aerovironment

Think City EV promises 80 percent charge in 15 min.

Think announced Monday that EnerDel will be the exclusive supplier of lithium ion batteries for Think City's U.S. cars and for 60 percent of its cars sold in Europe.

The company also announced that AeroVironment will be partnering with Think in the U.S. to build a series of "very-fast-charge stations."

The result of the fast-charging stations, combined with EnerDel's lithium ion batteries in Think City cars, will be electric cars that take only 15 minutes to charge from zero capacity to 80 percent capacity, according to Think.

As previously reported, the Think City all-electric car will have a range of about 112 miles per charge. … Read more

AeroVironment flies ahead with 'nano' air vehicle

Unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming a big deal for the armed forces, even when they're really small.

AeroVironment said Tuesday that it has gotten the go-ahead, in the form of a Phase II contract, to design and build a teeny-tiny prototype for the Nano Air Vehicle program at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. How teeny? The defense R&D agency stipulates that a NAV must be smaller than 7.5 centimeters (2.9 inches) and, at no more than 10 grams (one-third of an ounce), "ultralightweight."

A key eventual mission for NAVs would be … Read more

Air Force commits to micro air vehicle

The U.S. Air Force has gone all-in by authorizing full production of the AeroVironment backpack-sized Wasp III micro air vehicle, which will soon to be standard issue for combat controllers and USAF special ops, according to the Pentagon. This follows the U.S. Marine Corps' purchase of a Wasp III system, which it plans to deploy at the platoon level as a complement to the Raven (PDF).

Weighing in at a mere 1 pound, the plane's diminutive 29-inch wingspan can still loft a variety of hefty payloads in addition to its infrared cameras that stream video directly to … Read more

'Small wind' turbines blow onto rooftops

Although still in the shadow of its giant counterparts, small-scale wind turbines are slowly starting to reshape the wind industry.

AeroVironment last week said 18 of its Architectural Wind turbines are now installed at a new Kettle Foods Potato Chip factory in Beloit, Wisconsin.

The turbines are still in development, but the company has installed a number around the country. They were also used by students from Texas A&M University at the Solar Decathlon solar-home competition.

AeroVironment is targeting commercial customers rather than people's homes. But other companies have developed turbines suited for houses.

Southwest Windpower's Air Breeze … Read more

Fuel cells take off

As automakers continue to make progress in the field of hydrogen fuel cells here on Earth, a California company is doing the same thing aloft. AeroVironment, a manufacturer of unmanned planes, announced last week that it had flown its Puma aircraft for nearly five hours using an onboard fuel cell battery hybrid energy storage system.

The Puma, which has a wingspan of 8.5 feet and weighs 12.5 pounds, was powered by its standard rechargeable-battery-powered propulsion system (capable of keeping the craft airborne for 2.5 hours), assisted by an onboard fuel-cell-powered battery. The unmanned aircraft incorporates its own … Read more