Discussion
hoopdiddy07 said:
fuoriserie said:
what part of the manufacturing cost will the battery pack be ? 50-60 % ?
By the way Italo, I've just bought a graphics tablet and have done a couple of arty sketches last night based on your interpretation of the brief. If someone can tell me how, I will post them for you.Edited by fuoriserie on Monday 4th February 10:04
Davi said:
One of my key criteria would be to ensure it's no longer than a standard vehicle is wide, because there are hundreds of cubby holes I could park in then!
Excellent point Davi, making the machine narrow enough to be bike like could lead to instability or at least put potential users off as they may assume its unstable.Short enough to park end on like you can in a Smart could be the way. Didnt I hear some time ago that you could park for half price in a half size car. What would happen if 2 single seater EV's arrived from different locations and both parked in one space in a multi story, do the car park operators charge per space or per car? Can you park a motor bike and side car in a bike park? If so what about a small 3 wheeler?
stig mills said:
Davi said:
One of my key criteria would be to ensure it's no longer than a standard vehicle is wide, because there are hundreds of cubby holes I could park in then!
Excellent point Davi, making the machine narrow enough to be bike like could lead to instability or at least put potential users off as they may assume its unstable.Short enough to park end on like you can in a Smart could be the way. Didnt I hear some time ago that you could park for half price in a half size car. What would happen if 2 single seater EV's arrived from different locations and both parked in one space in a multi story, do the car park operators charge per space or per car? Can you park a motor bike and side car in a bike park? If so what about a small 3 wheeler?
The rough doodle I did based on Italo's sketches worked out around 2.25m long, which is slightly less than the 2.4m average for a parking space. Much shorter than that and you start getting quite upright seating position, which of course is going to lead to a tall car, poorer aerodynamics and less aesthetically pleasing.
Davi said:
stig mills said:
Davi said:
One of my key criteria would be to ensure it's no longer than a standard vehicle is wide, because there are hundreds of cubby holes I could park in then!
Excellent point Davi, making the machine narrow enough to be bike like could lead to instability or at least put potential users off as they may assume its unstable.Short enough to park end on like you can in a Smart could be the way. Didnt I hear some time ago that you could park for half price in a half size car. What would happen if 2 single seater EV's arrived from different locations and both parked in one space in a multi story, do the car park operators charge per space or per car? Can you park a motor bike and side car in a bike park? If so what about a small 3 wheeler?
The piaggio mp3 is 2130 long, and 745mm wide, maybe too narrow for the ecoracer design...!
Edited by fuoriserie on Tuesday 5th February 12:06
fuoriserie said:
Del you got the dimensions right, because I was working on 2250 wheelbase, or maybe slightly longer 2300mm, with a width of 1100mm.
The piaggio mp3 is 2130 long, and 745mm wide, maybe too narrow for the ecoracer design...!
well that's a bit of a fluke then The piaggio mp3 is 2130 long, and 745mm wide, maybe too narrow for the ecoracer design...!
I think around 1000 is good width wise. Realistically it's more than enough, but for the appearance of stability obviously the wider the better. If you go too wide it's going to look a bit disproportioned.
fuoriserie said:
hoopdiddy07 said:
fuoriserie said:
what part of the manufacturing cost will the battery pack be ? 50-60 % ?
By the way Italo, I've just bought a graphics tablet and have done a couple of arty sketches last night based on your interpretation of the brief. If someone can tell me how, I will post them for you.Edited by fuoriserie on Monday 4th February 10:04
Parking is free in London for EV's and so standard bay sizes are fine there. I would put money on it that all UK main cities follow this lead within the next five years.
Edited by hoopdiddy07 on Tuesday 5th February 13:18
hoopdiddy07 said:
fuoriserie said:
hoopdiddy07 said:
fuoriserie said:
what part of the manufacturing cost will the battery pack be ? 50-60 % ?
By the way Italo, I've just bought a graphics tablet and have done a couple of arty sketches last night based on your interpretation of the brief. If someone can tell me how, I will post them for you.Edited by fuoriserie on Monday 4th February 10:04
Parking is free in London for EV's and so standard bay sizes are fine there. I would put money on it that all UK main cities follow this lead within the next five years.
Edited by hoopdiddy07 on Tuesday 5th February 13:18
Great price for the tablet, is it an A4 model....?
Edited by fuoriserie on Tuesday 5th February 15:29
Davi said:
hoopdiddy07 said:
Medion tablet on photoshop. Tablet was £29.99 at Aldi, best thing I have bought in ages, I can't stop drawing at the moment.
