Quote:
Originally Posted by Smoky
I want to pass on some info about the Rocky Mountain Institute and Armory Lovins. I am including a link to a video of Armory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute. I have been to many of his lectures, read his publications and we have had a few sit downs with him and his colleagues at my office.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/v/kMTCNOlozTA[/YOUTUBE]
I encourage everyone to research more into Mr. Lovins and The RMI.
To those who want to challenge the weight vs aero debate please listen to what Mr. Lovins has to say. "3/4 of fuel use is caused by the weight"
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/01...-efficient-ch/ |
I went to RMI in 1991 after Bonneville and Chrysler Proving Grounds with the CRX to meet with their director of transportation affairs.I thought they might be interested in the car,since Amory had been talking about Hypercars for some time.Amory,himself,was driving a CRX HF,and the director intimated that Amory's CRX was returning as good a mileage as my streamliner.Sometimes altruism punishes you.Anyway,subsequently,"Future Cars" aired on PBS recently,and they had a spot on RMI,and they're composite mock-up of the Hypercar.From looking at the vehicle,I was unsure how they would meet they're 200-plus mpg target.I like the carbon-fiber part,although they appear to miss the mark by a country-mile with aero.It just doesn't appear that they can reduce the road load to such a degree,so as to achieve their target mileage.I hope they make it.And if they do,I hope they drive it all over the world,demonstrating its prowess at the fuel pump.The Renault Vesta-II,quite similar in appearance to the Hypercar,and quite small,returned only 146-mpg,and that was at 63 mph.With speed limits as high as 80-mph now,and aero hp demands varying with the cube of the velocity,its gonna take some really creative technology (more like Sylph ar Aptera ) to crack that 200-mpg nut.Weight (mass) is an issue,but its not the holy grail.