JARI's 3-Seater Electric Vehicle Could Rival Tata Nano
Electric
vehicles may not be in the exact same playing field as USB drives,
mainboards and SSDs, but there's still something whiz-bang-y about 'em
that makes us drool.
With Chevy's Volt inching towards production and a couple of other
all-electric vehicles already leaking out to the wealthy, where are we
common folk expected to fulfill our own fantasies of driving around on
the open road without using a drop of fuel? JARI, we guess.
The Japan Automobile Research Institute has developed and revealed the C·ta, which is being described as a "lightweight three-seater electric vehicle whose body is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). " There's no doubt that there is some question over this thing's stability and safety, but we suspect that said worries are the least of the concerns right now. The tiny car has four wheels and is outfitted with an in-wheel motor that's rated at 2kW; those motors are driven by a Li-ion battery setup. The total car weighs 661 pounds, with all but 88 pounds being made up of those very batteries.
As of now, the little guy can cruise up to 125 kilometers on a full charge, but it certainly won't get there with the speed of a Ferrari. We're still waiting for a price, but we're guessing it'll be fairly cheap--maybe this is the all-electric rival that the Tata Nano has been waiting for?
The Japan Automobile Research Institute has developed and revealed the C·ta, which is being described as a "lightweight three-seater electric vehicle whose body is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). " There's no doubt that there is some question over this thing's stability and safety, but we suspect that said worries are the least of the concerns right now. The tiny car has four wheels and is outfitted with an in-wheel motor that's rated at 2kW; those motors are driven by a Li-ion battery setup. The total car weighs 661 pounds, with all but 88 pounds being made up of those very batteries.
As of now, the little guy can cruise up to 125 kilometers on a full charge, but it certainly won't get there with the speed of a Ferrari. We're still waiting for a price, but we're guessing it'll be fairly cheap--maybe this is the all-electric rival that the Tata Nano has been waiting for?
