A look into how their business is progressing. . .
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/state/story/9444812p-9356231c.html
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/state/story/9444812p-9356231c.html
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Commuter Cars - Tango
- Thread starter tonybelding
- Start date
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- Electric Vehicles
I spoke with someone from Google at both Tesla and Tango events.
He mentioned having deposits down on both of them.
It must be frustrating to have to wait for both of them since both are behind schedule.
This quote on the Tango wasn't exactly flattering:
Plus all that weight has to make performance and efficiency all that much harder.
He mentioned having deposits down on both of them.
It must be frustrating to have to wait for both of them since both are behind schedule.
This quote on the Tango wasn't exactly flattering:
Yes, I think they were trying to make the point that it is safe and stable, but I think green customers are hoping to find vehicles that use minimal resources.
Plus all that weight has to make performance and efficiency all that much harder.
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Not many people want to buy a car and then assemble it themselves.
The Caterham Seven, K1 Attack, and Mullen GT have all gone that route. These are marketed to real gearheads, and they still only sell -- probably dozens per year, I'd guess.
Early in their history, the guys at Winding Road magazine built their own Caterham Seven and wrote a couple of articles about it. It's a good read. (That was before Winding Road moved from Austin to Detroit and sold their souls.)
From here : Commuter Cars Tango - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Difficulties with their UK manufacturer forced CommuterCars to take over manufacturing themselves; for this reason the second vehicle did not ship until February 11, 2008, and was completely assembled in Spokane, Washington."
"Difficulties with their UK manufacturer forced CommuterCars to take over manufacturing themselves; for this reason the second vehicle did not ship until February 11, 2008, and was completely assembled in Spokane, Washington."
This is one of the few cars I can think of that have made me smile. It must be so much fun to dart around in that little thing.
If they make it a little bit larger and make it into a practical two-seater (it's supposed to be one person in front and one person behnd, but as far as I can tell from the photos/videos I've seen, the "backseat" isn't quite human-sized) and of course get past all the safety regulation, I honestly think it would have a genuine chance of making itself a nice little nitch in the market. Kind of like the Smart Fortwo, but electric, and an even more unique set-up. But of course, I doubt that'll ever happen...:frown:
If they make it a little bit larger and make it into a practical two-seater (it's supposed to be one person in front and one person behnd, but as far as I can tell from the photos/videos I've seen, the "backseat" isn't quite human-sized) and of course get past all the safety regulation, I honestly think it would have a genuine chance of making itself a nice little nitch in the market. Kind of like the Smart Fortwo, but electric, and an even more unique set-up. But of course, I doubt that'll ever happen...:frown:
It sure is.
Actually the back seat is quite comfortable and fits even large humans well. Really quite amazing. However, it's quite claustrophobic back there, because you can't see well in front of you.
As far as making a dent in the market, the problem is funding. Thanks to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, you need to crash around 10 cars, with all kinds of recording and measuring equipment, in order to offer a completed drivable vehicle for sale. 10 Tangos is only a million dollars, but you'll pay that again for the facilities that record and measure everything, and you'll pay even more for all the redesign work you need to do in order to meet the letter of the standard. There's 30 pages of FMVSS specification just dealing with how you're supposed to design your headlights!
And finding a proper production facility is no walk in the park, either. Lotus is one of the few companies that knows how to produce cars in low volume in a profitable way... and they're pretty busy these days.
