PU_PA EV concept is cute, light, and deadly
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted April 1st 2010 4:09PM
posted April 1st 2010 4:09PM
Of all the wacky EV concepts we've seen lately, this is certainly one of them! PU_PA EV is a car developed by Teijin Ltd, a Japanese textile manufacturer that among other things recently teamed up with Mazda to produce Biofront bio-plastic. Meant to highlight the firm's materials and technologies, the vehicle weighs less than half a ton (437kg, to be exact) and will shuttle you around at speeds of roughly 40 MPH for up to 60 miles on a single charge. Sadly, this bad boy isn't street legal, for a number of good reasons: the windows (made from a heat-absorbing polycarbonate resin) have half the density of glass and are, in the words of one technician, "especially shatter-y" (OK, we made that word up). Additionally, the lights aren't too terribly bright, and the thing isn't equipped with airbags. Hopefully, the company will soon be called upon to supply materials for other, much less deadly vehicles at some point in the near future.
Deadly... i think not!
"Datz uh Wicked Poo-Puh."
In Germany there are deadly ultra-small cars driving something like 40 or 50km/h i think. This would be cool for the city imo, and I doubt it's more deadly than the ones that are out there. If its cheap (like... 2k €) I would really consider getting one, just for the daily stuff.
So to get this straight: in order to highlight their material productions, they made a car that wasn't very good at being a car?
Couldn't they have found some more convincing implementation?
@The Madman Maybe they should have said it was a really fancy golf-cart instead....
Look at the face of the car. It looks so deadly. It is glaring at you, want to eat you. -insert PREPARE YOUR ANUS chipmunk image here-
Shouldn't that be - weighs less than half a tonne ...
I don't like the way that thing's looking at me.
Can't be any less road legal than the Tata Nano...
I do not deem anything "Deadly" unless it has 2 or more Proton Laser Cannons on it, correct this inaccuracy Engadget, post haste
Shouldn't that be "Silent but deadly"
And when something that doesn't weigh 3 tons comes out, everyone thinks that it shouldn't be on the road... "OMG, it doesn't weigh 3 tons, like all 'safe' cars should".
Great example of a fat-ass american mentality... Sit at home, watch TV, buy as much insurance as possible for your precious belongings and your fat ass...
@pretol
PLEASE pretol, for the sake of us fat Americans - buy one of these!! And drive it in heavy traffic a lot.
@pretol
Yes, clearly the reason it's unsafe is because it's not a giant brick. Perhaps you can read the article next time, and see that it has *nothing* to do with the weight, and everything to do with a lack of usual safety features, such as glass that doesn't turn into a giant mess of deadly shards upon impact.
@kyphros
"Deadly shard"? Ha ha... It's a freaking prototype, the car is not even made yet, and you're freaking out about the 0.00001% chance that a car that is not even made yet is going to get into an accident, in such a way that the glass is going to fly in your face...
This is a prime example of how environmentalism is ruining our future. Everywhere you look there's some new tech that's super green, but totally sucktastic at what it's supposed to do. Is moving backwards really a step forward?
@JaylanPHNX
You think toyota gives a rat's ass about the environment? I'm sure they're making Prius' for the profit, not just to "RUIN YOUR FUTURE".
Stinky Pennsylvania?
I'll stick with my muscle car that gets 21 - 30 mpg and can go WAY over 40MPH...
@kiden
ha ha.. Show me a muscle car (WITH A V8) that gets 30mpg... Do it! Give a single credible link of an actual authority (not some anecdotal evidence from the deep south redneck driver)..
All muscle cars are 17/25mpg... (and that's already an optimistic estimate)
@pretol
Haha, thats why I have always been a a fan of the V6 over the V8. I can give you plenty of examples of good mileage with stock v6s from late 90's and early 2000's. But the newest are both the 2010 Mustang v6 and 2010 Camaro v6 which both have over 300hp and are rated for 31/30 mpg highway.
Of course that is nothing compared to my dad's civic, which seems to have a bottomless fuel tank :)
Oh and I have heard of V8's that get 30mpg highway, and that is the late 90's camaro with the 6speed transmission and a turbo, since you can just drop it into 6th gear right away and let it sit at 60mph. But thats from my friends telling me, I don't have a site to show you.
"PU_PA EV concept is cute, light, and deadly"
Uh huh Honey B.
That car looks like Walter Matthau
@mmauve
I was going to say it looks like a Chinese Na'vi, but yeah Walter Matthau seems about right!
@BubbaJ I was going to say it looks like Droopy
I'd rather have a safe car than a 'cute' car...
@benfinley
I'd rather people actually knew what "safety" is, instead of blurting out the same crap that insurance companies are putting in their brochures.
To me, most cars appear to have a face. This one appears geriatric.
@Lord Vader
You are a gold mine of jokes about that galaxy far, far, away, my lord.
Polyvarbonate is anything but "shattery". When you think Polycarbonate you should be thinking bullet proof glass.
It looks like a puffy cheeked bug.
By the way is it staring at me or is it just me.
I would PU_PA my pants driving that death trap on a freeway.
@uncaringbear
Yes, it would be very uncomfortable going 40mph on the freeway, but why would you do that?
@pretol
You should see some of my freeways in the morning. 40mph would be extraordinary.
Kinda looks like a blobfish. Freaky!!!
http://www.google.com/search?q=blob+fish&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari
Didn't I see the face of that car in a Miyazaki film?!? O_o
They got the look of it right. It shouts "different" and "futuristic" without offputting the target market: Green Librarians. Retired Buckstretchers. Single Moms. Creative Directors. College Girls.