TOGG’s battery electric SUV will be available from 2022. Photo: TOGG
Tog is the Norwegian word for train. TOGG is not a train, but a family of five EV models to be produced in Turkey by a consortium. Two prototypes were unveiled 2019-12-27, consisting of a red SUV and a grey sedan. The Turkish government had guaranteed to buy 30 000 of the vehicles by 2035, or about 2 000 vehicles a year over a 15 year period. Annual production volume is estimated to be 175 000 units a year. An investment of about $3.7 billion will be required between now and 2033.
Turkish plans for a domestically made vehicle were first announced in 2017-11, by a consortium that was formally established in 2018. Shares in consortium member stocks fell after the announcement, in part because of their lack of experience in automotive production. Members of the consortium consist of: Anadolu Holding; BMC Group, a Turkey-Qatar partnership; Kok Group; Turkcell, a mobile phone operator; and, Zorlu Holding, parent of TV maker Vestel.
Turkey’s Automobile Initiative Group (TOGG) project was launched in 2019-10. In addition to assorted forms of state support, production facilities are going to be constructed in Bursa in northwest Turkey. Bursa is already Turkey’s automotive hub. Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai, Renault and Toyota make vehicles in Turkey, that are exported to Europe.
This lack of automotive competence has now been rectified. TOGG’s CEO is Gurcan Karakas, former Bosch executive. Its COO is Sergio Rocha, former General Motors Korea chief executive. Production will begin in 2022 with compact SUVs.
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, regards this project as a demonstration of Turkey’s growing economic power. Thus, TOGG has been launched as a potential global brand, starting with the European market. Erdogan said Turkey’s EV charging infrastructure would be ready nationally by 2022.
Further details will be published as they become available.
Sometimes Governments act quickly, but often for the wrong reasons. Here on the left is Scott Marsh’s mural depicting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s holiday escape to Hawaii as Sydney ingests more than its fair share of smoke, Chippendale, a Sydney suburb. Only three days later, the mural is being painted over. (Composite image: Steven Saphore, 2019)
Timeline 2020
It is now New Year’s Eve 2019, and this timeline is being published to indicate my personal focus for the coming year, 2020. It also looks back at the previous three years (2017 – 2019), and a few sentences looking forward to each of the three years (2021 – 2023).
What characterizes all of these years is an acute realization that we are living during a climate crisis, and that this requires not only a change of attitude, but a change of behaviour. Humans, collectively, have to spend and consume not just less, but also better. My concern is that consuming disproportionately helps the elites to amass even more excessive wealth, which they will invest/ spend without considering the health of the planet, or its citizens. Better means prioritizing spending locally and intelligently on products that reduce, or at a minimum – contribute less to increased, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Two recent insights that leads to a change of priorities. First, I discovered that ordinary Americans feel they have to take up debt in order to build up a credit rating. I thought it was enough to have money salted away in a bank account. While I realized that many of the working poor had to borrow in order to acquire necessities, I was not aware that debt had become so institutionalized. Second, I did not realize that many Americans lacked the capability to make their own food. This might be due to a lack of kitchen facilities, or cooking competencies, or both. Many are then forced to use fast-food facilities (no, these are not restaurants) to provide them with food that is unhealthy, and further deteriorates the quality of their lives.
I am currently reflecting how these insights will motivate me to help change these ways of thinking. There may be a need to borrow money for a place to live, but people should not have to borrow to educate or transport themselves. Highter-education has to become free, and – in my opinion – is always best undertaken along with (at least) part-time work. If public transport isn’t usefully available, then ride-sharing may be a solution.
There is the matter of nourishment. Hopefully, everyone will have the opportunity to grow more healthy food, learning to avoid excessive amounts of sugar and other forms of empty calories. They will, of course, have to learn how to transform these into interesting meals.
I have always been an advocate of free entertainment. Holly- and Bollywood aren’t necessary, when the average smartphone (for lack of a better word) has the capability to record video and audio in much better quality than Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Akira Kurosawa or Ingmar Bergman could ever dream of. Local productions have their own value, yet can be distributed far and wide, so that they become exotic productions in other parts of the world. A discussion of technique and talent will be left to another day. Similar comments can be made about theatrical performances, music, games and sports, and fictional writing.
