BMW's serious attempt to build a better electrical car

It's called the MCV (megacity vehicle) and it's BMW's attempt to build a better electrical car. Massive use of carbon fiber and aluminum make the car not heavier than a gasoline engine driven car. Batteries in the floor ensure good usage of space. And the car is supposed to be affordable on top. That's really good news. 250 km range is okay for a four seater in the city. So, go on, BMW build this car and show us what electrical cars can do if they are engineered well!

Motoring in 2000-2009 - what will we remember in 20-30 years?

The Decade 2000 to 2009 was influenced by a rapidly increasing oil price towards the end of the period (for example the ratio between the highest and the lowest price per barrel was 5-6, peak was reached in 2008), by the inconvenient truth of a changing climate and global warming, by terrorism, tsunamis and hurricanes. Towards the end of the decade the whole world suffered from the consequences of the financial crisis and a global recession. At the same time the digitization of the world has continued and we couldn't imagine a life without mobile connectivity, Internet and flat screens.

So what where the motoring highlights of the years 2000 to 2009?

A Decade of Extremes
Super and Hyper Cars got faster and faster. The climax has been reached with the Bugatti Veyron, a car that really showcases what is feasible today. Whether anybody needs 1001 HP and 400 km/h top speed is another question.

The reinvention of the cheap car
Tata introduced the Nano, a really cheap car. But already before Renault has proven with the Dacia that there is a market for cheaper cars.

Supercar performance on a budget
When Nissan announced the GTR it was an instant success. Fast laps on the Nurburgring also helped to establish the image of a supercar on a budget. And the interior is designed for the PS3 generation. Four seats even make the car suitable for a small family.

The Hybrid Decade
With the Toyota Prius a new technology became both fashionable and consumer-ready, the hybrid car. While the Prius may neither have been pretty nor ecological it was sold very successfully thanks to Holywood and a brilliant marketing and it certainly proved that people can be motivated to save fuel.

Retro retro
The new Mini is a success, but the Fiat 500 was even more loved by the crowd thanks to its affordability and the really cute design. Revitalizing the Abarth brand at the top end of the 500 has also proven to be a clever move.

Electrical cars that actually are attractive
Tesla built a Roadster on top of a Lotus Elise chassis and loaded thousands of laptop batteries. Despite some getting quite hot this cars proved that performance and electricity don’t need to be opposites in the motoring context. Since the Tesla many manufacturers (i.e. Audi, Mercedes) and tuners (i.e. RUF) have followed and presented electrical sportscars.

In a next post I will talk about the ones that didn’t make it and why I think that from a motoring perspective the 2000 to 2009 decade was a disappointment after all.

The importance of driving further

How far can you go, seems to be an important topic for many people. The range a car can do is a serious purchasing criteria. With the new electrical cars the discussion as been heating up. Most electrical cars have a range issue. The best of them claim to being able to cover 300 kms (Tesla Roadster), but road tests reveal that it's rather 150 - 200 km in reality. Most electrical cars do maybe 70 - 150 km with one full load of the batteries. The other extreme currently is been shown with new environmentally friendly Diesel cars. Take the Volkswagen Passat Bluemotion for example. With it's low fuel consumption of 4.5 liters per 100 km it can cover 1'600 km with one tank of Diesel. Impressive!
But how important is it really? Most people cover less than 100 kms every day for their commutes, so they can easily deal with a range of less than 100 km. And many people driving cars with very long ranges have fogotten how and where to fill in the gasoline when they next time have to. In the 70ies and 80ies a range of 350 km and more was quite acceptable, nowadays anything below 800 kms seems to be an issue. It all depends, I guess. If I can "fill in" my car at home in my garage I have no problem with having to connect it to the power source every day. If I have to find a gas station, queue to get served and to be able to pay and loose 10 or more mintues with it then I prefer of course to have a long range. In the past the range was also a safety attribute. If you have to stop to fill up your tank then you do at least stop. Think about the Passat Bluemotion driver who covers 1'200 or more km without stopping because he doesn't have to ...

The electric car is the winner ...

... at least when you believe search engine trends. "Electric car" is the by far most searched term, compared to "hybrid car" or "hydrogen car".
Despite of all the known problems (weight, reach, ecological issues with batteries, etc.) a lot of people love the idea of the electrical car. Driving a semi-electrical car from time to time (Toyota Prius) I can understand some of this enthusiasm. It's quite a special experience to accelerate without any major noise and to glide in almost perfect silence. Parking an electrical car is fun, as nobody will get annoyed if you have to try twice. Torque of modern electrical motors is great and it's there from the first instance on. And as it feels so green it makes you feel good.
But, no, it's not really exciting enough. I love the noise that a well engineered fuel operated motor produces and I like the smell and the vibrations and this pure feel of machinery. It's bloody difficult to simulate this, I guess.

Is the eVaro the electrical sports car we have waited for?

