Appropriate Tech, 300mpg Car Top 2008 Innovators 155
longacre writes "While some giggles were floating around about the irony of a Microsoft product (Photosynth) finding itself on the same top 10 products list as a toilet, the true stars of last night's annual Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards were innovations of far more consequence. MIT professor Amy B. Smith won the marquis Leadership Award for her work on building simple, low-cost technology to help developing countries. Joining Smith from the appropriate technology field were a group of CalTech students who created all-terrain wheelchairs for the disabled, and a Procter & Gamble exec who developed a water purifying powder for the third world. Aptera Vehicles founders Steve Ambro and Chris Anthony made the cut for their 300mpg Typ-1e, which is expected to hit showrooms by the end of this year. Other winners ranged from the Mars Phoenix Lander team, to the developers of a low-cost cancer test, to the creators of Spore."
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:5, Informative)
Single front-wheel trikes are dangerous. Single back-wheel trikes are pratically as stable as a four-wheeler.
As a bonus, this one looks amazing (saw one in person this summer): http://spyder.brp.com/ [brp.com]
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:5, Informative)
I'd still question the stability. It depends on the location of the CoP, which can vary depending on the situation the vehicle finds itself in.
Front-wheel trikes are succeptible to issues when braking (CoP moves forward) and turning (CoP moves to the side) at the same time.
Under those circumstances, which are reasonably likely to occur, I agree with you on the configuration.
However, under other circumstances involving stability and under high yaw (eg, braking causes the car to spin, etc, and with less traction on one rear tire than two) I'd still be fearful that the car would flip rather than slide - all that really needs to happen, IMO, is for the back-end to spin around to the front under braking.
Plus you also have the issues related to contact surface area of the rear tire.
I guess I'm talking about the kinds of positions you might find yourself in, that you learn to deal with in an advanced driving course, but whenever you go for three wheels, the first compromise is stability.
The car does look nice though... Like a composite body aircraft cockpit - :)
GrpA
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:5, Informative)
Quite true, so long as the CoM is positioned just behind the front wheels. When braking, that puts the CG directly between the front wheels. You're left with the same resistance to rollover, but you have a lower moment of inertia, so it's more responsive. Also, with two wheels at front steering, just like in a normal car, you have similar tendancy toward understeer rather than the extreme oversteer of "delta" trikes.
There was a good article from Road and Track in May 1982 where they tested various configurations; there's excerpts here [autospeed.com].
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:5, Informative)
Not to mention that its roof and door crush strengths are over double the NTSB standard. Composite monocoque structures are nice that way.
The crash test results should put a lot of concerns at rest. Yes, they've been simulating crash tests with the same software that BMW uses, but nothing comforts like real-world tests. They just took the jobs for crash test engineers off their jobs page, so looks like they've been filled.
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:5, Informative)
I'd like to see what happens to the drag coefficient(and the dent in the wallet of the owner) if that thing gets a ding
My mother in law laughed off the suggestion of damage to the Aptera when it came up in a conversation. She used to work at a place that built fiberglass hovercraft and said that they're pretty easy to repair. This is a 6th generation quilter in her sixties. Besides, composites are a lot more resistant to damage than steel. As for taking out a wheel, do you really think a thin metal skin on your car around your wheels is offering any relevant protection?
In other words, nerds, think about this: If you were at a party
Your insight into the mind of women is stunning [youtube.com]. Really [autobloggreen.com].
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I would like to be the first to welcome (Score:5, Informative)
The hybrid has 40-60 miles of electric range and a 5 gallon gas tank. The vehicle gets 130mpg in charge-sustaining mode in both 55mph steady-state and in city driving (lower at high freeway speeds). So, I'm sure you can do the math. Base price for the Typ-1e (electric) is $27k, while the base price for the Typ-1h (plug-in hybrid) is $30k. These are, of course, subject to change, but they seem to have roughly stabilized on these values. Like with any new car purchase, expect to add cost for options, taxes, title, and registration.
38K miles a year? Wow. Yeah, that'd sure be a big cut in your fuel bill ;)
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:5, Informative)
The GP is absolutely correct, though. Americans have this mentality of assuming that crashes are inevitable that's not shared in much of the rest of the world. Hence, a lot of Americans only feel comfortable driving overweight (read: unmaneuverable) armored tanks that make them *more* likely to be involved in accidents. Statistics bear this out; SUVs are more likely to be involved in accidents than small cars.
As for safety: try over double the NTSB standards on roof and door crush strength, modelled with the same crash-survivability testing software that BMW uses, with normal car safety features (traction control, dual airbags... Actually the airbags are among the most advanced on the market -- in-seatbelt curtain airbags), and so on down the line. And I'll take a crash in a composite vehicle over a steel one any day. You ever seen the sort of 100+mph crashes of exotics that people walk away from? It's pretty amazing.
As for your last line, you're completely wrong on all counts. It's a 2+1 seater -- two full sized seats in the front and one seat for a small child in the back. And it has 16 cubic feet of trunk space, which is the size of your typical sedan's trunk. This is not a small car -- just an unusually shaped one. The unusual shape eliminates the presence of a normal backseat in exchange for the aerodynamics to gain its extreme efficiency.
Remember three wheeler Morgans (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:5, Informative)
[Citation needed]
If you refer to this [wikipedia.org], it seats two and is hardly by any definition something that seats a whole family. (Not that you claimed that, but somehow it seemed implied) It'll be there in 2010 in limited numbers... Read: "expensive" (It says 20k€ to 30k€ in the wikipedia article)
I don't object with your post, just with that statement. We're far from there.
Also note that a 3L/100km car [wikipedia.org] was in production for years but was scrapped because of low sales :-/
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:1, Informative)
Question, fine, but verify. The rear wheel contact surface is also a non-issue. If you want less rolling resistance but less traction, you use a thin, hard tire; if you want more traction and comfort with a slight fuel economy hit, use the thicker, softer tire. But know that in a front wheel drive, there will be a small difference in handling. If you are in a spin, though, a bit more contact surface on a single rear tire or two helps little. And a low center of gravity will trump a fourth wheel for rollover safety. Think SUVs. Your prejudice about the trike (1+2) three-wheeler is well founded; but not about the tadpole (2+1).
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:2, Informative)
>>>in the US anyways, there won't be over the air TV anymore in a little bit here.
To quote Bugs Bunny: "What a maroon." Of course there's going to be over-the-air television!!! Why do you think the U.S. Congress is giving away *billions* in free converter box coupons ($40 each). Please don't post false information.
Can-Am Spyder (Score:3, Informative)
Its a first generation vehicle, but its been developed for around 10 years and minus a few minor complaints they totally hit a home run! I can confidently say that I am very happy with my purchase. But I must warn you, don't buy one unless you really like attention because everyone will come up to you and have a conversation.
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:3, Informative)
Well, Morgan used to make a 3 wheel sports car, and they used to be able to lap Brooklands at over a ton (all power from a big twin bike engine).
The configuration's still available today - here's a video [livevideo.com] of an old Moggie and a Grinnall Scorpion being let out to play.
Pretty stable, no?
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Impressive car, but I'd like an extra wheel ple (Score:3, Informative)
...and a major cause of air pollution is the low-speed stop-and-go driving brought on by traffic jams. No matter what you're driving, it'll be more efficient at a constant speed. It's hard to maintain a constant speed, though, when the roads are inadequate for the traffic they need to carry.