Compared to the
other single-seat electric vehicle that we had the misfortune of laying eyes on recently, Topia's HUVO looks just magnificent. This clearly minuscule road warrior, which officially tips the scales at 150-kilograms (or just over 330-pounds), holds one lucky motorist and a small briefcase (if you're lucky). Reportedly, the frame is constructed from high-tensile steel plate, the doors and the back panel from aluminum alloy, the roof from carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), the windshield from polycarbonate and the interior / wheels covers from ABS resin. Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to crash test ratings, but we suppose we should wait and see if this thing even sniffs the commercial market before worrying over that.
posted Jun 28th 2008 1:11PM
"holds one lucky motorist and a small briefcase (if you're lucky)"
meaning you can bring a small briefcase, right?
by the way, this looks awesome, but i'll still be riding my kawi ninja 250 =D
Looks like it will rollover with just a flick of a finger :-P.
Yeah, i'd like to see it pass safety tests. Imagine it getting hit by an SUV...
Imagine it getting hit by an SUV..
----------------------------------------------------
Maybe if SUV's are such a hazard on the road they are the ones who should be banned.
anything that hits it simply punts it out of the way and it lands in a ditch.
and maybe you should rent 2 cars the next time you want to borrow my SUV to carry your shit when your house gets hit by a natural disaster.
"Maybe if SUV's are such a hazard on the road they are the ones who should be banned."
We should also remove all signs/poles that someone might run into. Also, we need to cover everything with pillows. Really big pillows.
Desolate, are you serious? Your excuse for buying one is that you need it to save your stuff when your house is destroyed? Does that happen every three months for you?
these would be great if commuters would use them.. obviously they would need to have have their own lanes... they should expand road ways and give small EV's their own dedicated space like bike lanes.. or perhaps small EVs and bikes could share the bike lane...
A small breifcase can hold many breifs. Those are important!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briefs
no im not serious... I own a Honda Civic Ex coupe but Im just pointing out how ridiculous it would be to remove SUV's because they are a hazzard on the road or whatever. For instance they are very useful when you are a college student and are moving from time to time all of your shit to new apartments. Sometimes I wish I had an SUV because it would save me much time and money.
@desolate:
i'll bet if you compared the full life cycle cost of ownership of an SUV vs. renting a minivan twice a year you're looking at paying $1,000s extra for an SUV. dealerships can't even get rid of the used ones anymore.
its the eee pc of electric cars
Couldn't share the lane with bicycles, what if the cycle hit you? I'm sure the bike would win
Its only news when the eco an gas friendly vehicle isn't UGLY.
... and makes you wanna play Mario Kart Wii...
throw some d's and a couple of tv screens on that bitch!
Ugly??? --- this is the "Mainstream" electric car look ....
Where's the windshield wiper?
doesn't seem to have one... then again, probably doesn't need one
you could just stick your hands out and wipe the water off yourself...
Can't have that, the draw on the battery would probably make it stop haha
This thing looks like it would tip over, at least 250lbs of the battery weight would have to be located on the bottom to provide stability in a sharp turn...
i don't think this is made for high speed cornering
Crash test? I don't think it's gonna matter much how the vehicle crumples when it ends up 400 feet away after being hit by a 2-ton car. You can scramble an egg in its shell...
You can?
I imagine this car is only intended for city driving under 40 mph. It looks like a nice idea for that purpose. I wouldn't want to head out on the highway with it, though.
In any case, the purpose of the car appears to be as a showcase for new manufacturing technology for light but strong materials. The same tech can be applied to larger cars to reduce their weight considerably. But that wouldn't have looked nearly as cool on the show floor, and the tiny car might also inspire new ideas beyond the vanilla car that you're used to.
"This clearly minuscule roadster..."
It's not a roadster. Sillys.
What a POS! This is something a wussy would drive! I would never drive that or any of these wussified electric panzy cars that only seat one/two people and remind me of ejaculate. NO THANKS!!!
I'll stick with my Jeep Unlimited Four door.
If it's less threatening to whatever semblance of manhood your strip-mall goin', cubicle-slave, dominant paradigm-worshiping hick ass, you could always bring along canisters of gasoline to dump out the window while driving; just so you can feel satisfied that you're being wasteful enough.
I am a wussy, and when I am about to get in a fight instead I hide behind my nearest friend to minimize possible injury. I tell the teachers about the bad students. Is this car right for me?
Oh, and everything I said was pretty much true.
Oh, Phaunboy, that other post from the other night... Its just like right now, I recognize your avatar, so thats how I know your phanboy.
Insecure about your masculinity, much too much, eh?
It's just a vehicle. Not a penis substitute. If you don't want one, don't buy one.
How the hell do we "leave our personal comments to ourselves" while you get to post your stuff.
Egotistical Shithole.
Actually, everything you just said is classic insecurity.
Re-affirming, you used a form of the cliched "real mean do...", aggressive towards any form of response.
Yeah, you're insecure.
TheDude,
You probably don't realize this given your characteristics, but you just satirized yourself in response to phanbouy.
Never thought I'd ever say this, but:
+1, phan.