2020
Yes, this section was originally titled 2020 vision, until I decided to replace vision with sound and then nothing. It is more accurate without anything, because I have not decided on any major focus, apart from the ongoing rehabilitation of Cliff Cottage. This involves practical carpentry to renovate (or as we say here) re-educate the house to make it smarter, with a focus on microprocessors, sensors, actuators and the home assistant operating system. While some practical work will be undertaken during first three and last three months of the year, April to September, inclusive is when outdoor work has to be done.
An aside: In much of Europe including Norway and many other places, people no longer use the American (20′) or metric (6 m) to express perfect vision, which is actually only mediocre vision. Instead, they content themselves with a ratio: 20/20 = 6/6 = 1.00, frequently referred to as a decimal measure of visual acuity. While I didn’t do so now, sometimes I indulge myself, making wordplay out of interesting phrases. At the beginning of 2019-02, after writing Keywords 06 Choice, I could not resist temptation and wrote Keywords 007 Bond, featuring a concept by Mark Granovetter, instead of another by John Patrick Leary. Subsequently, the first six keywords were renumbered using 3 digits.
In a world filled with fake news, and with extremism emerging on all sides, it is important to provide a pathway through a maze of hopelessness, for myself and for others. Fiction is an important tool. First, it is a clear admission, that what is being written is, in some way, fake. This means that any insights, posing as hidden truths, cannot be rejected simply on the basis of their non-alignment with established facts. Second, fiction can be honed to meet specific and potentially evolving needs – social, political, technological, physical. Third, in a busy world, fiction can be presented in ways that captivate people. There are fewer opportunities for people to read fiction, or even to view it on screen. Eyes are too busy navigating hazards. This means that one of the most important mechanisms for the transmission of fictional works is through the ears, via audio – podcasts or audio books.
This change of focus means that the Keywords project will have its outward manifestation paused. Here, too, there will be an emphasis on the aural (hearing) and the oral (speaking). There will be no new keywords presented in a blog. Instead, the existing materials will be adapted as podcasts, as well as being published collectively and visually in a book format (.pdf/ .epub), augmented with a few important, but missing keywords.
I have already begun producing weblog posts about (computing) devices. The first one, about Windows 7, is scheduled for 2020-01-07, one week before non-business customers loose support from Microsoft. Other posts will discuss some of the components that should (or should not be) prioritized by people living during a climate crisis. This will take up most of the time between January and March.
After the building season comes to an end, many of the currently unpublished drafts at brock.mclellan.no involving workshop activities, will be published. These will be edited into a workshop manual aimed at beginning workshop activists of all genders. Projects will be related to making products that will reduce one’s carbon footprint, and give a better quality of life to poor(ish) people.
Looking Back
2017 Retirement
I am a project oriented person. However, one of my personality traits is an inability to focus on a project for more than one year. During 2017, my one request was not to make any long-term commitments. I wanted to experience retirement before making decisions about the future.
After a month of apartment living on Madiera, and despite my promise to wait, one decision made was to avoid moving to an apartment, for as long as possible. I wanted to have the opportunity to enjoy a workshop, Unit One, located at Ginnunga Gap, approximately 20 meters from Cliff Cottage, and to produce wooden and other items of interest. I have previously written about Unit One’s mission statement and core values.
2018 Workshop
Towards the end of 2017, I was asked to participate in a techno workshop project in Inderøy. Its funding mandate, necessitated that it be completed by the end of 2018. This suited my personality perfectly, and I accepted. Unfortunately, the project went overtime, which did not suit my personality, and encroached on projects that I had already committed to in 2019.
In terms of housing goals, only the under-insulated weather wall of the house facing Trondheim’s Fjord, was replaced to allow 250 mm (10″) of insulation.
2019 Celebration
In 2017-10, I decided to organize a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Birth of the Bab, one of two manifestations/ prophets of the Baha’i Faith. One of the ways in which this was done was to host an event, held 2019-10-29.
The techno workshop opened officially on 2019-05-24, over five months late! Unfortunately, this delay had its consequences. To ensure that 2020 goals are met, I resigned any future commitment with the techno workshop, and became inactive with other organizations, including the local Friends of the Earth group. It has been difficult for me to learn how to say no, but quite necessary.
