The BMW Lovos (Lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity) concept is an interesting solution to how to integrate solar technology into a car body. The scale shaped cell panels can lift and turn to adjust themselves to the angle of the sun and absorb the most reflective light. The “scales” can also affect handling by lying flat for maximum aerodynamic performance or lifting to create airfoil braking and stabilization. Read the rest of this entry »
You may have remembered last year when we wrote about Tata motors showing the $2,500 Nano hailed as the new car of the people. Tata has just announced that the production version of the Nano will be available for purchase in India April 9, 2009 and has been squeezed even further down to a base price of $2,000.
What do we like about the Nano? We think that the most impressive feature (aside from the rock bottom price) is that it gets a reported 50 mpg. While this is not a hybrid engine, if it consumes less gas and emits less pollution we’re all for it. On top of that, the Nano is barely 10 feet long, which has distinct advantages when trying to park in a crowded urban area like Los Angeles.
The downside of course is, the Nano is a funny looking little car with tiny rollerskate like wheels. The top speed on the Nano is 65 mph, which means your going to get honked at even in the slow lane. There’s the obvious safety concerns that a small car has over getting hit by a large truck, but millions of Prius drivers seem safe enough so far.
The Tata Nano will be released in it’s home country of India first and is expected to do very well by Indian standards. We respect the concept as your faithful Editor-In-Chief’s first car was a ‘73 VW Beetle which served millions of people around the world well for many decades. We think in fact, that the destruction of the the US auto industry has had a lot to do with building cars that are often half the price of the owners pretax income, became increasing difficult for the average owner to fix without expensive computer based tools, and broke down more and more frequently. It’s one thing if your car is cheap and when it breaks down you can fix it yourself (which we often did with the VW with $50 and some duct tape). It’s another when it’s a $20-$40K item that breaks down and you have to shell out another $500-$1000 every time it breaks down, which happens every 4-6 months.
Tesla officially unveiled it’s new Model S electric luxury sedan yesterday and it has all the makings of a winner. This new model scheduled to be released in 2011 is set to compete against hybrid and EV offerings from Mercedes Benz and BMW with an MSRP of $49,900 after a $7,500 tax credit. The Model S is slated to be available with 160, 220, and 300 mile battery packs, but still no word on how pricing varies between options.
Provided this edition is actually released as scheduled and is widely available (a problem for Tesla’s ground breaking Roadster) the model S is certainly competitive. The Model S gets high marks for looks and seeing as it’s coming down the line from the Roadster we would expect it to handle well.
Where we think the Model S may shine most brightly is the “Environmentalist Status Symbol” area. While driving a Prius announces to your friends “I’m putting my money where my mouth is when it comes to saving the planet”, it looks like you’re doing it in your mom’s car. If the Prius didn’t have a hybrid engine, it would just be a slightly more sophisticated Yaris.
Honda has experienced the flip side of this problem with the Accord hybrid, because it looks just like a regular Accord. With out the status symbol value it’s hard to justify the extra cost (which currently out weighs the gas savings) unless you just like the personal satisfaction of saving the planet anonymously.
Designer Daniel Bailey came up with concept car that will both turn heads and challenge conventional ideas called the BRB Evolution. It’s time to evolve in our ways when it comes to the cars we drive, the pollution that they cause, and the ever increasing traffic congestion in urban areas. Concerned with all of these things, Bailey came up with his concept for a foldable car that would be powered by electricity and a hydrogen fuel cell with an exterior inspired by a Peugeot 908 and Lamborghini Murcielago. This super sleek space saver has us picking our jaws up from off the floor.
The Clever Car is in a class of motorized vehicles known as ’tilting three wheelers, which have been around since 1886. Although the concept is nothing entirely new, the team at Clever is developing an amazing, compact version mainly for urban use. The vehicle has the ability to carry two passengers, giving it very little mass resulting in very low consumption and therefore very low emissions. Housing a 230 cc one-cylinder compressed natural gas (CNG) engine complete with natural gas tank system that can be refilled at normal natural gas filling stations or even supermarkets. The replacement gas tanks weigh just under 15 lbs allowing for easy handling and easy refilling. You can also store additional tanks at home so you wouldn’t have to drive to a refilling point when on empty. Climbing from zero to 60 mph in less than 7 seconds The Clever will allow you to zip around town and finish your weekly errands.
Part of the 125 exhibits packed inside the newly-renovated BMW Welt in Munich, Germany is a kinetic sculpture by ART+COM, a Berlin-based interactive media company. This project uses 714 metal balls that are individually suspended by barely visible strings, creating a weightless mass. Each ball lowers and retracts independently that allows them to approximate any form.
In celebration of BMW’s 90-year history, the installation moves through a cycle of classic to contemporary BMW body styles. In between cars, the balls dance and flow to show their versatility.
Custom car graphics add instant coolness to your ride but with the way trends tend to go, what’s cool one year isn’t always cool the next. What if you could change your car’s appearance every year or every month or almost everyday? The team over at Infectious understands that a lot of us value our car’s appearance but sometimes want to dress it up without any costly consequences.
Working with artists from around the world they came up with durable car art that is easy to install and easy to remove when you feel its time for a new look. Choose from icons, accent kits, hood pieces and door kits from artists like Si Scott and Dalek. All of them last through hot summers, cold winters and soapy car washes, but be sure and read their FAQs before you decide to purchase for Vintage Cars or cars with old and peeling paint jobs.
Chris Bangle, head of design at BMW and his team are pushing the boundaries of appearance and materials as well as functions and the manufacturing process with GINA. Instead of the steel or aluminum bodies of traditional cars, this beauty has a body of seamless fabric stretched over a movable metal frame which the driver can change at will. Theoretically, you could do things such as adjust your bumper inward to maneuver through a tight space.
GINA (Geometry and functions In ‘N’ Adaptions) has been in development for six years. It’s designed on the Z8 chassis and has a 4.4-liter V8 with a six-speed automatic transmission. The fabric skin is made of polyurethane-coated Lycra which is resilient, durable and water resistant. This sexy skin is translucent, allowing the tail lights to shine through the back. In the front, the headlights are revealed in a way strikingly similar to a cat opening its eyes, giving the car a stunning anthropomorphic quality. Read the rest of this entry »
In an increasingly crowded marketplace product customization has become the catch phrase of the day. If Gwen Stefani and J-Lo can “design” their own clothing lines why shouldn’t we be able to pick a few color swatches and make our own products? Now you can take your bling to a whole new level by designing your own tailor made Ferrari through the company’s Ferrari Atelier program.
I’m sure the last time you rolled through Silver Lake you hit Intelligentsia for some espresso while you were shopping for kicks…but if you are shopping for a moped there is a far better espresso waiting for you at Choke. I’m privy to the Cappuccino myself. Serious.
