Tata Nano unveiled in India.

[Robin]

In India? Are there that many Indians that have power outlets in their homes? I would be very surprised if we see a small, electric car for the masses as a success in the developing world. Oil is a much more convenient resource. I could go on and on about how it should be us, if anybody, to go to alternatives but I'll leave it at that.

The only reason that I would see electric being more successful in a developing world is the fact that they don't have much in the way of choice...

For example in the UK if they had a cheap electric car for the masses people generally have a lot of money (comparatively) so they would just choose to buy an SUV instead.

In India they can hardly afford a car let alone a "good" one so if the only cheap choice is electric it kind of forces them to adopt that technology.

Its like saying you only have one choice and its electric, the developed world has too much choice so people can avoid what they deem as not as desirable.

India had the opportunity to 'make' people buy electric! but I dont think India power network is really up to it but thats another story.... Im sure every petrol station could have a plug!

I hope that makes sense....

Robin

 

[Keef]

Two pages and no one made a "boobs" joke based on the name Tata.

I thought "tata" meant goodbye. Kinda like the lives of these people when they have their first crash.

 

[Philly]

I hope that makes sense....

Robin

Yeah, I see what you mean. They just don't really have the ability to suddenly punch out a new technology because of their incomplete existing networks and the lack of money to build something new. And the chaos that are cities in the 3rd world would only make it much harder than in places like the US. I like the plug at the gas station idea though. They could easily set up little power stations at each little group of houses too.

Plus, having little efficient cars running around on petrol is probably far more environmentally friendly than making the place build more of its very poor quality coal plants.

 

[Metar]

I thought "tata" meant goodbye. Kinda like the lives of these people when they have their first crash.

...Which'll be at 50MPH, tops. Tata said that, in an effort to save money, the suspension won't last long at speeds over 90km/h.

 

[Jim Prower]

Oh....that doth bode ill for the poor roads that the car's target audience drives on.

 

[V1P3R]

Um. What does crash test footage of an old Commodore have to do with this car?

I thought it was quite obvious...

 

[Metar]

I thought it was quite obvious...

Quite obviously, we don't think it's that obvious. What does it have to do with a Commodore crashing?

 

[Joey D]

Go build your dream car:
http://www.tatapeoplescar.com/tatamotors/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=1

 

[ND4SPD]

Go build your dream car:
http://www.tatapeoplescar.com/tatamotors/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=1

I never imagined my dream car to be that cheap.

 

[Robin]

Looking at the nano more (which I like, particularly the styling) it has front fogs which are literally identical to a Honda Civic...

Sorry a bit of a random post but was creating a nano in the link above and it hit me!

As I said before I hope someone rices it up... should be interesting, I can just see it now... a Ferrari beating TATA!

Robin

 

[Philly]

As I said before I hope someone rices it up... should be interesting, I can just see it now... a Ferrari beating TATA!

Maybe a mid-mounted, transverse twin-turbo V-12 where the rear seats are? Just don't stop too fast or you may roll over like a jellybean.

 

[niky]

Stick a V12 inside that thing and you'll be sitting on the roof... It's a tiny car.

Regarding electrics. Know what kind of electric you can get for the price of a Nano? One which is slightly smaller, mostly plastic, with about 5-10 hp, a 24 volt battery that requires eight hours of charging, and a pitiful 80 km range and a top speed of about 50-60 km/h. there's an "inventor" here plugging his four-seat electric... his protos cost nearly three times as much as the Nano... so a production version would still cost about 1.5 times a gasoline small car.

I did some rough calculations based on his estimate of pennies per mile, and it would be more economical than the Nano, but not by enough to justify the drawbacks... not yet.

And as oil prices go higher, so too, wll electricity costs... renewable resources make up a mere fraction of the electrical grid.

If you want an electric that'll charge in 15 minutes or less, you're looking at some real expensive batteries. With Nanosafe due to launch this year, and the RedLion project underway, cheaper lithiums should be coming in the future... but this future is probably ten years or more away.

 

[Jim Prower]

Stick a V12 inside that thing and you'll be sitting on the roof... It's a tiny car.

True...all you'd really need is a turbocharged Hayabusa engine....

The microcar's best freind...

 

[Philly]

Regarding electrics. Know what kind of electric you can get for the price of a Nano? One which is slightly smaller, mostly plastic, with about 5-10 hp, a 24 volt battery that requires eight hours of charging, and a pitiful 80 km range and a top speed of about 50-60 km/h. there's an "inventor" here plugging his four-seat electric... his protos cost nearly three times as much as the Nano... so a production version would still cost about 1.5 times a gasoline small car.

VROOM!

 

[Robin]

VROOM!

I used to sooo want one of those when I was a kid, like some of my neighbors had them and I used to ride along on the passenger side with like a gun.... was literally like being in an army Jeep!

I didn't get one ever ... but I got a cool BMX which got me interested in mountain biking later in life!

lol sorry is my random posting off topic info day today!

Robin

 

[///M-Spec]

I thought it was quite obvious...

In your own little world, maybe.


M

 

[Philly]

I used to sooo want one of those when I was a kid, like some of my neighbors had them and I used to ride along on the passenger side with like a gun.... was literally like being in an army Jeep!

Same here, but now I hate those little buggers. They are way too annoying and slow, among other things.

In your own little world, maybe.

I got it too. Maybe I'm just in his world too.

 

[Stevisiov]

I caught the insinuation, but I would wait to see the crash test results, I am not awfully hopefull though.