Looking Forward
It is hoped that progress in making the house at Vangshylla suitable for old people, will be completed by 2023-12-31. 2021 Communications. This will emphasize the use of audio-visual technology as a means of communication. 2022 CNC. With most of the construction work completed, the workshop can be transformed into a CNC machining centre, hopefully with an increased emphasis on environmentally-friendly synthetics, some metals and sustainable wood. 2023 Electronics. My first exposure to electronics came in about 1963, sixty years previously, when I started building a Heathkit radio. It is now time to work in this area again. This will not be a nostalgic recreation of obsolete products, but an attempt to explore the future.
Alice is an electric aircraft being developed since 2017 by Eviation Aircraft of Israel. A first flight is expected sometime in 2020, followed by a certification program lasting two to three years. Composite materials form 95% of the plane. It will be controlled by fly-by-wire (a system that replaces manual flight controls with electronic ones) and powered by three pusher propellers (facing backwards) , two on the wingtips and one at the rear of the fuselage.
Eviation was founded in 2015 by Omer Bar-Yohay, Omri Regev and Aviv Tzidon. Eviation teamed up with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) to launch a research and development program to start in the spring of 2019 at ERAU’s Prescott, Arizona campus. The program would focus on performance analysis, validation and testing, along with preliminary design and sub-scale testing of future electric propulsion and airframe design concepts.
Eviation has secured $200 million of investment to cover certification and production while the first prototype was assembled in Vannes, northwest France. This site was chosen, because it is the location of composite materials specialist, Multiplast. Other suppliers include: Honeywell is providing flight control systems, including automatic landing. Magnaghi Aeronautica will supply the landing gear. Kokam Company will supply pouch lithium polymer batteries to power the full-scale prototype. While Siemens 260 kW motors had been selected as a primary power source, MagniX Magni250s 280 kW motors were selected as a second power option. This ranking may change as MagniX owner Clermont Group from Singapore took a 70% stake in Eviation Aircraft in August 2019.
Charge vehicles, similar to aviation fuel trucks, would be used to charge the plane. Each hour of flight time was expected to require a charging time of 30 minutes.
The planes have a unit cost of $ 4 million. Currently, over 150 Alice aircraft had been ordered by two American companies. An investment of $500 million is needed to begin serial production.
Alice flight deck. Image: Eviation.Alice interior. Image: Eviation.
Hawaii Mars C-FLYL a Martin JRM Mars cargo transport seaplane, converted to a water bomber in the early 1960s by Nils Christensen while working with Fairey Aviation. This shows the machine moored on Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, British Columbia on 2006-10-31. Photo: Alex Juorio
Nils Christensen was a Norwegian-Canadian entrepreneur who founded the Canadian aerospace manufacturing firm, Viking Air Ltd. He was born 1921-08-21 in Høvik, Bærum (adjacent to Oslo), Norway. At the age of five he claims to have witnessed the airship Norge heading off on an exploration trip to the North Pole.
After finishing his training as an apprentice mechanic, Christensen worked in the merchant marine until 1942 when he enlisted in the Royal Norwegian Air Force (in exile) in New York City, USA. He was trained as an aircraft mechanic at Little Norway, Lille Norge, the Norwegian Air Force Training Camp, Flyvåpnenes Treningsleir, at Muskoka airfield, near Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada.
After completing his training in 1943, he was posted to the 333 (Norwegian) Squadron RAF based at Leuchars, Fife, Scotland, under control of the RAF Coastal Command, Christensen acted initially as an aircraft mechanic for de Havilland built Mosquito aircraft.
In 1946, Christensen attended Engine Instructors’ School in England, then he instructed on engines and aircraft for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. In 1947, he left the Air Force, and soon after obtained his Norwegian Aircraft Mechanic’s license. He began civilian work as a flight engineer and a station engineer for Braathens South-American & Far East (SAFE) Airtransport, flying and maintaining Douglas DC-3 and DC-4 aircraft. He was transferred to Amsterdam, Holland by Braathens.
In 1951, Christensen moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, working for de Havilland Canada, converting Lancaster bombers into air-sea rescue machines. In 1952 he became chief of maintenance at Sault Airways, a bush plane operation, where he serviced float and ski aircraft including Norseman and Cessna. He also earned his Canadian Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) license.
