Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
Any savings from paint will get eaten by that bulletproof glass.
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Any cost associated with the fancy glass will be saved by making it flat.
In an exoskeleton glass is 100% structural. We're talking about massive loads that are going through that glass roof. The glass is cross-bracing the main truss.
It's not like the engineers woke up one day and thought 'Let's needlessly add cost and weight for a feature nobody wants. It will reduce performance and range but we'll do it anyway'.
I've soundproofed a few vehicles now and what you end up with is all the sound coming in through the glass. With that weak point fixed the CT should be completely silent. Even more so if they incorporate their new patent for thermo-accoustic glass.
Nobody no the whole interwebs seems to have noticed that this is a pillarless pick up, probably the first since the Model T. That's another stroke of genius (I have two pillarless cars - love pillarless) - you don't have to stamp window frames or create a seal from the window to frame then frame to body. Window frames aren't structural so they're really just dead weight. Thicker glass possibly makes a more effective seal.
Things like rubber seals are fiddly and presently installed by humans. Minimal parts count = minimal cost. I have no doubt once the CT is reverse engineered we'll see a lot of 'ah-ha' moments.
It may not be a Lotus, but they've certainly nailed the 'simplify' part of 'Simplify then add lightness'.