Have you tried it with any other software yet? CAD or anything? At that price it would be daft not to get one.hoopdiddy07 said:
Davi said:
hoopdiddy07 said:
Medion tablet on photoshop. Tablet was £29.99 at Aldi, best thing I have bought in ages, I can't stop drawing at the moment.
Have you tried it with any other software yet? CAD or anything? At that price it would be daft not to get one.Reality check needed.
Suppose you decide to build an "Eco car". You make it a small single seater electric three wheeler. This is a Sinclair C5!.
Not wanting to do this you decide to make it bigger, so that you can actualy pack some shopping in it or drive your partner around. You now have a Bubble car.
Suddenly you realise that it is now not much smaller than a Mini which has four seats and a bigger boot.
So now you add an extra wheel. If you still have two seats you now have a Honda Beat or Smart Roadster clone. This looks a much more realistic product.
Now for the power source. Electric? Is it realy cheaper? Yes, you save money on road tax in the UK but compared to other costs of motoring it's trivial. Range is restricted and charging times are still long. Then there are all the controls to sort out plus the space required and expense of the batteries for any realistic car. For anything in kit form you need to check the price of a second hand Ford Fiesta engine complete with gearbox and a power source that comes quickly out of millions of roadside pumps. Is electric really worth it?
Now for the design itself.
Well here we do have some interesting starting points. Full fibreglass monocoque kits for the Mini were once sold as kits. One of them looked like a Mini but with a lower roofline and another one was the Mini Marcos. As an Eco car this looks very realistic as a concept, it is a light weight and more aerodynamic version of something that already exists. Also there is a small two seater like the 595 Barchetta which was based on the Fiat 126. This could be made very cheap indeed. It doesn't even have doors (the shut lines are fake!) and the engine is just 600cc. Despite this it looks like serious fun. Perhaps this factor is what's missing in most Eco cars?
So now we have two realistic Eco cars:
1) A small car based on a small mass produced car but lighter and more aerodynamic.
This could look very interesting, just look at some of the shapes of low drag experimental cars. Honda's solar powered race car, the Railton Mobil LSR car or the Bluebird LSR car could be styling starting points
2) A two seater fun Eco car that is as simple and inexpensive as possible.
Look at the 595 Barchetta. You could reduce the number of panels to just two, a body shell and an engine cover. You don't even need a luggage bay cover, just use the method adopted by the Healy Sprite in which the boot was accessed from inside by folding down the seats. A bike engine would probably be the best bet as all the small car engines and transaxles, like the 2CV or Fiat 126, have long since gone. Perhaps using a Fiesta engine in a car like the Fiat X19 might work, you could use this car as the starting point and simplify the body work as far as possible, no doors, remove the side crease and use fixed headlights. Shut lines should continue to a natural end in the bodywork or be diguised as styling features. Both of these methods of reducing bodywork problems were used by TVR.
Suppose you decide to build an "Eco car". You make it a small single seater electric three wheeler. This is a Sinclair C5!.
Not wanting to do this you decide to make it bigger, so that you can actualy pack some shopping in it or drive your partner around. You now have a Bubble car.
Suddenly you realise that it is now not much smaller than a Mini which has four seats and a bigger boot.
So now you add an extra wheel. If you still have two seats you now have a Honda Beat or Smart Roadster clone. This looks a much more realistic product.
Now for the power source. Electric? Is it realy cheaper? Yes, you save money on road tax in the UK but compared to other costs of motoring it's trivial. Range is restricted and charging times are still long. Then there are all the controls to sort out plus the space required and expense of the batteries for any realistic car. For anything in kit form you need to check the price of a second hand Ford Fiesta engine complete with gearbox and a power source that comes quickly out of millions of roadside pumps. Is electric really worth it?
Now for the design itself.
Well here we do have some interesting starting points. Full fibreglass monocoque kits for the Mini were once sold as kits. One of them looked like a Mini but with a lower roofline and another one was the Mini Marcos. As an Eco car this looks very realistic as a concept, it is a light weight and more aerodynamic version of something that already exists. Also there is a small two seater like the 595 Barchetta which was based on the Fiat 126. This could be made very cheap indeed. It doesn't even have doors (the shut lines are fake!) and the engine is just 600cc. Despite this it looks like serious fun. Perhaps this factor is what's missing in most Eco cars?