In 1956, Christensen moved to Sidney, British Columbia, Canada, where he became chief of maintenance at the Victoria Flying Club. In 1959 he joined Forest Industries Flying Tankers (FIFT), as a flight engineer and superintendent of maintenance on the giant Martin JRM Mars water bombers. These, the largest flying boats ever built, were initially developed for the US Navy in WWII as a cargo transport seaplane, Seven were built. Three were lost by 1950. The remaining four were purchased from the US Navy by FIFT in 1959. Christensen obtained his Flight Engineer License in 1960, and began working with Fairey Aviation converting the Mars to firefighting water bombers, that operated out of Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
In 1961 one of the converted Mars crashed killing all four crew members, then in 1962, the other completed plane was destroyed by Typhoon Freda at the Victoria Airport. The conversion of the remaining two Mars aircraft was completed in 1963. These water bombers were operated by FIFT until 2007 when they were purchased and operated by Coulson Flying Tankers, until their retirement in 2016. A weblog post on these water bombers is a work in progress.
In 1965, Christensen left FIFT and joined Fairey Aviation, recently purchased by IMP Group International after the collapse of the British mother company, servicing a variety of aircraft. In 1967, he became foreman of McKinnon Enterprises, an aircraft parts and modification facility in Sidney, where he was responsible for rebuilding/ converting three amphibian Grumman Goose aircraft to turbine power, and upgrading four Grumman Widgeons.
In 1970, Christensen bought Victoria Flying Services and its 11 aircraft. When McKinnon Enterprises closed in 1970, Christensen also bought all of its equipment and started his own company, Viking Air Ltd., that focused on overhaul, maintenance and conversions of various small aircraft, especially flying boats including the Grumman Goose, Widgeon, Mallard and Albatross. When Viking Air started it had two people on the floor and one in the office. By 1979, it had 25 people in the main shop, and six in Viking Shell, a fuel dealership and pilot’s lounge.
In 1983, Viking Air moved into manufacturing. After 10 years of negotiations with de Havilland Canada, Viking Air was selected as their sole parts producer and distributor for Beaver and Otter aircraft. Christensen sold Viking Air Ltd. and retired as President in 1987. Viking Air had grown from three employees to 50 at the time of Christensen’s retirement.
In 1993, Christensen and his wife moved from Sidney to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia where they lived for 24 years. In 2017-03, they moved to Abbotsford, British Columbia to be near family. Nils Christensen died in Abbotsford on 2017-08-06. In 2018-10, his ashes were interred at the 800 year-old Haslum Church and Cemetery in Bærum, Norway.
This weblog post concludes a short series about de Havilland Canada related topics. Since this post primarily deals with Christensen in his role as an aircraft mechanic turned manufacturer, and not his other contributions, people interested in other details of his life, may want to read more about him in Wikipedia.
First flight of the new Series 400 Twin Otter, manufactured by Viking Air (the current type certificate holder). This airplane is the technical demonstrator C-FDHT. Photo taken at YYJ Victoria International Airport, 2008-10-01 by paneuropean at Wikipedia.
The Twin Otter is a popular and successful commercial aircraft, with 985 units built, as this weblog post goes to press. It is praised for its rugged construction and STOL (Short take Off and Landing) characteristics. Its price in 2017, was US$ 6.5 million.
Development of the Twin Otter started in 1964-01, when de Havilland Canada commenced work to modify the DHC-3 single-engined Otter design into a twin-engined turboprop STOL commuter airliner and utility transport, designated DHC-6. This involved lengthening the wings, and redesigning the rear fuselage, tail, and nose. Seating was increased to a maximum of 18.
Construction of a prototype began in 1964-11, which was first flown on 1965-05-20. There have been several production series, most notably the 100, 200 (from 1968-04) and 300 (from 1969). De Havilland ceased production of the Twin Otter in late 1988 after producing 844 aircraft.
Fortunately, after Series 300 production ended, the remaining tooling was purchased by Viking Air of Victoria, British Columbia, allowing it to manufactures replacement parts for all of the out-of-production de Havilland Canada aircraft.
On 2006-07-17, Viking Air announced its intention to offer a Series 400 Twin Otter. On 2007-04-02, Viking announced it had received 27 orders and options, and was restarting production of the Twin Otter. In 2007-11 a new assembly plant was established in Calgary, Alberta. The design has been modernized.
As of 2019-12, The 141 Series 400 Twin Otters have been made. Currently, 38% are operated as regional airliners, 31% in military aviation or special missions, 26% in industrial support and 5% in private air charter. About 70% use regular landing gear wheels, 18% are configured as straight or amphibious floatplanes, 10% use tundra tires and 2% use wheel skis.
