Wednesday 26th November 2008

E-Motion Hybrid

Swiss coupe in green mindset

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Small independent auto companies continue to blaze the trail for greener personal transport, and this racy little number from Swiss company Mindset has a certain quirky charm. The Mindset E-Motion features sporty design cues penned by former VW styling chief Murat Günak, including a fastback body with gullwing doors, ‘classic’ circular headlamps and 22ins semi-open wheels.

The plastic body panels are fixed to a light aluminium tubular chassis, and the resulting low kerb-weight of 800kgs has allowed the engineers to fit a much smaller powertrain than is the ‘norm’ for hybrid vehicles. There’s a 94hp electric motor that will whirr for 100km on a single charge of the lithium-ion batteries. If you want to keep driving, a 24hp petrol engine roars into life to provide extra juice for the battery.

The downside? You’ll have to pay €50,000 for one of the 10,000 examples that Mindset plans to churn out every year from 2009, and there’s no mention yet of the motorcycle-engined track day version...

 

[Insight]

Unique design, love the seats and all the glass, fun skinny wheels too.

[G0ldfysh]

Needs bigger wheels though

[Kieran XJR]

Those wheels are ludicrous, they dwarf the tiny milk bottle top brake discs. And what with the white walls?

[Frimley111R]

10,000 per year at 50K Euros.

[steve_n]

22" wheels are not eco-friendly!

[timewatch]

Oh Dear !

TW>>>

[herewego]

steve_n said:

22" wheels are not eco-friendly!

Width or diameter?

[mikelondond09]

If you squint for a bit you will realise its a MINI CLUBMAN

[steve_n]

herewego said:

steve_n said:

22" wheels are not eco-friendly!

Width or diameter?

Neither...

Wide has a large rolling resistance and diameter are harder to spin up.

[clarencegi77]

hmmm, don't know.. perhaps they could'nt find the right gearbox ratios, and compensated with those wheels..

[herewego]

steve_n said:

herewego said:

steve_n said:

22" wheels are not eco-friendly!

Width or diameter?

Neither...

Wide has a large rolling resistance and diameter are harder to spin up.

Bigger diameter has less rolling resistance though doesn't it, so large diameter skinnies would be good?

[steve_n]

herewego said:

steve_n said:

herewego said:

steve_n said:

22" wheels are not eco-friendly!

Width or diameter?

Neither...

Wide has a large rolling resistance and diameter are harder to spin up.

Bigger diameter has less rolling resistance though doesn't it, so large diameter skinnies would be good?

Nah, larger diameter wheels have a larger contact area so more rolling resistance.

[Mr Gear]

steve_n said:

herewego said:

steve_n said:

herewego said:

steve_n said:

22" wheels are not eco-friendly!

Width or diameter?

Neither...

Wide has a large rolling resistance and diameter are harder to spin up.

Bigger diameter has less rolling resistance though doesn't it, so large diameter skinnies would be good?

Nah, larger diameter wheels have a larger contact area so more rolling resistance.

I agree with Herewego, but I cannot be certain I'm right. Why do you think racing bicycles have such huge wheels?

I think its a cool car, and the article fails to mention the exact structure of the drivetrain, but I presume it is a "series hybrid" like the Chevrolet Volt.... This is the way forward for the medium term at least, like it or not.

[herewego]

steve_n said:

herewego said:

steve_n said:

herewego said:

steve_n said:

22" wheels are not eco-friendly!

Width or diameter?

Neither...

Wide has a large rolling resistance and diameter are harder to spin up.

Bigger diameter has less rolling resistance though doesn't it, so large diameter skinnies would be good?

Nah, larger diameter wheels have a larger contact area so more rolling resistance.

I'm sorry but that can't be right. Rolling resistance means how easily does does it roll over obstacles. It doesn't take much experimentation to discover that larger diameters roll more easily over obstacles.

[german tony]

Those wheels seem to inhibit any sort of suspension movement too.

[neema_T]

It does kind of look like someone took the prototype to Halfords, it looks like one of those chavved up hatchbacks where the rear alloys dwarf the drum brakes and increase the ground clearance by about a metre... It just looks like it should have smaller wheels, because as it is (as people have mentioned) there's no room for suspension travel, the discs look laughably small and kind of make the car look like one of those unfinished prototype models that haven't had brakes fitted yet and the ground clearance looks a bit rediculous.


Edit: In fact it reminds me of a MINI Clubman, but SUV'd

Edited by neema_T on Wednesday 26th November 14:16

[Mr Gear]

neema_T said:

It does kind of look like someone took the prototype to Halfords, it looks like one of those chavved up hatchbacks where the rear alloys dwarf the drum brakes and increase the ground clearance by about a metre... It just looks like it should have smaller wheels, because as it is (as people have mentioned) there's no room for suspension travel, the discs look laughably small and kind of make the car look like one of those unfinished prototype models that haven't had brakes fitted yet and the ground clearance looks a bit rediculous.

I would put a few quid on the production version having neither such enormous wheels or white-wall tyres.

[bencollins]

steve_n said:

Nah, larger diameter wheels have a larger contact area so more rolling resistance.

complete bks

[bencollins]

Regarding the concept, two words:
side impact.

[steve_n]

herewego said:

steve_n said:

herewego said:

steve_n said:

herewego said:

steve_n said:

22" wheels are not eco-friendly!

Width or diameter?

Neither...

Wide has a large rolling resistance and diameter are harder to spin up.

Bigger diameter has less rolling resistance though doesn't it, so large diameter skinnies would be good?

Nah, larger diameter wheels have a larger contact area so more rolling resistance.

I'm sorry but that can't be right. Rolling resistance means how easily does does it roll over obstacles. It doesn't take much experimentation to discover that larger diameters roll more easily over obstacles.

That's not what rolling resistance is, I don't know about you but for the most part the roads I drive on are for all intents and purposes smooth and obstacle free. Rolling resistance is how easy it is to move the wheels over the surface, so a sticky trackday tyre has a higher rolling resistance and hence lower fuel economy than an 'Eco mile saver' tyre that has a low grip level. Think about it, with a flat tyre more of the tyre is in contact with the road and it's much harder to push the car along. The larger the wheel the larger the contact patch is, hence why lorry wheels are so large as the increased contact patch spreads the load more. Racing bikes have very narrow tyres to minimize rolling and aerodynamic resistance.

As for Mr this is b*****ks perhaps you should have paid attention in physics...