New Body Plans - a photo on Flickriver

New Body Plans

Electric vehicles are on my mind.

The design space opens up dramatically for EVs, given the small size of the drivetrain and the various options for battery size, shape and location. I like to call it EV 2.0

It’s like a Cambrian explosion of body plans, from the 3-wheel Aptera motorcycle pod to the Tesla Sedan with weight below the wheel line.

Here, Ian Wright poses with his second Wrightspeed X1 in Monterey, with wider wheels as the car is traction limited in its acceleration. Ian spends about $1/mile for tires, the primary operating expense of the vehicle.

Here’s the video of my ride in the first X1. With the wind noise, it’s hard to hear my discussion with Ian, so here are some interesting tidbits from the drive:

• 1/3 the energy consumption of a hybrid (170 Miles Per Gallon equivalent).
• Like several early cars built by hobbyists, this is a retrofit (of an Ariel Atom)
• Everything you see is in first gear.
• The fast stops are regenerative braking (returning energy to the batteries).
• He accelerates from 0-60 MPH in under 3 seconds with the wider tires. That beats the $1.5MM McLaren F1 and Ferrari Enzo for a fraction of the cost. (Here’s a race with some other gassy supercars.)

Some rights reserved

Taken on: February 28, 2008

Tags:

Wrightspeed

car

Green

supercar

zero emissions

clean air vehicle

Ian Wright

entrepreneur

EV2.0

design

body plan

creativity « less

Sets appears in: • EV 2.0 • Monterey more » • Wheelz • It came from TED « less

Groups appears in: • Alternative Fuel Vehicles & The Future of Transportation • electric vehicles more » • Biodiesel, Hybrids & Alternative Fuel Cars • Electric Cars « less

Camera: Canon EOS 5D, f/4.0, 1/400 sec, 28mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/400)
Focal Length:	28mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	QuickTime 7.6
Show full info

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