Blueprint for a Green Car
In personal mobility, we need a similar revolution as what transformed and propelled personal communication. Question is how to combine, fuse what is inevitable (reduce a car’s eco-footprint) and what’s pleasurable/practical. Former Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs used to say: “design is not just what it looks like, it’s how it works”. Can we learn from him?
So far, thousands of experts, journalists, bloggers etc. have been writing about tackling our favorite mode of personal transport, the automobile, for the sake of solving the major challenges that lie ahead of humanity. So far, no one bothered to address what would be an alternative (how may it look like and function) that is able to lure, to start with, all those who crave for a more sustainable way of getting them from A to B. Here is mine.
Car becomes a household’s Nr 1 electrical ‘appliance’
There’s a difference between selling cars as big as possible as they yield more profits, and be a provider of efficient personal mobility, which is a matter of how we utilize public space, energy, materials. For starters, the bigger the car, the bigger the battery. https://www.wired.com/story/the-earth-is-begging-you-to-accept-smaller-ev-batteries/ Car needs a reformat.
Climate Change and environmental concerns should bring us to look for less wasteful light electric vehicles (micro-cars) — it is a promising market that can be enlarged by introducing a vehicle that’s a ‘best of both’. Car-like safety and comfort for 3 passengers PLUS the economy-agility-fun of a trike makes for a whole new proposition in the car market. Bonus is driverless!
*comfort also a matter of wheelbase | average ride-hail occupancy between 1.2 and 1.4 person. The thing with downsizing: too small a car and people may opt for a big car next to the tiny one. At the other end of the spectrum, the SUV becomes increasingly contested in major cities is the prediction.
For Whom? 1 in 900 suffices…
Challenge is to reduce vehicle size and mass, but without bringing a ‘SMALL CAR’. It may turn out to be a new industry standard. Worldwide car sales annually are around 80 million; a Next-Gen Green Car can start with luring 1 in every 900 prospective car buyers annually, more than enough for a viable business case. What if one out of 900 turns out to be one out of 90? An interesting option is to produce new-iSetta for OEMs, that wish to lower their corporate emissions profile (zero emissions credits used to be Tesla’s main income source) or exploit its smart-mobility capabilities.
ride-hail providers (TNCs) < > (semi) Public Transport
Lean Clean Green — How may it look like and function?
A pod-like build combines downsizing, lightweighting, low drag, structural rigidity — basis for innovative, simplified, less costly production (important to keep up) and less kWh needed. Bear in mind that Tesla’s Model 3 already packs a 500 kg battery. Try taking apart the concept depicted below, and it loses its cohesive strength. To begin with, ever realized that a car driver conventionally seated streetside is at greater risk in a front-collision? Notice how the EV depicted below has a motorcycle plus sidecar layout with the sidecar seating integrated in a low-drag body. Explanatory links: driver seated curbside | passengers when broadsided | when rear-ended: rear-wheel(s) assembly provide unique safety measure
The Big Bonus: Driverless
$100 billion has been spent on Autonomous Vehicle (AV) development so far. Enough with the wishful tinkering. High time to focus on the physical thing that needs displacing, the car itself. Nuro deploys narrow-track robo pods for delivering goods. Why not extend the Nuro experience to personal mobility?
If Driverless remains iffy… REFORMAT the autonomous vehicle. Why? The sleeker the AV: 1. the more nimble and agile it is 2. the more margin to evade 3. the easier to scan/image the car’s vicinity for the on-board AV tech and the person behind the controls 4. the less serious an accident (vehicle mass determines kinetic energy) 5. L4 autonomous, split-lane use of fwy.
Below: the person behind the controls is seated on the side of the road where it matters most; more visibility will boost awareness. Whatever the AV tech level, other road users should never fall victim of AVs. Notice the left car’s sloping front end (click). https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/new-study-suggests-todays-suvs-are-more-lethal-to-pedestrians-than-cars
New Mini — Beetle — Fiat 500 — iSetta
Only one is more than a successor to an iconic car. If car makers lack the imagination, others should step up to the plate. new-iSetta hinges upward for easy boarding & exiting. Did you know that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was already contemplating an Apple car back in 2008. We are now 15 years later… https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-was-thinking-about-an-apple-car-in-2008-2015-11?international=true&r=US&IR=T
We need a similar revolution…
as what transformed personal communication. Personal Communication went from bulky, cumbersome, boxed in to lean, lightweight, mobile and energy-efficient… Personal Mobility went quite in the opposite direction: bulky, boxy, boxed in, energy-INefficient, unsafe with the SUV trend.
Smartphone is a great example of how new tech influences product format, and in turn how a reformat opens up whole new possibilities. Its flat, rectangular shape with rounded edges grew out to be an industry standard. It made Apple the world’s richest company. Fact is, when Apple brought the first iPhone in 2007, people generally weren’t whining about their mobile phones. And there it is: in Personal Mobility — a consumer market that is at least 20–50 times bigger than that of Personal Communication — there IS a lot to be desired, tackle, solve, make better! It’s time we start focusing on the transport mode itself. Even Urban Air Mobility (UAM) may come into the picture in a way not yet explored: Seamless 2D & 3D Personal Transit.
Car and Climate
You can’t have it both ways: put SUVs and trucks on batteries AND think that you actually contribute to curbing Climate Change. We already known the disastrous effects of SUVs on road safety and the environment (incl. more rubber dust because of those wider and bigger tires). Then again, too small a passenger vehicle and people may still opt for a ‘big bruiser’ next to the tiny one. Which will only add to having more cars. Comfort and NCAP safety are also a serious issue with micro-cars, not to be underestimated. Best is to have a ‘best of both’ between bicycle and car. Seen Spielberg’s 2002 SF-film Minority Report? It may help to inspire whoever wants to work with me on realizing my Next-Gen Green Car vision… This outline was presented here for assessment purposes only (respect my IP).
Cheers,
Ralph Panhuyzen | @NextGenEV | sevehicle@gmail.com | new-iSetta.com
