Most economical minivan?

[freebeard]

Times change. That was then. This is Real Soon Now.

inputmag.com: The eBussy is a modular electric vehicle with massive strength

Yes, that's the real name. The vehicle itself is impressive, though, with ten body styles and 737 lb-ft of torque.

At a hair under 12ft long, this is comparable with a Type I (That's been squared off on the top instead of the bottom). They offer a Normal and Off Road stance. Solar roof is an option.

Currently available to order all over Europe.

[freebeard]

I like this more all the time:

XBUS walk-around & presentation

The title is in English but the narrative is in German? Youtube is weird, yesterday it was telling me I wasn't connected to Internet when I obviously was. Turned out the Raspberry Pi system clock had skipped a beat or two.

Anyways, it looks like there are Buskult members in Germany. Who knew? They took all the good stuff about the Type II and brought it forward into the 21st Century*. Hub motors and all. Two or three (depending) battery locations. Solar roof. Smart phone drive sharing.

Including the dump bed option. That's how you know they're in the cult. Expect a line-worker bucket option.



www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/pressphotos/

You can see the similarity with the single-cab three-box architecture. Here's one I didn't know about before, the log truck option, SO(Special Order)24.



edit: It appears that the fifth-wheel part swivels and travels fore-and-aft (biased aft of the wheelbase center) to compensate on corners.

Imagine one of these with with a slide-on camper (w/ frenched jacks or landing legs).

*Beach buggy bumper

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Not sure if I would look at a Kombi, or some Asian mid-engined contender, as an orthodox minivan at all.

[Hersbird]

That looks pretty cool. Standard dual motor AWD so the off road option is just a lifted suspension and bigger tires, maybe some skid protection.
https://youtu.be/hFsZnrxojIs

[freebeard]

I'd like to see one properly stanced. Sounds like a job for the GIMP.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr -- I thought on first sight it was a Kei car. But they have a maximum length of 11.2ft. The width is in the ballpark and it's well within the height limit. The Electric_kei_cars have one example an e-MiEV with 63 horespower and 62-99 miles of range.

I do wonder about the airflow around those front corners. I guess with a 56-60 MPH top speed it's not a big deal.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Times change. That was then. This is Real Soon Now.

inputmag.com: The eBussy is a modular electric vehicle with massive strength



At a hair under 12ft long, this is comparable with a Type I (That's been squared off on the top instead of the bottom). They offer a Normal and Off Road stance. Solar roof is an option.

Currently available to order all over Europe.

What's the pricing, or where can I find out?

I think the only downside for me is the limited range. I'd like to go +600 miles on the weekends.

[freebeard]

The range [on a given weekend] is limited by the top speed as much as the battery capacity, of which there are three options A, B and A+B. The latter has 497 miles range, plus they're talking about battery swapping. It looks feasible with the batteries loading from the side or rear instead of from underneath.

The video Hersbird linked at #44 discusses prices. The other question is always availability. Europe comes first.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

What's the pricing, or where can I find out?

I think the only downside for me is the limited range. I'd like to go +600 miles on the weekends.

$18,000 + (base has a short range and very small battery)
For comparison my fathers miles zx40 is of similar spec and achieved 144wthr/mile which on 10kwhr of battery at 28mph would be 70 miles range. Regardless of a slight weight savings and no real aero improvement I can’t see this thing doing much better, especially at normal speeds.

Another Trouble is our country no longer has crash exemptions on cars weighing 1000lbs or less so I doubt this will ever be a US offering without extensive modifications
(With 4 wheels for example it would likely be illegal unless the LSV loophole is used)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/electre...skeptical/amp/

If the LSV Loophole would be used but the cars speed was only electronically limited (and all other equipment left stock) I could see this as an excellent option for a modder because I could bypass hundreds of dollars of tax and insurance and simply tune the car back to normal operation

[freebeard]

could see this as an excellent option for a modder because I could bypass hundreds of dollars of tax and insurance and simply tune the car back to normal operation

Stanced with boat tail and wheel spats.

[freebeard]

I searched Youtube for 'xbus' and sorted by length to see what was longest and it turns out this was posted today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfMzc1bl_gs

Subtitles (auto-generated>>English is your friend. At ?t=506 it shows sliding windows like on the front doors of the split-window buses. Hub motors at ?t=104.