In Norway, Widerøes Flyveselskap A / S became the major civil buyer of Twin Otters. In the late 1960s there was a large-scale development of small airports in Northern Norway and on the coast of Western Norway. Most of these airports had 800 meters long runways, suitable for Twin Otters, but almost nothing else. Widerøe bought their first Twin Otter in 1968, LN-LNM (s / n 127). In total, Widerøe bought 12 Twin Otters directly from the factory, besides 2 that were purchased used.
The Twin Otter showed outstanding reliability, and remained in service until 2000 on certain routes. Widerøe was, at one time, the world’s largest operator of Twin Otters. During one period of its tenure in Norway, the Twin Otter fleet achieved over 96,000 cycles (take-off, flight, and landing) per year.
Further information about the Twin Otter in Norway, but written in Norwegian, can be found here.
A de Havilland Canada DHC-7-100 Dash 7 LN-WFE in Widerøe livery at Hammerfest Airport 1987-07-04. The author used Dash 7s to commute between Bodø and Tromsø between 1986 and 1988. Photo: Udo K. Haafke
De Havilland was started in 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland (1882 – 1965) at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in Hertfordshire. De Havilland Canada started life as a subsidiary in 1928, for the purpose of making assorted versions of Moths, variously described as light aircraft/ sports planes/ military trainers. During the second world war, de Havilland Canada was nationalized, by the Canadian government. It remained a crown corporation until the 1980s, when the government privatized it, then sold it to Boeing, in 1986.
While the British parent company is especially noted for the versatile design of its DH.98 Mosquito warplane, made largely of wood with 7 781 produced between 1940 and 1950, and the DH 106 Comet, the world’s first jet airliner, with 114 produced between 1949 and 1964, de Havilland Canada innovated some unique designs, especially suited for flying in the “bush”. These are:
Type
Purpose
Capacity
first flight
production
#
DHC-1 Chipmunk
Trainer
2
1946
1947 – 1956
1 283
DHC-2 Beaver
Bush
1 + 7
1947
1947 – 1967
1 657
DHC-3 Otter
STOL Bush
1 + 11
1951
1953 – 1967
466
DHC-4 Caribou
STOL Cargo
3 + 32
1958
1961 – late 1960s
307
DHC-5 Buffalo
STOL Cargo
3 + 41
1961
1965; 1974
122
DHC-6 Twin Otter
STOL Utility
2 +
1965
1966 – 1988 2008 –
985
DHC-7 Dash 7
STOL Regional
2 + 35 – 54
1975
1978 – 1988
113
DHC-8 Dash 8
Regional
2 + 37 – 90
1983
1984 –
1 249
Despite Canadian government claims to have guarantees to prevent Boeing discontinuing product lines, both the Twin Otter and Dash 7 were discontinued, with their jigs and specialised manufacturing equipment destroyed. DHC was eventually acquired by Bombardier Aerospace in 1992, and integrated into the Bombardier group of companies.
On February 24, 2006, Viking purchased the type certificates from Bombardier Aerospace for all the out-of-production de Havilland Canada aircraft (DHC-1 through DHC-7). The ownership of the certificates gave Viking the exclusive right to manufacture new aircraft.
In November 2018, Viking Air’s holding company, Longview Aviation Capital, announced the acquisition of the Q400 program – a modernized version of the Dash 8, where the Q (for quiet) indicates that planes are fitted with active noise control systems – along with the rights to the de Havilland name and trademark. The deal, which closed on 2019-06-03 following regulatory approval, brought the entire de Havilland product line under De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited.
Artwork made by Banksy in 2017 to promote the Alternativity.
On Tuesday, 2019-12-10 we had the pleasure of watching a 20 minute long televised nativity play from 2017-12-03. The actual performance took place in the car park of the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, adjacent to an Israeli West Bank wall.
The Walled Off Hotel is owned by Banksy. Wikipedia describes him as, “an anonymous England-based street artist, vandal, political activist, and film director, active since the 1990s.” He is believed to be Robin Gunningham (1973 – ) born in Yate, 19 km from Bristol, England.
Banksy had contributed a scripting treatment for the play, then convinced Danny Boyle (1956 – ) to direct it. Boyle is especially known as the director of Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and as the artistic director of the opening ceremony at the Summer Olympics (London, 2012).
