As reported by Delta Motorsport
We have been working since early 2007 on the design of our E-4 Coupe, a very compact, light weight, low drag, 4-seat passenger car.
The distinction between ULEV (Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle) and ULEnV (Ultra Low Energy Vehicle) is a subtle but important one. Powering an Audi Q7 or a BMW X5 from batteries would turn either into a low emissions vehicle, but we believe this is missing the point since they would still consume a huge amount of energy in any journey. All this energy ultimately has to come from somewhere, even if it’s from renewable sources, and we believe that over the next few years a sharper focus will gradually fall on reducing all cars’ energy consumption.
Building a car that consumes significantly less energy will allow us to consider a wide variety of choices for energy storage, from hydrogen to batteries. We’re not ruling anything out however – we’ll also consider gasoline and diesel versions in the future if we feel there’s a suitable market. The most important thing is to get the fundamental architecture of the vehicle right, and the rest will follow.
We’ve been right back to basics to remind ourselves of the fundamentals of energy consumption in road cars. Minimising a car’s weight as well as optimising its aerodynamics and mechanical efficiency is a process that’s second nature to us from many years in motor sport. Our innovative approach and the range of design and simulation tools we use for our motorsport projects is applicable directly to this project, but the focus on achieving a viable selling price poses a whole new set of challenges.
The first car we build will be plug-in battery electric, offering a range of up to 250 miles. The focus on reducing the car’s weight added to the great torque characteristics of electric motors will also give phenomenal performance and handling.
We are very pleased to announce that we have been awarded a “Grant for Research and Development” by the Regional Development Agency for the East Midlands area, EMDA (http://www.emda.org.uk/main/).
We have been working since early 2007 on the design of our E-4 Coupe, a very compact, light weight, low drag, 4-seat passenger car.
The distinction between ULEV (Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle) and ULEnV (Ultra Low Energy Vehicle) is a subtle but important one. Powering an Audi Q7 or a BMW X5 from batteries would turn either into a low emissions vehicle, but we believe this is missing the point since they would still consume a huge amount of energy in any journey. All this energy ultimately has to come from somewhere, even if it’s from renewable sources, and we believe that over the next few years a sharper focus will gradually fall on reducing all cars’ energy consumption.
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| Photo: Delta Motorsport |
Building a car that consumes significantly less energy will allow us to consider a wide variety of choices for energy storage, from hydrogen to batteries. We’re not ruling anything out however – we’ll also consider gasoline and diesel versions in the future if we feel there’s a suitable market. The most important thing is to get the fundamental architecture of the vehicle right, and the rest will follow.
We’ve been right back to basics to remind ourselves of the fundamentals of energy consumption in road cars. Minimising a car’s weight as well as optimising its aerodynamics and mechanical efficiency is a process that’s second nature to us from many years in motor sport. Our innovative approach and the range of design and simulation tools we use for our motorsport projects is applicable directly to this project, but the focus on achieving a viable selling price poses a whole new set of challenges.
The first car we build will be plug-in battery electric, offering a range of up to 250 miles. The focus on reducing the car’s weight added to the great torque characteristics of electric motors will also give phenomenal performance and handling.
We are very pleased to announce that we have been awarded a “Grant for Research and Development” by the Regional Development Agency for the East Midlands area, EMDA (http://www.emda.org.uk/main/).