Folding Electric Car Headed For Production

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Remember that folding electric car we showed you guys a while back? It is actually going into production. You wouldn't catch me dead in one of those things BUT something like this should be mandatory for teenage drivers. ;)
 
I'll be buying one of these smart cars when everyone else has one too... because I'm sorry but that thing doesn't stand a chance in a collision with something like a Yukon, Denali or Grand Cherokee...
 
They'll catch many people dead in them. Even my modest sedan would bowl one of those things over at a modest 30mph
 
Doesn't look like the window opens - there's no way I'm getting out of my seat and potentially burning up calories walking into and then standing in line at a fast food place.
 
RyanLucier said:
I'll be buying one of these smart cars when everyone else has one too... because I'm sorry but that thing doesn't stand a chance in a collision with something like a Yukon, Denali or Grand Cherokee...
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A Yukon, Denali or Grand Cherokee doesn't stand a chance if hit by an 18 wheeler, but people still drive them :p
 
Who is dumb enough to put something like this into production? Really? It is a rolling death trap to anyone dumb enough to buy one. I honestly don't see these ever being accepted as road worthy here in the US. I think the average Civic would destroy one of these..
 
*grumbles about the lack of at least a 30 second edit*

Hit the button too quick before posting the rest of what I wanted to say.

This is a prime example of an idea that is really amazing sounding in theory and on paper, but in actual practice is a terrible idea.

The reasons for this are as follows;
1) There is no safety to the car, there is no possible way for it to meet modern crash safety regulations on any level.
2) Even if it has auto parking, people on the whole are impatient and will likely choose to park manually a majority of the time (use the current self parallel parking cars as reference). So as soon as it goes manual, then you rely on people's ability to park. I doubt Europe is much different than the typical city in the US (and I have spent time in tons of them) in that the average person SUCKS at parking. On the average you are going see 2 of these in any given space "AT MOST", assuming the driver isn't being a total jackass and just parks however the hell they feel like taking up enough of the space that no one else can.
3) Range - Modern EV's are much larger and as such have much larger battery capacities and have abysmal ranges..A smaller one? I don't need to elaborate on this.
4) Price - At a cost of over $16k just to make it, that puts its price point easily in the 30k range by the time it hits a dealer lot. This just isn't justifiable on any level. It will suffer from extremely small market penetration.

Terrible Terrible Idea...
 
Interesting idea. Of course to all the naysayers... what's the difference between someone driving this and riding a motorcycle? Besides these being electric, so they aren't so annoyingly loud? Considering I still see (and hear) a lot of motorcycles being driven around Houston, I don't see how these are any less safe. Personally I still wouldn't drive one (even with my 46 mile commute to work each day), but just curious...
 
farscapesg1 said:
Interesting idea. Of course to all the naysayers... what's the difference between someone driving this and riding a motorcycle? Besides these being electric, so they aren't so annoyingly loud? Considering I still see (and hear) a lot of motorcycles being driven around Houston, I don't see how these are any less safe. Personally I still wouldn't drive one (even with my 46 mile commute to work each day), but just curious...
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A number of differences really. Now when you talk about an actual impact, sure about the same..however the key differences are a Motorcycle is louder and thus more attention grabbing. Motorcycles present less area to strike, are more maneuverable and easier to avoid collisions with, are significantly faster and in the case of something this small, not being trapped inside is actually more of a benefit. That is not to say that motorcycles are safe, but they have certain benefits that this loses due to size.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
*
4) Price - At a cost of over $16k just to make it, that puts its price point easily in the 30k range by the time it hits a dealer lot. This just isn't justifiable on any level. It will suffer from extremely small market penetration.
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I like the idea, but this is the big one for me. Hard to see this being an economical car.
 
Looks like it's just a city car; which means low speeds and nothing else. I dunno I think it's pretty neat, but I wouldn't buy one but it should be perfectly safe so long as it's strictly a city car. Nothing over 35-45 mph. If they're thinking about this as highway capable car they're insane. Get hit by anything bigger than a bike and you'll be a smear on the freeway.
 
I think it's honestly pretty cool. If you live downtown and work downtown, this would be great to have
 
FAIL!! Doesn't look like a 2nd generation Camaro

spit.jpg
 
cool they can use these all major cities... ban all cars/trucks from operating in commercial centers/non residential areas inside cities unless you have a work license that requires operation of said truck/van. Force folks onto public transportation or these types of smart eco friendly modes of transport. next step... make all the cars automated... plug in destination and they drive themselves at a brisk 10 to 20 mph on city streets... lol would be nice but fat chance of that happening.
 
