Indonesia's made Solid Ceramics Battery (SCB) Lithium

Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI) berhasil membuat produk baterai baru yang diklaim kali pertama di dunia.

LIPI telah mengembangkan baterai lithium berbahan keramik padat yang disebut sebagai Solid Ceramics Battery (SCB) Lithium. SCB Lithium ini menggunakan komposit material gelas keramik.

Baterai model baru itu, sebagaimana dikutip dari www.lipi.go.id, disebutkan dapat digunakan pada mobil hibrida. Bambang Prihandoko, peneliti Material dan Komposit Pusat Penelitian Fisika LIPI, menyatakan dengan bahan tersebut sistem fuel tidak lagi memerlukan sistem pendingin.

Pasalnya, baterai lithium dari keramik ini dapat menahan panas hingga 200 derajat Celcius. Selama ini, mobil hibrida sendiri masih menggunakan baterai berbahan polimer padat yang tidak tahan panas. Sehingga masih memerlukan sistem pendingin.

LIPI, lanjut Bambang Prihandoko, telah mengembangkan baterai dari polimer padat berbentuk prototipe. Baterai ini telah dipatenkan oleh LIPI, sehingga sudah bisa diproduksi secara massal.

Namun, sambung dia, baterai lithium buatan LIPI memang belum diujicobakan pada kendaraan listrik fuel cell buatan LIPI yang masih menggunakan lead acid atau aki konvensional.

‘Penemuan ini adalah kali pertama di dunia. Apabila dibandingkan dengan polimer padat, kelebihan SCB Lithium ini mampu menahan panas sampai 200 derajat Celcius, sehingga tidak diperlukan lagi sistem pendingin,’ jelas Bambang Prihandoko di Jakarta, awal bulan ini.Sementara, mobil hibrida saat ini yang berhasil dikembangkan oleh pabrikan di dunia, masih banyak menggunakan Solid Polymer Battery (SPB) Lithium. Dengan begitu, setiap jamnya harus di-charge ulang.Sedangkan SCB Lithium yang dikembangkan oleh LIPI, pengisian fuel cell-nya dapat dilakukan setelah dua jam untuk penggunaan tiap 100 km per jam. SCB memiliki tegangan sebesar 3,3 volt dan 200 miliAmpere, yang dapat diserikan ataupun diparalelkan pemasangannya. Dengan begitu kemampuannya bisa meningkat.

Bambang Prihandoko menambahkan kendaraan listrik produk LIPI, yaitu Marmut LIPI (Marlip), juga akan dimodifikasi menjadi Fuell Cell Vehicle dari SCB Lithium. ‘Saat ini masih dalam taraf pengujian dan prototipe untuk Marlip, yang akan disempurnakan pada tahun 2014.’

Eritrea may buy buses from Mowasalat

Eritrea may buy buses from Mowasalat as part of a co-operation agreement that is expected to be signed soon by the two sides.

Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki, during a visit to Mowasalat headquarters yesterday expressed interest to strengthen co-operation with the company to promote the public transport sector in his country.

Afewerki was in Doha in connection with the Darfur peace agreement that was signed here on Tuesday.

The President was received at the Karwa headquarters by Mowasalat chairman and managing director Jassim Saif Al Sulaiti, its business development director Ahmed Al Ansari and other senior company officials.

More than 120 Eritrean drivers working with Mowasalat greeted their President waving the Eritrean flag. Afewerki toured the various facilities at the new Karwa City that is getting ready at the Mowasalat premises in the Industrial Area.

“The visit came on the initiative of the President himself. This marks a continuation of our partnership in the public transport sector. We have a number of Eritreans working as drivers and other staff in our company. We hope the visit would help expand this co-operation to more areas,” said Al Sulaiti, addressing a press conference at the end of the visit.

“We are looking forward to signing a co-operation agreement with Eritrea in the public transport sector,” he added. He hinted that Eritrea may buy a few buses from Mowasalat as part of the partnership.