So now we have two realistic Eco cars:
1) A small car based on a small mass produced car but lighter and more aerodynamic.
This could look very interesting, just look at some of the shapes of low drag experimental cars. Honda's solar powered race car, the Railton Mobil LSR car or the Bluebird LSR car could be styling starting points
2) A two seater fun Eco car that is as simple and inexpensive as possible.
Look at the 595 Barchetta. You could reduce the number of panels to just two, a body shell and an engine cover. You don't even need a luggage bay cover, just use the method adopted by the Healy Sprite in which the boot was accessed from inside by folding down the seats. A bike engine would probably be the best bet as all the small car engines and transaxles, like the 2CV or Fiat 126, have long since gone. Perhaps using a Fiesta engine in a car like the Fiat X19 might work, you could use this car as the starting point and simplify the body work as far as possible, no doors, remove the side crease and use fixed headlights. Shut lines should continue to a natural end in the bodywork or be diguised as styling features. Both of these methods of reducing bodywork problems were used by TVR.
sorry - only just read this thread so these points might appear to be a bit behind. One big advantage of three wheelers is that the chassis doesn't need to be torsionally stiff to work well - tripods always have all 3 feet on the ground. It's handy from a stability pov to have the front wheels far enough back to put the driver's c of g well within the footprint. Having the wheels farther back also means that the front wheels take on a bit of side impact management. I made a kite buggy of this configuration ages ago which was most rewarding to drive.
I would agree with most that weight is definately the most important thing here and inspiration should come from recumbent tricycles not smart cars (which were the same weight as an AX GT remember).
The only thing I'm not convinced by yet is the electric drive - mainly for the weight issue. A 125cc petrol engine packs a hell of a punch for it's weight and the rate at which it is possible to transfer energy to the system on the petrol forecourt is comparable to the entire output of a nuclear power station. By the same arguments I've seen in this thread I've long been convinced that a funky, good handling single seater of 150kg would sell - and it should easily be able to do 150mpg plus. I'd buy one, or make one, if only I didn't have a garage full of good intentions to get through (or rid of) first.
good luck y'all
I would agree with most that weight is definately the most important thing here and inspiration should come from recumbent tricycles not smart cars (which were the same weight as an AX GT remember).
The only thing I'm not convinced by yet is the electric drive - mainly for the weight issue. A 125cc petrol engine packs a hell of a punch for it's weight and the rate at which it is possible to transfer energy to the system on the petrol forecourt is comparable to the entire output of a nuclear power station. By the same arguments I've seen in this thread I've long been convinced that a funky, good handling single seater of 150kg would sell - and it should easily be able to do 150mpg plus. I'd buy one, or make one, if only I didn't have a garage full of good intentions to get through (or rid of) first.
good luck y'all
cymtriks said:
Reality check needed.
Suppose you decide to build an "Eco car". You make it a small single seater electric three wheeler. This is a Sinclair C5!.
Not wanting to do this you decide to make it bigger, so that you can actualy pack some shopping in it or drive your partner around. You now have a Bubble car.
Suddenly you realise that it is now not much smaller than a Mini which has four seats and a bigger boot.
So now you add an extra wheel. If you still have two seats you now have a Honda Beat or Smart Roadster clone. This looks a much more realistic product.
Now for the power source. Electric? Is it realy cheaper? Yes, you save money on road tax in the UK but compared to other costs of motoring it's trivial. Range is restricted and charging times are still long. Then there are all the controls to sort out plus the space required and expense of the batteries for any realistic car. For anything in kit form you need to check the price of a second hand Ford Fiesta engine complete with gearbox and a power source that comes quickly out of millions of roadside pumps. Is electric really worth it?
Now for the design itself.
Well here we do have some interesting starting points. Full fibreglass monocoque kits for the Mini were once sold as kits. One of them looked like a Mini but with a lower roofline and another one was the Mini Marcos. As an Eco car this looks very realistic as a concept, it is a light weight and more aerodynamic version of something that already exists. Also there is a small two seater like the 595 Barchetta which was based on the Fiat 126. This could be made very cheap indeed. It doesn't even have doors (the shut lines are fake!) and the engine is just 600cc. Despite this it looks like serious fun. Perhaps this factor is what's missing in most Eco cars?
So now we have two realistic Eco cars:
1) A small car based on a small mass produced car but lighter and more aerodynamic.
