Quote:
Originally Posted by euromodder
Design ideas :
- drop the huge hatch idea
- add side doors abeam/in front of the front passengers
- rearward sliding doors would hardly protrude from the body as the doors are at the widest section, and the design narrows going aft.
- move the rear seat to the right and further forward, though keeping the staggered layout as it reduces width.
- provide access to the rear seats between the front passenger seats (driver and front passengers already have to get in between these seats in the current design)
- the above will provide ample dedicated luggage space at the rear, and an even greater useful volume when the rear seats are made to be stowable in the sides or floor (could interfere with the batteries) ; alternatively, the design cold narrow or slope down even more at the rear if that's aerodynamically useful.
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The key things to doing this would be:
Would angling the roof down more be aerodynamically helpful? Here's the most recent 2D drawing:
The overall angle is just ~9 degrees but the trailing edge is 15-16 degrees, so maybe a little bit? The sides are about 13 degrees but to increase this, the rear track would have to be narrowed more.
The hatch would still have to be there to use the storage area -- if it was shortened by half it's length, and the upper portion of the rear doors was joined to it?
The left side door would be only usable for the driver and the one passenger, while the right side door could be used by everybody. So, I would be inclined to only put in the right side door. The one side door would be roughly the same size as the reduced hatch, though it would add more weight; because the change in the hatch is just the length of the 2 sides, and the side door has at least 2X that perimeter length. The two side tubes would have to continue through the door and it has two hinges and at least two latches.
Two side doors would be a lot heavier than the hatch reduction. Having seen the Edison2 cars up close and over a 6 day period, I saw how a 700 pound rolling chassis is built. Their doors are not structural in that they have no frames. The tubes of the chassis are covered with the FRP skin and the doors are hinges and latch at one place; so they are "covers". The seating in the VLC's is low to the floor of the car, and the sides are protected by the tubes of the chassis; and you have to step over them and sit down in beside them. Getting in and out is not equivalent to a conventional car.
Personally, I find upright seating much more comfortable, and riding a little higher than a typical car helps the visibility. I've already discussed the space requirements for reclined vs upright seating. *Protecting* an upright seat requires that the structure also be higher. If you penetrate this structure with a door opening, then the door itself must be structural, and so it will weigh more.
The hatch and rear doors on CarBEN do have to be structural and latched in multiple places, so this is a weigh penalty. But if there is just one door that covers all the functions, and if that door is the lowest risk in crashes (~3% of all crashes involve the rear end), then this saves on the overall weight. And the sides (which are much more likely to be crashed into) are much stronger and much lighter than they would be otherwise.
We are talking convenience vs weight/efficiency+safety. I'm willing to give up a little convenience if the payoff is the highest possible efficiency and still excellent safety.
Sliding doors are hard to do and heavier than swing doors. The shoulders of the CarBEN drop down a lot as they go back, so a sliding track would be extraordinarily difficult to pull off.
The seats are going to be quite slim and light weight, so they could either fold up to the side, or detach and store in the rear most part of the floor. If I end up doing solid/non-inflatable tires, there is no need for a spare or a jack.
And guys -- this is a prototype! I think it is well worth trying this out, and seeing how it works. I'll bet getting in and out of the CarBEN is faster and easier than putting on a motorcycle helmet and crash suit and gloves?