Re: A Very Light Car

Ed Huntress · 2013-03-25T22:30:11+00:00

This one has it by over 100 lb. (900 lb.) Lotus 6. 1952. Nice aluminum work, too.

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Ed Huntress 13 years ago

32,000 so far.

I'm surprised they've sold that many. That's a lot of adventerous people.

Any new configuration is typically slow to take off. Chevrolet planned to build and sell 10,000 Corvettes in 1955. Ford planned for the same number of Thunderbirds. Chevy actually sold 700 Corvettes that year. Ford sold over 16,000 T'birds in the same time.

The Thunderbird was conventional -- steel body, and a scaled-down, sportier version of their sedan. The Corvette had a fiberglass body and a rounded, European sports car look unlike anything else made in the US.

In retrospect, it's not a surprise how they each did. Likewise, the Volt; a whole new mechanical configuration. Chevy had learned their lesson and didn't make the car unusual-looking, nor are the materials unfamiliar.

The crickets are going to be up against the same marketing situation, but in spades. It would take several years to overcome the weirdness factor, assuming the cars actually drive acceptably for enough people. That's a long time for any small start-up company to survive with a negative cash flow. And they'll be running on faith that enough of the public will eventually decide they like it.

So we'll have to wait and see. I think their chances are really poor, as has been the case for dozens of car-manufacturing startups.

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Ed Huntress 13 years ago

Don't be ridiculous, Jon. $5 million won't get you going in car manufacturing. Aptera burned through $25 million and couldn't get past development stages.

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clare 13 years ago

But there is no way around it if you build a replica of a 1965 Lotus

7 in 2013. It needs to meet all emission and safety requirements of a 2013 car unless it is a "kit car" and nobody wants to produce the "kit" because of liability issues. If they do, they price it high enough to cover the liability insurance and the car isn't worth the money any more.

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Frnak McKenney 13 years ago

This description was enough to make me Google around for a photo of the Aptera. I found severalm an, after looking at them, I realized that the design seemed familiar. In 1907 a gentleman named Frank Baum wrote "Ozma of Oz" and described a rather odd race ( literally ) called the Wheelers, and their resemblance to the Aptera design is remarkable:

Wheelers

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I can only assume Aptera had plans for an export market...

Frank McKenney

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Ed Huntress 13 years ago

Frank had quite an imagination. Or else he was a frustrated car engineer born a century too early.

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Ed Huntress 13 years ago

Oh, I think it looks fine, Jon. And they've left plenty of room for the mower blade underneath.

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Ed Huntress 13 years ago

Well then what's the $5 million going to do for them? Why are you making a big deal out of it?

They won a prize. Very nice! Now, about actually building cars to sell...

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Ed Huntress 13 years ago

When will we see if they can make anything that will sell?

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clare 13 years ago

You still wasting your breath on "the Jon", Ed??? I only see his rants when you reply to them. He's a waste of bits.

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clare 13 years ago

How many on this list have actually DRIVEN an EV?

Now how many of those (very few I'm sure) actually owned the EV they drove?? (even fewer I'm sure)

Then how many actully BUILT the darn thing???????

I've done all 3.

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clare 13 years ago

I'd like to see either the Aptera or the Edison pass the safety requirements for a passenger vehicle in North America first. Crash, rollover, and all that stuff.

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Ed Huntress 13 years ago

So, what's their future, Clare?

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Ed Huntress 13 years ago

I don't do it on purpose. d8-)

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clare 13 years ago

Limited market and not as cheap to build as one might think. At least to build RIGHT. Controller technology has gotten much better and cheaper since I built mine.

A friend just converted a Miata to a 10 inch DC motor with 140 volt lithium batteries - 65 mile range and more than acceptable performance with a lower range. What he spent would put a pretty good dent in the price of a Volt.

I think the future for electric urban and intra-urban vehicles will be pretty good in about 10 years. The market for the "cricket on wheels" will be extremely limited. An electric Fiat 500 or Smart type car (leaf or Mistsu iLev?) should do pretty well in about 5 years.

The Chevy Volt??? If I had $40G to throw around for a "second" car I'd have one in a flash - even though it IS made by GM - and I'm not the greatest fan of GM. It would do all of my wife's driving, and most of my every-day driving - but would not handle our occaisional long distance (3000km/week) driving, nor my business hauling. The Ranger is not comfy for trips, and the Taurus is not handt to use as a truck - so we would need to compromize. Renting a car for long trips is a better option than renting a truck for my business use if we are only going to own two vehicles.

Would be fine when I get to retire like my wife - - - - -.

If the engine on the Ranger dies, there is a pretty good chance there will be another electrical conversion in my life - and there is also a Pontiac Firefly body sitting in wait if I ever get the right combination of spare time and spare cash. It needs some body repairs .

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whoyakidding's ghost 13 years ago

"Silica based fiber"! LOL Who could have guessed that somebody who used that jargon was hawking a soon to be bankrupt orphan.

That was 2009, when Leno complained about electrics being pedestrian. But what's his daily driver NOW?

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Oooh, you're a cruel bastard, Ed. :)

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whoyakidding's ghost 13 years ago

Yesterday a friend who's serious about doing a conversion with lithium batteries took my Volt for an extended spin. He HATES GM but he's reevaluating. :) The thing is, he was never planning on buying a new car, so he might still do the conversion anyway. He wants to expand his current solar system to cover daily 30 mile use of an EV, and that's a tall order in his climate in winter. I think if he could own the conversion for a month he'd realize the Volt is a better way to go for him.

I swore off domestic stuff entirely a long time ago but I broke my vow to support GM's investment in the Volt.

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