Motorsport specialist Prodrive is to build fast, electric commuter cars for a new US-based company -- a story we reported on at the outset back in 2001. The deal, between Prodrive and Commuter Cars Corporation (CCC) of Spokane, Washington, will see the Banbury-based company managing the construction of up to 100 radical new electric commuter vehicles every year.
Prodrive has worked with CCC to take the Tango vehicle design from its prototype form and engineer it for efficient low volume production. It will use its extensive automotive technology and motorsport construction experience to manage the production of the Tango from its site in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, UK.
CCC describes the Tango electric commuter vehicle as a radical solution to the problem of transport in congested urban environments. Only 39 inches wide and eight and a half feet long, the Tango is as tall as a conventional car but takes up only half the road width. The 1,100lb battery pack in the vehicle’s floor keeps its centre of gravity low, allowing the Tango to achieve sports car levels of stability, despite its narrow track. Two high efficiency electric motors driving the rear wheels can produce a combined torque level of over 1,000 lb-ft to deliver levels of acceleration more commonly associated with supercars than eco-friendly transport.
CCC is run by Tango designer Rick Woodbury and his son Bryan. Their interest in alternative personal transportation goes back to the 1970s when Rick was researching hydrogen power. In the late 1990s, Rick and Bryan realised that the heavy weight of the hydrogen fuel cell and hydride storage could be used to give a significant stability advantage to a small narrow vehicle, allowing a single design to tackle the twin problems of pollution and congestion.
Over the next five years, the Woodburys worked on their design while they waited for fuel cell technology to catch up with their vision. “Then we realised that modern lead acid battery technology could deliver four times the range of the average daily commute. That gave us the level of performance we required to build a practical commuter vehicle,” explains Rick. “We built our first running prototype in 1998 and we’ve been refining the design ever since.”
Commuter Cars Corporation has chosen a route to production as radical as its vehicle design. Rather than going to the risk and expense of designing, tooling and testing for high volume production straight away, it chose to enter the market with a low-volume, high performance version of the vehicle built using motorsport technologies. Sales of the Tango 600 will be used to support the ongoing development of lower cost mass produced versions of the car.
“Prodrive has all the skills we need to bring the Tango 600 to market,” says Woodbury. “They have their own advanced composites design and manufacturing capabilities and have experience working with the type of racecar roll cages that form the basis of this high performance vehicle. At the same time, they are used to building, modifying and testing passenger cars to the highest OEM standards.”
“Prodrive is one very few organisations world wide that could actually do what we have done with the Tango,” says Geoff Bye, Prodrive project manager for the CCC project. “In less than three months we’ve been able to take the prototype vehicle, make over 100 engineering changes to ensure it is suitable for low volume manufacture, and make use of both racing car and passenger vehicle manufacturing capabilities to put it into production.”
Several customers, including Hollywood celebrities, have already placed $10,000 deposits on the initial Tango 600s. The first customer vehicle will be delivered before Christmas. The vehicles built by Prodrive will cost $85,000, although the target price for a mass-produced version of the Tango is set at less than $20,000.
More information on the Tango can be found at www.commutercars.com