Cool ('green') Car

[Bozo]

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1033/

Bozo :joker:

 

[Will Rickards]

First the page design is crappy because the text is hidden by the sidebar.
Second I quote the article:

fantastically unsafe

It is categorized as a motorcycle. It seems to use the same type of tech as the volt. However it puts it in a futuristic looking deathtrap.

I'll pass

 

[jtr1962]

I really love the design. Those are exactly the kinds of cars I thought we would be riding in by the 21st century, not hulking, boring SUVs. As for being unsafe, if everyone were using them it would be fine. It's the huge mass differential between vehicles which makes smaller vehicles less safe on average.

I also like the way the doors open. It makes a lot more sense for car doors to open this way, especially in crowded parking lots.

 

[Bozo]

I also like the way the doors open. It makes a lot more sense for car doors to open this way, especially in crowded parking lots.

I wouldn't be able to get in or out of it in my garage. Ceiling is too low. (judging from the pictures)

If you are in any kind of small car and get hit by a Hummer or Suburban, your chances of survival are about the same...slim and none.

Bozo :joker:

 

[ddrueding]

...no less safe than a motorcycle.

That is safe enough. I hate that cars today have to weigh 3000+ lbs just for all the safety gear. So many stupid laws have been passed requiring specific design elements, it makes truly efficient cars near impossible.

Bumpers that don't take damage below 5mph
20+ Airbags
Sensors to prevent airbags from firing
Pedestrian Safety
Light positioning requirements

It's madness. If someone wants to feel safe, let them buy a Volvo. If they want to feel safe and not be safe, let them buy an SUV. But as it stands the only way to get around the oppressive laws is to call the car a motorcycle.

 

[LOST6200]

Some kind of the silly sciFi toy? Wauit till it hits a potyhole at 50mpH, then the weel will fall off. Or we crush you with Juli'es Navigatator.

 

[Chewy509]

but it also makes it pretty fantastically unsafe (but, of course, no less safe than a motorcycle.)

One of my favourite lines... But then again, as I just picked up a new car yesterday, the vehicle's safety record is fairly low on the list, with price, features and performance all coming ahead of safety...

PS. It was a '02 Holden Frontera ( http://www.redbookasiapacific.com/au/vehicle/photos.php?id=65325 ), which was upgraded from a '97 Suzuki Vitara (http://www.redbookasiapacific.com/au/vehicle/photos.php?id=100393 )

 

[ddrueding]

Congrats on the new ride. Just to show you how little value I place in "safety" and specifically "mass", I'm now looking at a Lotus Elise. I was looking at a BMW 135i, but it weighs in at 3438lbs (1560Kg)! That is 1450lbs more than the Elise! If I end up getting a Series 1, that is 1 ton more!

I forget where I heard it, but they were saying that fuel efficiency of gas engines was increasing steadily, only the weight of the vehicles was keeping pace.

 

[Bozo]

I just bought one of these.

http://www.scion.com/#xB

Bozo :joker:

 

[Pradeep]

Nice. The xB got a big bump in power with the new engine, should have snappy performance.

I was watching a documentary on HDNet last night, a Japanese uni professor was designing a high performance electric car, without any collaboration with existing Japanese auto makers. It's got 8 wheels, each wheel has an 80HP electric motor. Cutting edge rare-earth magnets. The best of Japanese inverter technology, a ton of lithium ion batteries in the floorpan. He was very realistic, he said that no matter the environmental benefits, electric cars had to match and exceed existing ICE powered cars in power before they would ever become popular with consumers.

It got up to 370km/h at the test track. What's really amazing is the acceleration, from 0-100kph it was neck and neck with a Porsche, but from 100-160 it continued with the same rate of acceleration as it did from 0-100. An ex Formula 1 driver couldn't get the grin off his face.

They then took the car to Mitsubishi, and they had a standing start against their latest Evo tubocharged 4 wheel drive car. The difference was amazing. The CEO equivalent of Mitsubishi motors said it was amazing, he took a drive.

It's interesting seeing companies that have nothing to do with autobuilding today emerging in the next generation of electric vehicles.

Back a century ago electric cars were at one time more popular than gas powered vehicles, at least till the Model T brought costs down and ICE got more efficient. We have come full circle.

 

[Pradeep]

Oh, I forgot to mention, the motors reach 80HP at 12000rpm. And the car it beat was a Porsche Turbo.

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=8754&vf=23

 

[ddrueding]

It's interesting seeing companies that have nothing to do with autobuilding today emerging in the next generation of electric vehicles.

This is why the UAW is going to kill the big three. With ICE, all their experience and assets have given them some advantage vs. any newcomers. But with composite construction materials and electric motors, a lot of that advantage is gone. Sure it still costs a lot to build a car in volume, but the experience and assets are less relevant.

 

[LOST6200]

ICE powdered cards?

 

[ddrueding]

ICE = Internal Combustion Engine = regular cars.

 

[LunarMist]

He was very realistic, he said that no matter the environmental benefits, electric cars had to match and exceed existing ICE powered cars in power before they would ever become popular with consumers.

That is realistic? How many consumers need (or can afford) tiny race cars? The prices should be $30K or less to sell in quantity. Recharging pure electric vehicles is not practical for a high percentage of drivers, not to mention all the other problems of supporting power generation and distribution infrastructures that are barely adequate now in many places.

 

[ddrueding]

That is realistic? How many consumers need (or can afford) tiny race cars?

When did realism and logic have anything to do with each other?

People won't pay more for a car that does less. That performs worse, that is smaller, that has less range. What they need is irrelevant.

 

[udaman]

Plug-in w/next gen Lithium tech would seem to be the best way to improve gas/petro hybrids, until a pure electric car powered either by fuel cells or plug-in electricity becomes available...no matter how much jtr loves inefficient, excessive time consuming, PITA public transportion systems which do fine as an adjunct, not replacement for cars. Adding solar panels on roof/hood (bonnet for UK/Oz ) would also help.

http://www.a123systems.com/newsite/index.php#/home/phev

(note GM Chevy Volt co-developed with a123- link, note all Bush haters, his interest in pro-American technology, green friendly solutions like this one-link).




Cars that make hybrids look like gas guzzlers

Plug-in versions can go 100 miles on a gallon of gasoline
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/04/ING44OD4AS1.DTL


Top 100 Cars by Green Rating
http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center-top100/

Porsche Boxster made the list

http://www.a123systems.com/newsite/index.php#/applications/phev/

A123Systems is working with the Department of Energy as well as numerous government agencies and automotive OEMs to develop next-generation battery technology for Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). Our Hymotion division aims to bridge the near-term gap between HEVs and PHEVs by offering Battery Range Extender Modules (BREMs), which allow existing HEVs to get 100mpg or more, with an easily installed after-market product. A123System’s BREMs recently made an appearance on the White House lawn.
A123 has developed a higher energy cell based on our mass produced Nanophosphate™ chemistry that provides higher energy density than our M1 power tool cells, a trait critical to energy-dependent PHEV applications. While more energy dense, the M1HD products still retain high power capability, critical for charge sustaining operation in PHEV applications.

Voids all warranties, and probably costs more than the amount of gas it saves(BREM), before that older hybrid dies of wear & tear.

 

[Tea]

Why have they got the steering wheel on the wrong side?

 

[ddrueding]

Why have they got the steering wheel on the wrong side?

So that you can drive while Tannin thinks he is.