The difficulty with using celebrities is that they don’t actually have time to do the grunt work. Thus, two Bethlehem locals have to do most of the casting, rehearsing and the preparatory work needed to produce the play. These include drama teacher Riham Isaac and hotel manager Wisam Salsaa. Work on the play lasted six weeks from the middle of October to the beginning of December, 2017. Casting problems included finding a suitable donkey.
On Wednesday, 2019-12-11 we watched an hour long documentary about the production. This gave background material, about the play as well as insights into the situation facing the Palestinians. This included a fake apology on the 100th anniversary (2017-11-02) of The Balfour Declaration, a public statement issued by the British government announcing support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. This was done without any consultation with the Palestinian people.
As the Christmas season approaches, people are encouraged to watch both of these productions. In order for the background material to make sense, it is necessary to watch the play first!
Harbour Air DHC-2 Beaver floatplane in Richmond, British Columbia, powered by an electric magniX magni500 propulsion system. Photo: Harbour Air.
On 2019-12-10 Harbour Air successfully flew the world’s first all-electric commercial aircraft, the ePlane, a six-passenger DHC-2 de Havilland Canada Beaver on floats, with call sign C-FJOS and production number 1030 of the 1 692 DHC Beavers ever built. Originally delivered with a piston ICE engine on 1957-03-01, it spent most of its operational life based in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
This aircraft, with yellow and blue livery, is now powered by a 560 kW magni500 propulsion system. Its first electric propulsion flight started and ended on the Fraser River at Harbour Air floatplane terminal in Richmond, British Columbia at YVR South, part of Vancouver International Airport.
Richmond is the home base of Harbour Air, North America’s largest floatplane airline. It specializes in routes between Vancouver, Nanaimo, Victoria, Sechelt, Comox, Whistler and the Gulf Islands. There are also flights between downtown Vancouver and downtown Seattle. They also have a European subsidiary in Malta.
Harbour Air has a history of green operations, that is deeper than a typical greenwash. In 2007, it became the first airline in North America to achieve complete carbon neutrality in both flight services and corporate operations. It has announced its intention to build the world’s first completely electric commercial floatplane fleet, but because of certification requirements, including testing, it will have to wait until about the beginning of 2022 before this can start. The company is regarded as one of the best managed in Canada, and has won awards for this.
The Harbour Air fleet consists primarily of de Havilland Canada floatplanes: 14 DHC-2 Beavers (5 – 6 passengers), 21 DHC-3-T(urbo) Otters (10 – 14 passengers) and 3 DHC-6 Twin Otters (18 passengers).
In March 2019, Harbour Air announced a partnership with magniX to electrify the entire Harbour Air fleet over the long term. Harbour Air has noted that its initial electric-powered commercial flights will be on routes of under 30 minutes’ duration. The DHC-2 Beaver serves as the test prototype for the magniX motor, energy storage, and control systems.
MagniX is an Australian electric motor manufacturer for electric aircraft, wholly owned by Singapore investor Clermont Group. Its engineering headquarters is located on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Its global headquarters and US development centre is located in Redmond, Washington, near Seattle.
One of the main advantages of an electric motor in an aircraft is full torque at low RPM. In addition, the mechanics are simpler, reducing the number of parts as well as weight. For example, a propeller can be attached directly to the motor without a reduction gear.
The magni500 was unveiled at the Paris Air Show in June, 2019. It provides 560 kW, and 2800 Nm of torque. It weighs 135 kg. The smaller magni250 motor provides 280 kW, and 1400 Nm of torque. It weighs 72 kg. Both types of motors rotate at between 1900 and 3000 RPM, and offer 93% power conversion efficiency. Both motors can be regarded as high-power-density electric propulsion systems that provides a clean and efficient way to power airplanes. The company also makes a magniDrive 170 kW power electronics system used to run both the magni250 and magni500.
There has been a lot of media content produced about the Tesla Cybertruck. Here are some comments.
Alasdair McLellan noted that the window damage to the Cybertruck was, if not deliberate, at least expected. How else could Musk ensure that every newspaper, magazine, blog and any other source on or off the web, publish a photo of the Cybertruck, so that everyone in the universe knows what a Cybertruck looks like?
Adrián Esper Cárdenas, Mayor of Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, saw the electric truck as having great potential as a local police and municipal vehicle. He reserved 15 Tesla Cybertrucks!
