Comments on: TRANSPORTATION TUES: Hot New Solar Hybrid by Mindset AG

By: Inhabitat » TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: TATA’s Indica Electric Vehicle

Inhabitat » TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: TATA’s Indica Electric Vehicle — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:36:18 +0000

[...] Indica EV will be powered by lithium ion batteries and will join 5 other electric vehicle prototypes that Tata Motors plans to release over the coming [...]

By: elepski

elepski — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:31:37 +0000

I actually like the body shape and the wheel treatments.. but the front end seems out of place

By: pinkrobe

pinkrobe — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:38:22 +0000

Wow, that is really unattractive. A range of 100km on a charge puts it in the same class as a bicycle with a trailer! The bicycle wins that contest, as it doesn’t typically cost $78,000. I don’t believe for a second that this solar car will be useful without being connected to the grid at some point.

By: BJ

BJ — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:56:44 +0000

This is the ugliest concept car I’ve ever seen. Oh yeah, the lines of this vehicle caught my eye too, like a fish hook! The front end looks like the nose of a mule in a Sponge Bob cartoon. The solar panel placement is completely thoughtless with half the surface area dropping over the sides of the car and 80% if the prime roof area ignored. The rear end looks like a sliced off salami and must be horrible aerodynamically. The side profile may have looked “future forward” in the late 70’s. And those back wheels… what the hell is that all about? They stick them out away from the body so they have to have to have separate floating fenders and then leave that gaping hole in the body to catch even more air than they already disturbed by shoving the wheels out in space.

By: tgroth

tgroth — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:09:31 +0000

I’m a fan of the retro front end, but I feel like the rear end could have been shaped better. Perhaps with a more dramatic slope from the roof to the rear, which would look less ‘hearse like’ and promote better aerodynamics with a more streamlined shape. Just my $0.02

By: fabien

fabien — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:44:27 +0000

I do not think this is a Swedish company but a Swiss one…