Tango For Two
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 05. 6.05
The now infamous Segway Human Transporter was touted as the next big thing in commuting for a lot of reasons, but one stuck out above the rest: Compact size. By shrinking the footprint of the vehicle, you can fit many times more people on existing roads and freeways, and since you never have empty seats, fuel is used more efficiently. Unfortunately, lack of high speed performance killed the two wheeled wonder on America's streets. But the idea of closer packed commuters never left our minds. The Mini and Smart car, along with countless scooter models tried to fill the void. But now, a new electric contender is here, with a surprising twist, and some serious specs. Get ready to Tango...
We noted the Tango a few months back, but it recently re-surfaced because none other than George Clooney has recently purchased a Tango to complement his collection of motorcycles. Now that your favorite ER doc has one, maybe you should give this little guy another look.
The first thing Commuter Cars, the company behind the Tango commuter coupe, did when designing this little guy, was to throw out the side-by-side paradigm of passenger cars. Double wide means much more overall real estate taken by each car, since you need length for stability. A tandem arrangement, like the Tango, allows drivers to pack two to a lane, like touring motorcycles, and keeps the wheelbase long enough to be stable in turns. And, at only 39" wide, you're edging out some larger touring motorcycles as far as wiggle room goes.
Next, Commuter Cars packed in two electric motors capable of rocketing to 60 mph in only 4 seconds, with a top speed of around 100 Mph. It holds enough batteries for 60-80 miles between charges. The batteries are easily replaceable, and upgradeable as Li-ion and NiMH come down in price, which will extend the range.
Initially, I was pretty skeptical about stability of this little guy in tight turns, but Commuter Cars is one step ahead, and posts this video of a Tango being put through its paces alongside some other cars. Maybe because of it's super low center of mass (the motors and batteries are mounted almost entirely in-plane with the wheels), but the Tango doesn't seem to lift up too much, where other cars were flying.
Of course, all this speed and celebrity comes with a price: You'll have to put up 84,000 bucks to see a Tango in your garage. Start saving now kids.
:: Commuter Car's Tango [by DM]
For all those interested, here's a couple branding concepts centered around my favorite electric car. It's appropriately aimed at the commuter who drives alone.
If you want to know why this car makes sense, take a look around you next time you're stuck in traffic. How many other people, besides yourself, are also driving by themselves in a 5-passenger vehicle? Now imagine all those people in a Tango and how much space would be left. The world's population is increasing, almost exponentially. Space is slowly running out.
But, really, this car is all about the bottom line, your bottom line. The average distance going to and from work is about 20 miles. A car with a city rating of 20mpg would burn 1 gallon of gasoline for your daily commute. A gallon of gas, in America is currently going for around $2.00. That same commute in a Tango would cost $0.40. Saving you $1.60 per day vs. an internal combustion powered car. In addition, by supplementing your home with 80 sq. ft. of solar panels, you can charge your Tango with sunlight, the oldest fossil fuel:
www.designerspace.com/pages/3-designerspace/design/i/27287/largeview.html
www.designerspace.com/pages/3-designerspace/design/i/27179/largeview.html
it's very neat and amazingly fast, but at $84,000 it really is about the bottom line.
by those averages, you, the commuter, saves $417 per year so you'd have to commute 5 days a week for at least 150 years to break even with a normal car price. compared to a prius it might be easier to measure in centuries. but considering the state of our roads and the size of the cars around you, most likely you won't live long driving in it anyway.
Eventually the Tango will need battery replacements. Instead of just BUYING new batteries, get them REVIVED, like they do in Vancouver, Canada.
Otherwise, imho, Tango owners will just be creating lead pollution instead of air pollution.
Here's how the brainiacs in Canada do it:
http://www.geocities.com/batteryrestoreprogram/Free_Batteries.html
The Tango isn't specifically just about energy use. If that's all you see then you're missing the big picture. The Tango seeks also to address the issue of population growth and is primarily targeted at commuters who drive to work by themselves.
For a little bit of background for the world population, I would like to share these references:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xx.html#People
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html
If all the stuff coming from Toyota, Ford, and the likes are all multi-passenger cars but are only being occupied 90% of the time by one person, dramatically proves a huge waste of material, energy, and resources.
http://www.newcolonist.com/lonely.html
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/censusandstatistics/a/commutetimes.htm
The Tango would give the power of reform to the commuting masses. Why make wider roads when we could just as easily drive smaller cars?
I would get one of these in a second - but the price would really have to be less than $10K or I'd never do it.