Photo: TUM
When the i3 was first unveiled almost everyone said it was ugly. Sure, we didn’t cater to those opinions, stating over and over again that it simply has a different look that’s not necessarily bad. Now, the Technical University of Munich unveiled a car that is touted as being good-looking and ‘not boring’ by the media. Is it now?
One can’t help but notice the striking similarities between it and the BMW i3. Just take a look from the side and you’ll instantly see what we’re talking about by glancing at the front door and its window. The same line as on the i3 was used here. Furthermore, the door sill has a similar look, not to mention the overall shape of the thing.
The hypocrites that called the i3 ugly and boring are calling this car exactly the exact opposite. It’s a funny world we live in, right? Getting past the design of the thing we should also mention the achievements the University people recorded when working on this car.
The Visio.M was jointly developed by the University researches with the help of industry leaders such as BMW and Daimler. The aim was to create a car that would be sporty, safe and also affordable, a horse of all trades if you will and an alternative to the i3 that was already offering such a package but with a premium price tag.
Set to make its debut at the eCarTec 2014 auto show, the EV was completely unveiled this week after rumors about it have been going around the internet for quite a while.
You get a steering wheel (with a flat bottom a là Audi RS style), a digital instrument cluster and an adjustable infotainment display. That’s about it.
The tech bits talk about a 13.5 kWh lithium-ion battery that is used to power an electric motor capable of 20 HP. The torque numbers aren’t available for now but considering that the car reaches a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph) and can travel up to 160 km (100 miles) it should be impressive.
Of course, in all this we should bare in mind that the weight of the whole thing doesn’t go above 450 kg (992 lbs) without the batteries which is pretty impressive. With the batteries the whole thing rises to 535 kg (1,180 lbs). In order to achieve such numbers, the car sports a CFRP monocoque with polycarbonate windows.
Since the aforementioned batteries can store 13.5 kWh of energy, they can also be recharged rather fast, at a 230V outlet the whole process taking just 3 to 4 hours.
This makes it possible to detect possible critical driving situations early on. However, this information is not used for driver assistance or warnings. When the car detects an imminent unavoidable collision it activates the integrated passenger protection systems just before the actual crash takes place. Other safety features include airbags in the bumpers and floors and seat-belt tensioners.
“With the Visio.M we have demonstrated that it is possible to build a very light and at the same time safe car with overall costs that we expect to be lower than those of comparable combustion-engine cars. But it is still a long way to serial production because almost all components must be adapted to the manufacturing conditions of large series,” said Prof. Markus Lienkamp, the Chairman of the TUM Institute of Automotive Technology.
Hopefully, if we get past these issues, we might see more and more eco-friendly cars on the road in the near future.
The hypocrites that called the i3 ugly and boring are calling this car exactly the exact opposite. It’s a funny world we live in, right? Getting past the design of the thing we should also mention the achievements the University people recorded when working on this car.
The Visio.M was jointly developed by the University researches with the help of industry leaders such as BMW and Daimler. The aim was to create a car that would be sporty, safe and also affordable, a horse of all trades if you will and an alternative to the i3 that was already offering such a package but with a premium price tag.
Set to make its debut at the eCarTec 2014 auto show, the EV was completely unveiled this week after rumors about it have been going around the internet for quite a while.
So, what’s so special about it?
The exterior is compact, as a city car should be, with the interior being decorated by only two seats and offering a rather dull design. Sure, all the necessary buttons are included but in typical German fashion nothing too flashy was included in the mix.You get a steering wheel (with a flat bottom a là Audi RS style), a digital instrument cluster and an adjustable infotainment display. That’s about it.
The tech bits talk about a 13.5 kWh lithium-ion battery that is used to power an electric motor capable of 20 HP. The torque numbers aren’t available for now but considering that the car reaches a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph) and can travel up to 160 km (100 miles) it should be impressive.
Of course, in all this we should bare in mind that the weight of the whole thing doesn’t go above 450 kg (992 lbs) without the batteries which is pretty impressive. With the batteries the whole thing rises to 535 kg (1,180 lbs). In order to achieve such numbers, the car sports a CFRP monocoque with polycarbonate windows.
Since the aforementioned batteries can store 13.5 kWh of energy, they can also be recharged rather fast, at a 230V outlet the whole process taking just 3 to 4 hours.
What about the safety bit?
To make sure its passengers are well protected, the CFRP monocoque is combined with ultra light sandwich materials that make it even stiffer than it already is. Furthermore, the engineers created a safety system that analyzes the traffic around the car using radars and camera sensors.This makes it possible to detect possible critical driving situations early on. However, this information is not used for driver assistance or warnings. When the car detects an imminent unavoidable collision it activates the integrated passenger protection systems just before the actual crash takes place. Other safety features include airbags in the bumpers and floors and seat-belt tensioners.
“With the Visio.M we have demonstrated that it is possible to build a very light and at the same time safe car with overall costs that we expect to be lower than those of comparable combustion-engine cars. But it is still a long way to serial production because almost all components must be adapted to the manufacturing conditions of large series,” said Prof. Markus Lienkamp, the Chairman of the TUM Institute of Automotive Technology.
Hopefully, if we get past these issues, we might see more and more eco-friendly cars on the road in the near future.
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