A glimpse into the future of city transportation?
The all electric EV-NWant a small, cheap plug-in vehicle for your daily commuting?
I'm guessing that's the vision behind the Honda EV-N concept.
If this is the future of the automobile, that future probably won't be built in America, I'm guessing. By the time we get it, it'll be too late.
Is America's auto culture, though proud and historic, killing the US auto industry?
Labels: electric cars, honda ev-n
posted by Dahcredyns at
10:15 AM
13 Comments:
O.K. so take out the back seats, move the front seat back about 6" and then I might be able to fit my behind into this thing. Of course that assumes [love that word] I could get in the door LOL.
All kidding aside, if we had a mass transit system where you drove your car right onto the train, it might not be such a bad idea. I mean, I could drive this tinker toy to Interstate 40, drive it onto the train, travel to L.A. and drive off the train at Union Station. Easy way to go see my relatives and as a bonus they don't even have to come pick me up at the station.
Oh darn that won't work - we don't have that type of mass transit system yet do we? Besides It would probably just be cheaper to be a passenger on the train to L.A. and then stick my credit card into the dashboard of this thing at the train station and just rent it for a few days. That might work if we had a supply of these vehicles at every train stop which of course we don't have YET.
I know - you all think I have been watching too much SyFy channel lately LOL.
There was however serious consideration given to such a mass transit system about 20 years ago and I think MIT did a few studies of such a system. Just thought some of you might like to know - someday, our children might even travel this way.
I guess I could buy one to go to the supermarket huh?
Tom G.
there are a lot of personal transportation ideas similar to the one you suggest being explored in japan (and i've seen at least one prototype here in America as well).
for longer distances, wouldn't it make more sense to fly and rent?
Have ya'll heard of Zip Cars?
i don't take Zip very seriously.
sorry, i was referring to zap.
zip and car sharing is an interesting idea.
Larry G said...
for longer distances, wouldn't it make more sense ...?
Good point Larry and that's exactly what happens when I visit my son who lives more than 600 miles from my home. I fly, rent and drive.
My half baked attempt at finding some humor in this vehicle was also mixed with some things we might have to start thinking about in the future. For example:
1. Airline travel at some point in time will only be available to the top 5% of the population due to the ever rising cost of fuel and the amount of carbon we put into the air. When will we see this happen; maybe, 10 years, 20, or 30 years? I don't know but my guess is about 20 years, maybe sooner if we get serious about carbon reduction [i.e Cap & Trade].
2. Where are some smart people putting their money today? Buffet = Railroads. Venture Capitalist = renewable energy. Major corporations = wind, solar, battery tech and bio-fuels. Farming = bio-engineered food sources.
3. What are we not investing in? Nuclear power, U.S. manufacturing capabilities, blended wing aircraft, energy efficiency technology and social engineering. Why social engineering?
Let us not forget that each and every human on this planet; all 6.5 billion of us create 4.5 pounds of CO2 just by BREATHING every day. What is 4.5 lbs of CO2 times 6.5 billion people divided by 2000 lbs equal to?
What do you think the transportation system for our children will look like, say 20 years from now? How many years will it be before the vehicle shown here is the norm?
Guess I better get on a diet LOL
Tom G.
As someone that often goes weeks without driving - even in LA - I believe we could see massive changes in just 20 years.
When you add in insurance, fuel, maintenance, etc., $30,000 automobiles are a financial strangle-hold upon most Americans.
At some point we're going to realize how terribly inefficient our current automobile culture is - probably because we'll have no choice.
And, we'll come up with solutions that will make us wonder what took us so long to evolve our transportation expectations.
That won't just mean small EVs, but all kinds of different personal transportation systems.
isn't the essential question how much energy per capita will be available in the future?
here's my view. At one time in the past - when technology moved slowly - it was relatively easy to see what changes might be apparent on the horizon.
but now days - with the advent of micro-computing the whole technology paradigm is like a giant pinball machine with 40 balls in play at once.
I think that unpredictability has had the effect of making contemplative investments feel too risky to commit to one direction or the other and so we have a lot of investment money "waiting" until the picture gets more in focus.
Do I think we'll run out of energy?
Never.
well.. almost never.. the Sun burning out or an asteroid several miles across bashing into earth...
but energy, and the availability of it is so abundant that it's not about the availability of energy - but rather how much it costs - both in dollars - and environmental impacts.
I like this chart:
http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/2008/html/table_04_20.html
Imagine what an EV with a 40-mile range will do to the way we think about urban transportation.
Imagine EV's that are Zip cars that know where to park - and automatically recharge as they wait for the next customer.
Dahc - if you go for weeks without driving - how do you get around?
i take the Metro - mostly the Goldline, but the Red, Blue and Purple lines as well. fortunately, i only live a few blocks from a goldline station.
but, back to your point.
have you ever checked out the velib bike program in france? very interesting, although still a little too unAmerican, at least culturally speaking.
still, 40 mile EV cars will be part of the mix, but so will plug-in hybrids, bikes, and other forms of personal transportation. if you keep it cheap and simple, it will grow.
i think many americans are going to soon realize that automobiles simply aren't cost-effective, unless terribly cheap and efficient. all we need is sustained $4.00 - $5.00 gas to really get this ball rolling, which isn't that much of a stretch if we're talking the within the next two decades.
"but energy, and the availability of it is so abundant that it's not about the availability of energy - but rather how much it costs - both in dollars - and environmental impacts."
and that's a wild card in my theory as well. cheap hydrogen, for instance, could sustain our current transportation paradigm many more decades.
still, our lives our going to consume ever more energy with all of our latest and greatest gadgets.
and, as i've learned, if you don't have to drive, do you really want to, especially if you could save loads of money by not driving?
once they put in a bullet train from LA to Vegas with a drinking car, half of LA might consider giving up their cars. jk, but it would be a paradigm shifter.
Dahc - don't you think a nano-like car might negate some of the "cars are getting too expensive" sentiment?
People in other countries much less wealthy than us with much more expensive gas - seem to still like cars albeit smaller/more efficient... no?
If you could walk out of an airport and get into the first available zip car and then drop it at your destination... wouldn't that be easier than renting one of these expensive rentals?
"don't you think a nano-like car might negate some of the "cars are getting too expensive" sentiment?"
absolutely.
"People in other countries much less wealthy than us with much more expensive gas - seem to still like cars albeit smaller/more efficient... no?"
i'm not sure about that one. that sounds like europe, but i wouldn't say they are "less wealthy".
in emerging countries, like brazil for instance, alternative fuels are keeping the price of fuel cheap. still, they are mostly driving smaller vehicles.
nonetheless, car-sharing/renting could be a paradigm shifter, but i think it will get smaller and more personal as well. again, like the velib program, but with something more advanced and easier, as in no peddling.
ultimately, there will be a plethora of solutions. in the next few decades, the car - in my opinion - will, however, lose market share, at least the 4 passenger version will unless as small as the one pictured in this post.
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