TEG

Just thinking out loud...

TEG

TEG

dsacks6

I was just thinking, cars like this with short fronts and ends can still be really powerful if they are electric because they won't require a large engine to be placed at the front and rear.
In other words, electric cars or electric drivetrains will make possible very new types of platforms.
What car is this btw?

malcolm

The car is a Garaiya:-

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carrevi...aiya_rs01.html

bobw

In 1992 GM designed the Ultralite show car. They subcontracted fabrication of two examples to Scaled Composites Scaled Composites: Ultralight GM show car.

From AutoSpeed.com: Browser Warning



From flickr: GM Ultralite on Flickr - Photo Sharing!


The cars got a police Black-and-White paint scheme for the Sylvester Stallone turkey "Demolition Man". I thought the car was the best part, after Sandra Bullock.



The Rocky Mountain Institute attempted to cost it out. http://www.rmi.org/images/PDFs/Trans...eUltralite.pdf. I don't know how many grains of salt to take with it, though. Academic exercises aren't real. It constantly invokes "economies of scale" which "should occur once ultralights are produced at high volumes." That's the sort of "miracle occurs here" talk that I bet the folks at Tesla Motors hate.

Maybe gull wing doors aren't practical in a garage.

Attached Images

1970_27mg.jpg (59.5 KB, 30 views)

TEG

If it comes with the congealing foam air bags count me in!

mt2

I'm looking at these photos and I'm thinking to myself that these are quiet unconventional designs. It seems to me that everyone feels that by the time the BlueStar is built, the public will be ready for space-age looking cars. At least that's how I feel.

While the Roadster really rocks, it's body design isn't that much different from a conventional sports car. True, it's design is based on the Elise for practical reasons, but I suspect there were marketing reasons for keeping in the range of American sensibilities. The WhiteStar will probably push the envelope a little (it has to for aerodynamics). But I'm betting that it will still look fairly "normal", albeit the really hot end of normal. After all, if they expect to sell 10,000 a year it has to have fairly broad appeal.

But by the time the BlueStar is introduced, competition in the alternative car market will have really heated up in the $30,000 range. Toyota is talking about cutting the Prius into its own line of cars and even the Aptera should have a foothold by then. Tesla will want to distinguish the BlueStar from the competition, so a really unconventional and hot look would suit the BlueStar just fine.

__________________
Mark Tomlinson
"I am not a trouble maker; I'm a catalyst for change."

TEG

Reminder - 2009 Prius prototype:

malcolm

No concept car will ever create a mass acceptance of, or desire for, radical styling. A car is a very public display of your personal tastes and there is a limit to how visible and conspicuous people wish to be - at least the ones responsible for the bulk of car market purchases. Everyone wants to fit in whilst making small individual statements.

Context is everything. A car that draws the admiring crowds at a motor show can cause a very different reaction when sitting on your drive. Certain cars are associated with certain groups - boy racers, soccer moms etc etc

It's that "fitting in" part which means that Bluestar (and Whitestar) will be stylish-but-normal and cars like the Aptera will continue to be a niche influence.