BettiePage said:
cool they can use these all major cities... ban all cars/trucks from operating in commercial centers/non residential areas inside cities unless you have a work license that requires operation of said truck/van. Force folks onto public transportation or these types of smart eco friendly modes of transport. next step... make all the cars automated... plug in destination and they drive themselves at a brisk 10 to 20 mph on city streets... lol would be nice but fat chance of that happening.
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That is a completely retarded piece of idealistic drivel you posted there. You do realize that most people that work in the city have to commute from outside of it right? Obviously not.
 
RyanLucier said:
I'll be buying one of these smart cars when everyone else has one too... because I'm sorry but that thing doesn't stand a chance in a collision with something like a Yukon, Denali or Grand Cherokee...
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Why does every vehicle have to, and perhaps the problem is with the Yukon, Denali, and Grand Cherokee.

After all, a Grand Cherokee doesn't stand a chance in a collision with a Sherman battle tank, so perhaps we should all drive tanks. But then a Sherman wouldn't stand a chance in a collision with a Soviet IS-7 heavy tank. And an IS-7 wouldn't fare well in a collision with an American T-28 super heavy tank.

So this arms race to all go out and buy the largest vehicles we can find doesn't sound like a great idea, and motorcycles are perfectly legal with no protective cage or crush zone whatsoever so why not a class of ultra light cars?

I doubt anyone would argue a Smart Fortwo was more dangerous than a Yamaha R1.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
That is a completely retarded piece of idealistic drivel you posted there. You do realize that most people that work in the city have to commute from outside of it right? Obviously not.
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I am guessing you have never lived in Europe or even gone to a major airport.

Generally you commute to a park house just outside the dense/congested part of the city, and from there you take public transportation to get from destination to destination within the city center.

So if you live just North of Dallas, no problem, drive till you get to the dense part of North Dallas, park your vehicle, and then if Dallas were modernized you could take taxis/bus/subway/etc to get from store to store.

This drastically reduces congestion and the need to allocate huge parts of the expensive downtown real-estate to parking.
 
I'd get this as a second car, most of my driving is about 20 miles a day, I could go to work with this and keep the other car in the garage for trips out of town.

This has to get pretty affordable though, so we'll see.
 
While I don't have a problem with the car design in general (contrary to all the blowhards in this discussion, the Smart car has been shown to have excellent crash test results so there's no technical reason this design couldn't too), I do have a problem with the parking in the video. Maybe it's different in other parts of the world, but in the U.S. it's illegal to park perpendicular to the curb like that in a parallel parking area. You will get a ticket. People learned this the hard way after Smart tried pitching the same gimmick for the Smart car. Just because it doesn't stick out into the road any further than a full sized SUV doesn't mean some bureaucrat will just let you do it.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
That is a completely retarded piece of idealistic drivel you posted there. You do realize that most people that work in the city have to commute from outside of it right? Obviously not.
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Nah it can work... they can commute to your new local light rail station... massive parking available. Like going to an airport and leaving your car there till you get back. They do that here already... course only part of the workforce use the local light rail system. the rest all clug up the highways and drive in. There is a drive to get HS Rails up and running... problem is there is not enough ridership... ban autos unless you need it to perform your job. Instant ridership for your government subsidized HS Rails.

You want to live in the subs... your choice, find a job in the subs. Work or travel in the city.. ride public transport.

You could probably solve the issue of national dependance on foreign oil if you forced public transport down peoples throats. People can still buy any auto they want... your just restricted on where you can drive em.
 
+1 on the idea these are made for very tight/congested cities etc

- - will sell like hotcakes - IF they can get it through crash etc certification
 
Dekoth-E- said:
That is a completely retarded piece of idealistic drivel you posted there. You do realize that most people that work in the city have to commute from outside of it right? Obviously not.
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They can park at centralized structures on the outskirts of town, and then use city transportation to move them where they need to go.... kind of like how a lot of public transit works anyways, you drive to the bus/train/subway station parking lot, park, and take transit to the major city.

Personally, I think traffic would be better off by not centralizing the jobs in one major city, spread them out FFS, then 75% of the commuters aren't trying to get to one city on a couple of freeways.
 
I hate these cars. They look so stupid. The concept I guess is pretty cool, but I want to live if I get involved in a 15mph crash. I can only imagine what they will look like after a 60mph collision.
 
I'm pretty sure parking enforcement will ticket all three of those cars. Just because you can fit three in one spot, doesn't mean they'll allow you (they want many, duh).
 
Wow, 3:1 ration for parking. It does look funny but would alleviate parking traffic in cities.

The narrator's voice and tone sounds odd, kind of like he's high or something. :confused:
 
What I want to know is how much of our taxpayer dollars has gone to funding this looney car. I have no problems if this is 100% privately funded, but I think the taxpayer's dollars could be better spent elsewhere.
 
