Nexo: The Argentinean Sustainable-Car Prototype
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 11. 7.06
Yesterday, we presented one of the winners of the national Argentinean Innovar inventions-competition, the BCKSolar. Today we bring you the other prototype that caught our eye: the Nexo Project, a system to build vehicles for different uses from a common platform based on a number of similar pieces which makes it easy to produce and adapt, according to the user's needs. The engine works with compressed natural gas (CNG), with the option of evolving into electricity in the future. The car is also very small (2.10 metres long, 1.45 metres wide and 1.78 metres tall/6'8" long, 4'7" wide and 5'8" tall), which can probably help some of the problems related to urban transit in the future. It is estimated that each unit would cost around 4,500 dollars. Read about how it works and check more pictures in the extended.
The Nexo project was developed by industrial designers Ernesto Frias and Nicolás Alem, both 26 years old. “The short distance among the axes is compensated by an adequate suspension, which makes this an agile vehicle, very easy to drive and park”, explains Frias. “The modular structure is conformed by curved tubular steel pipes, and various pieces are repeated completely or partially; as there is only a minimum quantity of curvature patterns," he says. "The car’s body is composed 90% by plate panels which are cut according to the desired finish and the rests are recycled, and completed with thermo-formed pieces”.
The front and back trains, the engine and the stick present a complexity similar to the one of a three wheels charge vehicle. The Nexo car can be equipped with an engine which could get to 20 hp, enough to reach 80 kilometres an hour to go around the city. It can work with a 9 square metres CNG tank that can fuel up to 250 kilometres. As an alternative, there’s also the option of an electric engine, but with less power.
Thanks to its adaptability, it car can be adapted into:
-Basic: three seats, oriented to young people, a first vehicle that would be accessible and safer than a motorcycle.
-Cargo: two seats and load space. It would be a pick-up orientaded to the urban worker or small companies.
-Multiplo: four seats. It would be a vehicle oriented to family groups, with more comfort elements.
-Ambulance: a special vehicle oriented to urgent transfers in the urban media. It would have special components.
Though the Nexo project is not yet to be produced, the designers are whiling to make contacts to make it hapen, so anyone interested can contact the designers through mail: proyectonexo at gmail dot com. Website coming soon. ::Nexo
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Looks like a box version of the Tridion Smart Car.
I'm not so sure I'd want to go the hospital in an ambulance only capable of 48 mph.
Dale argentina nomas!! Da gusto saber que se hacen cosas aca!!! Ponga huevo mierda!!!
it looks ugly
well, finally a car without crome. looks smart.
Aguanten Nico y Ernesto, de parte de su ex compañero de torturas bonadescas.
Albertito estará orgulloso desde el cielo, y esto justifica las horas de insomnio por llegar a esa entrega. La cosecha dio sus frutos y ahora están exponiendo sus trabajos en un sitio extranjero. Fuerza capos!
Marcos.
Felicitaciones a los diseñadores de este proyecto.!
Esto demuestra que no debemos mirar solamente al producto europeo o estadounidense, para pensar en un excelente diseño, desde el punto racional, estetico-funcional, y sobre todo en este caso "sustentable"... Felicitaciones nuevamente a los diseñadores Frias y Alem.!
can you please send some information to us
thankyou spotswood primary
La verdad me parece bien que se hagan cosas asi en este pais.
Aca en la patagonia se trato de hacer un auto electrico pero lamentablemente las baterias tenian que ser importadas y la aduana no afloja con el arancel del 60%+IVA, ademas de que hay que hacer un tramite larguisimo para poder homologarlas, lo cual no deja de ser contradictorio en un pais donde los tranformadores todavia tienen el toxico PCB...
Volviendo al nexo, pinta bien, pero saben si ya eligieron los materiales? o el motor? hay algun plan para construir un prototipo?.
Pregunto porque todavia me acuerdo del "auto economico argentino" de duhalde del cual no se vio un sope, pero que si "uso" cada centavo de los varios millones que dieron para diseñarlo (ojo, no digo que el nexo sea un negociado ni nada parecido)
BTW, the thing uses a four stroke engine, which are known for being highly polluting ICE.
Dunno, they could use a 3cyl block like the ones from Smart cars instead of this...
Son nuestro orgullo!!!!!!
El proyecto Nexo, con su conciencia ecologica, economica y sin duda social, es un claro ejemplo de que los paises "tercermundistas", pueden competir a nivel mundial en lo que se propongan,
y creo que si a este proyecto se le da la suficiente importancia puede convertirse en la semilla que va a hacer renacer a la industria automotriz en argentina. Por eso y por los huevos, que estoy seguro le pusieron, y le siguen poniendo, TODA LA SUERTE!!!! y NO LE AFLOJEN NUNCA!!!!
RE bill & the 48 mph ambulence:
going more than 48 mph shouldn't be necessary and probably wouldn't be safe within an urban environment... while it might be the case that an ambulence needs to get onto the highway to go to the hospital, but in other situations it seems like going more than 50 mph past cars pulling over to the sides of normal streets is probably unsafe...
personally, i'd be more worried about the handling of the ambulence rather than the top speed.
Now, if we can design a sturdy modern car for the Pampas; rear wheel drive, longitudinal power plant, petrol and diesel inline-6, 5 passenger room, station wagon and pick up variants, aka; the old Falcon or Peugeot 505 redone maybe! and hybrid electric perhaps.
this looks to be a boxy smart car the top speed is not to worry the ambulance wont be very sucsessful but for the avarege buisness man should be striding in sucess very smart invention and in is not that ugly looking...... also the top speed does not matter for a normal high way this car will just be slow lane material if it gets popular i would like it to come over to the usa