Automotive X-Prize: "The Very Light Car" (also very aero) with conventional engine

[dcb]

it's looking kinda articulated to me, at least what I can see there.

[Arragonis]

Is that used at the rear as well, I assumed the front from the orange indicator (?) lens in the photo.

[NeilBlanchard]

No, the rear suspension is different. The drive shafts are inside the aluminum tubes, and then there is a chain reduction case, that acts as a trailing arm. This pivots the whole aluminum tube, and these are held in two large diameter bearings on the inside end. The shock/spring are near the bearings.

[NeilBlanchard]

An Electric Very Light Car

[NeilBlanchard]

Here's the Edison2 blog entry on the EV version:

Edison2: The Very Light Car (X PRIZE Contender) - Edison2 - Very Light Blog - An Electric Very LightCar?

An Electric Very Light Car?
DateSaturday, August 7, 2010 at 10:59AM

Edison2’s Very Light Car Scoffs at Electric Avenue said AutoBlog Green in January, highlighting the irony of our internal combustion engine powered car sitting in the midst of all the electrics at the Detroit Auto Show.

But electric vehicles are here to stay and an electric VLC makes sense. Our breakthroughs in platform efficiency make all vehicles way more efficient, regardless of power source, and in an electric help solve issues of cost and range.

Billions are being invested in electric vehicle technology for a number of reasons. EV’s provide a path to energy independence and with American jobs, whether in the creation of green energy sources or in the mining and processing of coal. As a new industry, electric cars have the potential to revitalize important sectors of our economy. Electric vehicles are particularly efficient in short-cycle applications, such as Postal Service vans or some predictable commuters, and the relocation of emissions to a distance can be an advantage. Night-time charging will utilize excess generating capacity, and as the electric grid becomes green so can the future of transportation.

Currently, however, electrics cars have real issues. Batteries are heavy, big and costly. With electric drives cars get heavier, performance suffers and costs go up. Range is especially an issue, as witnessed by the numerous EVs in the 100-mile range X Prize alternative classes that made it to the knockout stage, versus only one EV in the 200-mile range mainstream class.

The hope and plan for electric cars is that the tremendous investment in battery technology will cause the weight and expense of batteries to go down, increasing range and decreasing costs of electric cars. But another way to increase the range of electric vehicles is with VLC innovations: a car that simply takes less energy to move can go farther and faster with a smaller, lighter and less expensive battery pack.

Coming soon, perhaps: an electric Very Light Car.

There has been a vigorous and dignified discussion -- please join in!

[NeilBlanchard]

Watch the PBS News Hour this evening -- they have a story on the Edison2 Very Light Car!

[dbc1218]

Watched the PBS special, good stuff.

On another note, I'm little disappointed that Edison2 is not doing better in the fan voting on the automotive X prize site. It seems like a popularity contest for all the EV's. Edison2 built the VLC from the ground up for this competition, to win this competition and they are doing exactly that. I wish more people would see that. I guess it doesn't matter in the end, E2 just needs to collect their $5,000,000 and move on to the real work of bringing the VLC to the masses.

[NeilBlanchard]

Here's the link the the PBS Newshour report on Edison2:

'Revolutionary' Ultra Light Car Aims for an X Prize | PBS NewsHour | Aug. 25, 2010 | PBS

[NeilBlanchard]

Posted by Oliver Kuttner on Facebook:

1; In the shop we are working on the Version 3.5. It is essentially an X Prize car using a normal powertrain. This car will be powered by the standard gasoline engine from the Smart. The engine is too big. The transmission layout design... is typical FWD Transverse unit , which we consider clumsy in our application. Nevertheless it will be a VLC powered by an existing engine. The car will give us direct data to compare the impact of using the VLC inside method with a regular engine. We look forward to sharing what we will learn.

2; We have ordered the electric motors according to the TW4XP protocol. They will be custom made in Germany and we expect to start work on the electric VLC in end November. This car will break all the records.

3; I had a pleasant experience at the opportunity green conference in Los Angeles. Highlights include meeting Chris (the producer / Director of "Who killed the electric car". He is sharp and funny. There is a sequal coming : "The revenge of the electric car". After the panel discussion he made a comment that I considder a great compliment of which I am proud: He said "Oliver you are clearly the lion in the room." Actually it is a pack of lions, my team.

4; We were awarded the first ever Borg Warner innovation award given outside the company. This is an old company with 14000 employees around the world. This is a company that thrives on quality engineering in the post combustion realm of the ICE and in smarter power transmissions (think VW [double] clutch systems for example).
We ran their variable vein Turbo and they very much hold the same opinion toward smaller more stressed ICEs for the future.
Borg Warner also built the power transmissions in the Aptera and Zap who also got an award.

5; I got a long drive in the Aptera. It is a very nice car. For all the negative blog posts I have read they are the fools. Aptera is doing its job and they are designing and building an ever better car. In the end they are on the right side of physics and it will show. The car is very nice (even for this 6 foot 4 old German).

6; i met T Boone Pickins yesterday and there is a man with a plan.
We all need a plan. He is right. More in the next days.

We all as a nation must stand behind those who try.

I have an exciting weekend coming up and will write more soon
I may even own a facility next week?
Regards to all and thank you for your support.

[NeilBlanchard]

Another update from Oliver Kuttner (say KOOT-ner!) on Facebook:

Last weekend we had a great meeting I would like to share with you. In the end this is what it is all about.

Because three of our team members live in the Long Beach area we all flew in to meet there. The mission of the meeting was to agree on the fundamentals of the VLC 4.0. This version will be the definitive pre-production prototype.

This car will fully incorporate bumpers, proper final glazing and all the details we require on a car sold in the USA today. We all had our own ideas of how to polish the VLC and to meet those requirements. Coming in we expected to give up some of our efficiency as a trade.

I am happy to report that the meeting was a definitive success. We feel strongly that we will be able to retain perhaps all the efficiency virtues we proved available with VLC 3.x (the X Prize cars). The main differences will be the emergence of bumpers, larger more comfortable door entries, A somewhat radical approach to a catastrophic accident that promises to give the VLC an edge with heavier cars and a new treatment of the A Pillars. In effect we will substitute the A pillars with a central spine of substantial nature, we call it the Alpha pillar.

The Alpha pillar will provide a new approach to safety while giving opportunity for better aerodynamic efficiency.

We can not give too many details. What we can say is that the 4.0 is promising to be almost as much of a leap the VLC 3.0 was. As I predicted the X Prize cars are now essentially obsolete.

The weekend included a new member in our team, Jason Hill known from his work on the Porsche Carrera GT supercar and the Aptera will join our ranks as the refinement automotive industry insider.

Other members of the meeting were Barnaby Wainfan (aerodynamics, Peter Barnett (ergonomics and industrial design specialist from Northrop Gruman), Ron Mathis our chief designer Brad Jaeger who has become a bit of a specialist in FMVSS besides the other hats he wears and Alex Wolfden our composites and plastics specialist as well as myself.

It was a powerful weekend in good company, I am very proud of my team and we promise you that we will change the [paradigm], we know how to -- with real numbers...
Regards Oliver

(Minor editing: adding some paragraphs, etc.)