“The scope of our co-operation is wider than the purchase of a few buses. It would expand to the IT sector, public transport systems and models. The President was deeply impressed by the range and quality of our services,” added Al Sulaiti.

Tunisia to sell Morocco-made cars

Tunisia will begin selling a Moroccan-manufactured automobile, Trade Minister Reda Ben Mesbah said in Tunis on Friday (January 8th). The deal to market the "Renault Logan" comes nearly three years after the Agadir Agreement exempted cars made by member states Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt from customs tariffs, MAP noted.

Iran-Khodro Registers New Record in Car Production

Iran's largest auto-manufacturer, Iran-Khodro Company (IKCO), announced that it has set a new record in the production of passenger cars in Iran and surpassed its last year production capacity of 600,000 units in just eleven months.

"The company produced 600,460 units of different types of passenger cars and pickups since the beginning of the current Iranian year (starts March 21, 2009) to February 13, 2010, while it had produced 600,006 units last year," IKCO Deputy CEO Javad Dehnadi said.

"We achieved the new record eleven days earlier than the last year's record breaking," he stated, adding that IKCO has targeted the production of 680 thousand cars for the current year.

Dehnadi reiterated that 93,920 different types of Samand, 150,929 units of Peugeot 405, 93,253 units of Peugeot Pars, 101,285 different types of Peugeot 206, 47,070 units of Peugeot Roa, 103,692 Bardo pickups, 6,552 units of Tondar 90 and 3,616 units of Grand Vitara as well as 143 units of other vehicles have been produced in IKCO so far.

Earlier this month, IKCO had announced that it has increased its production rate by 16% since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 20,2009).

Iran's state-owned Iran-Khodro is the largest carmaker in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa, with an annual production of more than one million vehicles of various models, including cars, trucks, minibuses and buses.

IKCO is also ramping up exports as it builds a global presence outside Iran.

The company officials have said they want to boost annual production to more than a million vehicles and hike exports to more than 600,000 by 2016.

2016, 466 Juta Unit Motor Listrik Padati Jalan

Hasil penelitian Pike Research mengatakan bahwa pada tahun 2016 sekitar 466 juta unit sepeda motor listrik akan memadati jalanan di dunia. Hal ini disebabkan tren masyarakat dunia untuk membeli kendaraan bermotor yang murah, hemat bahan bakar, dan efisien.

"Di beberapa negara, kendaraan sepeti ini menjadi motor penggerak perekonomian sebuah negara. Sementara untuk negara lainnya menjadikan sebuah sinyal bahwa adanya perubahan prilaku konsumen dalam memilih kendaraan yang efisien," ujar analis industri Dave Hurst.

Hurst menambahkan bahwa di kawasan Asia Pasifik secara umum dan China pada khususnya akan mendominasi penjualan sepeda motor listrik dengan merepresentasikan pertumbuhan hingga 95% angka penjualan motor listrik dalam enam tahun ke depan.

Menurut penelitian Pike Research salah satu faktor penting pendorong tumbuhnya industri sepeda motor listrik adalah jalur distribusi penjualan. Banyak produsen motor listrik yang mencari partner yang tepat untuk sejumlah negara untuk memasarkannya dan juga layanan purna jualnya.

Exora Receives Well Deserved Endorsement In Thailand

Proton sales bookings in the Expo had as such beaten all Korean and continental brands in Thailand, positioning it as one of the strongest selling brands in the Expo within the ranks of the Japanese brands.

The Proton Exora, which made its debut in Thailand during the motor show, was the best selling Proton model securing a total of 825 bookings, which accounts for almost 60% of Proton’s 1,388 units sold during the Expo. The Proton Savvy was the next best-seller recording 19.5% of the total bookings over the event.

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Proton: Siapkan Tiga Model Facelift

PT Proton Edar Indonesia (PEI) selaku distributor utama mobil merek Proton di Indonesia akan meluncurkan tiga model versi facelift sepanjang 2010 ini. Ketiganya adalah, Gen-2, Neo, serta Exora President.

