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Originally Posted by rmay635703
The trouble is the market is "created", the prius for example made its own market over time. So we are just being short sighted.
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Automakers make what the know will sell, or what they hope will sell.
Convince them something like VLC or Seven will sell, and they'll make it.
If they don't make it, you can bet they aren't convinced it'd sell.
Heck, I don't think I'd buy a VLC.
The rolling V4 prototype looks far more like a VCC, very cramped car.
That's even before they add a shell around it.
Shaving 200 kg off the VW up! would bring it down to around 630 kg.
It's been done on a (bigger) Golf: -30% weight.
Edison's VLC - if it ever gets produced - will be heavier than their X-Prize vehicle.
Toyota took a serious plunge with the original Prius and never made any money out of it - on the contrary.
But they thought they had something good, and accepted the initial losses.
Yet it's still a very conventionally shaped car.
The original was a small bland sedan, the later ones had a classic Jap Liftback style (on gen II and III), 4 wheels, not podded.
Tesla is selling it's cars, even at their high prices.
It's also a very conventional, good and sporty looking car - aside from the unconventional propulsion.
So, you can get a new propulsion system on the market and get it accepted.
You can get a new vehicle concept on the market as well - MPV, SUV , X-over, ...
But apparently, you can't do both at the same time.
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Also $3 a gallon fuel is ungodly expensive!
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Don't ever go near a European fuel pump then :roll eyes:
It'd be sheer blasphemy @ 5,46 euro / 7,40 per US Gallon.
Used to be more expensive - our fuel prices have come down as well, just not as much (most of the price is taxes).