New Android in new cars and the whole truth about Chubais nanoscooter.
Android 8 is already in the vehicle.
The electronics of the Japanese company Renesas Electronics Corporation are used by most motorists. Even if their navigators, multimedia systems or on-board computers do not have the company's logo flaunting, then most likely its products are under the cover. All the more remarkable is the company's announcement of the release of the R-Car reference platform for on-board electronics, where the software is the usual Android 8. No more proprietary software and no compromises, platform customers will be able to give their R-Car-based product any software environment compatible with Android 8.
What can this lead to in the future? Will there be a special section on Google Play for your car's on-board computer? Would you like the ability to easily replace the standard and boring car computer interface with the trendier one from Google Play? Well, in the camp of software developers for Android this message will surely cause a holiday, Google has not left them without a piece of bread for many years, opening up more and more new markets for their services.
'Russian' nanomoped UJET from Chubais.
Last week, Rusnano CEO Anatoly Chubais announced the start of production of the “Russian” electric scooter UJET, which uses nanotubes manufactured by the Russian division of OCSiAl. The Russian-speaking segment of the Internet reacted violently to this news and the most important question that interested readers was: “How Russian is the UJET electric scooter Russian?”
This is how nanotubes look under an electron microscope.
But let's first take a look at what UJET is. The body is made of carbon fiber with the addition of carbon nanotubes, nanotubes are also added to the tires of the wheels, they are also in the Li-Ion battery. This is a state-of-the-art approach to composites. When you pour mortar over iron reinforcement, when you mix gypsum with cotton wool to seal a hole in the wall, when you glue the fabric with epoxy in layers, you create a composite material that significantly exceeds the strength of the original materials. In this product, the degree of 'compositing' is really at the nano level. So don't be surprised at the thickness of the UJET steering column, it is at least 50 times stronger than if it were made of steel. The electric motors are located in the wheels themselves, but the type of these electric motors is not very clear from the photographs, classic, classic on neodymium magnets or this notorious 'motor-wheel'. We are waiting for details from the manufacturer. The on-board computer is equipped with a touch screen and a mechanical slide that pushes it out of the steering column on command from a smartphone. The electric scooter will be equipped with two replaceable batteries, the lighter city version will allow you to travel about 80 km with a single charge, and the more capacious 'country' version is designed to cover a distance of 164 km.
To assess the degree of “Russianness” of UJET, it is necessary to understand the business ties between Rusnano and its subsidiaries. The main component of UJET, which distinguishes it from its cheap counterparts, is the nanotubes manufactured by the Siberian plant OCSiAl. OCSiAl is a portfolio company, formally owned by the state-owned company Rusnano, but a significant part of the capital investment was received from private investors. At the same time, the headquarters of OCSiAL is located in Luxembourg, and there, a subsidiary company UJET Vehicles was created for it. There is no information about the manufacturer on the UJET promo site, there is only a beautiful 3D model of an electric scooter and its key characteristics, we are waiting for the site to be filled with more detailed information.
It should be assumed that the price of UJET, which was announced at 8,500 euros, also caused a storm of emotions on social networks. The moped will also be sold mainly in the EU, but this is not the main thing. The main thing is that modifiers with nanotubes (emulsion of nanotubes) until this historical moment were sold in batches in quantities of several grams. To understand the issue, you will have to pay 25557, 12 rubles for a jar of nanotubes weighing 50 grams. To manufacture 30,000 UJETs (production plans for the year), the Siberian division of OCSiAl will have to produce about 5 tons of nanotubes. Nobody has ever produced such a quantity of nanotubes. Therefore, I would consider it correct to consider Chubais' electric moped not as a household product, but as the first swallow of the coming global changes. Mass production always brings down the cost, and this is bound to happen with nanotubes. If the Russian Federation becomes a leader in the production of nanotubes and proves to the world capital the economic feasibility of their use, it will become one of the technological leaders in the world. Sounds ambitious, but remember how snappy about the location of silicon production in Taiwan, and now it is one of the world leaders in the field of high technology.
Studying the situation around UJET (evil tongues have already dubbed UJET a 'chubaik'), you involuntarily come to the conclusion that this is an action and is aimed primarily at attracting investors. Time will show whether they will gather under the UJET flag, but, in any case, for the first time in a certain number of years, we were shown a finished innovative product, which has no analogues in the world, and it is largely “Russian”. I propose to speculate on how these new technologies will change the world? An electric car of the future that an adult can lift overhead? A passenger drone flying 500 km on a single charge? Flying airfield? An airbus with a capacity of 2,000 people? Home slippers with a lifespan of 1000 years? And the most interesting question is why some of our fellow citizens are very unhappy when a Russian official advertises Russian products?