Gen- 2 dan Neo tak hanya mendapat sentuhan perubahan pada sektor eksteriornya saja tetapi juga interiornya. “Sedangkan Exora selain ada perubahan minor di eksterior, akan ada perubahan fitur di interior. Misalnya, jok yang akan dibalut hingga perangkat hiburan audio video desain baru,” kata Fransisco Sirait, Sales Training and Development Head PT PEI, di sela acara Media Gathering Proton di Jakarta Selatan, Rabu (10/2).

Peluncuran Exora President dan Neo versi facelift itu akan dilakukan di ajang Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) 2010 pada Juli mendatang. Sementara Gen-2 facelift akan diluncurkan akhir Maret atau awal April. PT PEI juga optimistis penjualan pada 2010 ini bakal meningkat seiring dengan kondisi perekonomian nasional yang bertumbuh pada kisaran 5-5,5 persen. “Untuk tahun ini target penjualan kami 4.000 unit, untuk semua line up Proton,” ujar Fransisco.

Presiden Direktur PT PEI Ricky HK To pun mengungkapkan rasa optimisnya akan penjualan Proton di Indonesia. “Penjualan kami tumbuh 100 persen, dari 1.100 unit pada 2008 menjadi 2.200 unit pada 2009. Sehingga tahun ini, kami yakin penjualan akan semakin membaik mengingat Indonesia juga memiliki potensi untuk menjadi pasar otomotif terbesar di kawasan (Asia Tenggara),” kata Ricky.

Natural CNG gas stations in Iran

Iran yang diembargo oleh negara-negara barat tersebut ternyata masih sempat membangun infrastruktur pengisian bahan bakar gas untuk kendaraan berbahan bakar gas murah yang mulai berkembang di Iran

Amphibious bus takes first passengers on board

The 50-seater wonderbus, nicknamed “The Floating Dutchman,” can travel at normal speed on both land and water.

Iran unveils electric Samand car

Iran on Wednesday unveiled the electric model of the Samand car. The electric model of the Samand can run at a speed of 140 kph and can be recharged within 15 minutes.

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This is a Veniran tractor

The town of Calabozo lies south of Caracas, on the hot, flat plains of Venezuela. Mud spattered pick-up trucks rattle along the streets. It is cattle country, a region dominated by farming.

Veniran tractor

Agriculture is just one sector where the two countries have partnerships

Inside the entrance to the Ministry of Agriculture compound, a brand new tractor is displayed.

It was created with Iranian know-how in a Venezuelan factory - a potent symbol of co-operation between a Persian nation and South American.

Alberto farms rice and livestock. "My very first tractor was a Veniran model," he says.

"I bought it at a discount with a cheap government loan. Things have really changed around here because of the agreements with the Iranians."

"Before I was just a hired hand, I couldn't even aspire to being a farmer. Now I have all the machinery I need, thanks to the government of President Chavez."

Fraternity

Agreements between Venezuela and Iran cover a wide range of industries

In the past five years Iran and Venezuela have signed dozens of agreements in all kinds of sectors - banking, construction, food processing, engineering, transport, and, of course, oil.

Joint investments total around $20 billion (£12bn).

Training

Calabozo is reaping some of the benefits of that fraternal hug.

On the edge of town, a huge housing complex rises from the rust-coloured earth.

An Iranian company is providing the expertise and engineering skill.

Andre Bandari, an Iranian, is the site manager at the new Veniran maize-processing plant. He says this is one of 10 planned across Venezuela.

The Iranians who have built the factory stay for anything from six months to a year.

For the first time our young people are being trained properly

Maria Cristina Rodriguez, one of the workers from President Chavez's United Socialist Party, is proud of Calabozo's association with Iran.

"For the first time our young people are being trained properly," she says.

"The Iranians are teaching them how do things. They are bringing their knowledge here, and building up the industrial base of the region."

Even her elderly father has a Veniran tractor.

The relationship's just got stronger, and we don't know where it's taking us
Onofrio de Nino Garcia.

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