Perfect for the sheeple, and maybe even me, so I can hide as one. AND I am being serious

Typically any commuting I do outside of business is on my mountain bike fitted with city tires (living in Santa Monica proper)
 
Colecoman1982 said:
I do have a problem with the parking in the video. Maybe it's different in other parts of the world, but in the U.S. it's illegal to park perpendicular to the curb like that in a parallel parking area. You will get a ticket. People learned this the hard way after Smart tried pitching the same gimmick for the Smart car. Just because it doesn't stick out into the road any further than a full sized SUV doesn't mean some bureaucrat will just let you do it.
Click to expand...

When I was in Rome, almost all of the Smart cars were parked that way, so it has definitely caught on in other areas.
 
BettiePage said:
Nah it can work... they can commute to your new local light rail station... massive parking available. Like going to an airport and leaving your car there till you get back. They do that here already... course only part of the workforce use the local light rail system. the rest all clug up the highways and drive in. There is a drive to get HS Rails up and running... problem is there is not enough ridership... ban autos unless you need it to perform your job. Instant ridership for your government subsidized HS Rails.

You want to live in the subs... your choice, find a job in the subs. Work or travel in the city.. ride public transport.

You could probably solve the issue of national dependance on foreign oil if you forced public transport down peoples throats. People can still buy any auto they want... your just restricted on where you can drive em.
Click to expand...

+1 on this. I

wish there was mass transit in Houston that actually worked :( I would take a bus/train into work from the outskirts every day if it was an option. I hate driving in traffic and I could be so much more productive with my commute time, even if it took a little longer than making the drive myself. I'll keep my car for weekend stuff around the Woodlands. For me, there's already a Park-and-Ride for their worthless bus system at FM1960. Just build a light rail around Beltway 8, another around 610 Loop, stops/interchanges at the major highway intersections (290, I-10, 59, I-45) with trains between the beltway and loop as well as bus stops.

Heck, even if their bus system worked decently I might be able to use it. Buy an old clunker I can leave at the park-and-ride by Sugarland, then just drive to the FM1960 park-and-ride, bus to Sugarland, drive my clunker the couple miles to work, then reverse the process to go home....
 
Ducman69 said:
I am guessing you have never lived in Europe or even gone to a major airport.

Generally you commute to a park house just outside the dense/congested part of the city, and from there you take public transportation to get from destination to destination within the city center.

So if you live just North of Dallas, no problem, drive till you get to the dense part of North Dallas, park your vehicle, and then if Dallas were modernized you could take taxis/bus/subway/etc to get from store to store.

This drastically reduces congestion and the need to allocate huge parts of the expensive downtown real-estate to parking.
Click to expand...

Lived in Europe no, major airport yes. I travel A LOT for my job. As a matter of fact because of the type of job I work, using public transportation is simply not an option. While I don't require a large vehicle, I do require my own vehicle. This is not the type of job I planned on working again, but work is work. Requiring public transportation or a specific license to operate a vehicle in the city is extremely naive and idealistic. Next month I may be back in a desk job again, who knows. Either way, I still wouldn't ride public transportation because frankly it is too bloody expensive, inconvenient and there is far too much crime associated with it.

BettiePage said:
Nah it can work... they can commute to your new local light rail station... massive parking available. Like going to an airport and leaving your car there till you get back. They do that here already... course only part of the workforce use the local light rail system. the rest all clug up the highways and drive in. There is a drive to get HS Rails up and running... problem is there is not enough ridership... ban autos unless you need it to perform your job. Instant ridership for your government subsidized HS Rails.

You want to live in the subs... your choice, find a job in the subs. Work or travel in the city.. ride public transport.

You could probably solve the issue of national dependance on foreign oil if you forced public transport down peoples throats. People can still buy any auto they want... your just restricted on where you can drive em.
Click to expand...

Afraid real life doesn't work that way buddy. Read the above.

sfsuphysics said:
They can park at centralized structures on the outskirts of town, and then use city transportation to move them where they need to go.... kind of like how a lot of public transit works anyways, you drive to the bus/train/subway station parking lot, park, and take transit to the major city.

Personally, I think traffic would be better off by not centralizing the jobs in one major city, spread them out FFS, then 75% of the commuters aren't trying to get to one city on a couple of freeways.
Click to expand...

Reality doesn't work that way.

tubular said:
Fail Dekoth-E- Fails
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No, I am simply not so idealistic that I am unable to see how reality actually is. Apparently unlike some of you, I actually work in the real world where things like this are not even remotely feasible.
 
RyanLucier said:
I'll be buying one of these smart cars when everyone else has one too... because I'm sorry but that thing doesn't stand a chance in a collision with something like a Yukon, Denali or Grand Cherokee...
Click to expand...

you know, I hear this all the time but the logic doesn't follow for me.

Your Denali doesn't fare too well in a collision with a Kenworth...but you still go out in it.
 
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