We need ultra light four wheeled cars

[Piotrsko]

Hmmm nobody from NV? Those are popular here. Could be worth the airfare price.

[All Darc]

I heard about basalt rebar.
But basalt it's a vulcanic rock. How can it be strng as steel or more, if the rock itself it's a bit brittle ?

Originally Posted by freebeard

Basalt fiber. Ecological, fireproof, bulletproof and it bends rather than shattering.

https://www.basalt.guru/category/bas...auto-industry/

[freebeard]

Basalt fiber.

Not all basalt is equivalent. It varies in chemical composition. Select material is extruded through an orifice at 1400°F. Then it is used in a composite like glass or carbon fiber.

The rebar is just long strands laid in parallel.

[All Darc]

Street legal 22000mpg solar car :

https://phys.org/news/2011-04-purdue...mpg-solar.html

But if it have batteries, I believe for shoprt distances it can use just solar, since itwould charge as parking forl ong hours.

[Bicycle Bob]

That solar car is more like what we need. I can't see any technical reason for a land vehicle to outweigh its average payload. One low-budget entry for the X-prize was basically a styrofoam coffin with a scooter motor strapped on, but it really showed the way to proceed without sacrificing safety. Start with a full-body crash helmet, and add sub-structure for the running gear.

The conditions on the roads are a challenge, but a small, nimble vehicle can avoid a lot of trouble by assuming it is not seen. Practice on a bicycle works wonders.

Re: the main thread, I think the Aptera was doubly challenged for acceptance by having separate wheel pods. They did manage to clean up the gaps enough to retain some aero benefit, but the look was bizarre. Agreed that the third wheel can sometimes hit a lot of trash, but it wouldn't be a deal-killer on my snowy roads.

The Reliant was ghastly, but popular with older men who didn't want to upgrade to a car driver's license - Success can hinge on odd factors. I wonder what insurance rates econo-trikes would get stuck with. For the engineer, the question of three or four wheels is almost a wash. For equal stability with three, you need more width, but you can get a better taper at the back.

Anyway, it's a new year, the last one before the last decade to save the climate in, so new starts must be made, in hopes of getting something so slick and handy that it crosses social classes like the original Mini did in crowded London. Unfortunately, people are fussy about vehicles mostly over the same range of concerns that govern their clothing, which is not the province of the engineer. We can only hope that the kids will get even more serious about their future than we did about Vietnam.

I am interested in building a new prototype trike, this time with methods friendlier to home-builders and experimenters. The last time, it took an interested building partner to spark construction. This time, I'm wondering if anyone is interested in some spread-sheet work. I designed the first flexi-frame in an obsolete dialect of BASIC, and I'd like to move the calculator to a modern platform, and tweak it for general utility designing a wide range of vehicles. https://www.compositesworld.com/colu...mobile-history

To combine light, integrated suspension with a basic crash-pod monocoque might be more of a problem for CAD if someone would rather do it all that way. I think that there is great potential for foam shells molded with continuous single fibers throughout the volume. Even better if cool mold walls can increase the density of the mix there.

One of my few tech-buddies is in a hospice now - time to pass the torch for us old folks.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Bicycle Bob

For equal stability with three, you need more width, but you can get a better taper at the back.

The weight bias may also play a crucial role on that matter. Well, stability is exactly why I'd much rather make a trike with a center cockpit, even though it would come at the expense of an extra passenger seat.

(...)crosses social classes like the original Mini did in crowded London

I wouldn't really hold my breath for small cars to "cross social classes". Unless it gets some fake bull-bars and other pieces of cheap plastic hanging over its body in order to make it look as some sort of mini-SUV...

[redpoint5]

I'd never build a trike that seats less than 2 passengers. Seems like a small amount of work to accommodate a 2nd person behind the first, and keeping the weight bias close to where it needs to be should be achievable.

[Bicycle Bob]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'd never build a trike that seats less than 2 passengers. Seems like a small amount of work to accommodate a 2nd person behind the first, and keeping the weight bias close to where it needs to be should be achievable.

Aye, my notion is to have a small back seat where I can sling parcels when shopping. If both passenger and luggage are needed, some "running boards" with nets can fold down, and long legs go bobsled-style. I hope that ride-sharing will make it easy for people to get bigger vehicles for occasional needs, and only keep a personal transporter.

Here, the bias is to buy things big enough to get through the year's worst storm, but communication could be used to stop the anxiety about sheltering in place and enjoying a snow day instead. Granted, the current fashions are daunting, but if you'd polled the experts a week before the Berlin wall came down, you'd have had a range of one to ten years on how long it would last.

[freebeard]

Aye, my notion is to have a small back seat where I can sling parcels when shopping. If both passenger and luggage are needed, some "running boards" with nets can fold down, and long legs go bobsled-style.

I like the folding back seat in the Arcimoto FUV. It has a trick double-hinged mechanism. The roll cage is open to the back. One could carry 10-12ft 2x4s like a log truck.

[redpoint5]

I'm still anxiously awaiting for you to get that Acrimoto freebeard. Maybe you'll take me up on one of my offers then.