The Canadian company Future Vehicle Technologies is coming with the eVaro, a plug-in hybrid sports car. It is said to be extremely efficient (with 275 MPGE for city driving) while still being very fast (+200 km/h, 0-100 in less than 7 seconds). And FVT is claiming it is production ready.
The performance is clearly remarkable and good enough. However I reckon they could rethink the design piece. It looks too much 80ies/90ies in my eyes and not at all futuristic. This is how prototypes looked in 1985.
So my recommendation would be: Take the technology, if it is as good as promised, and plant it into a really state-of-the-art three wheeler body and this will be a serious contender in the hybrid sports car market. With the given design though it will only appeal to techno-savvy people which are often not early adapters of new innovative products.

Is the Nissan Leaf the answer to our mobility problems?

Nissan just has "presented" the new Nissan Leaf, an electrical car to be sold in the US and Japan in 2010 and in other countries (i.e. Europe) in 2012. It's a new generation electrical car with 160 km reach and roughly 120 hp, so certainly fast and powerful enough, to master shorthaul traffic needs. 160 km is more than enough for commuting traffic, though will not make the car suitable for holidays/vacation. I sort of like the goals (key characteristics) Nissan set themselves:

1) Zero-emission power train and platform
2) Affordable pricing
3) Distinctive design
4) Real-world range autonomy - 160km (100 miles)
5) Connected Mobility: Advanced intelligent transportation (IT) system

But is this really the answer to our mobility problems? Probably not. It's a well engineered combination of today available technologies and perceived needs of the consumers. However it's still heavy, large and full of difficult to reuse materials and components. And it's probably not even that fun to drive, but that's anyway not a key objective for that type of car. At least it's a statement that Nissan tries to get innovative technologies in production and on the street.

The E-Tracer - faster and more economical than a Tesla Roadster

The Monotracer has been around for quite a while. It followed the so called Ecomobile and uses the same design and engineering principles as its predecessor. Basically it's a motocycle with a full body and two supporting side wheels that can be retracted almost like an airplane. The standard Monotracer is fast, 0-100 km/h in roughly 5.7 s, top speed 260 km/h.
Now Pevates AG, the company behind the Monotracer came with a new one, called the E-Tracer. It's what you would expect, an electrical version of the Monotracer. 100 kW enable it to be even faster than the Monotracer. What is even more impressive is the reach of 150 to 250 km. Now, this is much better than what you can expect in reality from a Tesla Roadster. The reason for this is a) the aerodynamic shape (0.19 cw) combined with a tiny shape (looking from the front) and b) low weight (550kg) and c) clever battery technology (lithium polymer). Now that's good engineering coming from Switzerland! And if you can live with the motocycle like behavior and can afford to pay even more money than what you put down for a Tesla then go and order one today!

Why Mercedes got it wrong again with the new SLS

This autumn Mercedes will present its brand new SLS to the public. The car has (almost) everything what a super car needs, i.e. gullwing doors, strong engine, good design with roots back into the 50ies (aka 300 SL Gullwing). And it even will be "affordable", at least if you apply super car standards. You will be able to buy one at a price that is in the lower Aston Martin area. I actually like the car, as I always loved gullwing doors and it seems to be a no-nonsense sports car.
And now they even announced an electrical version (see first picture) of it! With its cleverly distributed extra weight for batteries and four electrical motors at the wheels this seems like a serious attempt to bring electricity to super car buyers, you would think.
Well, maybe, but the range of course is not satisfactory and the top speed is limited to 200 km/h. Which is certainly good enough for most countries, but hey, this is a super car. But actually I think the "standard" car is missing the point too. Mercedes should fit the 6 cylinder direct injection engine (maybe with a small turbo charger) to this car, but not this big old age 8 cylinder. The engine is actually a good one, but for today's time it's just too big. And the car is too heavy and probably to large. What I said about the 6 cylinder R8 Audi should build is also applicable here. Dear marketeers from Mercedes, Audi, BMW and others, please build a super car that still makes 0-100 km/h in less than 6 seconds but has a consumption of substantially less than 10 liters per 100 km. That will be a SUPER car.

Electrical cars don't need to be boring - look at the Green GT

When people think about electrical cars they think about box design city vehicles, slow cars and nothing to be excited about.
Have a look at Green GT, they are building race cars to compete in still to be defined future race series. What a looker! It's a future design what you are looking at but even the current model is quite appealing.
They just had their first roll out and did 20+ laps on a circuit, 18 of them with one battery cycle.
Go on guys, show us what is possible with electricity, lightweight architecture and spectacular design!

