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I was thinking a 3 wheel version would make the most sense. The 2 rear wheels on the 1L are so close it wouldnt affect handling.
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It is a transverse mid-engine car and likely the batteries are in the rear too. With a high probability of it having a rear weight bias, you do not want the single wheel back there.
The rear track is 31.9".
To go trike they'd likely have to stick the rear wheels out on outriggers, Aptera style, and go with one wheel in the front... or totally start over to get a fwd layout. They may have gone with a four-wheel layout for political/marketing reasons- they want to classify it as a car and not a trike or motorcycle. VW has done concept and research trikes before; they must have decided they are in the car and not trike business.
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The most likely of these solutions is having several more latches on the door, so that it can be more a part of the structure of the vehicle, and the overall weight can be less than otherwise -- and you would have better crash strength; without giving up some conveniences.
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Right on! I have long thought that to be the best solution. Back in the day I flew some Socata aircraft i.e. Tobago and Trinidad, and IIRC they have a neat/strong/effective multi-latch system that I think would make for a nice lightweight, quiet (superior wind noise control), and strong automotive door.
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#1: It does not look safe to me.
#4: Those rear wheels are ripe for most anything to get STUCK between them and the wheel wall.
They would HAVE to raise that height. Gosh a pebble could hang up either of those tires!
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I will not go into my Americans are pu**ies rant again, except to say for anyone willing to hop on a motorcycle, the 1L represents a huge safety improvement over that. I've read that they built the "cage" to race-car crash performance specs.
I do agree that tight wheelwells are a problem with mud/slush and the like. I've personally experienced loss of steering due to ice build up- had to stop, lay on the road, and kick the wheelwells clear before I could turn the wheels more than a few degrees! (This happened on a Type 3 VW.) (As an aside, over on the pickup aero thread, people are lamenting the giant wheelwells pickups have. That they are more likely to off-road and end up slogging through mud/slush, possibly with chains, is one reason we won't see them with tight wheelwells and skirts.) It may be that for a few months in the winter and/or spring the 1L owner would be smart to run it without the skirts; and VW might be wise to make those really low-hanging spats easily removeable too.
Incidentally, Aptera has the same fender/tire/ground clearance limitations but it would not be a simple matter of pulling the skirts off that unless you don't mind pelting the entire vehicle with road goo from naked front wheels.
The 1L has 22" O.D. tires on 16" rims; front sidewall height is 3" while rear is 3.2". Looking at the pics I'd guesstimate ground clearance for the floor at a rather generous 5.5" and for the wheelspats, 3" front and 4" rear.
For those that are really concerned about ground clearance perhaps it could be kitted thusly:
At some point (Perhaps when gas hits $10/gallon? Or maybe when the media, govt, and public finally accept the fact that petrol is a finite resource?) people are going to have to make adjustments, and using 5,000lb machines to haul 180lb loads is going to be one of the first things to go.
(10-08-2009)
