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I'm constantly thinking/dreaming of the perfect multi-purpose vehicle that is both a wonder of reliability and fuel economy. To make things even harder, it should be both tiny and easy to park, AND spacious enough for a family of five, a huge dog and a lot of luggage. =Impossible? On top of that I live in Sweden where we have snow and icy roads in the winters so the inverted trike design I like a lot would be a realy bad design. The same goes for too narrow track width.
To maximize reliability you should actually have a dual engine design, perhaps even running on different fuels, like diesel/biodiesel and petrol/ethanol. Adding some sort of "light hybrid" can increase fuel efficiency a lot, and reduce the need for a much larger engine (-s) than what you need to keep cruising speed. With a parallel hybrid system you can still run the car on ICE's alone, with reduced performance. Such a hybrid system doesn't need so much of heavy, expensive and "enviormentaly hostile" batteries.
To cope with my "impossible" need for both a compact city car and a spacious multi purpose vehicle I'm thinking about a modular system that consists of front (drivetrain and driver cabin), a mid-section and a rear end. Both front and rear ends contain their own engine and light hybrid system. They can actually share the same physical design under the body, making it easier with spareparts.
The body should be narrow and long, with a rounded nose and tapered tail like an aircraft. The passengers are seated in tandem, all with their legs on each side of the passenger before them. Since I want a quite normal track width, the wheels will extend a bit out on the sides of the body, increasing drag. The gaps between front and rear wheels can be filled by low luggage boxes and we will end up with something that reminds of a long F1 racer. That design will also improve side impact safety.
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