Circuit racing in Switzerland not allowed - politicians think again

Switzerland is a small country, with roughly seven million inhabitants and to not too much land to be spared. But still Switzerland hosted the famous GP Berne during the 30ies and 50ies. Great cars (Meredes, Alfa, Auto-Union, etc.) and drivers (Ascari, Lang, Fangio, etc.) raced against each other to win the Grand Prix. To celebrate these old good old times there's even a Memorial Grand Prix Suisse in Bern organized this year! And my Devin-Triumph (1957) has been accepted as an entry.
But in this same country circuit racing has been forbidden after the Le Mans accident in 1955. Now, you would think, that's quite a long time ago. And it is. But nothing has changed with the regulation since then. During the last few years there were some initiatives to allow circuit racing again. Sadly enough this idea was coupled with the idea to attract a formula 1 grand prix. With all the bad press around formula 1 and the fear of people to host such a monster event, plus all the "green" tendencies populating the newspapers, the initiatives were not successful in the political landscape.
Dear politicians please think again!
Circuit racing is much safer than hill climbs that are still allowed in Switzerland.
It's probably almost impossible to find investors for a racing circuit if racing is not allowed.
The lack of racing circuits forces Swiss racing drivers (amateurs and professionals) to go to other countries to drive their cars.
The lack of racing circuits also makes it difficult for Swiss car builders to test their cars.
Switzerland has been a pioneer in many things, it could be a pioneer with electrical or hybrid cars again. Having a race track in Switzerland would allow these pioneers to showcase the result of their work.
And last but not least, building and maintaining a racing circuit would create jobs and help an offsite region to become more attractive for visitors.
And and and ....
There are so many good reasons to get rid of the "no circuit racing" law to just enable new initiatives to happen. Let then the local people decide whether they would like to have a race track or not. Let's not think about formula 1 here, it's not even relevant in this context.

Jay Leno driving and investigating the Aptera

I have blogged already a number of times talking about the Aptera. Now, classic car lover Jay Leno has posted a video, summarizing the facts, talking to the Aptera CEO and test driving the car. Good stuff!

Can racing with electrical cars be exciting?

The Formula 1 has started to introduce hybrid technologies (KERS) to become more environmentally correct. And there are races for electrical cars here and there, but none of these make it really onto the front page. So, the question is, whether racing with electrical car could make sense and could be attractive. Let's look at it from different perspectives:

1. From a spectator's perspective the lack of engine sound may be a disappointment, but from the race's dynamics point of view interesting competitions could be expected. Electrical engines are very torquee and therefore could allow for good overtaking.
2. From a pilot's perspective, there cars could be interesting to drive and the lack of noise isn't really an issue for the driver. The type of noise might be somewhat an issue and the fact that energy saving might be an important skill and to some extent take some of the fun.
3. From a regulator's point (i.e. the FIA) it can be assumed that defining the rules could be quite straight forward. Just ensure that everyone is using the same type of batteries and loading station (if needed), the rest could be kept fairly liberal.
4. From a car manufacturer's perspective electrical car races will make sense as soon as there's something to be sold based on success in these races. Given Toyota, Honda, GM/Opel, BMW/Mini, Mercedes are preparing or selling hybrid and electical cars there should be some interest of these guys to start showcasing their technologies.
   

So, why isn't it happening? Well, one reason is, that today there's no real money behind electrical cars. Another reason is that until recently the battery capacity wouldn't have allowed for longer races and higher performance output and who would want to see a 10 minutes race with 80 km/h fast cars. But let's see, maybe we just need a bit of a kick? If racing really can help to develop street cars further then it certainly would be interesting to have a popular race series showcasing electrical cars.

Electrical cars cheaper than gasoline or diesel cars?

A big inhibitor to modern electrical (and even hybrid) cars today are the high costs of batteries and the rather marginal reach. A recent study of IFA (in Germany) now said that by 2020 electrical cars will be more economical than their oil fuelled counterparts. They assumed decreasing costs for the batteries and increasing costs for fuel (3 Euros by 2020, instead of 1.20-1.50 or so today). This seems to be a quite realistic scenario, maybe the assumptions were even taken with too much care. The progress around battery technologies is astonishing and it's quite clear that there's only so much oil still to be found.
A key problem of course remains how the electricity is produced. It is already possible to produce your own energy on the roof of your house with solar panels. But again, it's not quite economical to do so. So we also need some real progress here if the whole chain is supposed to make sense.
Let's see and continue to observe this space!

Aptera - the future of motoring?

Two hearts beat in my chest, the one of a petrolhead and the one of an engineer. As an engineer I admire what the guys at Aptera are doing. They build a three wheel vehicle with advanced aerodynamics and electrical power. It's more aerodynamic and more fuel efficient than almost anything else and it looks very futuristic. I would buy one if I could, but they only want to supply cars to people living in California - at least for the time being. When you look at this car you can see why the more traditional car manufactuers will struggle competing with something like this. Almost nothing what you have in a traditional car manufacturing plant can be re-used if you want to produce something like an Aptera. Of course there are some trade offs, not everybody may accept. You will not pull a trailer with this thing, the reach is still below 200 kms when fully loaded and without the range extender of the planned hybrid option. It's probably getting quite hot in this thing and it is not as compact and easy to park as let's say a Toyota IQ. But on the other side, it is more exclusive than a Lamborghini or Ferrari and it makes you feel like a hero when you watch "an inconvenient truth". So, as said, if I can get my hands on one of these, I will drive it.