@ Haikibutsu,
S/He's "The Dude", remember???
"The Dude" and his tribe get a pass on such things. After all, there's only so much we can do to allow such self-obsessed maniacs simple pleasures like ranting nonsense here, before their "egos" (a.k.a penis insecurity) lead them to off themselves.
Think about it. This ejaculate-obsessed, Saturday-Lover has a Jeep to make up for the vacancy in his pants. Not a fair deal, but a decent substitute, wouldn't you say?
The Dude, Austin Powers' invention might help you out with your problems.
Your self-description is a lie, because there's no such thing as freakishly tall nerds!
Oh, you are all so clever and witty. ha............
Keep making personal attacks.
CarrotAndStick re:Think about it. This ejaculate-obsessed, Saturday-Lover has a Jeep to make up for the vacancy in his pants. Not a fair deal, but a decent substitute, wouldn't you say?"
Sex is good, love my saturdays off (I love my career), jeep is great and no vacancy in the pant's (Oh I know, your just using a cliche's and stereotyping, your so clever), it is clearly still there and I have never had a complaint.
But I never made a personal attack on any one single individual in my first post. It was a generalization, now you are making it personal which is libelist.
@TEH DUUD
"now you are making it personal which is libelist."
so let me get this straight, no denial that you're an insecure hick; and now you're being a hypocrite too. as if that wasn't enough, you're whining like the little entitled bitch-ass that you are.
i'm sorry you got beat up in high school, but that doesn't entitle you to talk shit about others who don't drive your Insecurity-mobile as "pussies", you raging asshole prick. Thanks, and good luck in the rodeo.
Again phanbouy, you just made it personal and creating a false character of myself.
Not a whiny bitch, never got beat up in high school, not a hypocrite, nowhere near insecure, If you want to call me a hick (far from it), be my guest, but you are being libelist. These are huge assumptions and are fraudulent claims to my character.
Again, my original post was a generalization and opinion. I never personally attacked a single person (apparently phanbouy, you felt you were that individual I described in my first post to get you in such a rage and took it personally even though your name was never mentioned) until you and some others started assuming, attacking me on a simple post expressing so. Now you and other personally start calling me names for no reasons, expressing a rage towards me, making false accusations of my character and took something impersonal to personal.
I guess you guys are in high school or something to make ad-hominem attacks and can't handle someone's opinion towards a vehicle that I find ridicules, impractical and of no use to me or my family.
And yes, I am entitled to whatever I choose to drive. That is my prerogative and choice. I personally wouldn't drive the ugly POS, panzy looking egg if I had a choice of biking or driving "It". That is my opinion and not a personal attack on any one person. I drive the vehicle I drive because it meets my needs and I can take certain ill family members to the dr. in it. Something this conveyance would not allow me to do.
check and mate.
I'm an over the road driver. After a week on the road, that would be the last thing I'd want to drive. I'll keep my Excursion.
To think you are such a stable man, but you get provoke but strangers on the internet as if they are going to kill you? You're pathetic.
"HUVO"... any relation to "Hoover"?
Why does Robotnik come into my mind when I look at this....
To ride this thing you would need the same vehicle taste of Dr. Robotnik.......
Funny
It's too top heavy.
really? it looks like 90% of the weight is at seat level or below
Step inside and that'll change.
Yep, I think the wheels need to be extended out a bit in order to reduce the tendency to tip.
Top speed?
Nope.
Looks somewhat similar to the BMW Isetta (Steve Urkel car) from over 50 years ago - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Isetta . That car didn't fare too well in crashes either...
Actually, Ive found it looks more like a Smart Fortwo (Which I am a very big fan of!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_fortwo
Four twos are way to overpriced and you don't get much for your money. You can get a Nissan Versa or Mazda 3 for the same or less money, more room, better safety, gas mileage is nearly the same and just overall they're better vehicles.
I personally can't stand the four two.
The ForTwo isnt a smart choice based on specs. you would get more bang for your buck with a honda fit or nissan versa or toyota yaris.... Hell you can probably buy a used 2006 civic for like 3K more and the little extra gas mileage isnt worth the compromise.
I have to agree. If the Smart ForTwo cost half what it does then it might be a good deal because it's gas mileage is only really significantly better if you are commuting a long distance. It gets better highway miles but not much better for city driving or stop&go traffic. Also the shifting on the ForTwo is rough. Either Manual or Automatic mode, It takes some getting used to. I drove one around in Germany for a day, took it out on the Autobahn and it's fun to drive but you have to put up with its more go-cart-like mobility. I also drove one of the ForTwo Passion here in the US. Nothing has improved in the shifting but they do offer a package that adds power steering. I really like them and I think that their small size is their novelty. If you like small cars then you will like the smart cars.
That said, I do believe that companies that produce these electric car prototypes could do a lot to improve the aesthetics of the cars to make them look more like normal cars.
These small cars aren't made for their practical American application - they are made for small European streets. In these situations, SUVs are practically non-existent, speeds are roughly 30mph, and the ability to park small is a survival feature.