This could look very interesting, just look at some of the shapes of low drag experimental cars. Honda's solar powered race car, the Railton Mobil LSR car or the Bluebird LSR car could be styling starting points
2) A two seater fun Eco car that is as simple and inexpensive as possible.
Look at the 595 Barchetta. You could reduce the number of panels to just two, a body shell and an engine cover. You don't even need a luggage bay cover, just use the method adopted by the Healy Sprite in which the boot was accessed from inside by folding down the seats. A bike engine would probably be the best bet as all the small car engines and transaxles, like the 2CV or Fiat 126, have long since gone. Perhaps using a Fiesta engine in a car like the Fiat X19 might work, you could use this car as the starting point and simplify the body work as far as possible, no doors, remove the side crease and use fixed headlights. Shut lines should continue to a natural end in the bodywork or be diguised as styling features. Both of these methods of reducing bodywork problems were used by TVR.
I'm aiming somewhere between C5 and Bubble car. The C5 was a geat concept very poorley done. A C5 that looks like an f1 car, stops you from being run over by larger traffic and takes advantage of the many technology advances since the mid 80's would be a seller. Reality check not needed I don't think, yet. Suppose you decide to build an "Eco car". You make it a small single seater electric three wheeler. This is a Sinclair C5!.
Not wanting to do this you decide to make it bigger, so that you can actualy pack some shopping in it or drive your partner around. You now have a Bubble car.
Suddenly you realise that it is now not much smaller than a Mini which has four seats and a bigger boot.
So now you add an extra wheel. If you still have two seats you now have a Honda Beat or Smart Roadster clone. This looks a much more realistic product.
Now for the power source. Electric? Is it realy cheaper? Yes, you save money on road tax in the UK but compared to other costs of motoring it's trivial. Range is restricted and charging times are still long. Then there are all the controls to sort out plus the space required and expense of the batteries for any realistic car. For anything in kit form you need to check the price of a second hand Ford Fiesta engine complete with gearbox and a power source that comes quickly out of millions of roadside pumps. Is electric really worth it?
Now for the design itself.
Well here we do have some interesting starting points. Full fibreglass monocoque kits for the Mini were once sold as kits. One of them looked like a Mini but with a lower roofline and another one was the Mini Marcos. As an Eco car this looks very realistic as a concept, it is a light weight and more aerodynamic version of something that already exists. Also there is a small two seater like the 595 Barchetta which was based on the Fiat 126. This could be made very cheap indeed. It doesn't even have doors (the shut lines are fake!) and the engine is just 600cc. Despite this it looks like serious fun. Perhaps this factor is what's missing in most Eco cars?
So now we have two realistic Eco cars:
1) A small car based on a small mass produced car but lighter and more aerodynamic.
This could look very interesting, just look at some of the shapes of low drag experimental cars. Honda's solar powered race car, the Railton Mobil LSR car or the Bluebird LSR car could be styling starting points
2) A two seater fun Eco car that is as simple and inexpensive as possible.
Look at the 595 Barchetta. You could reduce the number of panels to just two, a body shell and an engine cover. You don't even need a luggage bay cover, just use the method adopted by the Healy Sprite in which the boot was accessed from inside by folding down the seats. A bike engine would probably be the best bet as all the small car engines and transaxles, like the 2CV or Fiat 126, have long since gone. Perhaps using a Fiesta engine in a car like the Fiat X19 might work, you could use this car as the starting point and simplify the body work as far as possible, no doors, remove the side crease and use fixed headlights. Shut lines should continue to a natural end in the bodywork or be diguised as styling features. Both of these methods of reducing bodywork problems were used by TVR.
hoopdiddy07 said:
I'm aiming somewhere between C5 and Bubble car. The C5 was a geat concept very poorley done. A C5 that looks like an f1 car, stops you from being run over by larger traffic and takes advantage of the many technology advances since the mid 80's would be a seller. Reality check not needed I don't think, yet.
I'd tend to agree with that - the C5 was a fantastic concept, not only poorly executed but well ahead of it's time - petrol was still (relatively) cheap and the most contact people had had with enviromentalists was seeing them sat outside a nuclear bomb plant. I think something similar (slightly larger for more practicality) would be much better received today than when the C5 was released. It also lacked any image protection, so was not suitable for road use, plus the battery technology made performance absolutely dire.That said, I think the opportunity for using a very small motorcycle engine in a similar scenario also holds water - I still don't think there is necessarily a need for 4 wheels, 3 having a couple of distinct advantages - simplicity of suspension, chassis and weight, plus it instantly looks different to a car, and from my experience just creating something that looks different can be half the battle with eco types!
