The Dynamo, the newest member of the exclusive London Black Cab fleet, has a big job ahead of itself. It has to clean up air quality and keep people moving all at the same time. The Black Cab fleet currently has about 20,000 vehicles, however, many of those are diesel-powered and Mayor Sadiq Khan believes that these diesel cabs are one of the leading contributors to the poor air quality in London.
Based on a Nissan e-NV200 van chassis, the Dynamo can travel 187 miles on a single charge. But they are not cheap, running about 56,000 pounds, however, there is a government-assisted grant of 7,500 pounds to help drivers who change over from the dirty diesel to the electric black cab. Altogether there is 42 million pounds available to aid in the conversion. Additionally, new rules now mandate zero-emission vehicles to be operated in the city center.
Back in 1899, the first all-electric black cab took to the streets of London, it was called the Bersey, it was competing against horse-drawn taxis and it did not last long. The Bersey only ran from 1897 to 1899. 120 years later all-electric returns to the busy streets of London.
The Dynamo taxi is equipped with Vehicle Dynamic Control that continuously monitors how the cabbie is driving, it will sense under and over-steering, and help compensate by reducing speed or applying braking to a specific wheel, keeping the driver and passengers safe. The power is supplied by an 80-kilowatt motor that propels the cab from zero to 60 in 14 seconds with a maximum speed of 76 mph. It is built for comfort, not speed.
Within London, there are several charging suppliers such as Source London, ESB, Ecotricity, and E-Volt. Any of these will fully charge the Dynamo in 40 to 60 minutes or less depending on your remaining charge left in the batteries. A charging unit that comes with the vehicle can be fitted in a residence or a business. The charger must be installed by a professional, however, there are government grants to help pay for the expense.
Over time, the air quality in central London is expected to improve with the conversion and as the diesel taxis start going out of service.
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.