Saturday, September 18, 2010

KillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of Speed

KillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of SpeedKillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of Speed
KillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of Speed
KillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of Speed
KillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of Speed
KillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of Speed
KillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of Speed
KillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of Speed
KillaJoule Heads for Bonneville and the World of Speed
Although the KillaJoule streamliner is not yet complete, the team has prepared it for the Salt Flats and some practice runs.

On arriving today, Eva qualified for 125mph in the first of 4 qualifications.


In brief: Eva Hakansson and the KillaCycle Team are taking the new electric streamliner motorcycle, the KillaJoule, to Utah for the World of Speed at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Vehicle in the news

Make/Model: KillaJoule
Manufacturer: KillaCycle Team

Monday, September 13, 2010

Discussion on the next Ford Focus III rear design

Currently there is no reliable information available on the rear design of the next global Ford Focus. A recent photoshop, pictured below, shows an interpretation with horizontal rear lights, as opposed to the vertical units found in the current and first generation versions. This artist impression is probably influenced by the recent Iosis-MAX concept. This blog post discusses why the Focus should keep the vertical design of the rear light-cluster and other design features.

Ford should understand that they are on the verge of greatness with the next Ford Focus. If they play their cards right, in a couple of years the Focus can be the best-selling car in its class in the world. For two reasons: One is that the Focus still has progression space in the European market and can gain market share there. It can not be the best selling car in Europe for obvious reasons, related to the size of the German market and their natural patriotism. But considering that the Focus is currently ranking number two in its segment despite its age, and that the new and very kinetic Fiesta is storming the market, I would say that with the right design the Focus can gain some more market share in Europe. Second reason is that being a global car the new Focus will sell very well in the USA. And if the economy recovers we can expect another spike in oil prices that will renew the recent love of Americans for smaller cars. So in conclusion, if Ford applies its kinetic design in the right way the Focus III will become the best selling compact car in the world. And we know the design part is good… so good that in focus groups for the NA market the response was “out of the ordinary”.

But, then why the insistence with the vertical rear lights? Because, in my opinion, the next Focus can be more than a best-seller: it can become a new icon. At this point we should remember the formidable list of accomplishments by Ford of Europe with the Focus model. The first generation marked a huge gap against the previous Escort, added a distinctive and fresh design that aged very well, but its biggest achievement was the superior multilink rear suspension. It destroyed the competition in the handling department and forced the best concurrence to a radical inverse engineering process that included some aggressive head-hunting… The Focus II did not score so high in the design department, brought more maturity in the interiors but still kept some design features like the rear vertical light-cluster, the third window in the C-pillar while adding a bit more coupe-ish shape. The restyling brought a much needed kinetic design infusion but the most important accomplishment is very recent: the Focus RS. The best FWD car on the planet!

Keeping some of the major design elements, such as the rear shape and vertical rear lights, while adding the kinetic design and the distinctive trapezoidal grille will contribute to raise the Focus III to new heights. If the market responds accordingly Ford will have more than a best seller, Ford will have a new icon. That would be a good thing, because icons are more profitable.

EV Future: Segway P.U.M.A. concept

The image shows a preview of a future production version of the PUMA. Much better looking than the prototype. These things have to look like something from Apple, they can't look like glorified wheelchairs like the concept.

But a lot of rethinking has to go into cities in order to adopt a fleet of PUMAs. Maybe they could be viable in areas closed to cars. In such situation the PUMA or similar personal mobility vehicles could complement the public transport system.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

EV future: Lotus electric city car

This is just a concept but the video presents an interesting discussion.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

EV Future: Nissan Land Glider Concept

This is electric, of course. We are already well into the 21st century, it's time to start driving 21st century cars.

Volvo C30 (Electric) Crash Test

Crash test footage showing how the batteries are kept safe.