Transport Future: Myth Or Real

[Hoggart]

My invention is a new form of transport. Absolutely clean and safe. I called him Urbamobile . Rate the idea. If you are interested we can discuss. 

Edited November 1, 2015 by Hoggart

[sanctus]

How can we rate something based on a picture?

[Hoggart]

There is a description of the invention here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/urbamobile-replaces-the-car--2/x/12610343#/

or here: http://urbamobile.com/

[fahrquad]

I see you have raised $1467 of your $300,000 Indiegogo kick-starter goal.  I don't think anyone will take the idea seriously without a working prototype.  In all honesty I don't think these cars will work on current city streets with uneven pavement, off-camber roadway surfaces, potholes, and construction work.  I regularly drive 300-400 miles a day and I don't see this working on the highway with traffic congestion, truck traffic, lack of charging stations along the way, and lengthy recharge times.  Many of the construction sites I visit involve some off-road driving, and this vehicle would not be suitable.  My 4 door company sedan is not particularly suitable either, but it does the job, although I might lose a piece or two of the underside along the way.  I picked up the pieces of the right wheel well lining, rear valance (trim piece at the bottom of the rear bumper), front valance (from bumper cover to "skid plate"), and had to remove what was left of the skid plate before i could take it in for an oil change.  I also question the ability of any electric vehicle with such tiny wheels to maintain 80 mph on the highway.  I personally think your target market should be densely populated urban areas with low speed limits, relatively smooth level pavement, and existing availability of charging stations. 

 

When I was working in Atlanta, I noticed charging stations in most of the parking garages in the metro area.  The Nissan Leaf was popular there because of all of the federal and state tax credits pretty much made driving free or nearly free.  For my personal vehicle i would be interested in the Chevy Volt if it was a diesel/electric instead of a gas/electric.  Unlike the Ford C-Max hybrid I drove while in Atlanta (or any of the other hybrids) that moved on a combination gasoline engine/electric motor blended drive, the Volt moves only on the electric motor, and the gasoline engine is there to keep the battery packs charged.  Plugging the Volt in to a home or public charging station and keeping the batteries at full charge reduce the run time of the gasoline engine for most in-city applications, but the gas engine helps with longer trips.

 

Self driving cars are coming eventually, despite whatever drive systems they may have, and I can see a point in the future where humans will no longer be permitted to drive themselves.  I think the Canadian band Rush summed it up quite nicely back in 1981 in a startling prescient song.

 

https://youtu.be/FAvQSkK8Z8U?t=11

[billvon]

 

 

For my personal vehicle i would be interested in the Chevy Volt if it was a diesel/electric instead of a gas/electric.  Unlike the Ford C-Max hybrid I drove while in Atlanta (or any of the other hybrids) that moved on a combination gasoline engine/electric motor blended drive, the Volt moves only on the electric motor, and the gasoline engine is there to keep the battery packs charged.

 

FYI the C-max comes in two flavors - the plain hybrid and the energi model.  The energi works just like the Volt.

[CraigD]

FYI the C-max comes in two flavors - the plain hybrid and the energi model. The energi works just like the Volt.

Much as I wish this were true – I’d like a true ICE->battery->electric car, and don’t like many features of the Volt – the Ford C-max Energi has the same hybrid powertrain as its hybrid model. The major difference is that the Energi has a 7.6 kWh battery vs the Hybrid’s 1.4. This is much smaller than the Volt’s 18.4, reflected by the Energi’s electric range of 19 miles, vs, the Volt’s 51.

 

Sources: http://www.ford.com/cars/cmax/specifications/view-all ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt

[billvon]

Much as I wish this were true – I’d like a true ICE->battery->electric car, and don’t like many features of the Volt – the Ford C-max Energi has the same hybrid powertrain as its hybrid model. The major difference is that the Energi has a 7.6 kWh battery vs the Hybrid’s 1.4. This is much smaller than the Volt’s 18.4, reflected by the Energi’s electric range of 19 miles, vs, the Volt’s 51.

Right.  The goal for most people is to choose a vehicle whose battery range will cover their normal driving (i.e. commuting, going to school, the store etc.)  That way you cover 90%+ of your driving without paying the energy penalty for carrying around a much bigger/heavier/more expensive battery than you need.  Nowadays you also have the Prius Prime with a 25 mile EV-only range.

 

The Energi, the Volt and the Prius are all very similar in that they are all power-split topologies; series/parallel hybrids to be specific.  They are fairly different from hybrids like the Honda Civic hybrid flavor, which cannot operate in EV-only mode.

[spartan45]

 

Self driving cars are coming eventually, despite whatever drive systems they may have, and I can see a point in the future where humans will no longer be permitted to drive themselves.  I think the Canadian band Rush summed it up quite nicely back in 1981 in a startling prescient song.

 

https://youtu.be/FAvQSkK8Z8U?t=11

Maybe I’ve been reading too much sci-fi but with the system possibly planning free car insurance to promote driverless cars, while inflating insurance costs to punish remaining human drivers, the scary story by Garfield Reeves-Stevens ‘ Nighteyes’  published 1989, where humans degenerate as machines nanny, becomes ever more a possibility.

[Sharoun]

Perhaps I've been perusing an excess of science fiction however with the framework potentially arranging free auto protection to advance driverless autos, while swelling protection expenses to rebuff staying human drivers, the alarming story by Garfield Reeves-Stevens " Nighteyes' distributed 1989, where people worsen as machines babysitter, turns out to be perpetually a probability.

[spartan45]

Perhaps I've been perusing an excess of science fiction however with the framework potentially arranging free auto protection to advance driverless autos, while swelling protection expenses to rebuff staying human drivers, the alarming story by Garfield Reeves-Stevens " Nighteyes' distributed 1989, where people worsen as machines babysitter, turns out to be perpetually a probability.

Oh my word, I seem to have regressed already, fortunately a machine had the situation under control and made better sense of my ranting. Way to go Sharoun.     

 

[Thismare89]

I am interested about it.