Never mind the Grumman A6, check out the navigator/WSO seating arrangement in the de Havilland Sea Vixen aircraft. Ideal for anyone who travels with his mother-in-law. And you get unobstructed vision.
Yes, the price tag will certainly determine the success of this venture. $130k seems a bit extreme and of course, cost-prohibitive to most! That would sort of defeat the purpose as well to make a fuel-efficient car many people can take advantage of. At any rate, I am curious to see this vehicle when it's out there on the market.
It appears to be a great car, but the final pricetag will affect our view of that, Liz. I've seen all kinds of estimates on what it might be, ranging from $40K to $130K (which is probably not a viable estimate). Volkswagen isn't saying, however, so I was careful not put any speculation in the article.
@McDermott: I think this is the best car in design – wise I have ever seen. I also work for an Automobile company but haven't seen such a beauty like this. I think this is the best sports model ever designed by Volkswagon
Charles, this looks very interesting, but one thing I missed was how many seats did the vehicle sport?
Is this a 2-seater? 4? If it's 4, are both the right-side seats offset?
The offset seats made me think of the Grumman A-6 Intruder aircraft; the EWO sat next to the pilot but was several inches back and lower to give the pilot a better view. Offsetting the seats in this VW would give the same benefit to the driver - how many times has one asked the front seat passenger to lean back so you could see to turn safely?
Cap'n, finally we see a company applying all the technologies that make cars more efficient. One of the most important is the drag. As people have moved to SUVs the coeffcient of drag has gone the wrong way. I remember when a low coefficient of drag was part of auto advertising. People complain about the price of gasoline, then they go out and buy a SUV or crossover. There is certianly a place for SUVs. Living in a rural area they are very useful, and perhaps necessary. That is a very small part of the population, though.
The other technology they are using, lightweight materials, is also something that is overdue. Design News has been talking about this for some time. That coupled with the low rolling resistance technologies is something that has been possible and known for a long time.
This will be an iteresting vehicle. I am glad that they decided not to do an all-electric. This may be practical.
Well, if anyone can do it, VW can. I am a big fan of their vehicles (I drive a VW Transporter) and think they already have done a lot toward making vehicles fuel efficient. Looking at the design features of the car, it seems like engineers have put serious thought into every possible area where they can improve efficiency. If this works the way VW plans, it could really set a precedent or the future, and shows what a little ingenuity can do. The only negative thing I can say at this point is that I think this should have happened a long time ago!
As energy efficiency becomes more and more a concern for makers of electronics devices, researchers are coming up with new ways to harvest energy from sound vibration, footsteps, and even electromagnetic fields in the air.
The government wants to study your brain, and DARPA wants to use similar information to give robots true autonomy beyond any artificial intelligence developed to date. Sound like science fiction? It's not.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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