Edited by Davi on Wednesday 6th February 09:27
ludoZ3 said:
why do you care about aerodynamics if the main (sole?) purpose of the car is city use? @ 20mph aerodynamics doesn't come into play yet I believe.
Aerodynamics comes in at any speed IMO - anything you can do to lower power consumption is a positive. Try riding a normal push-bike at 20mph then and enclosed recumbent.[quote=cymtriks]Reality check needed.
I agree that petrol has enormous benifits in terms of range. Use an old Fiesta engine as suggested and that would be a cheap car, but would it sell?
The mention of a GRP dated looking Fiat doesn't appeal to me however.
Zero emisions at the point of use in a modern streamlined striking design is where I'm coming from.
"Is electric cheaper?"
The point being that electric recharge costs are miniscule compared to gas.
Why 3 wheels?
Loosing around 20% of the all up weight will result in improved efficiency.
Why electric?
Because they are around 90% efficient
Why one seat?
To reduce weight and drag in a vehicle designed with a particular use in mind.
i.e a commute of up to 50 miles bearing in mind most commuters traval alone.
I'm still with you on an EV's limitations and will consider an alternative power source such as a trailing arm scooter motor, a Chinese 4 stroke 150cc unit would probably do 60mpg, more a kind of dark green than really green though isnt it? But we aint run out of petrol yet!
I agree that petrol has enormous benifits in terms of range. Use an old Fiesta engine as suggested and that would be a cheap car, but would it sell?
The mention of a GRP dated looking Fiat doesn't appeal to me however.
Zero emisions at the point of use in a modern streamlined striking design is where I'm coming from.
"Is electric cheaper?"
The point being that electric recharge costs are miniscule compared to gas.
Why 3 wheels?
Loosing around 20% of the all up weight will result in improved efficiency.
Why electric?
Because they are around 90% efficient
Why one seat?
To reduce weight and drag in a vehicle designed with a particular use in mind.
i.e a commute of up to 50 miles bearing in mind most commuters traval alone.
I'm still with you on an EV's limitations and will consider an alternative power source such as a trailing arm scooter motor, a Chinese 4 stroke 150cc unit would probably do 60mpg, more a kind of dark green than really green though isnt it? But we aint run out of petrol yet!
Why does no one look at ethanol as a power source ? We can keep our beloved piston engines (after all 100 years of develpment), and ferment suger beet or even food waste. Its been done at home for years with the most basic equipment, and is totally carbon neutral. Im sure it would cost less than £1.05 a litre to produce on an industrial scale.
blitzracing said:
Why does no one look at ethanol as a power source ? We can keep our beloved piston engines (after all 100 years of develpment), and ferment suger beet or even food waste. Its been done at home for years with the most basic equipment, and is totally carbon neutral. Im sure it would cost less than £1.05 a litre to produce on an industrial scale.
Currently production of ethanol for fuel is robbing crops previously used for food (or animal feed) so the cost of eating goes up.In the case of palm oil (for bio-diesel) the tropical rainforests are being plundered so that can't be considered ecological either.
hoopdiddy07 said:
cymtriks said:
Reality check needed.
Suppose you decide to build an "Eco car". You make it a small single seater electric three wheeler. This is a Sinclair C5!.
Not wanting to do this you decide to make it bigger, so that you can actualy pack some shopping in it or drive your partner around. You now have a Bubble car.
Suddenly you realise that it is now not much smaller than a Mini which has four seats and a bigger boot.
So now you add an extra wheel. If you still have two seats you now have a Honda Beat or Smart Roadster clone. This looks a much more realistic product.
Now for the power source. Electric? Is it realy cheaper? Yes, you save money on road tax in the UK but compared to other costs of motoring it's trivial. Range is restricted and charging times are still long. Then there are all the controls to sort out plus the space required and expense of the batteries for any realistic car. For anything in kit form you need to check the price of a second hand Ford Fiesta engine complete with gearbox and a power source that comes quickly out of millions of roadside pumps. Is electric really worth it?
Now for the design itself.
Well here we do have some interesting starting points. Full fibreglass monocoque kits for the Mini were once sold as kits. One of them looked like a Mini but with a lower roofline and another one was the Mini Marcos. As an Eco car this looks very realistic as a concept, it is a light weight and more aerodynamic version of something that already exists. Also there is a small two seater like the 595 Barchetta which was based on the Fiat 126. This could be made very cheap indeed. It doesn't even have doors (the shut lines are fake!) and the engine is just 600cc. Despite this it looks like serious fun. Perhaps this factor is what's missing in most Eco cars?
