Luxury Living with Adam Louis Friedman
There
have been many famous duos in history from Adam and Eve to Will and Grace, from
Romeo and Juliet to Smith and Wesson. But now another fascinating, if fairly
unexpected, pairing is hitting the headlines as Lamborghini and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology have revealed that they are joining
forces to explore innovative technologies and the development of electric power
trains.
Their
first step in this envelope-pushing journey starts in a logical place for a
project driven by the makers of one of the worlds most iconic high-performance
car makers and a facility at the heart of technological advancement by
revealing a super sports car concept it calls Lamborghini of the Terzo Millennio.
Both parties are about leaving the competition behind, one metaphorically the
other literally, and so they have revealed a car which is beautiful, embraces
the new electric age and with some exceedingly bold ideas under its hood. A car
for the Third Millennium.
And if
Lamborghini are responsible for the graceful scoops and slants, edges and
aerodynamic holes, it is what MIT have put under the hood which is the real
story here. The main research is centered on trying to figure out how to use
super-capacitors in a way that simultaneously captures and releases energy, and
investigating ways to build the car’s body and components with carbon fiber
nanotubes that can act as, and maybe one day replace, the lithium-ion batteries
that power today’s electric cars.
But if
you are inventing the future, why stop there, one of the other concepts being
looked into is making this carbon fiber nanotube structure self-repairing, sensors that
allow the car to monitor the structural integrity of its own body, detecting
damage and cracks in the bodywork. The car can then ‘self heal,’ thanks to chemicals in the micro-channels of
the carbon fiber bodywork. This may seem like the stuff of science fiction but
the project is built on some very solid goals. Regarding the carbon fiber
nanotube battery, Lamborghini hopes to settle on materials in year one; year
two will be about getting the structure to store and release energy; and year
three will be about building this into a 3D geometry, which would hopefully
dramatically increase the possible energy capacity of a car this size.
Lamborghini chairman Stefano Domenicali said:
"Collaborating with MIT for our R&D department is an exceptional
opportunity to do what Lamborghini has always been very good at: rewriting the
rules on super sports cars. Now we are presenting an exciting and progressive
concept car. We are inspired by embracing what is impossible today to craft the
realities of tomorrow: Lamborghini must always create the dreams of the next
generation.”
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