Mike Gastin described the Cybertruck as a branding masterstroke. At 6:05 into the video he says (and writes) that Tesla is Delivering the Future – Today!
Robert Llewellyn’s recent edition of Fully Charged News is full of the usual rants, this time about the Cybertruck as well as the Mustang Mach-E.
Jameson Dow, writing in Electrek, is claiming that the Cybertruck is popular in markets where other Tesla products have failed to capture interest. “The Tesla Cybertruck is the first time we’ve gotten a chance to compare data between a sedan launch and a pickup launch from the same company. And it turns out that, despite Tesla’s brand appeal on the coasts, the Cybertruck is breaking new ground and doing quite well in the “heartland” – where pickup trucks are traditionally more popular than sedans.”
Here is a reference to Matt Ferrell’s Undecided, who asks: Why do we hate something viscerally at first, and then come to love it a little while later?
There are even more details at Design Prototype Test. It provides some engineering concepts missing in other sources, but there are also misunderstandings. For example, EVs do not have engines, they have motors.
A major challenge with many YouTube videos/ channels is that they are one-person operations, without sufficient quality control. Rants are very easy and cheap to produce. Quality, fact-based information is a little more difficult and expensive to produce. They also requires thought, in addition to emotion.
Visitors to the Tesla Cybertruck webpage are greeted with an elongated version of this photo of the Cybertruck ptototype. (Photo: Tesla)
The term pickup is of unknown origin, but was first used by Studebaker in 1913 and by the 1930s had become a generic term for a light-duty truck having an enclosed cab and an open cargo area with low sides and tailgate. In North America, the pickup is mostly used as a passenger car and accounts for about 18% of total American vehicle sales, in part because it benefits from lower fuel and emission control regulations, and tax breaks from the IRS. Full-sized pickups and SUVs account for more than two-thirds of their global pretax earnings of GM, Ford and Fiat-Chrysler, because of their high prices and profit margins.
Elon Musk unveiled Tesla’s first pickup, the Cybertruck, in Los Angeles 2019-11-21. It is battery-powered. Tesla’s stated goal is to displace a large portion of fossil fueled light trucks sold.
Cybertruck’s styling is anything but charming, and many commented that the presentation setting, in both time and place. was that of the original Blade Runner. However, the Cybertruck has many positive characteristics including a durable exterior shell made of a light-weight titanium alloy, for passenger protection. It is also claimed that every component is designed for strength and endurance. These are important considerations in a truck.
Specifications, both estimated and revealed: Vehicle mass = 2 700 kg/ 6 000 lbs; payload = 1 600 kg/ 3 500 lbs; power = 570 kW/ 775 HP; storage space = 2 830 litres/ 100 ft3 ; vault aka bed length = 2 meters/ 6.5 feet; ground clearance = up to 410 mm/ 16 “; approach angle = 35 degrees; departure angle = 28 degrees; seating = 6 in two rows.
Characteristics that vary, depending on the model, are included in the table below.
1- motor
2-motor
3-motor
Drive wheels
RWD
AWD
AWD
Range km/ miles
400/ 250
500/ 300
800 / 500
0 -100 kph; 0 – 60 mph in s
< 6.5
< 4.5
< 2.9
Top speed kph/ mph
177/ 110
193/ 120
209/ 130
Towing capacity kg/ lb
3 400/ 7 500
4 500/ 10 000
6 350/ 14 000
Price (to closest US$ 1 000)
40 000
50 000
70 000
Compressed air is an important feature of the Cybertruck. It allows for a self-levelling suspension which compensates for variable load. In addition it provides power for pneumatic tools. On-board power inverters supply both 110 and 220-Volt electricity, for electrically powered tools.
At the presentation, Tesla’s armoured glass failed to work as intended, when a steel ball thrown by design chief Franz von Holzhausen shattered two windows in two attempts. The presentation ended with a Tesla Cyberquad electric ATV being loaded onto the truck vault, using built-in tailgate ramps. The Cyberquad was then plugged into the Cybertruck’s onboard power outlet, to charge it.
My hope is that many people currently buying Ford F-150s, Chevrolet Silverados, Rams and other ICE pickups, will be encouraged to buy either a Cybertruck, or a more conventional looking Rivian R1T, or other suitable electric vehicles. Personally, I am not part of the pickup culture. My Brenderup 4310S utility trailer meets almost all of my freight transport needs, and should do so for the rest of my life.
