It might sound like a lofty quest beset by Monty Python characters, but Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. is dead serious in its plan to develop tires from a desert shrub.
According to The New York Times, Cooper Tire has made large strides developing a synthetic rubber from the guayule plant which proliferates in southwestern deserts.
The company plans, in short order, to demonstrate tires that have been developed from this new formula and expect to have a final product ready for 2017. PanAridus will grow the guayule and manufacture the rubber as part of the consortium who have banded together to develop a domestic industry for the versatile shrub.
“In two years,” said Mike Fraley, chief executive of PanAridus, “we’ve traveled from test tubes to tires.”
What this means in the long run is a reduced dependence on petroleum and the ability to create a durable rubber from inexpensive, renewable resources. The US government has been keen for companies to switch to guayule-based materials due to the price fluctuations of imported natural rubber.
As for the plant itself, the idea of using it for natural rubber production goes as far back as the early 1900s when industrialists harvested the bush from Mexico. The Mexican Revolution derailed commercial production, but interest resurfaced when the Japanese cut off access to imported hevea-based rubber.
If guayule has been our go-to when the chips are down, then why isn’t it our main natural rubber source already? It turns out that hevea’s rubber is less prone to cracking and prevents heat buildup. Cooper Tires feels it has solved these issues, and has fully developed guayule tire components, and the firm is now ramping up to go full tire.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.