Automotive - Automobility 6 Drive Clean

Automobility 6 Drive Clean

With autonomous vehicles closing in on our highway fun, but also the insane congestion spoiling our commutes, we have to think of things to improve the situation without giving up total control of our lives to the techn--boffins of Silicon Valley. This show was filled with booths with enthusiastic young people introducing new communications links, fuel alternatives, charging solutions, radio entertainment, vehicle monitoring, car-sharing, bike kiosks, etc. In this installment I will present a few of the things I saw.

The saddest example had to be this lonely little white Hyundai SUV in the Basement of Radical Vehicles. But because it was sitting in front of the list of vehicles that receive huge rebates for being clean, it gets respect.

This Lucid Motors prototype got lots of attention.

even though there's not much car there. This is the most primitive driving prototype you can imagine.

Tesla was present with a few cars and an Airstream trailer which is filled with fabric and color samples should you wish to spec out an order.

I attended the press launch of the latest Elio Motors model. This company is a start-up, crowd-funded enterprise that's recently gone public. They have taken over 1,000,000 square feet of a closed GM assembly plant in Louisiana, and will begin production next year. Starting a car company is never a sure thing, but they have good management strength on their board, and 63,000 paid advance deposits on this car.

The formula shown on the t-shirts involves a 1300 lb gasoline-engine, 2-seater with 55 hp, 84 mpg, meets all safety standards and costs $7300. How? by using 3 wheels, 1 door, and lots fewer gizmos than the average car. The structure will be steel, have air bags, wipers, radio, power windows and remote locking - most of the things you need. Not too fast though, at about 9.5 seconds for 0-60. But you can use the car pool lane and insure it as a motorcycle.

Tandem seating for your loved ONE who can come with you. So the same capacity as my Honda Insight.

There's a striking resemblance to my Honda Insight.

Roughly 9 foot wheelbase and 13 feet long. The trunk is small.

Here is the Toyota Urban Assault Vehicle

And an assortment of eco and mobility devices.

The electric Smart is available.

If you can ignore the Nissan Star Wars display, you'll see a guy riding a Ford scooter around. It's very clever, and stable, but quite heavy at 40-50 lbs.

Every manufacturer has a story about how clean, green, conveen(ient) they will be in the future.

Jaguar showed its electric I-Pace.

Kia has electric, customized, autonomous travel pods in its future plans.

This one was for aspiring Tour de France riders. You can load your cycle gear in and on the car, and recover in the seat after a long stage ...

This one is for skiers.

And yes, there was a shuttle to the School of Rock.

(hey Millenials, we had these in the Sixties, you know)

Ford showed lots of solutions for mobility and predicted that it might be just as much a transport solutions company as a car company.

Mark Fields told us that 100 years ago we spent 2 hours a day going 4 miles. Now we spend 2 hours a day going 50 miles. Ford wants to be there providing transport for every one of the miles, even to and from the station (in Chariot, its shuttle service) or up and down the sidewalk with Ford scooter and bikes. And watching you from Ford police cars, and so on ...

In case you are totally bored with this, they had the "eco-boost" GT 40 right outside the electric car room.

The new Chevy Bolt got Car of the Year. It's interesting, and should be good to drive 200 miles on a charge.

Please come back for the next installment. Thanks for reading.

Cazalea