CREE Eco Car: Looks Like A Grasshopper, Great For Parking |
7 Comments |
| By Michael d'Estries in Green Products, Travel | September 9, 2007 | |
It’s amazing what electric vehicles allow for in terms of creativity and original design. Take this creation from the guys behind the original Swiss SMART car. Called SAM, it’s a zero-emissions vehicle on three wheels that — in my opinion — begs to be driven. Who wouldn’t have fun in something like this? Apparently, the SAM has been around for several years, but CREE closed down the project due to funding. With SAM cars on the roads of cities like Zurich and Basle, the company has regrouped and is again taking the prototype to market.
With a top speed of 52mph and a range of between 30-40 miles (depending on terrain), this vehicle would more than fulfill the needs of the average commuter. Current prices are somewhere around $12K — but we’re not sure when or if this thing would ever be street legal in the U.S.
Hit the official website for more.
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Ray said,
I wonder what lame excuse is used to prohibit these machines from being street legal? Perhaps it has something to do with influence from a certain greedy industry?
Steve Balogh said,
couldn’t it be classified as a “motorcycle” to become street legal? I’ve seen a few “trikes” on the road.
Here’s a whole website dedicated to 3-wheeled vehicles:
http://www.3wheelers.com/gallery.html
and another electric 3 wheeler
daniel tilton said,
i would like to have one of these cars
and would use it
i have no money but if a program test happens i would love to be considered
Tim Smith said,
Has anyone ever tried this new car http://www.topgreencars.com/ I was thinking of getting one.
paul said,
What?! – You couldn’t take the time to post the official site link? Wasting my frickin’ time………
Ben said,
There’s no such thing as an eco car. Stop deluding yourselves.
Milander said,
Strictly speaking Ben above is correct. Electric cars are extremly green but to generate the electricity required means more investment in hugely polluting coal fired power stations or more investment in nuclear energy.
To my way of thinking I am glad the industry is coming around to electrical vehicles as it will drive the development of greener industries to provide the power they need and that will increasingly come from green power stations whether solar, tidal or wind.
When Edison started laying out the first electric light he had to develop all the associated technologies to go with it, the cables, the wiring, the power stations, the transformers, everything and it took decades to come to fruitiation. It is the same with electric cars, the infrastructure isn’t there but as more and more people buy these vehicles commercial enterprises will fall in live to provide for them.
At the end of the day necessity is the mother of invention, it is just a crying shame that as a species we are unable to see beyond our short term goals and look at the bigger picture now.
Isaac Asimov said that “the day we live to be 500 years of age is the day when we will truely be able to change the world” – meaning of course that changes happen over the long term, we don’t see or feel our impact on the world, if we lived longer we’d see it and want to change it because it would be affecting us.
Naa! said my piece