Topic Title

Greetings,

I've been watching for super-high efficiency cars, and they are starting to emerge. This first one is called Aptera, and you'll need to forget any preconceptions you may have about cars:

(Click on this image to get to the Wikipedia entry)
Let me cut to the chase: this two person car gets a claimed 233MPG !!!

(click on this image to get the the Aptera web site)
It will be available next October(ish) in two versions: an all-electric with a 120 mile range, and a version where they shrink the battery pack a little, and add a gasoline powered generator (12kV) to recharge the batteries on the fly. It seats two, weighs ~850lbs, has a drag coefficient of 0.11 which is outstanding. They claim it is very crashworthy (borrowing F1 techniques) and it has a 45" frontal crush zone. It has available side airbags, GPS/computer, three camera/screen rear view system, and a solar PV climate control system, that can run even when the car is off. Oh, and it does 0-69mph in about 10 seconds, which is pretty typical for most cars.

The loaded all-electric version is ~27K, and the loaded hybrid version is ~30K.

Pretty amazing.

Here's a different car -- much more conventional (or is it?).

Loremo's site
Hmmm...this is different...



A bunch more:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loremo/tags/car/

The Loremo seats four, weighs ~1,320lbs (600kg) and it will come in two versions initially: a 157mpg version that has a 20HP turbo diesel, and a 85mpg version with a 50HP turbo diesel. They plan on either an all-electric and/or a hybrid, as well. The target price is under 15,000euro and by 2010 at the latest. [Edited for correct weight, and added sales info.]

I'll come back an put up more...

Hmmm...this is different...

Indeed it is....

There are some pretty doubtful ergonomics here, are there not?
It looks German. If that's the best they can come up with, GM has nothing to fear.

Hi Nick,

Well, the reason that they have this arrangment, is the combination of light weight and crash safety -- this car has a full-surround steel "tub" with reinforcing bulkheads, and yet it weighs ~450-500KG/1,000-1,100lbs. It is a low car (check the pictures with people next to it) and stepping into it is like getting into a bathtub.

Not for everyone, to be sure, but how many other cars that can hold two adults and two kids -- and get 85-150mpg are there? When they develop a hybrid version (which they state that they are working on), it should do even better.

The two common features of both of these cars is extremely good aerodynamics, and low weight -- and both claim to be very crash-worthy, as well. Combine this with efficient power plants, and you get, surprise surprise -- great fuel economy.

I certainly hope that the Loremo has a very good air conditioning system. With that large expanse of glass and what appears to be non-opening side-glass, that thing looks as if it would be a highly-efficient, "Easy-Bake" oven on a bright summer day.

Hello David,

You make an excellent point. BTW, the option on the Aptera for a solar PV powered climate control system -- is probably required, because there are also no operable windows!

I'll get excited about it when they make one that will carry a 4x8 sheet of plywood. Until then my '94 Suburban will continue to serve that function.

Hello Dick,

Well, 233mpg (or 157mpg or 85mpg) is pretty darn good for a commuter car, or any car that you drive regularly -- and you can always keep the large vehicle for when you need to haul stuff.

My brother's Tacoma with it's heavy duty rack, trailer hitch, etc. gets up to 22mpg, and it definitely carries 4x8 sheets with aplomb -- and he's 6'-7" and fits very well.

Hi Nick,

Not for everyone, to be sure, but how many other cars that can hold two adults and two kids -- and get 85-150mpg are there?

Hi
It's not the holding, it's the getting them in there that I have doubts about, and I bet they are not telling you how it's done. Perhaps the driver crawls through from the back, where there are apparently no access problems.

Worrying about the a/c can be confidently left till later......

Hello Dick,

Well, 233mpg (or 157mpg or 85mpg) is pretty darn good for a commuter car, or any car that you drive regularly -- and you can always keep the large vehicle for when you need to haul stuff.

My brother's Tacoma with it's heavy duty rack, trailer hitch, etc. gets up to 22mpg, and it definitely carries 4x8 sheets with aplomb -- and he's 6'-7" and fits very well. Surprised

I'm not knocking the mpg at all, just that I have different needs. I'll keep the Sub for a while since it has only 143k miles on it and we drive it less than 7k mi/yr. We're planning on a Mini maybe next year. They will make a cute pair.

I once had a fantasy about buying four Minis and painting them all to match the Suburban and we would all follow Mama around with Quack Quack horns.

Hello David,
BTW, the option on the Aptera for a solar PV powered climate control system

And trawling back on this, the above is one to get really suss about. It can take a couple of horsepower
to provide the a/c. That's about 1500 watts and I submit that, with the best will in the world, you shouldn't
expect more than 100 watt/sq.m. from PV in this application. Hmmm that's a roof area of 15 sq.m. Just
the thing for a trip to Yuma...

There could be quite along wait for that option, particularly as the research bent in PV is to reduce cost
rather than surface area.

Giesselman is right about the oven and I suggest they would be far better off with a more boxy design, one that can
actually contain people plus a few boxes - and have proper doors, with vertical windows that let in the same light
for less glass, thereby keeping the weight and cost down and also relieveing the a/c load. You may well find
that putting the Detroit Electric back into production is a far better proposition - at least the R&D costs have
been amortised and the above confections seem quite pathetic by comparison. All the Detroit really needs is
front wheel braking. How much rocket science do you need to fix that?

I refer you to the Darwin-Adelaide solar car rally just completed. These cars are at the leading edge, none are
practical, none have a/c - for good reason. PV is better applied to turning tyres.

Pardon my cynicism, but lot of this stuff is just fanciful fairyfloss and it reminds me more than a little of the
Popular Mechanics story from 1948 IIRC about a helicopter in every garage, which even then read dumb
to an 8-year-old.

(Edit) OOps, I've found the story. It was 1951. I guess I wasn't so cynical when I was eight.

Hi Nick,

On the Loremo show car, they have a glass roof, but on the test mule (in some of the pictures and videos) the roof is metal.

Hi
I was only alluding to the pix you show. The mere fact that they even consider a glass roof simply proves they are a bunch of
wackos just goofing around and wasting resources. It would have been a good idea to give all these people a free round trip to
Japan so that they could have gone to the Tokyo Motor Show the other day. Some of the stuff there looked ridiculous but,
standing them beside these pathetic ouevres makes them actually seem quite sane and I guess, when all is said and done,
something sensible and viable is more likely to come out of Japan than anywhere else. The raw innovation does not come
out of Japan, but the application usually does.

I guess at least the Loremo has four wheels, which is one more than can be said for the other silly joke. How many Maicos,
Messerschmitts, Morgans and Reliant Robins does it take to clearly demonstrate the futility of that moronic exercise?

Hello,

Some more pictures of the Aptera:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/aptera/422170/
http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/aptera/422168/

It should have wings and a tail, and flies.

Hi Dick,

The name Aptera is Greek for "wingless".