American was lucky in that it started building road ways in a major way after the advent of the horse carriage and buggy. It also benefited from the Eisenhower highway system, a large ecosystem, and a healthy dose of manifest destiny and finances. Thus allowing streets to thrive to their current size.
Europe began permanent construction much earlier, and benefited from the Romantic highways build for four soldiers abreast. Obviously this lead to much smaller road ways, especially in countries that were colonized for longer periods of time by the Romans. Notice that Germany (controlled the least by Romans) have a generally larger road system - except during the winter when you have one lane each way. (You know that happens).
I also look forward to someone bench pressing two of these.
@germs, rather than 'benefiting' from extensive roadways, they are a fundamental weaknesses for the USA: witness the current high costs of commuting and the lack of public transport. Rail was the pioneering replacement for the horse and buggy, not the road. Yet why is rail freight not more competitive? The automakers have a lot to answer for.
Yes, Europe did develop roadways earlier (it is older than the USA), but what defines streets in most locations is population density. With more people in towns, older, narrower streets and fewer carparks, smaller cars are a popular choice in inner cities. This also allows for fantastic networks of public transport.
But it was the understanding that roads would be needed for more than four-men abreast that also contributed to housing being made farther apart. Population density is mostly due to poverty, poor construction foresight (compare: Rome, London, Ancient Greece, and New York), and reliance on canals for trade.
I could go on but this topic is dead.
Wow a modern day Peel P50!
Not sure I fancy sitting in the crumple zones though... :)
How often do you need to change out the water for the fish?
Holy blind spot Batman! Those are some honking' A-pillars for such a narrow windshield.
I think it looks kind of cool but does "look" like it would be unstable in a tight turn or strong wind...
I noticed the same thing about the A-pillars. I drive a toyota Matrix and I think it also has some poorly-positioned A-pillars.
Hey Topia! My nephew wants his toy car back!
I would drive this around....nyc
yeah seriously..finding parking out here is a bitch. Then again it wont be a good idea since the friendly neighborhood vandals and gang bangers might tip your car over.
not for fat people :D
Looks like something WALL-E and EVE could scoot around in.
You can have good fuel economy OR you pass crash testing. But never both. Its just plain physics. Light weight is the key to good economy and we've got to get past this idea that we all need to be driving tanks. Eventually, the tanks we drive today will be too expensive to drive and we'll all be in much lighter vehicles.
It looks like a hovearound with a shell
pope on a rope mobile
What's the distance for the thing?
I'd be worried about driving in high winds.
Tough in a cross-wind landing...
Just can't stop reading' "HUVO" as "huevo."
My only requirements for an EV are:
- Seating for 4
- At least 75 mile range (totally doable with today's battery tech)
- Just fast enough to be highway legal (50 mph i believe?)
- 4 hours or less for 50% charge
- $20,000 or less
- Safe
I don't believe any of those requests are unreasonable for modern technology. So far the only car that looks like a candidate is the Mitsubishi iMiEV
*Crosses Fingers*
Change that to $10,000 or less and you've got a winner.
new urban cow tipping craze
Reminds me of an egg... The incredible edible egg.
Probably should have been named the Topia Ego.
So what is going to keep a couple guys from picking it up and placing it in the back of their truck and driving away? =P
Two syllables: Car-toon
Oh, thank christ. Finally, I can whizz around in a giant egg on rollerblade wheels. I applaud the eco-friendly design, and I can't wait until it's less...y'know...silly.
Aw, man. Should've read R. Moose's comment, first.
wait till black people get ahold of these cars. spinnas!!!!
A good, stiff crosswind of about 60mph will blow this thing off the road. That's to say nothing of what will happen in even a minor fender bender, let alone a collision with an SUV. As for looks, it resembles a Pivo that got sandwiched between a couple of SUVs.
I think that would get stuck in a pothole in snow country...
not to mention that it wouldn't be able to go through even a freshly plowed road...
Why does that thing have to look so ugly?...and it looks completely useless.
These things would be HUGE here in Key West. We've got lots of electric cars and scooters here...this thing would sell like hotcakes.
Hey, I live in key west too! To bad all those electric cars they rent here don't go faster than like 25mph
with the little woman in the car, it would weigh 630 pounds; at least in America..
:P
Come on kids! Lets go to the beach! Grab the cooler! Oh wait....
Joking aside, it looks sorta like Gold Members Austin Powers 3 vehicle haha. I am completely for electric and hybrids as the future but if they CONTINUE to make them look like this....I will not buy one. If you get hit by a car in an accident in one of these ....Id bet very strongly you will be dead or injured pretty badly...fail
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
I'm going back in my coma RIGHT NOW!
I want to get one, put pop-out machine guns on the side, a laser in the front, and if someone knocks it over, I want it to say "I don't hate you". Maybe with the GLaDOS voice GPS in the dashboard.
I'm just stunned skimming over the posts so far to not see a Portal reference.
What an innovative design. The cabin and crumple zone share the same space. Brilliant!!!
strongman competition
tomo
Don't drive this thing if you ever want to get girls again, where are you gonna put them? Make them ride on the roof?