlie White

Surf and Turf: The CAMI Hydra Spyder [Jalopnik]

The company says the car will run on simple hydrogen and its only apparent byproduct will be a few drops of distilled water. Thinking of everything, Honda is also creating a special in-home fuel production plant fueled by natural gas. But wait a minute. Natural gas is just another fossil fuel. Why is this better than using gasoline? Plus, Honda didn't mention the price of such a vehicle. – Charlie White

Honda: Fuel-Cell Vehicles On the Road by 2010 [Sci Fi Tech]

Maybe now that the Detroit behemoth's SUV sales have gone down the shitter, it will get serious about designing some sensible vehicles for a change. But let's be sensible about being sensible: the thing's turtle-slow, going from zero to 62 mph in 16 seconds.

GM Hy-Wire automobile [AutoMotoPortal]

Product Page [Via Gadget-Review]

2007 Infiniti G35 first to offer hard drive for storing digital music [TG Daily]

Apparently this suit allows you to roll in a number of positions and fly by pedestrians at about 50 mph. The full suit: $175. 6-pack of Bud: $12. 8-ball: $100. Mowing down the elderly: Priceless.

Buggy Rollin Is The New X-Sport [OhGizmo]