News: Skoda in Galway to help raise funds for Lily-Mae

Monaghan & Sons, Galway’s Skoda dealership is undertaking an Eco-Drive from Wednesday, 31st January – Friday, 2nd February to assist in raising vital funds for The Sunni Mae Trust for the treatment of Lily-Mae Morrison. Monaghan & Sons are urging locals to guess how far a Skoda Fabia can travel on a tank of fuel.
 

Lily-Mae Morrison, a native of Claregalway, has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Neuroblastoma which affects 1 in 100,000 children in Ireland. Lily-Mae is the four year old daughter of Galway based dancers Judith Sibley and Leighton Morrison, who are best known in Galway for their work with Chrysalis Dance and Youth Ballet West.

In order to enter, competition forms will be available in local Centra stores where people can guess how far a Skoda Fabia will travel on a tank of fuel and in turn make a donation to the fund. There will be prizes for competition winners including fuel vouchers and a weekend away courtesy of Monaghan & Sons.

A member of staff from Monaghan & Sons will undertake the challenge to maximize the fuel endurance of a Skoda Fabia 1.2 diesel from a full tank while driving to Centra Stores within a 75km radius of Galway city over the course of three days. The drive will take place on Wednesday, 31st January, Thursday, 1st February and Friday, 2nd February travelling over 1500 kilometres.

To launch the Eco-Drive, Galway Bay FM will broadcast the Big Smoothie Breakfast show with Ollie Turner from Monaghan & Sons between 6.30-9am on Wednesday, 31st. During the event Galway Bay FM will link up live with the driver at different times during the day to get updates on the progress of the journey.

Commenting, Leo Monaghan, dealer principal, Monaghan & Sons, Galway said, “We are delighted to be able to help out with the fundraising appeal for Lily Mae. It is a fantastic cause and we would urge people to get their hands on a form and donate some much needed funds. Forms are available in local Centra stores and also from the Monaghan & Sons dealership.”

News: Could cheaper electric car batteries be coming soon?

New research being carried out by the University of California and Bosch could lead to smaller, faster-charging batteries for electric cars within three years.

Professor Miroslav Krstic and postdoctoral fellow Scott Moura of the University of California, San Diego have been researching into the way Lithium atoms 'behave' (if that's quite the right word) in a battery. Astonishingly, it seems that we don't actually have any great knowledge of exactly how chemical components of modern batteries behave, and this new research is helping to break down that barrier.

The upshot is that we could shortly have batteries with much greater capacity, meaning that they could either make a car go for longer distances, or the same distance with a smaller battery. Even better, these new battery designs could cut lengthy charging times by as much as half, and be on sale within half a decade or so. They could even become significantly cheaper to manufacture as a result.

"If one could have a better knowledge or better estimation of what's going on inside, one could safely operate closer to the limits of performance, which means that the oversizing and overdesign would be less necessary”, Krstic told Automotive News. "That translates into savings in costs and in weight."