Ben Mack reports on yet another cutting-edge new car that promises impressive numbers:
Lightning Hybrids says the LH4 will achieve 100 mpg and do zero to 60 in 5.9 seconds.
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Lightning Hybrids has set an aggressive goal of putting the first cars in driveways by 2010 and hitting an annual production of 3,000 cars a year within four years. That seems optimistic given the state of the economy and the challenges involved in building cars. If startups like Tesla Motors have taught us anything, it’s cars packed with innovative technology tend to come in behind schedule and over budget.
The LH4 is not a hybrid-electric vehicle, but a diesel-hydraulic hybrid:
Power comes from a 90-horsepower diesel engine plucked from a Volkswagen and mated to a 150 horsepower Rexroth hydraulic hybrid system — technology that has so far been limited to delivery trucks. Such systems ditch batteries in favor of hydraulic power, and the company says it offers better fuel economy and energy regeneration than conventional gas-electric systems.“Nobody in the world is applying this technology to smaller cars like we are,” company CEO Dan Johnson told Wired.com.
There’s a reason nobody in the world is applying this technology to smaller cars like they are:
Hydraulic hybrids use a diesel engine to drive a hydraulic pump, which charges an accumulator — essentially a high-pressure tank. The accumulator, in turn, drives smaller pump motors that send power to the axle or power the wheels directly. (Check out the video below for more details.) Such systems have been around since the 1980s but limited to delivery trucks — UPS plans to roll out the first of seven sometime this year — because the accumulators are bulky and tough to fit within the confines of a passenger car. Lightning Hybrids isn’t saying how it will address this problem but insists it is “working night and day” on it.
Car nuts seem more interested in the styling:
The sleek shape of the LH4 was inspired by the 1963 Corvette that Johnson restored in high school and still owns. The LH4 was designed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency and has a drag coefficient of 0.20, making it sleeker than a Toyota Prius. The clamshell design allows for a nearly seamless body to help the car slice the wind cleanly, and liberal use of carbon fiber will keep the car to just 1,750 pounds. That’s the plan, anyway.Those back windows may mirror the classic look of those on the ’63 Corvette, but hidden cameras and three LCD screens give a better view of what’s behind you. Mounting mirrors on the doors would do more than blemish the car’s lines, it would create efficiency-robbing turbulence.
Practicality doesn’t seem high on the list, as T. Herber notes:
And what happens when it’s pouring down rain and you want to get out of this car?Houston, we have a problem.