Spain February 2013

Seen from behind, the Twizy looks something between a helmet and R2-D2 

From a monthly average of 138 EV's sold last year, now spanish sales are down to only sold 60 units until February, 28th, falling even more than the general auto market there and originating a EV share drop from 0,24% to just 0,04%. The economic crisis is all over the newscovers these days there, so it's natural that people there have other priorities, right?

As result of this nosedive, this year's ranking has little to do with 2012, the Twizy is still in #1 but it's down nine points to 48% share, the Mitsu I-Miev jumped to #2 and in third there are three models: The Nissan Leaf, the Prius Plug-In and finally the Smart Fortwo ED, this last model is the only to increase its sales regarding last year, in fact with just 5 cars sold in February, it already reached last year sales...

Pl	Spain	Fev	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Renault Twizy	17	29	48	1
2	Mitsubishi I-Miev	3	11	18	10
3	Nissan Leaf	3	5	8	3
4	Toyota Prius Plug-In		5	8	7
5	Smart Fortwo ED	5	5	8	16
6	Opel Ampera		3	5	9
7	Renault Kangoo ZE		1	2	2
8	Renault Fluence ZE		1	2	4
	TOTAL	28	60	100

Source: autoblog.es

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Measuring surface roughness in your workshop

I was watching a show on TV with some of my friends, where these guys were literally taking badly rusted cars - they were literally junk pots, and turning them into beautiful "vintage" automobiles that would go for several hundred dollars. We were chatting about a similar program on MTV I used to watch called "Pimp my ride" where cars fit for the junkyard were modified, cut, converted and painted into beautiful machines.

The guys I was hanging out with happen to be engineers and we ended up discussing the pro and cons of sand blasting rust off cars. I learnt that's not a very good idea as it can do more damage. Anyway, sandblasting is quite popular and that was what the guys in the show were doing. They removed the rust, patched the holes and scratches, painted them to what I thought was a really high standard. However, my engineer friend told me that the only way to confirm the smoothness of the surface is by using a 'surface roughness tester' also known as a profilometer. Yes, you learn new things everyday.

Apparently you can quantify the roughness of a surface by measuring the surface's profile. Most of these are big machines in the labs but I also found out that there are even hand held portable versions. For example, blast cleaned surfaces can be tested for the peak-to-valley height using a Portable Surface Roughness Tester Profilometer (yes, that's the official name of these machines). I did not get much of the technical stuff, but that's how the experts test the smoothness (or roughness) of metalworking or even a paint job.

So if you have a workshop and want to known as a professional today, your shop floor has to have one of these gadgets.

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