Automobile Alternatives

[sanman]

Has anybody been paying attention to some of these other transportation solutions purporting to be possible alternatives to automobiles?

Here's the C-1 from LIT Motors:

As you can see, it's gyro-stabilized in a more literal way - using a rotating flywheel for physical gyro-stabilization and not some electronic facsimile of it, like what Segway or electric self-stabilizing electric unicycles do.

I was wondering if some version of physical gyro-stabilization could be used on electric unicycles, to laterally stabilize them and keep them from tipping over.

[dmethvin]

Interesting! I hadn't seen this one. It would be interesting if there could be some way to add gyro stabilization to an EUC, at the very least to reduce the learning curve.

[sanman]

12 minutes ago, dmethvin said:

Interesting! I hadn't seen this one. It would be interesting if there could be some way to add gyro stabilization to an EUC, at the very least to reduce the learning curve.

I was thinking that perhaps the foot pedestals on an EUC could be replaced with dual flywheels, which would be counter-rotating in order to avoid any torque asymmetry. Some people have commented that the motor and battery make up most of the weight of any EUC - so maybe the twin pedestals should be where the main motor drive is located, to drive the wheel - so your wheel is driven by 2 motors not one, and those motors could act as flywheels due to their mass.

 

 

 

 

[sanman]

 

Another more vintage one from the 1960s was the Quasar - a covered recumbent motorcycle which offered more protection to the rider than a standard motorcycle, though not as much as a car. At least it could keep the rain off you - it even had a wiper on the front.

 

 

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Welcome newb and moderator newb.  

 

[sanman]

3 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Welcome newb.  

LOL - sorry, didn't know it had been discussed already. I know they've had to revise the design, due to steering problems.

I'd asked inventor Daniel Kim if the thing could drive stable in the snow, and he said it could. The control software they use allows it to maintain traction and control even in snowy slippery conditions. Most motorcycles can't do this. So that and the flywheel gyrostabilization are the key innovations in this vehicle.

[litewave]

I subscribe to the Elio Newsletter. Still not production date, but hopefully soon. It has a reasonable chance of success. Here is the link to their campaign page.

Alas, it runs on petrol, but claims to get 84mpg.

[WARPed1701D]

5 hours ago, litewave said:

Alas, it runs on petrol, but claims to get 84mpg.

To my disappointment I recently learnt that even high mpg motorcycles can be significantly worse for the environment than the average car. Cars have the space to have systems that limit Carbon Monoxide and Nitrous Dioxide (two greenhouse gases that are much worse for global warming than the carbon dioxide that had become the scapegoat) emissions which most motorcycles just can't fit. Disappointing given the years I rode into London thinking I was doing the right thing.

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

13 hours ago, litewave said:

I subscribe to the Elio Newsletter. Still not production date, but hopefully soon. It has a reasonable chance of success. Here is the link to their campaign page.

Alas, it runs on petrol, but claims to get 84mpg.

Hey isn't that the Mr. Bean car with the body on backwards?  

[WARPed1701D]

6 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Hey isn't that the Mr. Bean car with the body on backwards?  

Mr Bean had a Mini. That is a Robin Reliant. The used to be popular in the UK. I'm not sure if it is an old wives tale or not but if you modified the gearbox to remove reverse gear you were allowed to drive them from the age of 16 (one year earlier than the standard UK driving age). They were, unsurprisingly, quite unstable.

This is the UK's most famous Robin Reliant:

From the legendary show "Only Fools and Horses".

There was once an attempt to turn one into a homemade space shuttle on Top Gear:

They did launch it but the fuel tank failed to separate at altitude and the additional weight caused the shuttle to crash rather than glide back to earth.

[steve454]

This is a 1999- 2001 model, a Reliant Robin was used in the 2015 movie, The Lady in the Van, according to Wikipedia.

[WARPed1701D]

Got my name the wrong way round. You are right it is a Reliant Robin, not a Robin Reliant. Anyway. I hijacked the thread. Sorry. Moving on.

[steve454]

Not at all, it is about automobile alternatives.  Very interesting that the Reliant could get up to 70 miles per gallon.  

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Actually, being a slight "Mr. Bean aficionado" myself or simply a master of Googling   I believe that was a Reliant Regal.Supervan III.

http://www.3wheelers.com/robinrel.html

 

 

[steve454]

13 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Actually, being a slight "Mr. Bean aficionado" myself or simply a master of Googling   I believe that was a Reliant Regal.Supervan III.

http://www.3wheelers.com/robinrel.html

 

 

That is funny, he gives the light blue Reliant no respect, pushing it around with his Mini.  Great link about how people in the UK frequently get the name backwards, and that there were many different variants, but Robin Reliant got stuck in their heads somehow so every three wheel car is a Robin Reliant.

[litewave]

10 hours ago, WARPed1701D said:

To my disappointment I recently learnt that even high mpg motorcycles can be significantly worse for the environment than the average car. Cars have the space to have systems that limit Carbon Monoxide and Nitrous Dioxide (two greenhouse gases that are much worse for global warming than the carbon dioxide that had become the scapegoat) emissions which most motorcycles just can't fit. Disappointing given the years I rode into London thinking I was doing the right thing.

I gave up motorcycles years ago, but of all the riders I knew in the US, NZ and the BRD, none of them rode for environmental reasons. Glad to hear you were an exception, though. 

FWIW, the Elio has a catalytic converter and a custom 3-cylinder engine.

•  Eastern Catalytic will be “canning” the converter and supplying the rest of the vehicle’s exhaust system. The Elio 0.9 liter three cylinder, designed by IAV, will feature EGR and variable valve timing as part of its emissions package.  The fuel tank, fuel pressure lines, and returns will be supplied by ABC Fuel Systems will be compliant with automotive standards for evaporative emissions.

[litewave]

2 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Hey isn't that the Mr. Bean car with the body on backwards?  

 

Two-wheels-up-front seems to be making a comeback:

 

 

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

That Morgan EV3 is really neat and retro.  It would be more symmetrical with two main headlights though.  

The T-Rex and the Slingshot are pretty cool.

 

 

[litewave]

3 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

That Morgan EV3 is really neat and retro.  It would be more symmetrical with two main headlights though.  

The T-Rex and the Slingshot are pretty cool.

 

 

 

The Morgan as an EV is intriguing, but like the T-Rex and Slingshot, has an open cockpit. It does look like a vehicle from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.  I saw the T-Rex clip on Jay Leno's channel a couple years ago, but it seems too pricey for a pleasure vehicle ($58K-67K and up). At $20-32K+, the Polaris Slingshot might be more appealing as a pleasure vehicle for some. 

I like the idea of Elio and hope they succeed (soon). With a closed cockpit and space for a passenger and a couple EUCs in the back, I might buy one.