by Gabrielle DeSantis

The Toyota bZ4X will be Toyota’s first electric SUV. Toyota is a pioneer in alternative energy vehicles, but it has yet to produce a popular electric vehicle. The bZ4X electric SUV will usher in a new era for the Japanese automaker. Its new battery is a major milestone for electric vehicles.

The Toyota bZ4X battery pack is built to last

The Toyota bZ4X is the company’s first foray into electric SUVs. Plenty of automakers are beginning to roll out electric SUVs as EVs become more popular. President Joe Biden is prepping the American automotive industry for a huge change by the next decade.

President Biden hopes that 50% of all new vehicles produced in the United States will be electric vehicles in the year 2030. Automakers estimate that close to 40% of new vehicles will be EVs in 2030. Either way, electric vehicle production is going to reach a historic high in the years to come. Toyota’s new electric SUV, the bZ4X, will be integral to the company’s growth and survival in an evolving automotive industry.

RELATED: The Toyota bZ4X Is the First of Seven New Beyond Zero Models

Electric vehicle specs are different from gasoline-powered vehicle specs. Instead of gas mileage, companies present an electric battery range and capacity to consumers. Battery range is arguably the most important spec of an EV because low range means constant charging (which can take incredibly long). Battery capacity, as well as degradation, are huge factors in whether an EV can withstand the test of time or not.

Toyota vehicles are popular for their longevity. Many Toyota vehicles can easily last over 15+ years or 200,000 miles. So how does the Japanese automaker’s quality and vehicle longevity translate to an EV? It’s all about the battery. According to insideEVs, Toyota aims for the Toyota bZ4X battery to only have 10% degradation after 10 years. That means the bZ4X should have 90% of its original battery capacity after 10 years of use.

Why are EV batteries so important to electric SUVs?

Motors play a crucial role in EVs, however, batteries are very similar to gas-powered vehicle engines. The battery pack is where the magic happens, and it ultimately determines the capabilities of the electric vehicle it is powering. High electric vehicle battery ranges allow electric SUVs to travel long distances without having to recharge.

Electric vehicle charging is the most tedious part of EV ownership. Charging infrastructure could benefit from major improvement. Most EVs can take several hours to fully charge. Fast-charging stations exist and can charge some EVs like Teslas in a little over 20 minutes. However, fast-charging on a regular basis could do harm to your EV battery.

RELATED: EV Batteries Are About to Get a Much-Needed Upgrade

Before purchasing any electric SUV, a consumer should know that SUV’s battery range. For example, if the base model Toyota bZ4X has a battery range of 250 miles, its range would be competitive. Any battery range under 200 miles is on the lower end of the EV battery range spectrum. Range over 300 miles is usually reserved for the highest trim level EVs.

If the Toyota bZ4X has a battery range of 250 miles and its total capacity degrades by 10% over 10 years, after a decade, it will only be able to travel 225 miles on a full battery. The Toyota bZ4X’s battery range has yet to be announced, but it is unlikely that the brand would release its new electric SUV with anything less than 220 miles of battery range.

When will the Toyota bZ4X be released?

The Toyota bZ4X is expected to be released by 2022. The bZ4X will compete with popular electric SUVs like the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E. The Honda Prologue should arrive in late 2023 or early 2024, so the bZ4X’s timing is perfect if it can arrive before Honda’s electric SUV.

Toyota is receiving help from Subaru to build the bZ4X. It will run on the same platform as the 2023 Subaru Solterra electric crossover. Toyota has proven it can create a popular SUV, but will the Japanese automaker be able to produce a popular electric SUV?

RELATED: Is Toyota Aiming to Give the Electric Ford F-150 Competition?

The post Toyota bZ4X Battery Could Retain 90% Capacity After a Decade appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

by Gabrielle DeSantis

While we don’t get to fly spaceships ourselves here at MotorbBiscuit, we would sure like to. These most recent discoveries on Mars and Titan might get us a bit closer to safer space travel. While Space shuttles and Rovers might not be as luxurious or performance-heavy as a Rolls-Royce Cullinan or a Bugatti Chiron, they do tend to cost a hell of a lot more.

Two members of Yale’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences just conducted research that seems to have crucial implications on the future of space travel. At the center of the research is our favorite planet for speculation, Mars, and Saturn’s largest moon, Titian. 

How the disocery on Mars and Titan help us with space travel?

To better understand this study, we should know the term “annular,” which means a ring-shaped or semi-ring-shaped pattern.

As we know, different types of weather can greatly affect a vehicle’s performance. Alien weather is equally if not more problematic than Earths’s weather. Turns out this matters for our equipment.

Postdoctoral associate J. Michael Battalio and Juan Lora, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences, are the dynamic duo who authored this study for Yale. 

The focus of their study was on the annular weather patterns of other planets and moons. These annual modes look at variabilities in the climate that differ from the seasonal cycle on other planets to predict the weather.

According to Yale Daily News, after studying Maritan dust storms, Battalio realized that the dust storms had seemed to come in cycles that were not consistent with the shorter periods of the atmospheric forces that caused the storms. That got him thinking…

Battalio says, “I didn’t know when I discovered this periodicity what was going on, but I remembered some of my previous reading of literature for Earth that annular modes on Earth had a periodicity of about 20 days, and they’re connected to these waves that had this other periodicity,” Battalio said. “I figured if Mars has waves like Earth and this climate feature, these annular modes … then it makes sense to look for these modes on Mars and see if their periodicity can explain the dust storms.”

This realization prompted Battalio to join forces with Lora’s research group in 2019. This group was focused on researching the existence of annular modes on other planets. 

Ok, so what does this mean? 

Adding to the intrigue, Lora’s team also observed similar Titan phenomena using the Titan Atmospheric Model. This essentially works to simulate the climate of the large moon. To both of their surprise, Mars and Titan are more affected by these annular modes than Earth is. 

“We’re trying to understand whether these types of structures of variability occur in other terrestrial planetary atmospheres, and we have the tools to do that on Mars for the first time,” Lora said. “The idea is to try to see if there’s some sort of regular variability in the atmospheres of these two places, which then if it’s there, we can characterize and understand it. Maybe that paves the way for weather predictions down the line, and that’s where the implications and future work are.”

The brass tax of all of this science talk is that over the years of observing these annular patterns, it seems that we may be able to predict dust storms or other such natural phenomena on other planets similar to earth. 

Is predicting the weather really that big of a deal? 

Yes. for example, in 2018, NASA’s solar-powered Opportunity rover got wiped out due to a planet-wide dust storm. This mission was the result of many years and many billions of dollars in research and development. Not to mention, some of the most expensive hardware on Earth.  

If we could predict when these storms might happen, it would greatly increase our chances of having more successful missions. This ultimately would lead to more successful space travel in general. 

Going to space is a massive gamble. Anything that can be done to minimize as many risk factors as possible makes regular space travel more possible.

RELATED: NASA Concept Car Could Be The First Driven On Mars

The post Discoveries on Mars and Titan May Hold the Key to Safer Space Travel appeared first on MotorBiscuit.