So now we have two realistic Eco cars:
1) A small car based on a small mass produced car but lighter and more aerodynamic.
This could look very interesting, just look at some of the shapes of low drag experimental cars. Honda's solar powered race car, the Railton Mobil LSR car or the Bluebird LSR car could be styling starting points
2) A two seater fun Eco car that is as simple and inexpensive as possible.
Look at the 595 Barchetta. You could reduce the number of panels to just two, a body shell and an engine cover. You don't even need a luggage bay cover, just use the method adopted by the Healy Sprite in which the boot was accessed from inside by folding down the seats. A bike engine would probably be the best bet as all the small car engines and transaxles, like the 2CV or Fiat 126, have long since gone. Perhaps using a Fiesta engine in a car like the Fiat X19 might work, you could use this car as the starting point and simplify the body work as far as possible, no doors, remove the side crease and use fixed headlights. Shut lines should continue to a natural end in the bodywork or be diguised as styling features. Both of these methods of reducing bodywork problems were used by TVR.
I'm aiming somewhere between C5 and Bubble car. The C5 was a geat concept very poorley done. A C5 that looks like an f1 car, stops you from being run over by larger traffic and takes advantage of the many technology advances since the mid 80's would be a seller. Reality check not needed I don't think, yet. Suppose you decide to build an "Eco car". You make it a small single seater electric three wheeler. This is a Sinclair C5!.
Not wanting to do this you decide to make it bigger, so that you can actualy pack some shopping in it or drive your partner around. You now have a Bubble car.
Suddenly you realise that it is now not much smaller than a Mini which has four seats and a bigger boot.
So now you add an extra wheel. If you still have two seats you now have a Honda Beat or Smart Roadster clone. This looks a much more realistic product.
Now for the power source. Electric? Is it realy cheaper? Yes, you save money on road tax in the UK but compared to other costs of motoring it's trivial. Range is restricted and charging times are still long. Then there are all the controls to sort out plus the space required and expense of the batteries for any realistic car. For anything in kit form you need to check the price of a second hand Ford Fiesta engine complete with gearbox and a power source that comes quickly out of millions of roadside pumps. Is electric really worth it?
Now for the design itself.
Well here we do have some interesting starting points. Full fibreglass monocoque kits for the Mini were once sold as kits. One of them looked like a Mini but with a lower roofline and another one was the Mini Marcos. As an Eco car this looks very realistic as a concept, it is a light weight and more aerodynamic version of something that already exists. Also there is a small two seater like the 595 Barchetta which was based on the Fiat 126. This could be made very cheap indeed. It doesn't even have doors (the shut lines are fake!) and the engine is just 600cc. Despite this it looks like serious fun. Perhaps this factor is what's missing in most Eco cars?
So now we have two realistic Eco cars:
1) A small car based on a small mass produced car but lighter and more aerodynamic.
This could look very interesting, just look at some of the shapes of low drag experimental cars. Honda's solar powered race car, the Railton Mobil LSR car or the Bluebird LSR car could be styling starting points
2) A two seater fun Eco car that is as simple and inexpensive as possible.
Look at the 595 Barchetta. You could reduce the number of panels to just two, a body shell and an engine cover. You don't even need a luggage bay cover, just use the method adopted by the Healy Sprite in which the boot was accessed from inside by folding down the seats. A bike engine would probably be the best bet as all the small car engines and transaxles, like the 2CV or Fiat 126, have long since gone. Perhaps using a Fiesta engine in a car like the Fiat X19 might work, you could use this car as the starting point and simplify the body work as far as possible, no doors, remove the side crease and use fixed headlights. Shut lines should continue to a natural end in the bodywork or be diguised as styling features. Both of these methods of reducing bodywork problems were used by TVR.
Who gets in the niche first, opens up the market and gets a future foothold on customers, just as Segway is doing with their product.
Sinclair was ahead of its time unfortunately, and just as said, range was limited, and the design was not suitable for real road use, i would be scared to drive one of those in todays traffic, even more so in Italy!!
It needs to have a decent speed and range, and the only way to achieve it is, with a very low weight, good aerodynamics and decent battery technology.
Edited by fuoriserie on Wednesday 6th February 13:47
Gassing Station | Kit Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff