Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - X-Prize team is looking for advice

AD5OS · 01-16-2008, 12:57 AM

quite honestly we have not been thinking as much about what a final sales price would be.

We are going to follow the PC model for parts and assembly. standard sizes and specifications but with a degree of flexibility. With several different manufactures competing for customers the market place will drive down component prices just like they do in the PC market.

The notion is that when you want to "build" a car you would choose which options and features you want installed. The parts would be ordered and shipped to you for self assembly. Or the product would be assembled by professionals and delivered or picked up at a store. Much like Dell pre-assembles computers and ships them out.

So initially the price will be high but the cost should significantly lower assuming that this business model is successful.

I know that the auto-parts and car repair industries are much more profitable than the actual car design industry... imagine how much simpler and cheaper parts would be there were only a few standards and parts were interchangeable from one make or model to another... so you could easily take a Nissan engine and install it in a Ford chassis with a Porche transmission.

We will be most likely versioning our standards so that a Ver. 1.1 engine should work in a 1.0 body etc... If we have alterations or evolutions in design we will diverge probably with either a new Version number like Ver 2.0 or just with another type and start the Version process over. The car designers do this as well and they just change the version numbers with car years... same concept but independent of year models.

This might be pie in the sky thinking but it will most likely be our strategy for the X-Prize preliminary round.

ideally i would like to keep the cost on the very low side of the car scale... somewhere between the cost of a motorcycle and a sub-compact car. Of course with simpler lighter parts the cost of shipping and construction should be kept to a minimum.

Also we want to introduce the concept of upgrading to the car industry... so if you want a faster motor or more mileage capacity you merely upgrade your car much like you would upgrade the ram or CPU of your home computer.

01-16-2008, 12:57 AM	#15 (permalink)
AD5OS EcoModding Lurker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Houston TX Posts: 18 AD5OS's - '90 Honda Accord LX 90 day: 42.41 mpg (US) AD5OS's Explorer - '96 Ford Explorer XLT Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	quite honestly we have not been thinking as much about what a final sales price would be. We are going to follow the PC model for parts and assembly. standard sizes and specifications but with a degree of flexibility. With several different manufactures competing for customers the market place will drive down component prices just like they do in the PC market. The notion is that when you want to "build" a car you would choose which options and features you want installed. The parts would be ordered and shipped to you for self assembly. Or the product would be assembled by professionals and delivered or picked up at a store. Much like Dell pre-assembles computers and ships them out. So initially the price will be high but the cost should significantly lower assuming that this business model is successful. I know that the auto-parts and car repair industries are much more profitable than the actual car design industry... imagine how much simpler and cheaper parts would be there were only a few standards and parts were interchangeable from one make or model to another... so you could easily take a Nissan engine and install it in a Ford chassis with a Porche transmission. We will be most likely versioning our standards so that a Ver. 1.1 engine should work in a 1.0 body etc... If we have alterations or evolutions in design we will diverge probably with either a new Version number like Ver 2.0 or just with another type and start the Version process over. The car designers do this as well and they just change the version numbers with car years... same concept but independent of year models. This might be pie in the sky thinking but it will most likely be our strategy for the X-Prize preliminary round. ideally i would like to keep the cost on the very low side of the car scale... somewhere between the cost of a motorcycle and a sub-compact car. Of course with simpler lighter parts the cost of shipping and construction should be kept to a minimum. Also we want to introduce the concept of upgrading to the car industry... so if you want a faster motor or more mileage capacity you merely upgrade your car much like you would upgrade the ram or CPU of your home computer.